Minutes:
Question 1
From Councillor Choudhury
“Will the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration provide a progress update on the installation of a new 50 metre swimming pool at Becontree Leisure Centre?”
Response
The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration advised that hoardings were due to go up around the site shortly with groundworks starting before Christmas. The pool development was on track to be completed in June 2018.
Question 2
From Councillor Freeborn
“Will the relevant Cabinet Member update the Assembly on what progress is being made to stop illegal Traveller encampments from blighting our borough?”
Response
Following on from the Leader’s comments earlier in the meeting, the Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety advised that as part of the Councils ongoing efforts to promote civic pride and social responsibility, it had successfully obtained an injunction at the High Court to prevent illegal encampment of 140 named sites in the borough and against 23 named individuals preventing them from setting up an illegal encampment anywhere in the borough.
The injunction was for an indefinite period and combined two powers, the power of arrest and contempt of court.
Question 3
From Councillor Haroon
“Can the relevant Cabinet Member explain how the Council’s customer service performance is being monitored to ensure our residents receive better quality responses?”
Response
The Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Development advised that customers were surveyed when calling the Contact Centre and when visiting the One Stop Shop. The latest data for October gave a satisfaction level of 89% against the target level of 85%. Satisfaction levels were also monitored through complaints and Members’ casework.
Supplementary Question
In response to Councillor Haroon’s follow-up enquiry, the Cabinet Member advised that the monitoring process was last revised approximately 18 months ago.
Question 4
From Councillor Miah
“Can the Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement tell the Assembly how much money has been raised for good causes in the borough through the new Barking and Dagenham Lottery?”
Response
The Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement advised that sales for the B&D Lottery had already reached 849 tickets a week. Based on that number, the B&D Lottery would raise £26,488.80 for good causes by October 2018, which would be distributed amongst the 23 approved ‘good causes’ groups currently registered.
Question 5
From Councillor Haroon
“Can the Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety outline what the Council is doing to reduce the number of acid attacks in the borough?”
Response
The Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety expressed concern that London, and in particular the east of the City, had emerged as a hot spot for acid attacks and confirmed thatthe Council had actively lobbied the Government to ban the sale of corrosive substances to under 18’s. The Home Secretary subsequently announced the Government’s intentions to implement new controls.
The Cabinet Member also confirmed that Council was working with the Police to bring offenders to justice and was considering what action could be taken against perpetrators who were Council tenants.
Supplementary Question
Councillor Haroon enquired as to what other initiatives the Council and Police were undertaking.
The Cabinet Member advised that other key initiatives included extra training for officers, acid crime now being incorporated within the current remit for Police knife crime operations, improvements to first aid equipment carried in Police vehicles and work in schools to explain the consequences of using corrosive substances as a weapon.
Question 6
From Councillor Freeborn
“Will the relevant Cabinet Member update the Assembly on the Council’s plans to develop London’s first Youth Zone?”
Response
The Leader advised that there had been a delay due to the complexities of the planning application, however those issues had now been addressed and work was due to start at the beginning of January 2018, with an expectation that the Youth Zone would be open around February 2019.