Agenda item

Agenda item

Begging and people who beg in the city centre

Report of the Strategic Director (Strategic Development) and the Chief Operating Officer (Neighbourhoods)

 

This report provides information on the proactive partnership work on begging being undertaken.

 

 

Minutes:

[Councillor Hacking declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in this item, due to his partner being employed by Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH), left the room, and took no part in discussions. Councillor Evans was nominated Chair in his absence and chaired the meeting for this item only.]

 

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Strategic Development) and the Chief Operating Officer (Neighbourhoods) which provided information on the proactive partnership work that was being undertaken in relation to begging.

 

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

 

  • The context;
  • Begging in Manchester;
  • The emerging intelligence picture; and
  • Next steps.

 

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

 

  • That the data on the age of people begging in the city centre focused on those between the ages of 26 and 45, whereas those outside that age range were likely to need more support, and to request further information on the younger and older age groups;
  • What was being done to improve the way the Council and GMP supported and motivated individuals who were begging to seek support and change their lives;
  • The difficulty of separating the issues of rough sleeping and begging and the importance of scrutinising these two issues together, even though they fell within the remit of different scrutiny committees;
  • Whether there was evidence of organised begging run by gangmasters; and
  • What was the impact of the Big Change initiative, which encouraged the public to donate to a fund which provided people facing homelessness with practical items to support a long-term change.

 

The City Centre Public Services Manager informed Members that approximately 10% of those begging were under the age of 26.  She reported that numbers diminished after the age of 55 because of the range of support services available to older people.  She informed the Committee that young people who were begging were asked what support they needed and signposted to services and that, where there were safeguarding concerns, appropriate referrals were made.  She advised Members that most of the young people who were begging were already known to officers working in this area. 

 

The City Centre Public Services Manager reported that the Council and GMP had already made significant progress in making their systems work more effectively and in an integrated way to address the issue of begging and how individuals could be supported to change their lives.  She reported that the criminal justice system was used where individuals refused to accept offers of help to change their behaviour and that officers had been working with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Probation Service to encourage the use of sentencing options such as a requirement to attend drug rehabilitation services, which could positively change the individual’s behaviour, rather than just issuing a fine.  Chief Inspector Cherie Buttle from GMP reported that the police had four officers in the city centre dedicated to dealing with rough sleeping and begging and that all officers received training on this.  She advised Members that the first approach was to signpost the individual to appropriate services.  She reported that enforcement was also used where appropriate but that those brought into custody were also signposted to services and the focus was on breaking the cycle of begging.

 

The Community Safety Lead reported that there was not currently much evidence in relation to organised begging in Manchester but that work had recently started under Programme Challenger, Greater Manchester’s partnership approach to tackling serious organised crime, to gather information on this. 

 

PC David Fisher from GMP reported that over £250,000 have been distributed so far by the Big Change.  He reported that the public was being encouraged to donate to the Big Change, rather than giving money to beggars on the street, and that the money was used to help keep people at risk of homelessness off the streets, for example, providing clothing and other items they needed to gain and maintain employment.   The Deputy Leader advised  that more needed to be done to communicate the positive impact of Big Change to the public and that he would take this forward, in conjunction with the Council’s Communications Team.

 

Decision

 

To request a further report on begging and rough sleeping, noting that this spans the remit of two scrutiny committees whose Members should have the opportunity to scrutinise it.  To request that this report include further information in response to Members’ comments, in particular further information on the work to gather evidence in relation to organised begging.

 

[Councillor S Murphy declared a personal interest as a trustee of MASH.]

 

Supporting documents: