Agenda item

To consider a draft Corporate Enforcement Policy to inform the final version being considered by Full Council in July.

Members considered the Corporate Enforcement Policy report, presented by Councillor Mrs Laws.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows;

1.    Councillor Boden thanked officers for the report and said it was very useful to have the amendments shown as track changes. He referred to point 2.2 of Appendix A of the report and asked that printed format should still be provided where necessary. Richard Cassidy agreed to this.

2.    Councillor Owen asked for further information on the protected groups listed on page 61 of the Agenda Pack and why these must be included in the report. Sarah Gove confirmed that these fall under the Equality Act and Richard Cassidy clarified that the Council must demonstrate that they have considered and protected these individual’s rights under the Equality Act.  

3.    Councillor Boden asked officers to amend the wording on page 56 of the Agenda Pack relating to Statutory Notices as ’any other justifiable reason’ is too broad and could be open to abuse. Richard Cassidy explained that by including this phrase, it covers any examples that may not have been listed. Councillor Booth agreed with the wording as it prevents the policy being bought back to Council to amend in the future. Councillor Count suggested the wording be amended to ‘any other deemed breech to which the Statutory Notice applies’. Richard Cassidy agreed to consider this however ‘justifiable’ needs to be included in the event of a Court case.

4.    Councillor Boden asked for clarification on page 57 of the Agenda Pack. Richard Cassidy confirmed that the top section titled ’Any other justifiable reason’ should be a separate note and agreed to look at the formatting.

5.    Councillor Booth asked if the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in Wisbech needs to be added to 3.1 of Appendix A. Richard Cassidy said the list was not exhaustive as legislation changes constantly hence why the examples given are generalised.

6.    Councillor Count reiterated the usefulness of public consultation feedback prior to the Committee. He asked if the charges associated to Statutory Notices on 2.3 of Appendix A, could be applied to any other areas in the Council. Richard Cassidy said this depends on legislation and generally the Council can recover any additional costs through the Courts once a Statutory Notice has been served. Councillor Count suggested that this plan should form part of the Council’s Corporate Strategy. Richard Cassidy agreed to consider this in the Corporate Plan next year.

7.    Councillor Count asked why there were no specified locations mentioned in point 3.1 of Appendix A. Richard Cassidy confirmed that the locations are not specified as this will allow the Council to make any amendments to where parking controls apply without having to amend the policy.

8.    Councillor Count asked if the wording could be changed in relation to the 5.5 of Appendix A. Richard Cassidy said guidance relating to this is set by the Home Office and the wording relates to the statutory meaning of Formal Cautions.

9.    Councillor Booth asked if the Equality Impact Assessment applies to this policy the same as the Housing Enforcement Policy. Richard Cassidy confirmed it did.

10.      Richard Cassidy highlighted to members the third bullet point on page 57 is missing the word ‘or’ and agreed to change this.