Brandon Estate Update

Immediate response to the recent incident

• On 10 October 2019 18 year old Clinton Evbota was stabbed to death on the Brandon Estate. Six people aged 14-18 were subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and the Police investigation continues. This followed two nearby tragic murders of young people in May and August 2018.
• In the immediate aftermath of the most recent tragic murder the CCTV team have assisted Police with reviewing of footage and the release of potential evidence. A redeployable camera has been replaced to preserve evidence from the hard drive in preparation for Police review. The council has liaised with the Police collating footage and will continue to do so as the investigation develops.
• We continue to request that residents contact the police and the CCTV control room 0207 4079553 should they see anything suspicious or of concern so that incidents can be monitored where possible.
• Trauma support available through Victim Support for anyone who needs it targeting young people and schools but also available to adults – details circulated to residents. Victim Support can be contacted anytime on 08 08 16 89 111 or the South London Team on 020 7277 1433. • Anyone with information that may assist detectives investigating have been advised to contact the incident room on 020-8721-4005 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Community Engagement

• Strong relationships with the three TRAs on the Estate Officers (Communities and Resident Services), ward members and Police meet regularly with the TRAs and with residents on the Estate and have done so consistently over the last two years. • All three TRAs now meet together several times a year in addition to their separate meetings to discuss common issues like community safety.. • Police have regular policing meetings with residents on the Estate and the council inputs to these. • Young Advisors have been on the Estate every evening since the Summer engaging with young people, signposting them to activities and support and gathering their views. • 4 substantial community facilities on the Estate (Brandon 3 TRA Hall, Rachel Leigh Community Hall, Jack Hobbs Club and Brandon Youth Centre/Library) and the council is supporting the TRAs as required and working with the TRAs on co-ordination of activities and closer working together. • Youth Providers network of those active on the Estate meets regularly to co-ordinate and plan the extensive range of provision for young people on the Estate with more activities coming on stream in the coming months in consultation with residents and young people. • Regular walkabouts on the Estate involving officers, ward members and TRA reps/residents to identify and address issues/concerns. The latest on 5 November reviewed the work on cctv, trees and lighting and look at any additional work needed

Youth/Community Activities • 10 week programme of repairs to make the Jack Hobbs Club a fully used community hub (10 week programme of repairs started Monday 14 October) with little disruption to Youth and other sessions.
• Continue to provide accommodation for Latin American Disabled People’s Project since November 2018.
• Southwark Young Advisors based here since April 2019 providing Streetbase work with Youthnetic – Peer to Peer street engagement on and around the estate as well as the early intervention Breaking Barriers Southwark project – targeted at 11-19 year olds.
• Southwark Young Advisors chair a Brandon Youth Providers meeting monthly with Young Advisors (Southwark/Lambeth), StreetGames, Active Communities, Millwall Community, Youthnetic, Youth Futures, Bethwin Adventure, LBS Youth Services, and Mentivity. The group is mapping community activities on the estate and co-ordinating what is provided.
• Tuesdays 5.30pm to 9pm – MyScript run by Bridge the Gap studios (funded by United St Saviours) – Open to 15-19 year olds – Drama sessions.

Youth/Community Activities • Wednesdays 5.30pm-9pm – Focus: Positive Narrative run by Youthnetic – open to 13-19 years olds – Photography.
• Working with the following organisations to plan more youth services /activities at the JHC once repairs have been completed. • Youthnetic • Mentivity • Millwall Community • Southwark works • Southwark mediation • Street league • Fight4Change • Leap Confronting Conflict • Street Games • Brook/CGL
• And more being planned in consultation with young people

Other Activities • The Young Advisers are in process of setting up a Youth Panel to work with local young people and the TRAs to produce an estate newsletter #MyBrandon and train young people to become involved in activities. • Resident Services and Southwark Young Advisors worked closely with the 3 TRAs to produce a very successful estate Fun Day on 18 August. • The Youth Centre at the Library is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday evenings every week 6.15-9.15pm. In school holidays this changes to 1-5pm. • Council funded Youth Futures provide a weekly Friday evening youth session at the Youth Centre 6-9pm. • Activities for children at Brandon Library every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. • iichild funded by the council to run sessions for children at the Rachel Leigh Summer 2018 now complete • Parenting Programme in Ark All Saints some parents from the group are residents on the Brandon. More work developing with local schools.

Other activities

Operational Team Meeting • Due to the extensive work being carried out by the SYA team, the SYA management now chair an operational team meeting. This meeting is for on the ground officers to discuss all aspects of the Brandon Estate. This meeting enables teams to meet monthly and discuss ongoing issues/ issues as they arise and implement appropriate actions in partnership to ensure that things are picked up, not duplicated and are actioned. • Teams who attend include: Young Advisors, SASBU, CCTV, Noise, Parking enforcement, cleansing, Housing, community wardens and Police (local police team) and Lambeth colleagues from community safety/parks. Where applicable other organisations, colleagues from Lambeth etc. are invited or the teams link both operational/youth provider colleagues together to address concerns. Supporting Community Engagement • T&RA meetings / Community Meetings – The SYA team where available will attend T&RA / community meetings. The team have also helped set up and manage the Brandon summer event in partnership with all three T&RA’s with positive feedback. The team support community meetings by distributing flyers. They have done this on every occasion since the summer of 2018 apart from the last community meeting. The team also assisted with the distribution of flyers for the community event (August 2019) and helped distribute flyers for Brandon 2/3 District Heating meeting 10th July 2019.

