Minutes:
June Goodchild
The Mayor
paid tribute to June Goodchild and sent his condolences to her family.
Covid
The Mayor
advised that infection rates were growing and the North East had one of the
highest rates of infections. The Mayor stated that the link between infection
rates, hospitalisation and death was breaking down.
He stated that there was still a link and everyone should still follow the
rules, but people should not be as fearful as they were, they should move
forward with cautious confidence, however everyone should be encouraged to have
the vaccination.
The Mayor
stated that Middlesbrough had a very young population
compared to the everywhere in the Tees Valley and the North East except Newcastle.
Vaccinations were generally being targeted at older people, and as a
consequence, Middlesbrough had carried out less
vaccinations on young people compared to other towns. The Mayor advised that
the people rolling out the vaccinations and the Public Health Team were working
hard to ensure that everyone that was entitled to, had access to vaccinations. Middlesbrough had some hard to reach people, and that there
was a link between deprivation and people not having the vaccine. He advised
that Middlesbrough had more deprivation than anywhere
in the North East and although it was a challenge, everything was being done to
ensure people were vaccinated.
Crime
The Mayor
advised that a meeting had been held with the new Police and Crime
Commissioner. The Mayor had been talking to residents and their view was that
dangerous crime was polluting the streets and intimidating the public and
trying to intimidate their rivals. This was not just an issue in Middlesbrough, it was a national and international problem.
Cleveland Police did not have as high an armed response compared to other
forces compared to the level of violent crime. The Mayor advised that he was
against arming the police. The Police needed to take control.
Anti-Social Behaviour
The Mayor
advised that he was embarrassed and ashamed at the state of some back alleys.
The state of the alleys was damaging mental health and investment in the town.
More cameras were due to be installed. The Mayor stated that in the past, Middlesbrough had not been tough enough in relation to the
enforcement against people carrying out fly-tipping. He referred to a recent
fly-tipping case where a vehicle suspected of being used to carry out
fly-tipping had been seized. There was now a dedicated fly-tipping squad to
enable more enforcement action to take place.
Children’s Services
The Mayor
advised that there had been historical issues with Middlesbough’s
Children’s Services which had resulted in it being the worst and most expensive
in the country.
The Mayor
advised that due to the hard work of staff the service had improved and all the
right steps were being taken to ensure continuous improvement.
Queen’s Jubilee
The Mayor
advised that it was the Queen’s Jubilee in 2022, and as part of the
celebrations, the Queen usually awarded “city status” to a number of towns. Middlesbrough had applied for city status a number of times
in the past, but had been unsuccessful.
The Mayor
advised that he was interested in applying, but it should be down to the people
of Middlesbrough, the stakeholders and the businesses
to decide whether Middlesbrough should apply for city
status. The initial response to a survey had indicated that most people would
support an application for city status. He advised that he and the Deputy Mayor
would be meeting the university, the college and the Northern school of arts
and other large employers to gain support for the bid. Councillors
would also have the opportunity to vote on the bid.
Councillor
McTigue advised that at the moment there was a reliance
on councillors to report fly-tipping. Councillor McTigue stated that
fly-tipping should be removed immediately, but at the moment, there did not
appear to be enough staff that were aware of where the hot spots were located.
The hot spots needed to be identified to staff so that they go out every other
day to inspect the areas. Councillor McTigue advised that she had sent the Mayor two photos of
instances of fly-tipping and she stated that it must have taken weeks for the
those areas to get into such a state. Councillor McTigue stated that although councillors
would continue to report instances of fly-tipping, there should not be a
reliance on them to do so.
The Mayor
advised that fly-tipping was an issue and he urged people to keep reporting any
instances to the Council.
In relation
to the proposed bid by the town for city status, Councillor
McTigue queried with regard to what the parameters
were in order for the town to bid for city status, what the cost would be and
what benefits it would bring to the town.
In terms of
bidding for city status, the Mayor advised that there was no requirement to
have a cathedral or a university, but the town needed to put a good case
forward to demonstrate how they would benefit from city status. The Mayor advised
that he would find out the costs, and would be willing to discuss the bid with
any councillor that was interested.
Councillor
Cooke referred to crime and he indicated that although he was in favour of enforcement, one of the things that was
concerning was the lack of support for victims. The PCC had removed the funding
for Newport’s Victim Care Advice and Support Officer. If the Council were
unable to find funding, the post would no longer exist from September 2021. Councillor Cooke stated that he would like to see the role
retained as people who were the victims of crime needed to be supported. The
current post holder was doing an excellent job and over the last two years had
saved many peoples’ lives. The importance of this role needed to be recognised by the police.
In terms of
reporting of fly-tipping, Councillor Cooke expressed
concern regarding the fact that reports of fly-tipping by Street Wardens were
not being treated as seriously as reports from councillors.
He requested that an audit be carried out in respect of fly-tipping identified
by wardens to see if fly-tipping identified with a Street Warden sticker was
being removed.
Councillor
M Storey stated that fly-tipping was becoming a real
issue within the ward because people were not willing to wait twelve weeks for
the free bulky waste collection service which resulted in fly-tipping. There
was currently over 500 outstanding fly-tipping cases, and Councillor
Storey stated that whilst he praised the efforts of
the fly-tipping squad and enforcement, there needed to be an audit to look into
how the fly-tipping and the bulky waste collection was functioning and to look
at how the Council could do it differently and whether it could be done in a
better way.
Councillor
Storey stated that he recognised
that there was a major problem with Children’s Services and officers had worked
really hard to resolve the issues. There were underlying social issues that had
caused these problems. Councillor Storey
stated that the Mayor had mentioned deprivation being a pressure. There had
been cuts to Sure Start and cuts to Public Sector Funding over many years. The
support for early help to prevent children being taken into care in the first
place was no longer there, so the council was having to deal with issues once
the children had already been taken into care. It would be much better to deal
with issues with children in the early stages to prevent them having to be
taken into care.
In terms of
the bid for “city
status”, Councillor Storey
advised that he would be very supportive of any bid, it was ambitious and Middlesbrough was just as important as any other city.
The Mayor
agreed that Children’s Services was a big challenge, the town had massive
deprivation. Other deprived areas did better than Middlesbrough.
The Mayor
advised that fly-tipping was a crime that affected people’s mental health and
it should not be linked with the bulky waste service. Middlesbrough
provided the bulky waste service for free.
Councillor
Higgins stated that fly-tipping was an issue faced by all councilors. More
staff were needed to deal with the issue. The staff currently employed for this
purpose were doing a great job, but more staff were needed.
The Mayor
stated that the problem in the past was that the Council hardly ever prosecuted
fly-tippers but there had been an increase in enforcement due to the new
fly-tipping flying squad. The Mayor stated that the team were doing an
incredible job and there was a new attitude from the Council in relation to
enforcement action against fly-tippers.
Councillor
McTigue queried whether cameras could be installed in
known hot spots.
The Mayor
advised that 100 new cameras had already been installed around the town at a
cost of £4000 each and it was agreed at Executive that additional cameras would
be purchased. Members should indicate if cameras were required within their
ward and this would be taken into consideration when placing the cameras. The
Mayor advised that cameras deterred crime, made residents feel safer and helped
catch criminals.