Councillor Levy welcomed all attendees to the meeting.  Apologies for absence had been received from Co-optee -Simon Goulden and Lily Hassan from the Youth Parliament.

Members of the Council are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to items on the agenda.

Councillor Susan Erbil announced she was a cousin of Councillor Guney Dogan and would withdraw from the meeting for discussion of the first item on ‘Call-In – To implement increases to pay and display charges to encourage higher turnover of short stay bays’.

To receive and consider a report from the Director of Environment & Operational Services outlining details of a call-in received on the Portfolio Decision taken to implement increases to pay and display charges to encourage higher turnover of short stay bays (Report No:3). 

The decision that has been called in was a Portfolio Decision taken by the Cabinet Member for Environment on 14 June 2018 and included on the Publication of Decision List No: 2/18-19 (List Ref:2/2/18-19) issued on 15 June 2018.

It is proposed that consideration of the call-in be structured as follows:

·       Brief outline of reasons for the call-in by representative (s) of the members who have called in the decision.

·       Response to the reasons provided for the Call-In by the Cabinet members responsible for taking the decision.

·       Debate by Overview & Scrutiny Committee and agreement on action to be taken. 

The Chair invited Councillor Laban to outline the reasons for Call-in.

• Councillor Laban referred to one of the areas of concern - that the decision to increase on- street parking charges would negatively affect those on low and fixed incomes.  She said for those people who live in Enfield Town they would probably chose to walk to the town, however for those coming from further afield and especially for those with restricted income they may prefer to go to the retail park or to Brookfield Farm where they would not need to pay a parking charge. She thought this may be considered an ‘equalities issue’ as it affects the poorer members of the community.
• The decision to increase on street parking charges negatively affects those residents who may have disabilities but who do not qualify for a ‘blue badge’.  This could result in increasing social isolation for those who may find it more difficult to leave their homes.
• That the decision does not take into account any further loss of car parking spaces that may occur in the borough in the near future.  Previous discussions around the loss of parking spaces at Genotin Road do not appear to have been considered in this proposal to increase charges.  By reducing supply should the proposals for Genotin Road be approved, and increasing charges this would significantly affect the local economy and local shops.
• Although proposals would affect the local economy there has been a lack of consultation with local businesses. Cllr Laban said local traders know the area best and we should listen to what they have to say.
• The Masterplan for the borough had been agreed during the election however there is no reference to parking and how changes would affect the Masterplan for Enfield.

Councillor Laban said we would be charging people more to park which goes against the principle of ‘Fairness for All’.  She said the proposals were not fair for people who are trading and also not fair on the community.  She requested that the decision be referred back to the Cabinet Member for Environment for reconsideration.

The Chair invited Councillor Dogan as Cabinet member for Environment and David Morris as the Head of Parking to respond, as follows:

• The increase in on-street parking charges are proportionate to deliver the outcome we want, which is to deter long stayers and improve a better turnover of spaces. Parking charges for on-street parking in Enfield and outer Enfield areas for 15 minutes would be increasing from 40p to 50p it is thought this would not be enough to deter parking. Benchmarking has been done with other local boroughs and we compare favourably with them.
• The increase in charges should not negatively affect residents who have disabilities. You are entitled to a blue badge if you are unable to walk further than 50 metres and there are very few paying parking bays further than 50m from our shopping areas.
•  Mention was made that the decision does not take into account the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 654.

To receive a report from Sharon Burgess, Head of Safeguarding Adults and Bharat Ayer, Safeguarding Adults Team Manager.

Bharat Ayer, (Safeguarding Adults Team Manager) introduced a report on the   Enfield Safeguarding Adults Strategy 2018 – 23 which has been issued for consultation. He invited comments from OSC.

The following was highlighted:

• One of the Safeguarding Adults Board duties, as a requirement of the Care Act, is to publish a strategic plan for each financial year that sets out how it will meet its main objective and what Safeguarding Adult Board members will do to achieve this.
• The priorities have been developed by a project group including service users, carers and our Quality Checkers. They helped to ensure that the strategy, which was quite a technical area, had been set out in a clear and easily understandable way. It is in plain English and jargon has been removed. It also sets out the telephone numbers/ website address for people to use if someone is suspected of being abused on each page of the draft document.
• The aims of the Board are - to prevent abuse, protect adults at risk, to learn from experience and improve services.

