Community Protection Information Bulletin — Issue No. 25, September 2005
Departmental Matters
Keeping Services Running
Both at a departmental and corporate level, our Emergency Planning Unit have taken on the lead role of introducing Business Continuity Management to the Council.
Introduced as a duty within the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, all local authorities are required to ensure they are able to carry on their main core services to the community in the event of an emergency or other disruptive circumstances. Such circumstances could include terrorist attack, or more common events such as fires, floods, utility failure, or adverse effects on staffing levels due to flu or industrial dispute.
Risk assessments, the identification of critical services and plans to assist departments in ensuring essential services continue during adverse conditions are currently being undertaken.
In future, the Council will also be responsible for encouraging other agencies and the private sector to undertake Business Continuity Management as part of improving community resilience.
Environmental Health and Trading Standards
Town Centre Tippers
As the new team dealing with fly-tipping begin to make an impact they have become aware of problems caused by some traders in Wigan and Leigh town centres.
The majority of traders dispose of their waste properly by having contracts with the Council’s Cleansing Service, or private contractors. We have found however that some traders don’t have any arrangement for waste disposal. Some fly-tip in back alleys or on spare land, others simply place their rubbish in black bags and put it on the pavement in the expectation that the Council will remove it.
Consequently initiatives in both Wigan and Leigh town centres will focus on those traders whose fly-tipping causes problems. The fly-tipping team have already successfully liaised with Central Watch to make use of the video surveillance networks in the town centres. Some offenders were quickly caught on video and identified. Enforcement action will now be taken against them.
The use of video surveillance will continue alongside a proactive approach which will see many traders contacted to provide them with the right advice to help them dispose of their waste safely, and stay within the law.
Offenders should be aware that fly-tipping is an arrestable offence which, on conviction, carries a maximum fine of £50,000 plus up to five years in prison.
For reporting instances of fly tipping, please telephone the Street Care Helpline (Engineering Services) on 404364.
Vacant and Derelict Commercial Properties
The security and safety of vacant and derelict commercial properties can be a problems at any time of the year, but becomes increasingly problematic in July and August, during school holidays.
Whilst not all break ins can be attributed to children and young adults looking for ‘adventure playgrounds’, unfortunately many can.
Any vacant or derelict building is potentially dangerous and very often the level of vandalism increases this potential. The Department has responded to a number of complaints this summer and has had to serve Notices and where necessary, carry out work in default, at considerable expense to secure buildings to prevent nuisance and self harm.
New Air Quality Management Areas
New Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA’s) are about to be declared in the borough.
The first AQMA was made in 2001, and identified areas of the borough where the air quality objective for the pollutant nitrogen dioxide was at risk of not being met. This still remains the case in 2005.
The main source of local pollution is from road traffic and therefore it is not surprising that all the AQMA lies in the vicinity of principal traffic routes within the borough. The position is the same for all the Greater Manchester authorities, and therefore the Council is working with these authorities to implement measures to try and address this situation.
The Greater Manchester Air Quality Action Plan was produced in 2004 and sets out the main actions for the area and also lists local measures planned for Wigan. This document will however shortly be surpassed as due to the predominance of traffic pollution; the bulk of the plan is being incorporated into the Local Transport Plan.
The Environmental Protection Section has been particularly active over the past 12 months producing various air quality documents for DEFRA. These include the Review and Assessment and a Local Air Quality Management Progress Report.
The section has also been working with colleagues in the Licensing Section regarding a review of taxi licensing policy aiming to reduce exhaust emissions, and with colleagues in the Planning and Regeneration Department to introduce new planning air quality guidance.
In addition to this, the air quality monitoring station at the Deanery High School has become part of the national network and a new station (relocated from Leigh Police Station) should shortly be set up to operate from Kennedy House.
If you would like to see any of the documents mentioned, or require further information on AQMA, please contact Paul Cartmell on Extension 2075.
AMEC - Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign
A major crackdown on underage drinking in Wigan has followed new research which reveals that 58% of local 14-17 year olds illegally drink alcohol each week.
The two month enforcement campaign is being driven locally by Trading Standards and will see anyone who looks under 21 challenged to prove their age when buying alcohol. Retailers and licensees who fail to make the checks which replace the traditional practice of checking the age of customers who look under 18 may lose the defence of having taken reasonable steps to prevent underage sales if prosecuted.
The move has been prompted by a survey of nearly 13,000 teenagers across the North West, which shows that 40% of underage drinkers buy their own alcohol, most often from off licenses, pubs and clubs. The survey was commissioned earlier this year by Trading Standards North West ("TSNW"), the regional group of which Wigan is a member. (The regional Underage Sales Focus Group is currently chaired by Wigan.)
