Original Email

Dear Department,

At these depressing times we face, I have a resident asking for some information regarding fishing…

Where can residents legally fish in our boroughs lakes, ponds and rivers?

Do we have a list or infographic map?

Thanks

Kind Regards,

Cllr. Stephanos Ioannou
Conservative Councilor for Southgate ward,
London Borough of Enfield

Response:

Dear Councillor Ioannou,

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding fishing within the Parks and Open Spaces.

We can confirm that the following areas permit fishing:

Trent Country Park
Groveland’s
Boxers Lake
Forty Hall

Thank you

Dear Cllr Ioannou,

Thank you for your enquiry regarding dangerous paving from 64-70 Fountains crescent.

I have attended the above location/s today and raised a number of repairs outside 64 and 68.

I hope this helps with your enquiry.

Regards

This was in response to a resident calling for increased traffic calming measures down High Street, Southgate N14. 

Response:

Dear Cllr Ioannou,

Thank you for your email enquiry dated 8^th May regarding speed camera’s on the High Street, N14.

Unfortunately, the council does not manage and maintain safety camera’s this is the responsibility of Transport for London (TfL). The locations for new safety cameras would be decided by them.

Alternatively, TfL have joined together with the police to create a programme called Community Roadwatch which gives local residents the opportunity to work side by side with their local police teams, and use speed detection equipment to identify speeding vehicles in their communities. To Suggest a residential area where there are community concerns around speeding, contact CommunityRoadwatch@met.police.uk stating the borough you live in. Your enquiry will be forwarded to your local MPS Safer Transport Team, who will be in touch.

We are aware that driver behaviour is most likely more erratic than usual due to the lower number of vehicles on the road. The public can report dangerous, illegal, or antisocial road user behaviour directly to the police via their online reporting tool, RoadSafe London. Every report helps the police and TfL to understand where and when bad road user behaviour takes place. The information and intelligence gathered via this tool is used to inform the activity of the police and partners. The tool is available online at https://www.met.police.uk/report/report-a-road-traffic-incident/.

I hope the above satisfies your queries, but please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further queries.

Yours sincerely

Here is the full council response to the concerns of the increased number of ambulances parked around the Southgate area, especially down The Vale:

“Dear Cllr Ioannou

Thank you for your member enquiry regarding the parking and cleaning of ambulances on the public highway.

I know that your primary concern was the cleaning out of the vehicles and any potential for the transmission of infection.  We have spoken to the Concerns Team at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who confirmed that XXXX are a registered provider. They will be speaking with the company regarding parking and cleaning of their vehicles on the  public highway.

I note from your email that you refer to XXXXXXX, XXXXX and XXXXXX. I have referred these details and associated registration numbers to the CQC for further investigation by them.

The ambulances that are parked in Southgate are private ambulances which provide patient transport services, transporting service user to medical appointments. They are not afforded the benefit that a LAS emergency ambulance has for parking. We are of the view that these private ambulances should not be parked on the highway, but should be located off road. It is the responsibility of the business operator to ensure that this is done. It is not appropriate for the business operator to use our highway as an extension of his business to park overnight, which is the case here.

In July 2019 a CPN Warning was issued on Patient Transport Service Ltd to cease parking these vehicles on the highway. Further visits to monitor the roads demonstrated that this notice was complied with. As a result of recent complaints and councillor member enquiries the Envirocrime team have been visiting the roads where the ambulances are alleged to be parked and have gathered enough evidence to now serve a Community Protection Notice on the business operator by the end of this week. The ward officer has contacted the business operator to advise him of this. Further monitoring will be carried out to ensure compliance. If the Community Protection Notice  is not complied with we will issue a FPN or prosecute.

With regards to the cleaning of the ambulance vehicles in the highway. This has been raised with the business operator. This is an offence under section 4 of the Cleaner Neighbourhoods Environment Act and that will also be addressed through regular site visits and if found to continue by either FPN or prosecution. The business operator has been advised by the ward officer to cease this.

Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Councillor Ioannou,

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding the hedge row along the Bourne.

We will trim the vegetation back from the fence line during this week.

Yours sincerely,

PUBLIC HEALTH BRIEFING NOTE

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) – INFORMATION FOR COUNCILLORS

1. Current Situation – 7^th May 2020 (09:00)

The information below provides a summary of published and publicly available data to date:

• In the UK there have been 201,101 confirmed cases and sadly 30,076 of these cases have subsequently died
• There have been 848 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Enfield
• Between 20^th March and 21^st April there were 230 Covid related deaths in Enfield compared to 226 non-Covid related deaths.
• 91% of deaths nationally involving Covid 19 had at least one pre-existing condition.
• London passed the peak in mid-April but risks of subsequent peaks remain until a vaccine is available (expected within 18 months).

Please note:

• These figures are expected to change rapidly so please refer to the regular updates on the Public Health England dashboard
• These figures will not include all deaths in community and care home settings. .
• These briefings will be provided regularly to keep councillors aware and up to date. Any questions arising from this briefing should be directed to either Stuart Lines lines@enfield.gov.uk or Glenn Stewart glenn.stewart@enfield.gov.uk.

2. Excess Mortality in Enfield

There is some debate nationally about how to most accurately describe excess mortality, that is the additional mortality that is due to the corona virus and taking into account those people who would have died regardless.  Within this there is the question of whether someone died with the virus or of the virus.  Factors such as age, gender,. socio-economic status, underlying conditions also need to be accounted for.  Statisticians tend to agree that the most robust measure is all-age, all-cause mortality which will not be available for many months.

Whilst a precise estimate of effect is very difficult to calculate it is very clear that the coronavirus has had a very significant effect on the numbers of deaths in Enfield; in Enfield in April 2020 there were 627 more deaths than in April 2019.

Source:  Enfield death registrations

In line with the national picture local data indicates the risk factors for Covid-related deaths are gender, age, and country of birth.

3. Antigen Testing

Testing capacity has been dramatically expanded nationally to include:

• All essential workers with symptoms
• All over 65s with symptoms
• Anyone with symptoms whose work cannot be done at home
• Anyone with symptoms and lives with any of the above
• Social care workers and residents in care homes (with or without symptoms)
• NHS workers and patients without symptoms

A full list of essential workers is available here.

There are 3 testing sites in Enfield:

Chase Farm, the North Middlesex Hospital and Lee Valley.

Tests can be booked online.  Home testing is also available.

Please note that this is the antigen testing for current infection, not an antibody test for immunity.  On 6^th May the Prime Minister indicated a target of 200k tests a day.

4. Lockdown

Lockdown measures now seem to be having an effect with evidence that, under current lockdown measures, we have reached the plateau of the number of corona related deaths:

Daily additional COVID-19 associated UK deaths by date reported

It should be noted that collection systems mean that some deaths are reported before others giving fluctuations in the numbers of deaths by day.  A 7 day rolling average helps to smooth these inconsistencies.  This has fallen from 674 on 30^th April to 568 on 6^th May.

Lockdown measures are expected to be reviewed on Sunday 10^th May.

Draft guidance on measures that business will need to take to return to work has been privately issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The Council Recovery Workstream is currently establishing a plan of how a return to work will happen, including consideration of what might be the ‘new normal’ in terms of working practices.

5. Contact tracing

As part of easing lockdown measures contact tracing (test, track and trace) will be implemented.  This will involve identifying someone who has Covid, identifying who has been in contact with them and then asking both the case and contacts to self-isolate.  Public Health England is looking to recruit a workforce of some 18,000 with the programme due to start ‘in the middle of May’.

A trial of contact tracing has begun on the Isle of Wight using an NHS app on smartphones.  If successful this will be rolled out to the rest of the country.

6. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

As of 4^th May LB Enfield had approximately one week’s supply of PPE for Care Home staff. The situation has improved since the first weeks of the outbreak.

Advice for which PPE is appropriate in different settings has been provided to staff. PHE has also provided infection control training to care homes.

7. Inequalities

Analysis of data at both a local and national level has indicated that BAME groups have been disproportionately affected by Covid.  Public Health England is expected to produce an initial report on this by the end of May. An initial paper from the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine has concluded that there may be a number of factors related to this including the overrepresentation of BAME populations in lower socio-economic groups, multi-family and multi-generational households, co-morbidity exposure risks, and disproportionate employment in lower band key worker roles.  Local analysis will use available data to provide a better understanding of the impact of Covid 19 on the residents of Enfield.

7 May 2020

Statement on the partial reopening of Barrowell Green Reuse and Recycling Centre

Barrowell Green Reuse and Recycling Centre will be partially reopening from Monday 11 May to visitors with appointments, to help those who have an urgent need to dispose of extra waste.

Residents are being asked to use the centre responsibly and only if necessary, to deposit limited amounts of household rubbish, recycling and garden waste.

