Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sally Taylor and Omid Miri. 

Councillor Andrew Dinsmore who intended to join remotely could not do so due to technical issues.

The Chair noted that the meeting was inquorate and there was no livestreaming.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting on 20 November 2024 as an accurate record.

The approval of the minutes of the meeting on 20 November 2024 would be deferred to the next meeting.

This report provides PAC with an update following the previous meeting focusing on work of the Law Enforcement Team for the six months between June and December 2024.

Mo Basith (LET Manager) introduced the work of the Law Enforcement Team (LET) for the six months between June and December 2024, including the work of the borough-wide Street Harassment Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), the commissioning of drugs and alcohol treatment providers, tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB), prevention of knife crimes and joint enforcement against fly-tipping.

Neil Thurlow (Director of Public Protection) highlighted LET’s engagement and work with H&F’s residents and referred to residents’ compliments (pages 14 & 16).

Referring to the graph on Street Population (Engagement/Referral) (page 24), the Chair asked about engagement with homeless people, in particular those rough sleepers around the Hammersmith border areas. 

Mo Basith noted a trend where people who were expecting stamped documents from their embassy would sleep on nearby streets to obviate the need of travelling back and forth. The LET had worked closely with the Council’s Homelessness Team and removed the homeless people from the streets to, for example, emergency accommodation according to Severe Weather Emergency Protocol or accommodation that met their individual needs.  Neil Thurlow clarified that the figures on the graph did not represent the number of rough sleepers but the number of headcounts engaged in that month so there might be multiple counts for the same individual.

The Chair asked about actions taken to enhance the safety of Normand Park such as improvements to the lighting.   Mark Raisbeck (Director of Public Realm) noted a recent survey had been carried out by an independent lighting specialist who looked at the safety and security of the Park. It was confirmed that there was a good level supply of lighting which had spread into most of the footpaths at reasonable levels. There was also extensive CCTV coverage.  A review would soon be conducted in conjunction with the Police’s crime unit to see if additional lighting and CCTV should be provided at specific locations or other measures such as re-designing the path and/or re-locating facilities needed to be done to reduce crimes.

On the big highlights of the past year, Neil Thurlow noted some of the key achievements including the increasing levels of drugs being removed and the number of knives being found.  The LET had received other boroughs’ enquiries about ways to manage the public space and requests for visits.  Besides, LET officers would continue supporting the safety of colleagues working on the Hammersmith Bridge and enhancing the security of the streets near the football clubs.    

Regarding the Chair’s enquiry about staff recruitment and training, Neil Thurlow said the LET’s staffing situation was now stable after experiencing some movement around the management at ward level.  As a sizable service, it was natural for LET to always carry vacancies.  The constant openings were promoted through more inclusive adverts and in social media.  Besides strengthening vetting to recruit suitable officers, the LET also encouraged them to take on more works when there were opportunities so that their expertise and experience could be retained and built on in taking up more senior positions.  Mo Basith  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This report provides an update on the overall preparation and proposals for the 2025/26 revenue budget, risks, financial resilience, and the impact of those proposals.

This report also sets out the budget proposals for the services covered by this Policy and Accountability Committee.

Councillor Rowan Ree (Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform) gave an overview of the 2025/26 Revenue Budget, including the operating environment, additional central government funding and objectives of the financial strategy. He also briefed members on the budget headlines, the provisional settlement of the draft budget and departmental service allocations, the investment and savings proposals, council tax considerations and residual risks in 2025/26.  He further highlighted the earmarked reserves forecast and medium-term financial forecast showing the estimated budget gap until 2028/29 as well as the MTFS for 2026/27+. He said the Revenue Budget would be presented to the Cabinet and Full Council later this month having completed all briefings of the Policy and Accountability Committees and Policy Oversight Board. Councillor Ree expressed his gratitude to all Cabinet Members and officers who had worked professionally going through the budgets line by line to make sure every penny counted. Their brilliance efforts shall continue in maintaining the balanced budget in future statements of accounts throughout the years.

Kellie Gooch (Head of Finance – Place) gave a presentation on the budget relevant to this PAC, including the achievements in the past year, the key budget changes in investment (in respect of VAWG, LET, GVEU, digital inclusion strategy and inflationary uplift) and savings as well as the budget risks.

NOTE: The presentation slides are attached in Appendices A & B

The Chair asked the following question on behalf of Councillor Andrew Dinsmore:

“My key question is that I have not been provided with a copy of the full accounts so I cannot ascertain what has been cut from the general budget to feed into SICS PAC or whether all of the increase is due to additional revenue from the 2.99% increase in council tax? I would be grateful if a copy of the accounts and/or an explanation on this point could be provided.” 

Councillor Ree noted that Cllr Dinsmore seemed to be a little confused about the process, as the budget was a forward-looking document for the financial year ahead, whereas the accounts were published at the end of the financial year. He pointed out the relevant budget information was all available in the report and presentation he had just given. He said he was happy to provide the information in writing if necessary. At this juncture, Councillor Lucy Richardson expressed her appreciation on the impressive balanced budget in particular the investment in housing.

Noting that the additional external income for CCTV services amounted to £30,000, the Chair sought elaboration. Councillor Ree remarked that the request of Westminster City Council to use the services did reflect the high regard of the current user of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). He noted H&F’s CCTV network was very impressive and recommended members to pay a visit to the control room when there was an opportunity.  Councillor Ree said the Council was keen to explore and generate further revenue from the CCTV services.

Councillor Richardson referred to the efficiency savings and asked about how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the following dates of future meetings:

·       30 April 2025

·       17 June 2025

·       18 Nov 2025

·       27 Jan 2026

·       27 April 2026

·       16 June 2026

The Committee noted the Forward Plan: </AI6>

• 30 April 2025

-        Violence Against Women and Girls spotlight

-        Gangs, Violence and Exploitation Unit spotlight

• 17 June 2025

-        Annual Report of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

• 18 Nov 2025

-        Drugs Strategy

-        Police Scrutiny

• 27 Jan 2026 (subsequently changed to 2 Feb 2026)
• 27 April 2026
• 16 June 2026