The Cabinet considered the recommendations of the Community Safety and Customer Contact Working Party held on 28^th January 2021 concerning the Notices of Motion referred to the Working Party by Cabinet on 3^rd November 2020.

On consideration of the recommendations regarding the Notice of Motion on the special constables, the Cabinet member for Community Safety and Customer Contact advised that Community Special Constables were only available to parish councils, but that the Council could support the recruitment of regular Special Constables. He added that there were no operational differences between the two types of constables and proposed an amendment to the recommendations to reflect the position.

Resolved:

That subject to an amendment to the second recommendation of the Community Safety and Customer Contact Working Party in relation to the Notice of Motion on Special Constables, the following recommendations be approved:

1. No Driving on Parks and Open Spaces

a) That the Notice of Motion relating to driving in, parks and open spaces, be noted.

b). That Officers consider the options to record reports of drivers acting in an antisocial manner in our parks and green spaces.

c). That at parks where persistent confirmed reported problems of vehicles driving on the grass, signs are erected advising people of the byelaws.

d). That Officers review current byelaws and the enforcement of these will be considered as part of the current enforcement review.

e). That the continued use of defensive measures be considered at parks and green spaces where confirmed ongoing problems with vehicles accessing grass areas have been recorded.

2. Recruit the Two Special Constables Per Ward

a) To work with Essex Police to develop a marketing campaign to attract new Community Special Constable recruits to Southend.

b) That the Council commits to supporting the Police recruitment of regular Special Constables in Southend, through a joint Council and Police local recruitment campaign, to include the Employer Supported Scheme.

Reasons for decision:

To respond to the recommendations from the Community Safety and Customer Contact Working Party in relation to the Notices of Motion.

Other options:

None

Note: This is an Executive Function

Eligible for call-in to: Place Scrutiny Committee and Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee

Cabinet Member: Cllr Terry