Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

To provide an update on demand for and performance of the Compliance and Enforcement service during 2020/21 including an overview of the service’s activities in support of the Council’s response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The report also provides a forward look at challenges and future workload pressures as a result of changes to legislation, policy and areas of growth that will have an impact on the work carried out by Compliance and Enforcement teams.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided an update on demand for and performance of the Compliance and Enforcement Service during 2020/21 including an overview of the service’s activities in support of the Council’s response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The report also provided a forward look at challenges and future workload pressures as a result of changes to legislation, policy and areas of growth that would have an impact on the work carried out by Compliance and Enforcement teams.

The main points and themes within the report included:

• Overall demand;
• Proactive activity;
• Formal enforcement action;
• COVID-19 response;
• Current challenges and future workload;
• Neighbourhood compliance;
• Food Health and Safety and Airport Team;
• Trading Standards;
• Housing;
• Licensing Out of Hours Team; and
• Environmental Protection Team.

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

• Obstructions on the pavement, such as fruit and vegetable displays and shop signs, and what was being done to address this;
• Cars parking on the pavement;
• To request more information on the review of the approach to inspecting licensed premises;
• Enforcement action against non-Blue Badge holders parking in spaces for Blue Badge holders;
• That the Council should publicise the enforcement action it took to address issues affecting residents;
• Plans in response to the motion passed by Council the previous week relating to drink spiking;
• That there was a perception that enforcement activity was not undertaken consistently and equally across all wards;
• Praise from Members about Compliance Officers within their wards and for the service’s work during the pandemic; and
• That there should be a more joined up approach between the Council and Biffa on contaminated bins.

The Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety advised that many businesses owned space in front of their shops and were entitled to use it but, where shop were encroaching onto and obstructing the pavement, her service would take enforcement action.  She reported that, where cars were parked in contravention of yellow lines or other traffic regulations, Parking Services would take enforcement action; however, if this was not the case, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) would need to decide whether an obstruction was being caused and, if so, take action.  The Chair advised that Councillors needed to have clear information on which service was responsible for these kinds of issues, including the issue of parking in cycleways, so that they could report issues that were raised with them and empower residents to report these themselves.  He also expressed concern that these issues were not being enforced to the extent that Members would like and asked the Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety to raise this with Parking Services.  The Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety advised that she would also raise the issue of the enforcement of Blue Badge parking spaces with Parking Services.  In response to a Member’s question, she advised that there was no legislation which prevented people from parking their cars on residential streets close to Manchester Airport while they went on holiday.

The Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety informed the Committee that the Licensing Out of Hours Team had focused its resources on visiting premises which they had received the highest level of complaints about so some premises had not been visited for a number of years; however, she advised that a programme of inspections was now being put in place to ensure that every licensed premises would be inspected at some point.  In response to a question about Martyn’s Law, proposed legislation to improve event security following the Manchester Arena bombing, she advised that, although this was not law yet, new premises were encouraged to have these conditions included on their license.  A Member recognised the hard work of officers in progressing Martyn’s Law, which he hoped would become legislation within the next year or two, and reported that most clubs and premises in Manchester had undertaken some form of counter terrorism training.

In response to a Member’s question, the Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety advised that, when taking enforcement action, enforcement officers had to demonstrate that they had first taken reasonable steps to get the person to comply, even if Ward Councillors felt that they had already tried this before referring the issue to her service.  She advised that in many cases educating the person or warning them that enforcement action could be taken against them was enough to persuade them to comply.  In response to a Member’s concern that residents were struggling to get issues addressed until they involved their Ward Councillor, she asked the Member to contact her about any specific examples so that she could look into this.  She advised that the response to enforcement was the same across the city, although communities in some areas were more likely to report issues than in other areas.  She informed Members that her service provided Ward Councillors with information on enforcement activity through Ward Co-ordination and that Committee Members could be provided with a breakdown of the activity taking place.

The Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety reported that she had been speaking to the Communications Team about publicising enforcement activity which had been taken via social media.  She advised that, where formal enforcement action was taken, the service asked for press releases to be issued, although whether this was reported in the press would depend on whether it was a busy news day.  She advised that her service had been providing information and advice to bars on drink spiking and that there was a group being set up at a Greater Manchester level to look at this issue.

In response to a Member’s questions about the Clean Air Zone, the Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety advised that her service contributed to but did not lead on this work and that she did not anticipate that officers would struggle with this additional work but that she would come back to the Member with further information.  She informed the Committee that she would look into the issue that a Member had raised about contaminated bins.  In response to a Member’s question, she outlined the work taking place in the Strangeways area as part of Operation Magpie, advising that there was an ongoing sustained commitment from the Council and partner agencies to addressing these issues.

Decision

To request that Ward Councillors be provided with information on who is responsible for the enforcement of different kinds of parking issues, including parking on cycleways, and what regulations are being breached in these different situations.