Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor C Thomas.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Economy and Investment Cabinet Advisory Committee held on 17 June 2015.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Economy and Investment Cabinet Advisory Committee held on 17 June 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Acting Chief Inspector Phil Thomas, South Wales Police provided a verbal update on the view of the Police on the current situation in relation to the Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP) included in the Authority’s Licensing Policy.

The Policy assisted in better management of certain areas.  However, Wind Street continued to be the hotspot, in particular Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings.  This resulted in a higher demand on Police resources, which could often take Officers away from other duties.

The “Help Point” set up in the Strand had proved to be very successful and had assisted approximately 850 people since September 2014.

He confirmed that the Police would continue to work in a multi-agency approach with the Local Authority, Health Board, etc as it currently did in order to support the Policy.

The Police would not currently be looking to extend the Policy to cover other areas, such as Uplands however, the situation would continue to be monitored closely and all Licensing applications would be dealt with on a case by case basis.

In conclusion, the Police would like to retain the current Policy for the City Centre as it stands.

The Committee then asked various questions which centred around certain licensing applications within the City Centre.  Acting Chief Inspector Thomas responded accordingly.

RESOLVED that:

1)         the content of discussions be noted;      

2)         up to date Crime & Disorder statistics, following on from the evidence provided  to support the implementation of the CIP,  be forwarded to the Committee.

The Trading Standards Divisional Officer provided a verbal update on the use and timescales of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

The new powers in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 will enable the Police, Councils and others to deal with people who behave anti-socially.  They provide maximum flexibility, allowing local agencies to work together to develop reasonable, proportionate and necessary responses to deal with anti-social behaviour.  The powers are:

·         Community protection notice

·         Dispersal power

·         Public spaces protection order (PSPO)

The aim in reforming the anti-social behaviour powers is to give the Police, Councils and others more effective means of protecting victims, not to penalise particular behaviours.  Frontline professionals must use the powers in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 responsibly and proportionately, and only where necessary to protect the public.

The Trading Standards Divisional Officer added that research had been carried out in one area as a pilot scheme, whereby local businesses had been consulted in relation to reports of Anti-social Behaviour.  The Police had been asked to review their activity logs from 1 May 2015 and submit the information, which was awaited.  Legal Services had also been consulted regarding the Authority’s powers, and had confirmed that it could be undertaken by delegated authority of the Director, who would authorise relevant officers to issue notices, once they had received the appropriate training.

RESOLVED that:

1)         the new powers be noted

2)         the Trading Standards Divisional Officer provide an update to the Committee at the next meeting.

The Chair presented the Work Programme for 2015-2016

RESOLVED that:

1)         the contents of the report be noted.

2)         remove Late night levy from the work plan as this has been included in discussions regarding the Cumulative Impact Policy;