CCTV • In April 2018 in response to an incident of serious youth violence and concerns from residents a redeployable (now permanent) camera sited at John Ruskin St. • In August 2018 CCTV coverage across the Brandon estate was reviewed with the Police, TRAs and feedback from residents at various community meetings. This led to the installation of two further redeployable CCTV cameras on the estate; Warham St (Brandon 3 TRA area) and Hillingdon St. • All three of these cameras remain in place due to continuing concerns of crime and anti social behaviour. • This took the number of cameras to 11 locations on the Estate shown on the map on the next slide. • In addition the CCTV van has been deployed by local policing teams across the estate on numerous occasions.

CCTV provision prior to the recent phase of extension

Latest phase of improved CCTV coverage • Following further resident concerns (Brandon 3) the CCTV team met on site with the resident services manager and consulted with the local policing team to look at potential sites for installation of more new permanent CCTV in areas of concern.
• The CCTV team met with TRA chairs and ward councillors at CCTV control room to understand the scope of the CCTV provision across the Estate and discuss current concerns.
• On the 14th June 2019 the CCTV team received confirmation to go ahead with the installation of the Brandon 3 CCTV system, involving the installation of 5 permanent CCTV cameras at three locations: • At Bethwin Rd two static cameras mounted on an existing lighting column. • At The Bungalows a single movable camera installed on a new camera pole. • At Laxley Close – two static cameras mounted on a new camera pole.
• The Brandon 3 cameras are an additional permanent CCTV system added to our current provision, this project requires the procurement of the camera system, civil works and extensive transmission works. This project is now live back at the CCTV control room and the cameras all recording. Takes total number to 16 on the Estate.

Trees • A walkabout took place with residents on 6th August 2018 in the Brandon 3 area with the council’s Arboricultural Officer this identified 25 works (pruning, pollarding, crown lifts and one tree removal).
• 19 of these works were identified as high priority and have been completed.
• The remaining 6 were identified as lower risk works and were completed earlier in October.
• The whole Estate was surveyed again in April/May 2019 to identify works to be undertaken as part of the ongoing planned maintenance programme.
• Further condition surveys are carried out on a 3 yearly cycle between which regular planned maintenance takes place.
• Remedial works can also be raised on an ad hoc basis as issues arise between survey periods.

A one council approach

• A community meeting took place on Wednesday 16 October 2019 to discuss resident concerns about community safety this was attended by council and Police representatives. • Residents were understandably shocked and upset and raised a number of issues of concern. Following the meeting a full response was sent on 29 October 2019 by the Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Public Health to all issues raised by residents and committing to further action. • This response also announced that a Director had been put in place to oversee a one-council approach to the Brandon Estate acting with the authority of the Chief Executive with day to day management leadership by senior area housing managers. • This new approach will build in the work done to date ensuring that there is a seamless and co-ordinated approach working in partnership with residents to address outstanding issues and concerns going forward.

Ongoing and planned activity

• LBS committed to major investment in the fabric and community of the Brandon Estate.
• Improved communication plan as well as engagement to ensure residents are aware of and can feed into what the council is delivering/planning.
• Estate is shortlisted to be a Great Estate which will allow for extensive community involvement in improving the estate (Estate Action Plan).
• The council’s ‘Great Estates’ programme introduced in December 2018 defines the future approach to ‘Expand and Enrich’ Southwark estates, by identifying appropriate sites on existing estates for new council housing, and new ways of working with residents to improve the look feel and communal experience of the estate. The recently announced estate improvement plan pilot funding for the Brandon will help deliver that approach.
• Extensive major works scheduled for the estate 2023-26 scope to be confirmed and discussed with residents.
• Last year emergency lighting on the Brandon 1 blocks updated and all lighting checked and where necessary repaired across the Estate (August 2018). Further inspection in 2019 identified all lighting requiring repair and works are currently underway.

Ongoing and planned activity • Repairs (new pump) made to the district heating system. The boilers in the Wyndham boiler house are being refurbished as is the plantroom at Brandon 1. Brandon 2 and 3 boilers being rebuilt following the exceptional 3 week outage. • Feasibility study on options for overhauling the estates District Heating system will be completed by end of the year. • The council is planning a consultation with residents about the potential for building a new community centre on the estate, as well as new council homes for local people. • Consultation will also help identify what more residents want to have provided in existing facilities like the Jack Hobbs Club. Contrary to reports in the Southwark News there is no intention, and has never been any intention, to sell the Jack Hobbs club to an external party. • Any redevelopment proposal would follow extensive consultation with local residents and the agreement of the TRAs. This could, for example, be focused solely on upgrading the flexibility and useability of community space on the current site, and that any accompanying residential development would be maximise the numbers of council homes for local people, at social rents on secure tenancies, to meet housing need on the estate.