The Homes and Communities Scrutiny Committee met to discuss community safety, policing, housing repairs and homelessness in Islington. The committee received updates on community safety initiatives, progress towards compliance with Awaab's Law¹, and the state of homelessness and temporary accommodation in the borough. They also heard a presentation from Streets Kitchen, a grassroots organisation working with the homeless.

Streets Kitchen Presentation

John Jackden, Coordinator with Streets Kitchen, gave a presentation on the organisation's work in Islington and across London. Streets Kitchen is a grassroots voluntary organisation that operates on the streets to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness.

Key points from the presentation and subsequent discussion:

• Streets Kitchen operates a solidarity hub on Seven Sisters Road, targeting those who are explicitly homeless, particularly rough sleepers.
• The organisation conducts outreach outside Highbury and Islington station on Friday and Sunday nights, serving 150-170 people, including those in temporary accommodation.
• Streets Fest, an event created nine years ago beside Finsbury Park², was highlighted as an example of bringing together various support services for those experiencing homelessness.
• John Jackden praised the council's frontline housing team and the relationships they have built with voluntary and community sector partners.
• He emphasised the importance of listening to and empowering the voices of those who have experienced homelessness.
• John Jackden noted that Islington is standing like a beacon in North London with fairly low figures of homelessness compared to other boroughs.
• He raised concerns about the lack of a dedicated homeless minister at the national level and the criminalisation of those experiencing homelessness in other boroughs.
• John Jackden suggested that the council should have trust and faith in its workers and let them try new initiatives.
• He encouraged the council to keep buying houses and not sell them.
• Councillor Phil Graham asked what the council could do to improve, and John Jackden suggested increasing the voice of those who have experienced homelessness.
• Councillor Heather Staff asked about changes seen year on year from the annual Street Count, and John Jackden noted an increase in refugee populations and more women on the streets, though they are harder to see.
• Councillor Michael O'Sullivan asked whether there might be scope to look around for premises again for a winter shelter.
• Councillor Jenny Kaye asked what John Jackden would want to ask or say to the police, and he raised concerns about the replacement for the Vagrancy Act and the use of police powers against those experiencing homelessness.

Community Safety Annual Update

Angelo Weeks, Councillor for Marl-Mail, and Executive Member for Community Safety, and Bezra Tibaha, Director of Community Safety, Security and Resilience, presented the annual update on community safety, security, and resilience.

Key achievements and priorities outlined:

• Islington has been at the forefront of safeguarding vulnerable residents from cuckooing³, with the model being replicated across London.
• The council has expanded its dedicated safe spaces from 75 to 300 since 2021.
• There has been a 50% reduction in anti-social behaviour (ASB) in entrenched hotspot locations through multi-agency collaboration.
• The street outreach and rough sleeping team have supported over 500 residents into accommodation through the well-being hub.
• Since 2020, over 10,000 weapons, including knives and firearms, have been recovered through weapon sweeps.
• London's first bleed control strategy has been introduced.
• The neighbourhood engagement service, launched in May 2025, has been effective in targeting illegal street trading.
• The CCTV team has managed over 7,000 incidents over the past year, with an average of 40 evidential downloads for police per month.
• A £1 million grant has been obtained for installing dark fibre along the A1 corridor for CCTV infrastructure.
• Regulatory services have managed 1,800 licensing applications and inspected over 1,000 venues throughout the night.
• The civil contingency services have dealt with over 200 incidents from July 2024 to July 2025, including severe weather and crime.
• Councillor Angelo Weeks stated that community safety is a way of life for Islington, and the council should never stand still but go further and faster.
• Prioritising Finsbury Park, which has the highest number of offences out of 17 wards.
• Revising the gambling policy for January 2026 to push the envelope with harm prevention.
• Ensuring police ward panels work for residents.
• Working with communities most vulnerable to the impact of crime.
• Reinstating meetings with counterparts in Hackney and Haringey to give political direction to officers and the police about Finsbury Park.
• Improving the ASB reporting form based on resident feedback.
• Working on chuggers⁴ in and around Farringdon Station, Upper Street, and Finsbury Park.
• Ensuring safe havens are meeting optimum performance.
• Councillor Angelo Weeks noted that Islington got through the summer without a fatality involving a blade.
• Councillor Ben Mackmurdie asked how officers are attacking issues when they are arising and if complaints are being listened to.
• Councillor Heather Staff asked how the council is utilising park guards and the night safe patrol, particularly around freshers week.
• Councillor Michael O'Sullivan asked about coordination between Hackney, Haringey and Islington, and whether that goes for the Transport for London police as well.
• Councillor Phil Graham asked if there has been an increase in cuckooing in the borough.
• Councillor Jenny Kaye raised concerns that people are finding the ASB reporting form frustrating, and asked if the council is getting data from the police about any reports.

