In the first prosecution of its kind by Croydon council, a dog owner has been fined £100 for not keeping his animal on a lead.
The fine comes after the council created dog control orders on all council housing land and any other areas it is responsible for maintaining. The orders are designed to clamp down on animal nuisance and other offences including not cleaning up dog fouling and taking more than four dogs onto land.
Under section 55 of the clean neighbourhoods and environment act 2005, the council has created dog control orders on all council housing land and other land for which the council is responsible and intends to carry out enforcement to ensure that people comply with the orders.
Consequently, the neighbourhood wardens (NWs) have been given delegated authority to issue fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for the following offences:
(a) failing to remove dog faeces;
(b) not keeping a dog on a lead;
(c) not putting, and keeping, a dog on a lead when directed to do so by an authorised officer;
(d) permitting a dog to enter land from which dogs are excluded;
(e) taking more than four dogs onto land.
In addition the NWs have delegated authority to issue to issue FPNs for litter offences under section 88 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990
Cllr Dudley Mead, cabinet member for housing, said: “This case shows that the council will not hesitate to take action against irresponsible dog owners. “Other residents should not have to suffer when certain individuals refuse to keep their dogs under control.”
The owner was caught letting his dog run loose on the green area behind 1-2B Sunny Bank in South Norwood on 11 July last year. Having previously been warned to keep his animal on a lead, he was told that if he did not pay the £75 fixed penalty notice, which is reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days, he would face court proceedings. He was also ordered to pay £100 in court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
The owner, from Croydon, was found guilty in his absence of the offence at Croydon magistrates’ court, after he failed to respond to a fixed penalty notice issued by council wardens. He also gave a false address when he received the notice. (Source: Croydon council press release)
BROMLEY YOUTH COUNCIL’S ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN IS A SUCCESS
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES have been highlighted as the number one concern for young people in the borough to be tackled by the Bromley Youth Council in their 2013/14 Manifesto.
Members of the youth council presented the key topics on the minds of young people locally at the youth manifesto launch event held in Bromley’s council chamber. Other topics chosen were staying and feeling safe, particularly while travelling around the borough; the availability and knowledge of affordable leisure activities for young people; understanding how tuition fees work and lobbying central government.
The youth council committee had previously canvassed opinions from other elected youth members about their priorities and the manifesto event was an opportunity for any young person in the borough to get involved and have their say.
As well as news about plans for future campaigns, those attending the event also heard about the youth council’s recent high profile anti-bullying campaign. The young councillors succeeded in getting every secondary school in the borough to sign up to an anti-bullying pledge, while raising awareness of the issues, how to combat bullying and where to get help through talks in schools, at youth hubs, and an outreach day held in the Glades Shopping Centre.
Councillors were also engaged in the campaign lending their support by spearheading the development of guidance for students and parents on cyber-bullying in particular which was made available both in the local media and on the Council’s website. This advice can be found at: www.bromley.gov.uk/bullying
(Source: Bromley council press release)
HELP TEENAGERS STAY SAFE THIS SUMMER
The Safer Croydon Partnership (SCP) is seeking 100 volunteers to work alongside council staff and police to help stop young people becoming victims of crime.
The two-week safety campaign runs from Monday 24 June to Friday 5 July, and will focus on the town centre and London Road, between 3 and 5pm, which is when most street crime happens.
The volunteers will work alongside area enforcement officers, parking and housing attendants, youth services, the drug and alcohol outreach team and the police.
They will give young people personal safety tips, tell them how they can report crime and antisocial behaviour and help with litter picking.
Volunteers will also have information on what is going on during the summer months for teenagers.
Cabinet member for community safety, Cllr Simon Hoar said: “Most victim and offenders involved in street crime are young men aged 15 to 19. “The campaign aims to help raise safety awareness, increase the number of arrests, and to decrease the fear of crime.”
The volunteers will also be teaming up with students from Croydon College’s public services course. The students have devised a community safety questionnaire to find out how safe people feel, and what could be done to make them feel safer.
The feedback from this will be given to the SCP to help influence future plans.
Croydon Neighbourhood Watch, Croydon Voluntary Action, faith groups, South London Citizens, South London Traders, street pastors and West Croydon Community Forum are already involved in these plans.
If you would like to volunteer contact Tariq Gad on 020 8604 7032, or email [email protected]. (Source: Croydon council press release)
The two-week safety campaign runs from Monday 24 June to Friday 5 July, and will focus on the town centre and London Road, between 3 and 5pm, which is when most street crime happens.
The volunteers will work alongside area enforcement officers, parking and housing attendants, youth services, the drug and alcohol outreach team and the police.
They will give young people personal safety tips, tell them how they can report crime and antisocial behaviour and help with litter picking.
Volunteers will also have information on what is going on during the summer months for teenagers.
Cabinet member for community safety, Cllr Simon Hoar said: “Most victim and offenders involved in street crime are young men aged 15 to 19. “The campaign aims to help raise safety awareness, increase the number of arrests, and to decrease the fear of crime.”
The volunteers will also be teaming up with students from Croydon College’s public services course. The students have devised a community safety questionnaire to find out how safe people feel, and what could be done to make them feel safer.
The feedback from this will be given to the SCP to help influence future plans.
Croydon Neighbourhood Watch, Croydon Voluntary Action, faith groups, South London Citizens, South London Traders, street pastors and West Croydon Community Forum are already involved in these plans.
If you would like to volunteer contact Tariq Gad on 020 8604 7032, or email [email protected]. (Source: Croydon council press release)
IMPROVED FIGURES MEAN IMPROVED FIGURES
Residents in Croydon are living more active lifestyles according to new figures released this week.
