Public participation at Full Council meetings

Please find below the list of questions asked and petitions presented at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday 28 June, and the responses provided.

Question about tech start-ups and the digital economy

• Question

New research by The StartUp Coalition has found that the Westminster Constituency of the Cities of London and Westminster has 1,963 Tech Startups, more than double the next Parliamentary Constituency. Westminster is truly at the heart of the future UK digital economy. 

In light of this what plans does the Council have to link tech entrepreneurs and start-ups with local schools to help support and train the next generation of digital innovators?

• Answer

It is fantastic that Westminster has such a vibrant digital economy and the Council is very keen to explore opportunities to link tech entrepreneurs and start-ups with local schools to enhance the Careers, Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) offering across Westminster schools. The Economy team has well established relationships with Westminster schools and welcomes opportunities to link young people with the world of work and careers exploration. In this vein, officers from Economy and the Westminster Adult Education Service will be meeting with representatives from Ada, the National College for Digital Skills in mid-July to explore opportunities to collaborate and raise awareness of tech careers ahead of Ada commencing delivery in autumn 2023 from their new premises in Westminster, (previously home to the Sir Simon Milton University Technical College). 

In partnership with unloc, a social enterprise focussed on developing the aspirations and entrepreneurial mindsets of young people, the Council commissioned a programme of activity for young people across both primary and secondary schools. This academic year, unloc have delivered 16  ‘Changemaker Challenge’ events for schools; enabling young people to meet local entrepreneurs and undertake an enterprise challenge.  On the 29 June, Westminster City Hall hosted the ‘Big Enterprise Competition Westminster’ where unloc brought together teams of year 8 students tasked with coming up with the best entrepreneurial solution to a real-life challenge as well as exploring entrepreneurship and self-employment as a potential career path.

Question about dockless e-bikes

• Question

When does the Council expect to have an agreement in place with electric dockless bike operators that covers: 

• a limit on the number of bikes per operator
• approved parking spaces
• issues as automatic in app fines for bad parking
• time limits for removing badly parked bikes?
   
• Answer

The Council supports active travel, and wants our residents, workers and visitors to use bikes to get around the city. However, both e-bike providers and users have to take more responsibility over how these bikes are used, we’ve all seen e-bikes parked in the middle of pavements, causing a dangerous hazard for pedestrians.  

This summer the Council will implement a city-wide network of 200 parking bays with a capacity for 2,000 e-bikes and 1,000 e-scooters. Westminster will be geo-fenced as a no parking zone, this means dockless bike riders can only park their bikes in a designated bay. In rolling out parking bays the Council will take a flexible approach so that it can provide the right number of spaces in the right areas. 

The Cabinet Member for City Management and Air Quality has also been talking to operating companies about the need for fines and time limits on badly-parked bikes. The intention is that when contracts are signed with operators, they will include increased and enhanced fines across the entire borough to genuinely dissuade non-compliance and irresponsible parking and operators will be expected to remove bikes causing a danger immediately, and those causing an obstruction/nuisance within 2 hours.

The Cabinet Member has also been pressing the operating companies to have a much greater presence of their staff on Westminster's streets to monitor their bikes and ensure they are parked within the bays provided. This is an ongoing conversation but one the Council are committed to getting right.

Question about improving recycling rates in Westminster

• Question

Household waste data derived from WasteDataFlow and Defra's statistical department for the period covering the financial year 2021/22 shows Westminster Council is the 331 worst out of 333 local authorities in England recycling just 20.9% of household waste.

What plans does the Council have to put in place an urgent action plan to improve recycling rates in the Borough?

• Answer

The Council want to be ambitious in the approach they take towards increasing recycling rates across the city. They have just completed a city-wide rollout of a food waste recycling scheme which covers all wards and has increased the recycling rate by approximately 3% to date. They are also currently finalising an engagement plan for the large numbers of multi-occupancy residential buildings that have not yet taken up the offer for the food waste collection service.

It should also be noted that the household recycling rate calculation is not just the percentage of waste that Westminster residents recycle, it also includes the exceptionally large volumes of waste and litter generated by visitors, tourists and commuters and from major events and demonstrations. Unfortunately, most of this waste cannot be recycled, which affects the Council’s overall recycling performance. However, the Council is absolutely committed to cleaning up Westminster’s environment and are exploring further ways to improve recycling across the city.

Petition about the installation of CCTV in St John’s Wood

• Petition

We the undersigned call on Westminster Council to enable the installation of CCTV for six sites in St John’s Wood, including the High Street, Circus Road, Abbey Road and Wellington Road.

• Answer

The Council does not currently operate a public realm CCTV system having transferred capital funding of around £1.7 million to the Metropolitan Police in 2017 to develop a replacement public realm CCTV network.
Whilst the Metropolitan Police has reintroduced public realm CCTV and the Council still have a substantial network across our own housing estates, this does not always provide reassurance to residents as much of it is located in the West End. 

That is why the Council is now looking at fresh options around enhancing safety on Westminster's streets. The Council's ambitious anti-social behaviour strategy is evidence that the safety of local people is at the heart of what they do and they are already seeing the positive impact of that work. 

Work is already underway on a comprehensive review of CCTV systems, and the surveillance capacity across the city – not just from the Council's cameras, but from those operated by stakeholders and partners. 
The Council want to work with residents and stakeholders to continue to improve neighbourhoods by reducing crime & ASB, and whilst work continues on the review into CCTV, the Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Protection has asked the Head of Community Safety to meet with the lead petitioner and other St. John’s Wood residents, the local Safer Neighbourhood Team and other stakeholders to explore all options to design out crime and make St Johns Wood as safe as it can.

Petition to make the north portion of Paddington Street Gardens into a space for dogs

• Petition

Together with a number of other Marylebone residents, we have raised a petition to ask Westminster City Council to consider making the North portion of Paddington Street Gardens usable as a safe space for dogs. There is really no such facility in this part of Westminster, there is a real need for it and we believe it would bring great benefits to the local community, whether dog owners or not.

Moreover, the north side of the gardens is currently under-utilised and anti-social behaviours have been reported in the area; we hope that by establishing a safe and accessible space for dogs, their owners and friends we would foster socialisation and community spirit.

The petition has also been shared with the St Marylebone Parish Rev. Canon Evans. the Marylebone Forum and the Marylebone Association. So far the response has been very positive, and we are very keen to listen to feedback and opinions on our proposal. 

• Answer

The part of the gardens mentioned belongs to St. Marylebone Parish and so Reverend Canon Evans and the local ward councillors will be approached to discuss using this section of the gardens as a safe space for dogs.

The Council would also have to undertake preparatory works including the revoking of by-laws that currently require dog owners to leash their dogs in the gardens and carry out risk assessments to make sure that it will indeed be a safe space for dogs and their owners.

The Council do also have to consider the impact a dedicated space for dogs may have on the gardens as the grass will break down from wear and tear and it wouldn’t be feasible to continually replace the turf.

The Cabinet Member for City Management and Air Quality will work with officers and other stakeholders to determine if this is something support and respond to the petitioner with a more detailed answer.