This meeting was scheduled to discuss a wide variety of topics, including an update on the council's Biodiversity Strategy, a report on the performance of the leisure centres, and an update on the council's approach to tackling crime. The meeting was also scheduled to consider Councillor Nadia Shah's annual report on the activities of the Voluntary Sector, Equalities, and Cohesion portfolio.

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Annual report of the Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities, and Cohesion

Councillor Nadia Shah, Camden Council's Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities and Cohesion¹, was scheduled to present her annual report to the Committee.

The report provides a broad overview of the work undertaken by the portfolio over the course of the year, and sets out the key priorities for the coming year. It begins by describing Camden's voluntary and community sector, which comprises over 2,400 organisations of different sizes and which delivers essential support to residents. Shah’s report praises the work of this sector, and describes the ways in which Camden has worked to support it. This includes launching the 'We Make Camden VCS Investment Programme', a seven-year commitment to provide £4 million annually to the voluntary and community sector.

The report goes on to describe a number of important initiatives and projects that were undertaken to support communities and address inequalities in the borough. Key areas of focus for this work included the response to the cost of living crisis, Camden's designation as a Borough of Sanctuary, and the Council's ongoing work with the Interfaith Network to build community cohesion.

A key part of Camden's work on equalities and community empowerment has been the expansion of Warm Spaces. The report highlights the vital role played by the Council's partners in the voluntary and community sector in managing 40% of these spaces. These spaces are a network of over 50 public venues across the borough where residents can go to keep warm, meet others, and access advice and support.

The report then describes the work that has been carried out to address equality and diversity in the borough, starting by reiterating the Council’s 'Diversity Mission'. This states that by 2030 the council hopes Camden's leadership roles are as diverse as its communities. As part of this work, the report describes a number of initiatives, including the 'Camden Equity Network' and the 'Camden Inclusion Calendar'.

Councillor Shah's report highlights Camden's commitment to disability inclusion through a range of initiatives and campaigns, including the Disability Oversight Panel, Disability Awareness Month (December), and the ‘Active for All Day’ held at Talacre Community Sports Centre. The report also describes the steps that have been taken to improve disability access to leisure facilities.

This section of the report concludes by highlighting two significant achievements in the Council's work on equality. The first of these is Camden’s recognition of care experience as a protected characteristic. This means that care experience has the same legal protections as other protected characteristics like race or gender, and commits the Council to improving outcomes for care-experienced people. The second achievement is the launch of Camden's ‘Strategy for Diversity in the Public Realm’, which aims to make Camden's public spaces more representative of the borough's diverse communities.

The report concludes by setting out the Council's plan to develop an 'Equalities and Disproportionality Strategy', which will be a long-term framework for addressing inequality across all council services.

Update on the Biodiversity Strategy

The committee were scheduled to receive an update on the Council’s Biodiversity Strategy, ‘Creating space for nature in Camden’, and its associated action plan. The Biodiversity Strategy was adopted in January 2022 in response to the Climate and Ecological Emergency declared by the Council in October 2019. The report outlines a number of recent changes to national legislation and policy that relate to the Biodiversity Strategy, and then describes some of the work that has been carried out by the Council since the last update.

One of the areas highlighted in the report is the work to create a ‘Nature Recovery Network’ for the borough. The Camden Nature Recovery Network will set out the Council’s priorities for nature, and describe the steps it will take to support nature across Camden. The report describes a number of different types of opportunities that have been identified as part of this work, including working with developers to ensure that they benefit nature, and working with community groups like those who have proposed creating a ‘Camden Nature Corridor’ from Hampstead Heath to Talacre Gardens.

Another area highlighted in the report is the work that has been carried out to achieve 'Biodiversity Net Gain' from developments. Biodiversity Net Gain is a requirement of the Environment Act 2021, and requires that developments deliver a 10% net gain in biodiversity. The report describes the challenges of applying the biodiversity net gain requirement in an urban area, and states that because many applications are excluded from the requirement, the outcome with regard to biodiversity in Camden is not yet fully known, and not necessarily positive.

The final area of work described in the report is the work to create a new full-time ‘nature engagement’ role in the Council. This new role will be funded using Section 106 funding² from developments, and money from the HS2 Biodiversity Assurance Fund. The role will focus on improving access to nature, and supporting community groups working to improve nature in the borough.

