Agenda item

The Council is asked to note any statements made by Members of the Cabinet (Portfolio Holders).

Councillors may then ask questions of the Portfolio Holders on their statements.

 

Minutes:

Community Safety Projects Update

 

The Partnerships Portfolio Holder (Councillor McWilliams) made the following statement:-

 

“Thank you Chairman I would like to make a statement on the activities and projects delivered by our Community Safety during the last year in the midst of the pandemic.

 

The Impact Youth Project – UTURN4SUPPORT

 

The CSP funded £ 4,033.44 into “The Impact Youth Project”, a joint enterprise between UTurn4support and Essex Police, it is designed to provide young people in secondary schools across Tendring with early support, advice and information on county lines and knife related violence. The project was a direct response to an increase in the number of students being involved in county lines and knife related crime in Tendring.

 

Unite Our Communities – Colchester United Football Club

 

The CSP also funded £5,000 “Unite Our Communities” which is a programme with Colchester United of a school’s workshop delivered across Tendring schools specifically targeting early intervention in primary schools, which will also cover Extremism. The method will be helped by Peer-to-Peer feedback using role models in order to raise aspirations.

 

We started the programme in June last year and carried on over the summer, then stopped with Lockdown 2, but do hope to start again when schools are back.

 

Another CSP funded scheme of £ 2,500  will also deliver “Unite Our Communities” to the older children in transitioning stage between junior and secondary school,  in Years 7 and 8.

 

Crucial Crew

 

This year’s Young Persons Crucial Crew is being delivered virtually, again by around £10,000 of CSP’s funding in school classrooms with the help of Loudmouth Productions  The programme ‘Helping Hands’ has been designed and produced  by Loudmouth Education and Training through Theatre.

 

An online pre-recorded lesson has been created to help children to stay safe, using NSPCC’s guidelines.

 

Some of the themes the virtual lessons focus on are, teaching the children about their own safety, and what to be wary of during lockdown.

 

Topics include what are ‘unsafe secrets’, appropriate body contact, recognising feelings that may occur when feeling unsafe or troubled by an incident, and exposure to harms whilst online.

 

The programme explores, in a safe and gentle way difficult topics such as domestic abuse, child sexual exploitation, knife crime and various areas of vulnerability, supervised by Safer Communities Team members.

 

Community Safety and Health and Well-being Project – The SOS Bus Project

 

Several charities and organisations, known as SHELLS, are working together in Tendring to help support homeless people, or those at risk of homelessness, with their health and wellbeing.

 

The Open Road SOS bus enables SHELLS to provide an outreach service on Fridays to all Tendring residents on Clacton Town Square.

 

Joint Problem Solving Partnership Meetings was an amalgamation of individual groups with six separate meetings taking place across the partnership. 

 

The structure of these was discussed and reviewed to change from the former structure of a Multi-Agency Panel to a new Arrangement made up of 3 parts, which now comprises: of

 

Part 1-- General ASB and Other Community Safety Issues – Chaired by the Police

 

Part 2--Criminal Justice – Top 10 – Chaired by the Essex Community Rehabilitation Company, and

 

Part 3 – Prolific Offender Team (POT) – Prolific Offenders – again Chaired by the Police.

 

Feedback from meetings so far has been very positive with an action log in place managed by our CSP manager, Leanne Thornton, and each agency is held to account for their actions.

 

Part of the work undertaken by the relatively new Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit, has identified Tendring as one of the areas where a need is to take a multi-agency / partnership approach to tackling violence and vulnerabilities within communities. 

 

An agreed focus was placed on 11 wards within five areas of Essex two of which are in Tendring, (being Pier Ward and Golf Green Ward) and UTURN4SUPPORT has been approached to devise a project, to tackle this, in line with the objectives of the Violence & Vulnerability Unit and the local CSP priorities.

 

The XY Impact Youth Project is a community-based mentoring and educational project to implement early intervention, prevent long-term anti-social behaviour, social exclusion, and criminal offending.

 

The Project will be delivered by UTurn Youth workers to provide social, emotion and practical support, advice and information on county lines, knife related violence, help young people to redirect and reorder their own lives away from offending towards a more positive engagement with the community.

The project also has many other aims to help young people.

 

Violence and Vulnerability paid £ 30,000 direct to UTURN for this work.

 

And finally, The Violence & Vulnerability Unit have commissioned two projects “Dot Com Programme” and “Watch Over Me”, which have been offered to Tendring in order to help our young people.

 

Dot Com is a cartoon friend to primary school children who empowers them to speak up about issues which frighten or worry them but will also help prevent them becoming victims of crime.

 

The Watch Over Me soap opera has been created for or teenagers, following a research with children from tough realities and also the parents of murdered children, such as Damilola Taylor’s father, Richard.

