Agenda item

Agenda item

Compliance and Enforcement Service - Performance in 2017/18

Report of the Chief Operating Officer – Neighbourhoods

 

This report provides Members with an update on demand for and performance of the Compliance and Enforcement service during 2017/18.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Operating Officer, Neighbourhoods that provided Members with an update on demand for and performance of the Compliance and Enforcement service during 2017/18. The report also provided information on the activities undertaken around enforcement in relation to double yellow line tickets; obstruction of the highways; hot food providers’ waste contracts and how these are policed; enforcement activity undertaken by the Licensing and Out of Hours Compliance Team outside of the city centre area; tackling counterfeit goods, with particular reference to the Strangeways area; planning enforcement and legislation relating to the operation of Airbnb.

 

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

 

·         A description on the various teams that made up the Compliance and Enforcement service;

·         Comparative data on the number of requests for service received and the number of proactive activities undertaken;

·         An analysis of the main types of complaint received;

·         Information on the number of enforcement action taken, including data on prosecutions; and

·         Examples were provided to highlight the various activities and the outcomes achieved by the various teams.

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

 

·         Welcoming the reported activities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for flytipping;

·         Noting the increase in prosecutions particularly for flytipping and querying how this has been achieved and how the total amount of fines compares to previous years.

·         Noting the increase in noise nuisance complaints particularly in relation to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and querying whether the fees raised from the extension to Mandatory HMO licensing provided additional resources for enforcement.;

·         Noting that London Authorities had powers to require businesses to comply with strict time banded collections, which only allowed the collection of commercial waste at defined times and whether this could be introduced in Manchester city centre;

·         Would enforcement action be taken if someone parked on a double yellow line that was faded;

·         In recognition of the issues surrounding the Strangeways area, consideration should be given to having a dedicated officer dealing with this area;

·         What is the process for moving from working with people and businesses to achieve compliance to more formal action when they fail to comply; and

·         With the increase in development there were a lot of issues related to the construction industry and what was being done to address this.

 

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods stated that the compliance teams had adopted the Our Manchester approach to work with residents and businesses to improve the physical environment. He said that officers would always work with businesses in the first instance to address any issues associated with commercial waste, however accepted the point raised by a Member that in some instances enforcement action was required sooner to prevent an issue from escalating.

 

The Strategic Lead, Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety welcomed the recognition of the work undertaken by the Environmental Crimes Team to drive the number of prosecutions. She explained that where prosecutions are secured the fines imposed by the courts go to the treasury rather than the local authority but we are generally awarded the costs we have incurred from taking the prosecution forward. She further explained it is important to prosecute e.g. fly tipping offences and publicise the outcomes as it sends out the clear message that this anti-social behaviour would not be tolerated.  

 

She explained that licensing of HMOs is self-financing. In respect of dealing with noise complaints the licensing and out of hours’ team take action to deal with this and having a team that concentrates on areas outside of the city centre has enabled more effective action to be taken including noise from HMOs.

 

In response to the comments made regarding replicating the powers that London Authorities had in relation to the collection of commercial waste the Strategic Lead, Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety said that Manchester, as part of the Core Cities Group were currently working together including meeting with civil servants to seek similar powers for core cities.

 

In response to the comments made regarding replicating the powers that London Authorities had in relation to the collection of commercial waste the Strategic Lead, Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety said that Manchester, as part of the Core Cities Group were currently lobbying central government.

 

The Strategic Lead, Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety acknowledged the comments made regarding the Strangeway area stating that the issues are long standing and entrenched. She described that the Council had used Closure Order powers to disrupt criminal and anti-social behaviour and work is ongoing with a range of partners to target properties and prosecute individuals. She explained that due to the sensitivity of this activity it would be appropriate to provide a briefing note to Members regarding planned activities.

 

The Strategic Lead, Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety further commented that it will be through redevelopment of the area that real and lasting change would be achieved.

 

In response to the question asked regarding double yellow lines, the Head of Citywide Highways explained that a judgement would always be made by officers as to the justification for issuing a penalty notice. He said that officers always needed to witness an offence taking place and photographic evidence was taken to support the penalty.

 

The Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing informed Members that her department worked closely with developers to minimise and mitigate the worst impacts on local residents. She described that this was achieved by agreeing a development management plan and working closely with colleagues in the Environmental Protection Team.

 

Decision

 

The Committee recommends that a briefing note on the planned activities for the Strangeways area be prepared by officers and circulated to members of the Committee.

 

Supporting documents: