Taunton counil's anti-social behaviour review postponed

A task and finish group was set up in October 2018 to look into the concerns of residents and businesses about crime and antisocial behaviour in the town centre, culminating in a public forum on January 19.

The group’s finished report – dubbed the Spotlight review – was presented to the council’s scrutiny committee on Thursday evening (March 21), having been previously delayed at a similar meeting in February.

But councillors refused to examine the report’s findings in detail, claiming their officers had not been given enough time to have their input.

The report will now be considered by the new Somerset West and Taunton Council after the elections on May 2 – much to the chagrin of the group’s members, who accused the council of “a lack of leadership”.

Andy Sharman, from the South West Business Crime Centre, told the scrutiny committee that they needed to take urgent action to address numerous issues in the town centre.

He said: “I found the day with the Spotlight review very compelling. It was frustrating to hear the experience of traders in this town, what they’ve had to endure.

“You have a responsibility to take action to keep the town centre safe.”

The report contained numerous personal accounts and copious anecdotal evidence which came out of the public forum on January 19.

The issues they cited included:

Burglary and property damage: David Malcolm from Rowcliffes car dealership claimed he had been broken into twice by the same person in the last two months, costing £1,000 each time. He said: “I have had to update security because the insurance people aren’t happy. The security fitter said it was absurd because the only place you’d find this kind of security is a bank.”

Racial abuse: Phillippe Messy said: “Not being British, I have been told to f*** off back to my country.”

Drug dealing and drunkenness: Simon Midge, who served as a police officer for 23 years, said: “I feel that it is unsafe to take my young family into the town given the presence of aggressive beggars, street drinking and drunkenness, open and unashamed drug dealing and drug use. We travel to Bristol to shop; the town centre is feral and has been declining over the last few years.”

Assault: Richard Sekules, who runs a tattoo shop on Each Reach, said he was “savagely attacked” outside his shop at 11am by two youths, and “had to face his children with two black eyes after the attack.” His partner Melanie was “spat at and shouted out” in the town centre, and now avoids the area

Aggressive begging: Gina Collins told the forum: “Just last week I was at the ATM and one of the rough sleepers came up to me and another older lady and in a very rough voice shouted: ‘You owe me money’ and ‘I want it now’ – really hassling us.”

Councillor Ian Morrell, a member of the task and finish group, criticised the lack of leadership between the various partners and agencies involved in the town centre.

He said: “We all appreciate the work that people are doing at the moment to alleviate these problems – crime, antisocial behaviour, CCTV, homelessness and rough sleeping. That is not in doubt. The problem is that no-one is leading the partnership at the moment.”

He went on to claim an existing partnership with Sedgemoor CCTV had not delivered value for money for Taunton Deane taxpayers.

He said: “We don’t actually know where our money is being spent. It’s a kinetic fast-moving environment in their operating centre in Bridgwater, and the result is that here in Taunton we aren’t getting enough for our £250,000 [a year].

“When the street wardens were in effect, the crime levels actually went down. When the PCSOs came in, the constabulary had control and they could be moved around. With street wardens, we have operational control.

“Action needs to occur without delay. For every month that we delay, TK Maxx is losing £10,000 a month. That cannot be allowed to continue.”

Despite Mr Morrell’s strong words, his fellow councillors lined up to say that the report needed officer input to be properly considered.

Councillor Libby Lisgo said: “I can’t remember being at any kind of meeting where a report was tabled and written by an individual councillor. It’s entirely contrary to how we normally, rightly or wrongly, do things.”

“Added to that is all the bad timing, which is nobody’s fault, about this council ceasing to exist at the end of next week. That makes it more complicated again.

“There are multiple levels of complexity which this report touches upon and doesn’t completely unpack.”

She added that, while the spotlight event “made for uncomfortable listening”, it did not necessarily reflect the reality for many Taunton residents.

She said: “Everything I heard on that day is not my experience of walking around Taunton town centre. That doesn’t make me right and everyone else wrong – I’m just saying there are other views of how our town is that were not reflected in the Spotlight review.“

Councillor Nicholas Townsend said: “There’s no doubt that this report provokes emotions. I don’t think we should be reading a report which is based as much on emotions as anything else.

“Taunton is not a place I worry about my children, who are in their early-teens, wandering around in the daytime. There are problems with crime, but I don’t feel comfortable with the report because there is no officer input.

“We don’t want to invest resources into something which is not going to produce a positive outcome for everybody.”

Councillor Ross Henley added: “There are some interesting conclusions, but there are far too many recommendations for us to digest this evening. It’s unfortunate that we haven’t had officer input.”

Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts, who chairs the committee, proposed that the report should come back to the new council’s scrutiny committee once officers had made their contribution.

She said: “The Spotlight review was very much needed. There are lots of concerns around the town about the antisocial behaviour faced.

“What disappoints me about this report is the language used against our third sector providers. That overshadows what this report should be.

“The reason why we want officer input is that it takes out an individual’s opinion and gives a more reasoned approach to it, and where we might get that financing from, and making sure it’s legal.”

The committee voted to defer consideration of the report until the formation of the new council by six votes to one, with one abstention.

Following the meeting, Mr Morrell said it was “disappointing councillors did not seek to identify and action urgent remedies”.

He added: “By deferring consideration of the recommendations until after May 2019, the council has again demonstrated a lack of leadership to members of the public and businesses on the important contemporaneous issues of crime and anti-social behaviour.

“We trust that both members of the public and businesses will continue to advocate their concerns on crime and anti-social behaviour to the relevant authorities.”

Mr Sharman took to Twitter to express his displeasure, stating: “The traders of Taunton don’t have time for the council to swap stories about one thing or another.

“Losses add up and businesses close. The level of business crime is unsustainable.”