The Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to meet on 10 November 2025 to discuss a range of topics, including community safety, cultural strategy, and tree planting initiatives. The committee was also expected to review its work programme for the 2025/26 municipal year. Additionally, the meeting was to include discussion of two deputations, one regarding opening hours at Hampstead Cemetery and another concerning the location of bike hangars on Dartmouth Park Avenue.

Cultural Strategy for Camden 2026-2031

The committee was scheduled to discuss Camden's Cultural Strategy for 2026-2031, a report from the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Young People and Culture. The strategy sets out a vision for cultural development in the borough, with the aim of supporting the cultural sector, grassroots artists, and creative businesses. It also seeks to protect and strengthen Camden's identity as a leading cultural borough.

The strategy is built around three themes:

• People and Place: Fostering cultural activity within neighbourhoods and reimagining public spaces.
• Learning and Skills: Prioritising access to learning and skills development in the cultural sector.
• Grow and Thrive: Supporting the sustainable development of Camden's cultural and creative industries.

The report states that the vision statement for the Cultural Strategy is:

As a global capital of creativity, Camden will harness its world-leading thriving creative economy to uplift every community, spark meaningful connections, and create a vibrant, inspiring borough where everyone can live, learn, work, grow, visit, and invest. Through culture, we will build a joyful, healthy, and enriching environment that strengthens the fabric of Camden for all.

The report also notes that the strategy's ambitions are rooted in actions that will help to meet some of the most critical challenges of our time, including creative health and wellbeing, equity and inclusivity, and sustainability.

Annual Report of the Cabinet Member for Safer Communities

Councillor Patricia Callaghan, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, was scheduled to present her annual report, covering the period from October 2024 to October 2025. The report highlights the work undertaken across the Safer Communities portfolio, including initiatives related to anti-social behaviour, community cohesion, youth safety, and domestic violence.

The report notes that there has been incredible progress in our antisocial behaviour (ASB) response by building on our ASB Taskforce, bringing our ASB working group together to evaluate data, transitioning our Community Protection Officers (CPO's) to Community Safety Enforcement Officers (CSEO's) to empower intervention activity, as well as merging our community safety and our education & enforcement team's to expand the use of fixed penalty notices to address environmental crime as well as ASB. The report also states that a dedicated ASB communications campaign launched in June 2025 has led to a 95% rise in reports.

The report also covers the work of the Community Cohesion Tension Monitoring Group (TMG), which continues to play a key role in safeguarding Camden's communities, bringing together Council services, CCTV teams, and the Metropolitan Police in a weekly forum to share intelligence and monitor local, national, and international developments.

The report also highlights the Council's work to support rough sleepers, noting that Camden remains one of the top five UK Local Authorities most affected by rough sleeping. It states that from October 2024 to the end of August 2025, the Routes off the Streets (RTS) team successfully achieved 334 accommodation outcomes for people rough sleeping.

The report also details the work of the Camden Safety Net (CSN), which provides advice and support to those who present as high and medium risk of domestic abuse. It notes that this year, CSN received 1,175 referrals, with 54% being new and 46% repeat.

Tree Planting Strategy Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the council's tree planting strategy. The report from the Director of Recreation and Public Safety, provides an overview of the achievements of the 2020-2025 strategy and presents a draft of the new strategy for 2026-2030.

The report notes that by the end of 2024/2025, the council had planted 2,971 trees, slightly less than the target of 3,000. However, it had exceeded the target for new trees planted, with 1,632 new trees planted compared to a target of 1,250. The report also states that canopy cover in the borough has increased from 22.9% in 2016 to 24.6% in 2023.

The report also states that Treeconomics were contracted to provide a tree planting opportunity mapping study to help inform the next planting programme, and identified 18,000 potential locations to plant trees. These locations were then prioritised by tree equity, based on canopy cover, air pollution, flood risk and indices of multiple deprivation.

The report proposes to plant 4,250 trees over the next 5 years, 850 trees per annum, of which 500 trees will be in new locations.

A New Met for London - Phase 2

The committee was scheduled to receive a report from the Police Borough Commander providing an overview of 'A New Met for London Phase 2'. The report states that this phase builds on the reform outlined under the three pillars outlined in 'A New Met for London 1': Community crime-fighting, Culture change and Fixing our Foundations.

The report also notes that the Met Police is becoming more diverse, with the highest ever level of female and ethnic minority officers.

The report also provides data on BCU crime priorities, including violence against women and girls, robbery, retail crime, and offender management.

Deputations

The committee was scheduled to hear two deputations.

The first, from Jill Henry on behalf of some Fortune Green residents, concerned opening hours at Hampstead Cemetery. The deputation requested that the council revisit its policy regarding restricted opening hours at the cemetery, with a view to restoring access during longer daylight months, particularly in the early evenings. The deputation argues that access to green space is directly linked to public health, and that the restriction of hours disproportionately affects older people, carers, and working residents.

The second deputation, from Dr Iain Oswald on behalf of some residents of Dartmouth Park Avenue, concerned the siting of bike hangars on Dartmouth Park Avenue. The deputation argues that the siting of the bike hangar in one such site is not conducive to the Council's wish to provide bike storage and protection that is consistent with local residents need for access to their houses. The deputation suggests that there are several alternative sites on Dartmouth Park Avenue that would not interfere with access for residents.

Other Items

The committee was also scheduled to:

• Approve the minutes of the meeting held on 15th September 2025.
• Review and update the committee's work programme for 2025/26 and action tracker.