The results in Wigan show that 58% of under 18s drink alcohol at least once a week, 23% one to two times a month, 13% drink it only once every two to 12 months, and just 6% never drink alcohol. The survey also shows that 35% of young people in the borough claim to buy their own alcohol.
Among the shock findings to emerge across the North West are that:-
- 53% of children aged 14 to 17 say they drink alcohol at least once a week, compared with just 12% who say they never drink.
- 40% of young people claim they buy their own alcohol, despite the fact that it is illegal.
- Of those buying their own alcohol, 70% say they get it from off licenses, 58% from pubs and 40% from nightclubs. One in three claim they have been illegally sold alcohol by supermarkets.
- 45% of young people say they spend up to £10 on alcohol each week, and 16% say they spend more than £11.
- The most popular place for young people to drink is on the streets or in parks (29%), followed by pubs (26%) and nightclubs (16%).
The decision to introduce a blanket policy of introducing ID checks for those trying to buy alcohol who look younger than 21 has been made, as the North West’s second alcohol misuse enforcement campaign begins. It has been timed to coincide with the start of the school holidays when enforcement agencies expect the number of alcohol related incidents involving under 18s to rise.
The results of Wigan's high profile Trading Standards enforcement work over the summer will be shared, via TSNW and Government Office North West, with the Home Office, and will of course also be reported locally.
Urban Renewal
Living Proof - Standards For Housing In Wigan Rise
Housing conditions in Wigan are significantly better than the national average, a major independent report has revealed.
The vast majority of homes meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard and the authority has achieved government targets ahead of schedule according to the results of the borough’s latest housing condition survey.
Every five years the Council commissions a housing condition survey of the borough. It looks at the condition of housing and records householders’ views about their homes and the areas they live in.
Earlier this year the Council appointed independent Leigh based consultants, Michael Howard Associates, to conduct the latest survey. They surveyed 2,413 randomly selected homes using government methodology.
The main findings are:
- Decent Homes Standard: 82.4% of all homes meet the Decent Homes Standard, compared with 62% nationally.
- Fitness Standard: 97.9% of homes are fit, compared to 95.8% nationally.
- Empty Homes: 97.4% of homes are occupied, compared with 97 per cent nationally.
- Energy Efficiency: The average SAP rating for homes in the borough is 59 compared to 51 nationally.
| Survey |
1996 |
2000 |
2005 |
|---|---|---|---|
Fit (%) |
92 |
95 |
97.9 |
Occupied (%) |
95 |
97 |
97.4 |
Energy Efficient (%) |
42 |
73.6 |
93 |
Bonding the Borough
Wigan Council through Wigan Homelessness Forum has launched its very own bond scheme. This scheme is aimed at helping people who are disadvantaged by the current housing situation in the borough.
The increasing numbers of homeless presentations combined with rising house prices mean that many people on lower incomes cannot resolve their own housing situation. They cannot afford to buy a property and there is a massive demand for social housing. Private landlords require a financial bond or deposit from new tenants and for many people this can act as a barrier to them being able to access tenancies in the private rented market.
The scheme will offer bonds to private landlords in the form of a written guarantee rather than actual cash amount, and support will be offered to both tenants and landlords to make the tenancy a success. Through a partnership with Unify Credit Union, tenants will be encouraged to save a realistic weekly amount so that in the future they can provide their own bond to landlords. All landlords taking part in the scheme will be expected to be accredited or be working towards the landlord’s accreditation.
Wigan Bond Scheme, funded through Community Protection Department, was launched on 19th August 2005, at an extremely well attended event at JJB, Wigan. Bob Saunders chaired the event and guest speakers included Neil Turner MP, Louise Atherton - Bond Scheme Worker – and representatives from North West Landlords Association.
If you would like to know more about Wigan Bond Scheme, please contact Michelle Feeney, Housing Policy Officer.
Community Safety
Community Safety Take Up The Challenge
Wigan has become a pilot area for a new Government idea called a Local Area Agreement (LAA). Whilst this covers several areas of the Council’s work, one major part is that of ‘Safe and Secure Communities’.
The aim of the LAA is to get more and better results by encouraging Councils and their partners to work together, create new and more effective ways of doing things, and especially involve local communities in everything they do. To help we get some pump priming money up front, greater freedoms and flexibility in funding, and a reward grant if we achieve agreed targets.
For ‘Safe and Secure Communities’ we are committed to achieve the following targets over the next 3 years:-
- Reducing overall crime by 35%;
- Reducing house burglary by 30%;
- Reducing the number of people who think anti social behaviour is a big or very big problem by 15%;
- Increasing successes in drug treatment by 15%.
A pretty tall order perhaps, but we think we can do it and already we are moving in the right direction.
Our progress will be monitored both within the Department and Council, but also by Government Office.
Watch this space for updates on the challenge.