Loading
There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
Councillor Al-Nuaimi asked: QAAT to Cabinet Member for Regeneration Referring to the background material below, which appeared in a Facebook post yesterday. This followed the Newport Now “Crime & ASB” meeting held on 17 June 2026. It is highly concerning to read about the very negative perception that many traders and business owners operating in Newport city centre hold about the issues of law, order and anti-social behaviour incidents, affecting the ambience and environment for business, as well as visitors and shoppers . Questions: 1. Can the Cabinet member please set out the steps the Council plans to take in order to deal with the various issues referred to in the post, and especially the ASB affecting trade and the experiences of shoppers and visitors to the city centre 2. NCC have a city centre Manager appointed a few years ago. Can the Cabinet Member explains what is exactly the role of the city centre manager in counteracting the occurrence of various ASB incidents, alcohol and substance misuse, aggressive begging and rough sleeping in the heart of the city centre. 3. In view of the strong negative perception on the part of business expressed in the FB post, does the Cabinet member consider that the city centre manager has an important role to liaise with business regularly and will he direct the city centre manager to explain to as well as interacts proactively with them about the plans by NCC and other agencies aimed at tackling effectively the ASB and its various associated problems? 4. Understanding that tackling ASB and other issues like alcohol and drug abuse, rough sleeping and aggressive begging are mostly covered by the Public Space Protection Order covering the city centre, will the Cabinet Member regularly liaise with the Police and the city centre Manager to ensure respective agencies deliver their responsibilities in a timely manner and as seamlessly as possible, so that things, which may overlap are not allowed to fall between stools. Background We attended the BID meeting today as city centre business owners, where a panel of police, council and city centre representatives had to answer the Q's from a very angry audience. Everyone had a story to tell - burglary, robbery, violence, abuse, drug addicts, aggressive begging, the list was endless, and the experiences horrific. Police had to take it, promised to do better, and the council talked about the new CCTV system to be installed, and everyone left knowing nothing will change. The suggestions were to: lock them up, stop housing them in city centre, move them on, open youth clubs, move drug services out of town, arrest them quicker...we move 'them', they become someone else's problem; we arrest 'them', there's no room in prisons and our justice process is very long. Surely the time has come to look at how other countries are doing things - Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Portugal are having excellent success rates with their homeless and addiction rates. Kids don't want to go to youth clubs or drama clubs - they want to drink, take drugs, fight, hurt people, burn things down, because they hate the system and have no hope for anything. I don't know the answers, but I know I was once an angry young girl who wanted to fight, drink, do drugs, hated authority. Society is broken, we need to start looking outside the box. Councillors Clarke and Hughes responded: The Council recognises the strength of feeling expressed by city centre businesses and understands the impact that antisocial behaviour has on trade, footfall and the overall sense of safety. We take these concerns seriously and are working closely with Gwent Police and partners through the Safer Newport Community Safety Partnership, where the city centre remains a priority. A range of measures are in place, including enforcement of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to address issues such as aggressive begging and street drinking, and the use of a multi agency “Strike Process” to manage repeat offenders. The Strike Process is a multi-agency approach for managing repeat ASB, moving through staged intervention which can include engagement and support, warnings, notices and other enforcement tools, with the most serious or persistent cases considered for further legal or criminal justice action where appropriate. The role of the City Centre Manager has been clarified in previous responses, but to reiterate, the City Centre Manager is not a Police Officer and has no powers to detain, search or use reasonable force in undertaking this role. The purpose of the City Centre Manager is to support the strategic management and functioning of the City Centre. The City Centre Manager works with businesses and in partnership with other city centre stakeholders, including the BID, Gwent Police, and other Council services. The Council’s Community Protection team continues to deliver significant activity in this area, including patrols, enforcement and direct engagement with businesses. In the last year alone, this has included over 1,200 patrols, alongside extensive partnership, community and business engagement activity. The Council is also continuing to invest in measures to improve safety and reassurance, including the rollout of an upgraded CCTV system, and will be supporting Gwent Police’s activities to further intensify high visibility patrols and enforcement activity in response to current concerns. These actions build on ongoing partnership work to strengthen enforcement, prevention and support, and reflect a clear commitment to improving safety in the city centre and supporting businesses, residents and visitors.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
The council hasn't recorded attendance for this meeting.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.