Agenda item

(i)           Report of the Corporate Director of Resources.

(ii)          Presentation by the Public Protection Manager, Neighbourhoods and Climate Change.

The Chair welcomed the Public Protection Manager, Owen Cleugh who was in attendance to provide the Committee with an update presentation in relation to the Public Protection Service, Enforcement and Intervention Activity (for copy see file of minutes).

The Public Protection Manager reminded Members he would usually give an annual update to Committee in terms of the enforcement and intervention activities, adding that the update would have different content that those usual updates as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on the work of the Public Protection Service, mainly in terms of the intervention work as a result of the regulations and restrictions that applied.

Members were reminded of the four areas within the Public Protection Service including Licensing which encompassed work relating to the enforcement and administration of Local Authority licensing regimes for taxis, private hire vehicles, pubs, clubs, off-licences, scarp metal dealers and street-trading.  The Public Protection Manager noted another team was the newly formed Neighbourhood Interventions Team which included the ASB Team, the Nuisance Action Team and the CAT.  Councillors noted a third area was Trading Standards, relating to business compliance and the special investigation teams that had been established. 

The Public Protection Manager noted the fourth team was the Safer Communities Team which was made up of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) Service, the Vulnerability Interventions Pathways (VIP) Service and the Community Safer Officers involved in the MAPS process.

The Committee were reminded of the National Lockdown in response to COVID-19 from 23 March to 4 July 2020 which included a lot of work and enquiries relating to: business closures; confirmation of “essential” retail; COVID-19 compliance; enforcement; business advice, with over 220 requests; and diversifying businesses, such as those moving to delivery or click and collect models. 

The Public Protection Manager noted that as restrictions were lifted from 4 July, there had been new guidance for hospitality and leisure industry, visits undertaken to licensed premises, with over 70 visits in the first four weekends, working with businesses in terms of the guidance.  He noted the noise protocol with Durham University and Durham Constabulary, relating to how issues of house parties and noise nuisance would be dealt with and explained that in terms of compliance enquiries it had been very busy with those including in terms of what were rules, what was guidance and the measures that needed to be in place to protect workers and the public.

The Committee noted the restrictions within the North East which had included specific offences and requirements on pubs, bars, restaurants which in turn required a significant out of hours presence for four weekends, with over 800 visits.  The Public Protection Manager noted the two main sanctions under law were Directions Notices, as agreed by the Council, Director of Public Health and the Police and Fixed Penalty Notices.  He added that in moving into the second national lockdown there had been some businesses that had been given prohibitions, a number of enquiries as regards businesses wish to trade safely and information coming forward from the public as regards allegations of businesses trading illegally.

Members noted that Public Protection Service “business as usual” work included:

•      Noise and ASB complaints, including the impact of more people working from home;

•      A rise in number of types of trading standards complaints in areas such as home improvement, “tab houses” and puppy sales;

•      Cases in Court and through Licensing Committee;

•      CAT – a revised delivery model;

•      Community Safety initiatives including the Safer Streets project;

•      Unauthorised encampments;

•      and assisting businesses where possible, noting a high level of compliance by businesses within the county.

The Public Protection Manager noted he would like to thank the Public Protection Service staff for their resilience and hard work, not only in doing their “day job”, but also in their work in the Council’s response to COVID-19.

The Chair agreed and seconded the thanks of the Public Protection Manager to all those involved.  He asked Members of the Committee for their comments and questions.

Councillor J Stephenson added her thanks to the teams for their hard work and asked for feedback on issues raised within Members’ areas, and the actions that may have been taken as a response to concerns raised.  The Public Protection Manager noted he would look into any specific issues and come back to Members as appropriate.

The Chair noted mention of unpaid fines relating to COVID-19 breaches within the press and asked as regards how Durham County Council compared to other Local Authorities in the region and similarly sized Local Authorities elsewhere in terms of enforcement action.  The Public Protection Manager noted that fines were issued by the Police, with Local Authorities able to issue FPN as previously mentioned within the presentation.  He added that there was a period of time in which those could be paid, and there were appeal mechanisms that had associated timescales.  He noted that the Council looked to recoup all fines and added his Teams were in contact with colleagues from the Council’s Finance Section in terms of whether FPNs had been paid.  In respect of comparisons, he noted it was difficult to make direct comparisons, with County Durham being quite large geographically, however, there had been more Direction Notices within County Durham than in other areas in the North East.  He added that the Council had been very proactive after the lifting of the first lockdown to ensure a very visible presence, adding there had not been any particular problem within the county.  The Head of Community Protection Services explained that the activities undertaken up to now had been within existing resources and noted the efforts of all of the staff involved was not sustainable long term without investment in capacity.  She explained that there had been approval to increase capacity and recruitment was taking place with a Compliance Team to be set up by the end of the month, enhancing the existing resources, with around 20 additional Officers in three area teams to help deliver compliance work, as the country came out from the second national lockdown on 2 December.

Resolved:  

That the content of the report and presentation be noted.