The report concludes by describing the work that is being carried out to promote Camden's work on biodiversity, including the development of a new ‘green’ section of the Council website.

Update on Sport and Physical Activity including the contract with GLL (Better)

This report describes the work that is being done by Camden Council's Leisure Service to improve the health and wellbeing of residents, including through its six leisure centres.

The report begins by describing the 'physical activity system' in Camden. This includes all of the places in which people take part in physical activity, such as schools, parks and leisure centres. The report then presents some data on physical activity levels in Camden. This includes data from Sport England's Active Lives survey, which suggests that 74% of Camden residents are 'active', achieving over 150 minutes of activity per week. This compares to 62% of adults nationally. Despite this high level of activity, the report states that 18% of residents were found to be inactive, achieving less than 30 minutes of activity per week. The report also describes the inequalities in activity levels between different population groups. For example, it states that adults with a disability or long-term health condition are less likely to be active. The report goes on to describe the challenges faced by the physical activity system, including the rising costs faced by activity providers.

The report then describes the work of the Council's leisure service. This includes a range of activities and initiatives for children, young people, adults, disabled residents and older residents. One of the areas of work described in detail is the 'Get Active Programme'. This is a 12-month programme that provides personalised support for residents with long-term health conditions to help them incorporate physical activity into their daily lives. The programme has been successfully piloted in five GP surgeries in Camden, and the report states that the Council is now discussing options for extending the service with NHS clinical leads.

The report then goes on to describe Camden's leisure centres. These centres are operated by GLL, a charitable social enterprise that operates under the brand name 'Better'. The report describes the range of activities on offer at Camden's leisure centres, and states that during the past 12 months there have been more than 2.1 million visits to Camden’s leisure centres, with membership standing at 26,700. The report goes on to describe the financial challenges facing leisure centres, including the impact of the pandemic, rising energy costs and high levels of inflation.

The report concludes by highlighting a number of recent developments and planned improvements to the Council's leisure facilities, and states that “Leisure centres form a critical part of the physical activity system in Camden. They are key community assets that support residents be active, socialise and feel good and improve overall health and wellbeing.”

Cleaner, Safer Camden

This report outlines the work that is being done by Camden Council to tackle environmental crime, and describes the work of the new ‘Community Safety Enforcement Service’.

The report begins by providing some background to the creation of the Community Safety Enforcement Service, describing the ‘Enforcement and Engagement Review’ that led to the integration of different enforcement services within the Council. The new Community Safety Enforcement Service came into being in April 2024 and is composed of 22 Community Safety Enforcement Officers and 10 officers from Kingdom Services Group. The Community Safety Enforcement Officers work seven days a week and have powers to issue fixed penalty notices for a range of offences, including fly-tipping, fly-posting, and unlicensed skips. The report states that the service has been tasked with taking a “zero-tolerance approach” to environmental crime, and that “this has resulted in a significant increase in the issuance of statutory Fixed Penalty Notices to individuals and businesses responsible for environmental offences.”

The report then goes on to describe the range of enforcement powers available to the new team, including powers relating to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the London Local Authorities Act 1990, Camden's Public Spaces Protection Order, and the Highways Act 1980.

The report goes on to describe two new campaigns that will be delivered by the Council in the coming months. The first of these is the ‘Camden Clean Streets’ initiative, a six-week environmental project designed to improve environmental standards in the borough. The campaign will seek to raise awareness around waste disposal, and the report suggests that activities will include “organizing community clean-up events” and “offering free waste disposal days for residents”. The second campaign is called ‘Operation Waste Watch’. This will involve temporarily suspending the Council’s ‘clear all’ policy for street waste collection. This means that instead of collecting all waste as soon as possible, officers will assess it in situ to try to identify businesses operating without waste contracts.

The final part of the report describes a planned campaign to tackle street urination. This will involve the use of anti-pee paint in three streets in Holborn and Covent Garden: Flitcroft Street, Porpool Lane and Leader Lane. The initiative is inspired by a similar scheme delivered by Westminster City Council, which saw an 80% reduction in street urination in targeted streets.

Insight, Learning and Impact Report – Quarter 2 2024/25

This report summarises performance across all of the services provided by Camden Council.

The report is broken down into four sections, which correspond to the council’s four directorates. Each of these sections describes the key challenges, opportunities and areas of learning within each service area. The report also includes a link to a performance dashboard, which provides an overview of all of the council’s performance indicators.

