Agenda item

Scott Tompkins stated that there were 54 key business measures in the report, 11 of which are covered by the committee. Five were on track, four were not and two are not reported on until the end of the year. One of these two areas is road conditions which was expected to be on track as the council received good results from the recent National Highways Survey. The other one of the two is journeys on public transport which is not on track but this was following the national trend of fewer bus passengers cross-country due to Covid-19. Crime rate figures, especially burglaries, remain below expected levels due to home working and they were below the 2021 levels. Not on track was the unemployment rate which rose to 4.4% due to the pandemic and labour market issues which was in line with national figures, the national average was 5.2%; the percentage of residents in work aged 16 to 64 was 4.7% higher than the national average due to Warwickshire’s high tourism rate. Household waste being recycled/reused dropped from 51% to 47%; this was likely caused by the introduction of the green waste charging in North Warwickshire and Stratford. The percentage of biodiversity net gains in Warwickshire remained static.

In response to Councillor Fradgley, Scott Tompkins could not confirm but believed cybercrime in Warwickshire would have followed the national trend and increased. However, cybercrime officers within the Trading Standards team had been doing a lot of work on online scams. Councillor Fradgley requested statistics on these figures.

Councillor Andy Crump (Portfolio Holder – Fire, Rescue & Community Safety) added that the Trading Standards team has cybercrime advisers that provide regular updates, and they issue these updates on social media to spread awareness. He stated that councillors have a duty to protect the vulnerable who are more likely to be exploited. Community Safety will realign resources to tackle serious crime and there will be a new duty under the Serious Crime Bill and money will be set aside to try and discourage people young people being enticed into county lines. Domestic violence was another concern and it was important that people know the hotline number (0808 2000 247 and 0800 408 552). He concluded that violence impacts all aspects of life and more work was needed despite numbers being down.

In response to Councillor Sinclair, Scott Tompkins stated that the 54 key business measures were brought in in the Council Plan and these replaced the initial 73. Councillor Sinclair asked for information on how these measures were changed[1].  

Following a supplementary from Councillor Sinclair, David Ayton-Hill stated that the waste team run several promotions on a waste composting and run courses telling people how to do it. Discounted compost bins are offered everything is pushed via social media and waste education work.

Councillor Chilvers informed the committee that he was informed by officers that purchase of home composters increased a lot and they were happy with the progress.

In response to Councillor Chilvers, Scott Tompkins said that he would get someone from the ecology team to write a briefing note on biodiversity.

In response to Councillor Pandher, Councillor Crump stated that the Warwickshire Safety Partnership get details on where the money has been spent what has been achieved. A community safety survey is done annually to see how safe residents how safe they feel and what improvements were needed. Money is received from central government so the successes from this money being spent is reported back to them. This feedback could be shared with the committee if requested. Councillor Sinclair supported this idea. The Chair suggested that this be a briefing note. Scott Tompkins suggested that the minutes from the Safer Warwickshire Partnership meeting be shared with the committee as this would cover the update on the Safer Streets Funding.