In early February, senior council staff Dean Ingledew and Leith Penny announced their vision for the future of Street Management across the streets of Westminster - your streets.
The idea they have proposed is to move away from the current system of City Guardians and City Inspectors. They want one street team doing both jobs. This means reducing street staff from 120 to only 65. Their vision, essentially, is to slash front-line services - something the Council said they would never do.
In the past, the City Council have been proud of the contribution made by the City Guardians - and rightly so. On their own website, they write:
City Guardians help to make public areas safer and cleaner... They help to improve public confidence and safety by showing that public areas are cared for.. their visible presence can help reduce crime.
Not only that, Westminster City Council go on to say:
City Guardians also work to address environmental issues by reporting faulty street lights, dangers on the footpath, litter hotspots, graffiti, abandoned cars, commercial and residential waste.
Now, it's unclear what will happen if the service is reduced. But I would say it's likely that Westminster residents - whom we are here to help - can look forward to decreasing confidence that their streets are clean and cared for. They may see increasing numbers of faulty lights, more dangers on the footpath, litter, graffiti and abandoned cars - and more waste piling up. Perhaps even crime will increase.
The new team simply cannot cope with the volume of work the old teams did. In fact, they can only patrol and report about 50% of the previous volume of work. That makes a big difference.
Losing the City Guardians means losing the protective, pro-active local teams that care about your neighbourhood. Those that care about the antisocial behaviour outside your home. The street lights that guide you home. The confidence that litter and graffiti won't be there long if it appears at all.
And what about the City Inspectors?
The City Inspectors service is a multi-disciplinary team that consists of officers from Environmental Health, Market Inspection Team and the Street Environment Management Team. The City Inspectors service was set up to provide a one-stop service for dealing with problems on the street in Westminster.
Westminster tells us they deal with illegal advertising and street trading, market inspections and special events. They work hand in hand with the police, revenue and customs, and immigration officers.
The City Inspectors, whose work the new team will more closely reflect, generate revenue for the City Council. The City Guardians help grow social responsibility and maintain the social fabric - but that costs money.
Both are needed - they make a difference in your streets, preventing crime and illegal trading which ultimately costs jobs and necessitates raising taxes. They maintain the quality environment Westminster residents are accustomed to, and help raise civic responsibility and awareness.
If you believe that the City Guardians and City Inspectors have helped in your area - and you don't believe City Councils should avoid their civic responsibilities in order to save money - contact your local councillor, your local MP or write to the staff named above and join our campaign to keep our City Guardians and City Inspectors helping out in any way they can in your area.
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