Metropolitan Police Annual Report

Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, BCU Commander, and Superintendent Katie Geal, Islington Borough SNT Lead, presented the Metropolitan Police annual report.

Key points from the presentation and subsequent discussion:

• Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart noted that he grew up in north Islington and that leading policing is not just a professional responsibility but a genuine privilege.
• He commended the strength of partnership working and dedication of the teams.
• There have been zero homicides and zero firearm discharges so far this financial year.
• There is renewed focus on tackling retail crime.
• A new Met culture development tool has been launched to gain deeper insights into local culture.
• The priorities for the BCU are violence against women and girls (VAWG), retail crime, robbery, and reducing the stock of wanted offenders.
• Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart stated that the police do not see rough sleeping as a criminal act and that is not something that they would enforce as a standalone offence.
• Councillor John Graham asked about the use of facial recognition and why it continues to be used in Finsbury Park.
• Councillor Jenny Kaye asked why the police decided to use live facial recognition 50 metres outside of the entrance to Finsbury Park mosque, and stated that the police did not inform the mosque that it would be a live facial recognition van.
• Councillor Hannah McHugh stated that to improve trust and confidence, the police force needs to look very much like the borough that it serves, and asked when the demographic of the police will look more like the demographic of Islington.
• Councillor Mick Gilgunn stated that the clear hold build policy was used to clear out Finsbury Park, and actually what happened it moved to other areas like Tolenton.
• Councillor Michael O'Sullivan asked when the data from facial recognition is destroyed, and whether there are any plans about finding out where the opiate and crack communities are operating.
• Councillor Ben Mackmurdie asked why live facial recognition wasn't deployed at the Thistle Hotel, and stated that he has been getting told for seven years that the police are going to work with Tower Hamlets to address drug dealers.
• Councillor Jenny Kaye stated that the contradiction between wanting to focus on organised criminal activity and spending an afternoon doing live facial recognition in Finsbury Park feels huge, and asked for an update on the WhatsApp group that had recently been discovered.
• Councillor Heather Staff asked how the police are planning to work with vulnerable groups or ethnic groups or groups of sexual identities or religious identities to improve trust, and how they are treating people who are vulnerable, particularly younger people with autism or ADHD.
• Councillor Flora Williamson asked how the police address the risk of unconscious bias leading to potential discrimination in the decisions about where to choose to deploy live facial recognition vans.

Awaab's Law Programme Update

Ian Swift, Director of Housing Operations, provided an update on the council's preparations for Awaab's Law, which comes into effect on 27 October 2025. The update covered proposed policy changes to ensure compliance with the legislation, which sets strict timeframes for addressing hazards in social housing.

Key aspects of the programme and discussion:

• The council has strengthened its Repairs and Maintenance Policy to embed specific legal timeframes and processes for identifying, investigating, and resolving hazards.
• Investigations into significant hazards must be completed within 10 working days, with a written summary of findings provided to residents within three working days of inspection.
• Emergency works must commence within 24 hours and safety works within five working days, except in exceptional circumstances.
• A new Major Works Transfer procedure will be formalised into a policy to ensure residents are fully informed and protected during extensive remedial or renewal works.
• The council is exploring the introduction of a tiered approach to prioritising complex works.
• Councillor Michael O'Sullivan asked whether there are adequate resources to deal with the workflow that will result from Awaab's Law.

HCLIC Quarterly Update on Homelessness

Ian Swift, Director of Housing Operations, presented the HCLIC (Housing, Communities and Local Government Information Centre) quarterly update on homelessness.

Key data and trends:

• There were 673 homeless assessments in the quarter, a slight increase from the previous quarter.
• 663 households were owed a prevention or relief duty.
• As of the end of the quarter, 1,778 households were in temporary accommodation.
• Islington has a significantly lower rate of temporary accommodation usage compared to the London average.
• The length of time households stay in temporary accommodation in Islington is shorter than the London average.
• The majority of temporary accommodation placements are within London.

Surveying Standards in Council Owned Temporary Accommodation

Ian Swift, Director of Housing Operations, presented a report on surveying standards in council-owned temporary accommodation.

Key findings from the survey of residents in ex-right-to-buy properties and reception centres:

• 72% of respondents said the temporary accommodation met or exceeded their expectations.
• 84% were happy with the support they received from council officers.
• 62% found it very easy to report repairs, and 72% said repairs were conducted promptly.
• 90% had never had to complain about the standards of their temporary accommodation.

Recommendations included:

• Regularly refreshing the survey to ensure continuous improvement.
• Merging the survey with the Homeless Link review of customer focus groups.
• Facilitating a service user engagement event regarding standards in buy-back temporary accommodation.
• Improving the ease of reporting repairs.

Other Business

Due to time constraints, the committee deferred the annual complaints report and the discussion on surveying standards in council-owned temporary accommodation to the next meeting.