This meeting was an opportunity for Torbay Council's Overview and Scrutiny Board to review progress made on the Operation Brighter Bay and Operation Town Centres initiatives and for a discussion of the draft Torbay Food Strategy.

Operation Brighter Bay

A progress report on Operation Brighter Bay was scheduled to be presented to the committee.

The report notes that

The operation covers various aspects of the public realm, such as grass cutting, line marking, weed control, street cleansing, and highway maintenance.

It also observes that the programme experienced some difficulties. For example:

The weed spraying service was unable to use vehicle delivery methods in the early months due to mechanical breakdown and as such until July weed spraying was done by pedestrian application slowing progress to target.

The report goes on to make a series of recommendations, including:

• That the grass cutting schedule be optimised based on weather conditions
• That additional funding be allocated to build resilience and capacity in the service, in particular to enable it to cope with road closures and severe weather
• That new technologies be explored, and staff training be undertaken to improve the effectiveness of weed control
• That the council undertakes a resident survey to gather feedback on the programme.

Operation Town Centres

The committee was also scheduled to receive a progress report on Operation Town Centres.

The report notes that in the 2024/2025 budget, the council created several new roles to help address anti-social behaviour in Torquay and Paignton:

• Two new Town Centre Officer roles
• Two new Anti-Social Behaviour Investigator roles

The report summarises the use of the powers available to the council and the police under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. In particular, it notes that between May and November 2024

• The police and the council requested the surrender of alcohol on 344 occasions
• The council issued 31 Community Protection Warnings
• The council issued 18 Community Protection Notices

The report notes that there have been numerous positive court outcomes relating to breaches of the Public Spaces Protection Orders, with a range of sentences including fines and Criminal Behaviour Orders being secured.

The report goes on to describe the work the council has been doing in partnership with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, especially through the Safer Streets 5, Hotspot Policing, and Street Focus initiatives.

The report concludes with a series of recommendations, including:

• That a cross-agency event be held to build a shared understanding of the causes of the problems in Torbay's town centres, and to set out a long term plan to address them
• That the council commits to maintaining a highly visible uniformed presence in the town centres
• That the Torbay Community Safety Partnership make anti-social behaviour one of its priority areas
• That the council explores a model of providing dispersed accommodation to people who need it

Torbay Food Strategy

The Overview and Scrutiny Board was scheduled to consider a draft of the Torbay Food Strategy for the first time.

The strategy sets out how the council intends to work towards its ambition of ensuring access to affordable, healthy, and sustainably produced food for all residents of Torbay.

It describes Torbay's existing food system and sets out a series of challenges facing the local food system, in particular:

• Food Insecurity: rising food prices, low incomes, and an inadequate social safety net have led to an increase in the number of people struggling to afford enough food
• Health Inequalities: poor diets, often associated with low incomes and limited access to healthy food options are contributing to health inequalities
• Climate Change: The local food system, which is heavily reliant on long-distance transportation of food is both contributing to, and is vulnerable to, the impacts of climate change
• Environmental Degradation: Existing food production methods are contributing to biodiversity loss and soil degradation
• Waste and Resource Management: High levels of food waste and inefficient use of resources are damaging the environment

The strategy proposes a series of actions to address the problems it identifies by:

• Promoting healthy and sustainable diets
• Increasing food security
• Strengthening the local food economy
• Reducing food waste
• Promoting sustainable food production

The report concludes by setting out a plan for how the strategy will be implemented, monitored, and evaluated.