This scheme took its origins from the murdered Surrey teenager Milly Dowler, which includes 25 different themes of subjects which are only too common in many teenagers, such as:-

 

Attempted abduction• Carrying knives • Unwanted sexual advances • Arson • Text bullying • Being home alone • Domestic violence • Racism • Bereavement • Alcohol, drugs,• Sex and teenage pregnancy • Gangs, Guns, Weapons • Peer pressure  • Road safety        • Relationships • Radicalisation • Community tension• Poverty • Organised crime • Underage drinking • The role of Crimestoppers • Forced Marriage

 

To support children and young people to achieve the following outcomes:-

 

           Make positive choices that keep them safe.

           Raise self-esteem and confidence.

           Build resilience.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

           Improve emotional and physical health and mental wellbeing.

 

All these initiatives have been funded by the Police Fire Crime Commissioner & Violence &Vulnerability Unit for a total of £15.613, with separate funding of £4.250 to Holland Shore Boxing Club, and £4.000 to Inclusion Ventures. Thank you Chairman.”

 

Councillor McWilliams then responded to a question asked of her by Councillor Steady.

 

Business Adaptation Grants

 

The Business & Economic Growth Portfolio Holder (Councillor Newton) made the following statement:-

 

“I am pleased to announce that our local hospitality businesses are now able to apply for grants to support them in making adaptations to their businesses during this most challenging of times.  We are pleased to be working with Essex County Council on this scheme, which is in addition to the other Government schemes currently being processed by the Council. 

 

This scheme is aimed at supporting small and medium enterprises to purchase equipment and make changes in order to continue to operate in a COVID-secure manner and generate income when they are able to re-open when the current restrictions are removed.

 

Businesses can apply for up to £1,500 and the funding can be used towards a range of Covid related improvements such as New Signs, Staff Training and Outdoor furniture or heating.

 

I would encourage as many as our local hospitality businesses as possible to apply and the applications are now open on the Council’s website.”

 

Action on Climate Change

 

The Environment & Public Space Portfolio Holder (Councillor Talbot) made the following statement:-

 

“On 13th January I was informed that the Council Leader Cllr Neil Stock had decided that the Climate Change Action Plan approved by this Council late last year and the work so far undertaken by the Climate Change Working Party, should be included under the umbrella of my Portfolio as part of the District Council’s Priority Actions for 2021/22 and Monitoring the Delivery of those Actions.

 

This field is quite new to me and on Friday last, I met with Cllr Alan Coley and lead officer Tim R. Clarke to seek from them information on exactly where we were with the key policy aim for TDC to become a Net Zero Carbon Council by the end of this decade. It must be said that these two colleagues gave me a tutorial on actions taken, along with their consultations with others including consultants APSE Energy who were employed to help analyse the Council’s greenhouse gas emissions (often referred to as carbon footprint) and make recommendations as to the way forward.

 

We as Council Members have received several reports and made decisions including our Leader’s motion Declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’ on 6th August 2019, which was agreed by Council, but as far as I can see, this most important item, affecting every Member and every Department of the Council, has disappeared from public view. I do appreciate that lots of work is going on in the background, but I think an issue such as Climate Change has such a significance to everyday life in the future, that the subject and the Council’s agreed aim to be ‘Net Zero Carbon” by 2030 in respect of those emissions from our business operations that we have control of, should be on everybody’s lips and part of the Council’s consideration of all future reports written and received by all departments of the Council. I shall be raising this with Cabinet colleagues, but I have jumped the gun a bit, as this Council Meeting is today and not the next one in February.

 

I further think that we as members of the Council, particularly those Members who are also Parish or Town Councillors or those attending groups in their unparished area, should get the issue raised at their meetings, to see what contribution the body they are attending can make towards the District Council’s agreed Action Plan, especially the aspiration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Tendring as a whole (remembering that our Council’s emissions comprise only around 1% of the District wide total).  The Plan predicts a cost to us of £7.5 Million in respect of reducing our own emissions to net zero, but also estimates that ongoing savings could be worth £1 million each year going forward.

 

Our TDC Website has a wealth of information about the various papers that have been produced and a reminder to most of us, of what we have agreed. We must not let the work done so far gather dust on anybody’s shelf, but each of us has a role to play, not for our own benefit but for that of our Children and our Children’s Children.

 

Our aim is Net Zero Carbon, let us all play a part in achieving this objective. No idea is ‘Beyond the Pale’, if Members have ideas then let me know them please, to pass to Cllr. Alan Coley or to Tim R. Clarke to examine. Thank You!”

 

Councillor Talbot then responded to questions asked of him by Councillors Steady, Allen and Scott.

 

Tendring Colchester Border Garden Community

 

The Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder (Councillor G V Guglielmi) made the following statement:-

 

“Mr Chairman, I recently distributed to all Members some information on the TCBs Project; as we will hear later this evening, Council will be asked to consider the adoption of Section 1 of our local Plan which will mark a monumental milestone in the recent history of Tendring District Council.