A national league table shows that more local people are taking up sport and exercise in their bid to get fit and healthy and cut down on excess weight.
Just-released Sport England figures measuring participation in sport and physical activity show that Croydon is 12th in the table of most-improved local areas in London. It has also gone up 77 places nationally in the past four years.
The council’s role in boosting people’s participation in sports and activity has included the creation of a new national league basketball club, installation of several free-to-use outdoor gyms in parks and the opening of the new £15m Waddon Leisure Centre. The popularity of the council’s volunteer-led health walks, which are some of the most active in London, is another pointer to the team’s successes. Over the summer the team from the Central Library ‘healthy living hub’ will be going out to several Croydon parks with a healthy living roadshow.
The achievements of young people in competitive sport are also pointing to the widespread adoption of increasingly healthy lifestyles, say the council. Last year, Croydon lifted the Jubilee Trophy when it came top in the London Youth Games, and the borough’s disabled athletes were also victorious in the disability games competition.
A new campaign, MI Change, sees the council offering a free 12-week support programme designed to help get people more active. This programme will be tailored to individual needs and will use simple, achievable goals to motivate participants and encourage them to continue after the initial sessions. Six months of further back-up and support will help people stay on track.
Cllr Margaret Mead, cabinet member for adult services and health, said: “These results are really very encouraging. “We know Croydon will always find it hard to match the results of smaller and more generally affluent parts of the UK. “But the improvements our residents have achieved in comparison to the rest of the country in some part reflect the huge amount of effort that the council’s sports development team puts in.
Cllr Margaret Mead, cabinet member for adult services and health, said: “These results are really very encouraging. “We know Croydon will always find it hard to match the results of smaller and more generally affluent parts of the UK. “But the improvements our residents have achieved in comparison to the rest of the country in some part reflect the huge amount of effort that the council’s sports development team puts in.
“I’d encourage everyone to take advantage of the activities on offer in Croydon. “Walking is also a great way to boost fitness levels and Croydon has some fantastic parks and open spaces for people to enjoy for a few hours or a whole day out.”
The latest participation figures are drawn from the National Active People survey, which is used to measure adult participation in sport and physical activity.
Croydon now stands at 18th in the London league table and at 231st in the national table. This is an improvement of 77 places on four years ago when the borough sat at number 308.
21.9 per cent of Croydon residents currently do 3 x 30minutes moderate intensity exercise each week, up nearly two per cent since last year when the figure was 20.1pc.
MI (Motivational Interview) Change is a recognised method that engages people’s intrinsic motivational instincts in order to encourage them to change their behaviour for their personal benefit. To sign up for MI Change call 020 8667 8414 or email [email protected]. (Source: Croydon council press release)
21.9 per cent of Croydon residents currently do 3 x 30minutes moderate intensity exercise each week, up nearly two per cent since last year when the figure was 20.1pc.
MI (Motivational Interview) Change is a recognised method that engages people’s intrinsic motivational instincts in order to encourage them to change their behaviour for their personal benefit. To sign up for MI Change call 020 8667 8414 or email [email protected]. (Source: Croydon council press release)
PENGE RESIDENT FAILED TO DECLARE STUDENT GRANTS AND LOANS
A Penge resident who was caught defrauding Bromley council through a data matching exercise will have to pay back £11,000 in housing and council tax benefit.
A National Fraud data match exercise led to an investigation that showed he had failed to notify the council he had received student grants and loans. Cllr Neil Reddin chairman of Bromley’s audit committee said: “We will use techniques such as data matching to bring these cheats to justice and protect our public funds for those in genuine need.”
The resident, of Anerley Road, Penge, pleaded guilty at Bromley magistrates court to defrauding Bromley Council out of £11,000 in housing and council tax benefit for the period October 2011 to February 2013. He was sentenced to a 12 month community order requiring 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £100 costs and a £60 victim surcharge. As well as having a criminal record he will be required to pay back the overpayment.
This case brings the total of Bromley benefit claimants prosecuted to 329 since the Bromley and Greenwich councils started working in partnership to track, trace and prosecute benefit fraudsters. Anyone with information about a suspected benefit fraud should contact (in strict confidence) the Fraud Hotline on 0800 169 6975 or email [email protected]
CROYDON WINS ‘INNOVATION IN SOCIAL CARE’ AWARD
Croydon has scooped a prestigious local government prize for finding innovative ways of providing adult social care.
The council came top in the category for innovation in social care at the MJ magazine awards, attended by almost 1,000 people from local authorities across the UK.
Croydon impressed the judges with its innovative work to provide high-quality services despite contending with increasing demand for adult health care and reducing budgets.
The triumph follows the successful delivery of a five-year efficiency programme in adult social care services, which has included redesigning services and coming up with new ways of providing cares; saving the council more than £27m.
Key innovations have included developing Croydon Care Solutions, the council’s local authority trading company and redesigning care packages to help and support people to live as independently as possible by making their own choices and having control over their own support.
Cllr Margaret Mead, cabinet member for adult services and health, said: “We are delighted to win this award and I’d like to say a huge thank you to the council’s adult social care staff, led by executive director Hannah Miller, for their contribution in achieving this success.
“This has been a radical change programme that has made significant savings while ensuring the care we provide to each individual remains at an excellent standard.
“The main aim of our approach has been to help people live as independently as possible, and allow them to be able to make their own choices and choose the support they want.”
The awards, which this year mark their 10th anniversary, were presented by BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Justin Webb. (Source: Croydon council press release)
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