Issue - meetings

To receive the report of the Group Head for Neighbourhood Services on the work of the Council’s Joint Enforcement Team.

The Group Head of Neighbourhood Services reported on the work of the Joint Enforcement Team (JET) which consisted of 4 law enforcement officers who worked with and assisted the police to enforce relevant Acts of Parliament and Council bye-laws and issued fixed penalty notices when required.

The JET had been working in many different areas of enforcement including: illegal estate agent boards, fly tipping, abandoned vehicles, illegal moorings and dog fouling. The JET had also taken part in Partnership Action Days and the Junior and Senior Citizen events.

She reported on JET’s success in catching fly tippers and how the implementation of a new process to deal with traveller incursions would remove travellers faster and prevent them from returning to anywhere in Spelthorne at any time, with the use of a Community Protection Notice.

Although the intention of setting up JET was for it to work side by side with the police, the Group Head of Neighbourhood Services explained that since the police had moved out of the Council offices, the communication channels had deteriorated and this had impacted on the Team’s ability to respond quickly on day to day issues. However, there had been an improvement in co-ordination and working practices between the JET and the Community Safety Team since the Council’s internal staff re-structure.

The Committee thanked Jackie Taylor and the JET for the work they were doing.

A straw poll was taken of those councillors present, on whether they would wish Surrey Police to make such adjustments to their working practices as necessary to reinstate the previous way in which they worked with the JET.  Of all those present, both Committee members and other councillors, 15 indicated in favour.

Resolved to note the work of the Spelthorne Joint Enforcement Team.