The health and wellbeing of staff and residents is the highest priority for Enfield Council which is why strict restrictions will be in place to ensure the safety of all. Visitors will be asked to observe social distancing measures and will only be admitted with an appointment.

If people do not observe health and safety measures and do not behave responsibly towards staff, they will be turned away. If there are any indications that safety is being compromised, the Council reserves the right to close the centre.

The main restrictions at Barrowell Green are:

1. Visits will be on an appointment only basis. Only five cars will be admitted at a time to the centre, and each visitor has 15 minutes to dispose of their rubbish and recycling.

2. Residents can deposit a maximum of:

• Two household sacks of general rubbish (items that would be placed in your grey/black lidded bin)

• Two household sacks of garden waste (items that would be placed in your green lidded bin)

• Four household sacks of recycling (items that would be placed in your blue lidded bin; this includes paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays and metal tins and cans)

3. DIY materials and large bulky waste items will not be accepted.

4. Social distancing rules must be observed at all times

5. If you are experiencing a fever, high temperature or persistent cough please stay at home and do not visit the centre. Do not visit the centre if someone in your household is self-isolating.

6. The pedestrian access is closed. The Revive Reuse Shop will also remain closed for the foreseeable future

7. Full instructions and the booking facility are accessible from http://www.enfield.gov.uk/covid19; click on rubbish and recycling

While most residents have done an admirable job of managing their waste during the lockdown period, Enfield Council acknowledges it has been a struggle for some. However, please only apply for an appointment to visit Barrowell Green if you really need to. Think carefully about what you are throwing away and whether you need to travel to the recycling centre at all. Unnecessary journeys continue to pose a risk so we would ask residents to think twice before accessing the service. – Ends

This was in relation to residents concerns and pressure that I had to ask for an investigation into COVOID-19 commitment by these busineses. The result is as follows:

Dear Cllr Ioannou,

Thank you for your emails addressed to XXXXXX regarding your concerns over social distancing in parts of your Southgate Ward. In particular at the following premises;

• Fios, 102 Crown Lane, N14 5EN
• Hellenic Bakery ,Ashfield Parade, N14 5AB
• The Brothers Coffee Shop. 14 Ashfield Parade, N14 5AB
• Creams Cafe, Chase Side N14

I can confirm that officers from Regulatory Services have given advice to these premises on social distancing measures. We have provided them with information from the Government websites, spoken to them on the telephone, made personal visits and unannounced observational visits. I do appreciate that we are not in the location all of the time so our observations will only reflect the time we were present.

An officer has been visiting this area on a daily basis around lunch time to assess if the food businesses are following the advice provided. Our observations suggest they are, however on a few occasions, we have seen different groups of 3-5 males gathering together, not necessarily outside the food businesses but just generally in this area. This has been reported to our police colleagues with whom we are in regular liaison. The police have advised that the ward officers are visiting the area on a daily basis. They report that there have been occasions where there have been groups of people, but its never the same people, and they move when they see the Police.

In order to support the police and the wider government social distancing guidelines we have placed street signage around this area. I have attached some of the photographs which were taken by officers visiting the area on the 16^th April where you can see examples of the social distancing measures introduced by the premises and the street signage the Council has put up.

Under The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 local authority officers’ powers relate only to the enforcement of premises closure and trading restrictions, we have no powers to deal with social distancing. The gathering of 3 or more persons can only be enforced by the Police.

Officers from the Council and the Police will continue to monitor the area.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Councillor Ioannou,

Thank you for your email regarding the grass verge and tree replacement in The Close.

As soon as conditions allow we will topsoil and seed the areas that you have highlighted. Regarding the tree replacement I believe you have received a response form my colleague XXXX.

Dear Cllrs,

Thank you for your enquiry and apologies for the delay in responding.

I have checked our records and they show that the missed collection report made on 10 April was cleared and closed on 15 April.

I have noted the comments regarding the conduct of the crew and social distancing. Our collection crews have been briefed on social distancing. Keeping residents and our council officers safe is a top priority. We already have personal protective equipment (PPE) in place – made available items such as disposable gloves, overalls and aprons, face masks, hand sanitiser and disposable wipes. The inside of our vehicles are also being sanitised daily and crews are being asked to spend the minimum time in refuse trucks.

I have asked the supervisor to speak to the local collection crew directly to remind them of the recycling rules, the importance of treating all residents with courtesy and respect as well as collecting all bins as scheduled. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused on this particular day.

Kind regards,