At the Exeter HATOC meeting in January 2024, Traffic officer Jamie Holland revealed that he was reluctant to send Council officers to actively monitor the Active Streets Trial due to concerns about abuse or other negative behaviour they might face.
Could you confirm whether this is a formal policy of the traffic team? When it was arrived at, what risk assessment had been undertaken to come to this conclusion and what evidence had prompted this decision.
We can confirm that Jamie Hulland did not raise concerns about abuse but was reluctant for staff to be carrying out surveys in the area on health and wellbeing grounds. It is reasonable for projects like these for officers to carry out dynamic risk assessments, which is a continuous process of identifying and analysing risks during the course of a live project and responding to changing situations. The statement made at committee was a judgment made in his management role and responsibility for the transport planning team, and taking into account experiences and concerns reported and logged by staff over the course of the trial.
Please also see our Customer Notice which indicates that all council officers have the right to be treated with respect and to feel safe, and not tolerate abuse.