 

Back in  2014 we embarked on a very ambitious track to delivery one of the biggest housing projects in the whole country, by setting up a very innovative partnership with three other local authorities, Colchester, Braintree and ECC in order to fulfil central government policies of building new homes.

 

A huge amount of resources, funding, man hours, travelling, and intense discussions were invested in setting up the NEGC Ltd. Government fully backed our ambitions pound per pound, with each one of the LAs having contributed half million, and government having invested £2m.

 

Our Council agreed that Cllr Neil Stock and I would be the representatives on the new company, because of our respective roles of Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council; all other partners had similar arrangements, and equally high profile Officers involvement, with all CEOs, MOs, top Directors, and respective Heads of Planning. The decision was taken to work on a combined Section 1 of our Local Plans, which would seek to deliver around 45.000 new homes by 3 major new Garden Communities, in west Braintree, west Colchester, and our own TCBs.

 

Sadly one single individual, namely Planning Inspector Roger Clews, decided that our combined aims and aspirations of delivering 3 brand new Communities were too ambitious, but he found that one of the three would be a very sound project, and one that would add value to our existing communities.

 

Mr Chairman, our hard work was rewarded by Government, with the tune of £99m to build a Link Road between the A120 and the A133, and a Rapid Transport System to connect the project site with key locations around Colchester. Not a bad return for a £4m investment!!!!

 

Looking back maybe we should have engaged more fully with our existing communities, and maybe one of our partner authorities, unlike Tendring, could have invested more time in engaging with its Members and avoid the raw friction of being kept in the dark, but that is now in the past, and what we all do is to learn and not make the same mistakes again.

 

Work on the TCBs, greatly benefitted from Mr Clews’ blessing, has progressed on, and I would like to thank Cllr Neil Stock, firstly for the huge amount of work he put into the NEGCs thus far, and secondly for entrusting me to be the Council’s lead member of the steering group; I have also been blessed by having the support of the Local Plan and Planning Policy Committee Chairman Cllr Nick Turner, whose knowledge and expertise will be invaluable going forward, and rest assured that between the two of us, we will secure the best possible outcomes for Tendring.

 

It is worth noting that the Colchester membership on the group also includes the Leader of the Opposition Cllr Paul Dundas, to ensure that vital inclusion and that the level of information is equal to all the Colchester Members.

 

Likewise, most of the steering group’s activities so far have been mainly on setting up the TOR, to ensure that all partners are on the same mind set with regards to the GC’s principles, and most importantly how we will engage with our existing communities, stakeholders and our respective Members.

 

Although we in Tendring have money allocated in our main Budget, as so do Colchester and ECC, there is no mechanism yet in place for the group to spend any money for the work needed to progress the project. The next steps will be to produce a DPD for the whole area, which is work that both Colchester and Tendring would have to do in order to progress the Local Plan in any case, and as I have already mentioned we have money in the Local Plan budget to do this, but I have asked Officers to produce a process whereby funds can be allocated to these vitally important expenditures, which is clear, transparent, agreed by all of us, and that has proper scrutiny in place.

 

I will continue to disseminate information to you all, as and when there is some to share, and while I am on the subject, whatever I send to you I will also share with those Parish Councils most affected and closest to the site, namely Ardleigh, Alresford, Brightlingsea, Elmstead, Frating, as well as a residents’ group under the name of Crockleford Heath and Elmstead Action Group, who having been dead against the NEGC initially, are now well in tune and very much want to engage with what we are proposing, especially in light of Mr Clews’ findings on Section 1 of our Local Plan. Thank you Mr Chairman.”

 

Councillor Guglielmi then responded to a question asked of him by Councillor Scott.

 

Clacton-on-Sea – 150th Anniversary of Founding Commemorations

 

The Leisure & Tourism Portfolio Holder (Councillor Porter) was pleased to inform Council that the Council had been awarded a grant of £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to help fund the commemorations during 2021 of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Clacton-on-Sea. The funding would be used for, inter alia,:-

 

·      new town centre coastal heritage trail;

·      schemes to attract more visitors;

·      schemes to encourage residents to be more active;

·      promotional events to promote the District’s coastline;

·      a launch event; and

·      the employment of two members of staff on two year contracts to work on these projects.

 

Mayflower 400

 

Councillor Porter informed Members that the Council was continuing to work with global travel partners to commemorate the role of Harwich in the iconic story of The Mayflower Pilgrims who had all expressed their desire to resume these heritage tours as soon as they were able. He stated that four new USA tour operators had undertaken a familiarisation tour of Harwich at the end of 2020 with a view to releasing new tour packages in 2021.

 

Councillor Porter also reported that the former home of Christopher Jones and the visitor centre at Esplanade Hall would be opened as soon as the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. The Mayflower heritage trail was already in place and the Council was excited at the prospect of welcoming guests to these attractions and employing technology to tell The Mayflower story to all age groups.

 

Councillor Porter then responded to questions asked of him by Councillors Calver, Scott and Steady.