The following questions/ comments were raised:

Q. I notice that the number of concerns reported had increased significantly with 1616 concerns reported for 2017/18 from 1144 the preceding year. 

A. Yes this means that people are reporting more incidents. This is welcomed  because rather than having situations which are hidden, we are able to take steps to resolve any problems.

Q. How does the new Strategy document for the forthcoming five years differ from the previous one? 

A. There has been more focus on community engagement.  It has been led by service users which has made a big difference.  There is also more connection with the use of social media and IT.

Councillor Smith complimented the service on the strategy document which he said was very clear for people to understand.

Q. As there had been a significant number of concerns raised but not an increase in budget, it was asked if they were still being dealt with adequately?

A. Sharon Burgess, Head of Safeguarding Adults confirmed that this is being done.  Although there are budgetary constraints, we are looking at efficiency measures for example making the best use of data to ensure that the response we give is both person-centred and proportionate for what is needed and we try to ensure it is not too bureaucratic.

Sharon mentioned that the aim is to publicise the strategy, by reaching out to the community, especially for those in their own homes who may be socially isolated.  Councillor Levy referred to a recent OSC work stream that had looked at the issue of loneliness and social isolation for those people who may not have the capacity to break away from their situation. There are a number of potential victims. There is a range of situations which may be considered abusive for example being the victim of rogue traders.

Councillor Needs praised the report, and she went on to ask:

Q. What happens when there is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 655.

To review and agree the Overview and Scrutiny work programme and to select the initial workstreams for 2018/19.

Guidance from the Local Government Association of the criteria for selecting scrutiny topics is attached for your reference.

Workstreams

It was agreed that the following three initial workstreams with the first two to commence and the third to follow in the future be established for 2018/19 –

• Children in Transition (Children Leaving Care)
• The High Street – focusing on empty shops
• Parks and Green Spaces   –Are they being used to their full potential (Noted that the Review of Parks Strategy is to take place in November)

It was also noted that a future potential workstream was discussed on

·         John Wilkes House issues and the Housing Allocations policy.

Work Programme

It was noted that there is an item relating to Children / Education Services included on each OSC Business meeting agenda.

Cabinet members could be invited to future meetings for discussion of items of interest.

The next special meeting of OSC will take place on Thursday 26 July 2018 to hear from the Leader of the Council about her plans/ visions.

To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 June 2018.

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on the 12 June 2018.

Members raised a further question on Genotin Road in addition to those detailed in the minutes of the 12 June 2018 that was relevant to the issues raised at this meeting. As follows:

“What will be the impact on businesses in Enfield given the number of empty shops should the Genotin Road car park close?”

It was agreed that this would be raised with officers for inclusion in the report going to Cabinet or covered verbally at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 25 July 2018.

                                                     ACTION: Susan O’Connell, Scrutiny Officer

To note the dates of future meetings as follows:

Provisional Call-Ins

Thursday 9 August, 2018

Thursday 13 September, 2018

Thursday 11 October, 2018

Thursday 8 November, 2018

Thursday 6 December, 2018

Thursday 20 December, 2018

Thursday 7 February 2019

Tuesday 12 March 2019

Tuesday 26 March, 2019

Thursday 11 April, 2019

Please note, the business meetings of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee will be held on:

Thursday 26 July 2018 (special OSC meeting to hear from the Leader of the Council about her plans/ visions)

Wednesday 5 September, 2018

Wednesday 7 November, 2018

Tuesday 12 February, 2019

Wednesday 3 April, 2019

The Overview & Scrutiny Budget Meeting will be held on:

Tuesday 15 January, 2019

NOTED the dates as follows

Provisional Call-Ins

Thursday 9 August, 2018

Thursday 13 September, 2018

Thursday 11 October, 2018

Thursday 8 November, 2018

Thursday 6 December, 2018

Thursday 20 December, 2018

Thursday 7 February 2019

Tuesday 12 March 2019

Tuesday 26 March, 2019

Thursday 11 April, 2019

The business meetings of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to be held on:

Wednesday 5 September, 2018

Wednesday 7 November, 2018

Tuesday 12 February, 2019

Wednesday 3 April, 2019

The Overview & Scrutiny Budget Meeting will be held on:

Tuesday 15 January, 2019

Councillor Levy thanked everyone for attending the meeting.