Of particular interest to this committee is the Supporting Communities response. This section of the report provides a summary of performance across all of the services that fall under the responsibility of the Supporting Communities Directorate. The report highlights a number of challenges facing this directorate, including a continued increase in homelessness, high levels of temporary accommodation, a challenging development market, and difficulties recruiting and retaining staff.

In the area of housing, the report highlights the continuing increase in the number of people approaching the Council for help with homelessness. It states that rough sleeping rates are high in the borough, and that there was a 33% increase in statutory homelessness presentations compared with the same quarter last year, with 1,080 applications in the second quarter of 2024/25 compared to 809 in the same period last year. The report also highlights the difficulties faced by the Council in providing temporary accommodation, and notes that the Council is forecasting a £12.4 million overspend on temporary accommodation for the year.

In the area of Property Management, the report states that the Council is working on an Asset Management Strategy, which will set out how the Council will maintain its housing stock over the coming years. The report states that the Strategy will consider the gap between resources available and investment need. The report also describes the work being carried out to improve the repairs service, including the introduction of a ‘lessons learned’ officer.

The report goes on to describe the challenges faced by the Council in delivering new affordable homes, stating that “financial constraints on housebuilding” and “continued pressure on the HRA” are limiting what the Council can achieve. Despite this, the report states that good progress continues to be made on the Community Investment Programme, with 1,700 new homes completed, 277 under construction, and approval in place to deliver 1,000 more.

The report then goes on to describe the challenges faced by the Council in securing affordable housing through the planning process. It states that:

The delivery of self-contained housing remains challenging due to market conditions for residential. Land-owners and developers are prioritising other uses such as student housing, offices and hotels, but where policy allows the team continues to secure good affordable housing outcomes.

The report states that the Council is considering using its powers, such as land appropriation or compulsory purchase orders (CPO) to help bring forward new homes on two sites: the 02 Centre in Finchley Road and the Regis Road site in Kentish Town.

The next section of the report describes the work being done to regenerate the area around Euston Station. It states that the Council is using all available levers through the Euston Partnership and political lobbying to influence decision making in relation to the station's redevelopment. The report states that the Government has confirmed that HS2 will be delivered to Euston, however it notes that the spatial plan, delivery model and budget remain undetermined. The report describes the Council's work to develop a ‘Meanwhile Use’ Strategy for the Euston area, and states that the Council has commissioned studies into Development Corporations and Funding Mechanisms.

The report goes on to describe the work of the ‘Inclusive Economy/Good Work Camden’ team, stating that this team “has continued to experience poor behaviour by parts of the Camden community with incidents occurring across our community spaces.” The report goes on to describe a number of opportunities, including maximising the opportunity of the new Euston Skills Centre. This is a new training centre currently under construction close to Euston station.

The report then describes the challenges faced by the Council in reducing carbon emissions and responding to the climate crisis. It states that the team has seen an increase in graffiti and flyposting, and notes the difficulties of getting the necessary resources to respond to the challenge of climate change. The report also describes the difficulties faced by the Council in delivering transport for children with special educational needs.

The next section describes the work of the Public Safety team, including its work with the Metropolitan Police to provide reassurance to communities. This relates to a period of unrest across the country following riots in several cities. This section also describes the work that has been carried out to improve the Council's response to anti-social behaviour, including the development of a 'risk-based' approach to case management. The final part of the Public Safety section describes the Council's ongoing work to review its licensing policy.

The final part of the Supporting Communities response describes the work of the Council's Recreation team, which includes the borough's libraries, leisure centres and green spaces.

This part of the report describes the restructure of library management, the opening of Purchese Street Open Space and the auto-enrolment of Primary School children at Camden’s libraries. It also highlights the creation of a new Leisure Service, which brings together the Council’s sports and physical activity work, and its work on parks and green spaces.

Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2024/25 and Action Tracker

This report sets out the work programme for the Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year. It also includes a list of decisions that were made at prior meetings, and describes the action that has been taken in response to these decisions.

The work programme provides an overview of the issues that are scheduled to be discussed at future meetings of the Committee. Of particular interest to this meeting is the planned update on culture, and the update on the inaccessibility of pavements for disabled residents due to retail clutter. The work programme also confirms that the committee will receive an update on the performance of Thames Water at its January meeting.