Agenda item - Field Officer Update

33.1    Annie Sparks, Regulatory Services Manager - Environmental           Protection gave a             presentation and then introduced the discussion         on the new Field Officer team which went live on 17^th September        which consists of four recruited Officers with four more due to join shortly, with a full launch on 3^rd December. She confirmed that they             are      working across nine services within the Council and have liaised        with Police and the Fire Brigade and that the team will be working 7       days per week from 12 – 8 pm.

33.2    The Chair asked how often the team will do estate inspections and             what systems were in place for residents to report issues after 8pm. The Officer confirmed that    this model was still being defined          and that Officers in Housing will confirm how often inspections will            take place.

33.3    Ododo Dafe - Head of Income, Inclusion & Improvement confirmed that     there would be a new flexible policy on the frequency of inspections as some areas required more and some less.   

33.4    Residents were concerned that the Field Officer (FO) team had not             made contact with residents associations yet and that they were    missing out on resident contacts, which             would be vital for sorting out   problems in the future. Officers confirmed that the Team have          created an online video to identify the FOs and that she was currently    setting up meetings with resident associations and the Chair            confirmed      that there would be an article on in Homing In before Christmas.

33.5    Residents queried how they could contact FOs when there was a   problem outside the designated 12 – 8pm times, such as a noise      disturbance at 4 am.  Officers stated        that FOs did work on flexible        contracts and could therefore be flexible about times if required.      Officers also confirmed that although they did not offer a 7-day service,     often problems such as noise could be dealt with more efficiently at          different times such as the morning after when people were             calmer            and available.

33.6    In response to a resident’s question about whether specific FOs would      be assigned to specific areas of the city, Officers confirmed that Field   Officers will be based citywide and not be allocated by area.

33.6    Councillor Platts asked if FOs were able to gather evidence for Police        investigations on issues such as drug dealing where residents felt too   vulnerable to speak directly to police.  The Officer confirmed that some            FOs had enforcement experience and could take statements from   residents.

33.7    RESOLVED – that the Panel agreed to note the report.