Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A Bridges, A J Jesson, C E D Mair, R B Parker and Mrs C A Talbot and Added Members Mr C V Miller, Mrs E J Olivier-Townrow and Mr P Thompson.

It was noted that the Chief Executive, having received a notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committee's and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, had appointed Councillors W J Aron and Mrs J M Renshaw as replacement members of the Committee in place of Councillors Mrs C A Talbot and R B Parker, respectively, for this meeting only.

There were no declarations of interests.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2014 be agreed and signed by the Chairman.

(To consider any Call-ins, should any be received)

No Call-Ins had been received.

(To consider any proposals for Scrutiny Reviews, should any be received)

No proposals for Scrutiny Reviews had been received.

(To provide the Committee with an opportunity to receive a presentation from Mr Alan Hardwick, Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, and Mr Neil Rhodes, Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police which addresses some of the challenges faced by Lincolnshire Police, and the plans in place to meet some of those challenges)

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Alan Hardwick (Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire), Howard Hunt (Deputy Chief Executive, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire) and Neil Rhodes (Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police).

In a presentation to the Committee, the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable outlined the main issues affecting policing in Lincolnshire, which included:-

·         Lincolnshire Police was one of the champions of change, if it was required to do so;

·         The force was well positioned to embrace structural change, if was mandated.  However, it would prefer to remain independent;

• Lincolnshire Police was close to the 'cost of being in business' and as a result, there were concerns over the potential for further significant cuts in 2016/17 and 2017/18;
• Any further cuts would challenge Lincolnshire Police's operational viability.  It was felt that there was a clear need for a different funding model to ensure there was a fair distribution of funding across the country;
• In 2011 the force was faced with budget cuts of £19.7 million per annum over a period of four years.  The force was anticipating further funding cuts through the next Comprehensive Spending Review and it was expected that it could be as much as £7 million in 2016/17 and £11 million in 2017/18;
• The Force had the lowest cost per head of population in the country, despite having the third highest workload.  It was also noted that the district of North Kesteven was one of the safest places to live within the Country;
• It was noted that overall there had been a reduction in crime.  However the force still had the third highest level of crime, per visible police officer, in the country;
• The main operational challenges for Lincolnshire Police had included: austerity; rising demand for services; increasingly challenging diverse community issues; Strategic Policing Requirement; and there were 10% fewer officers compared to two years ago;
• It was essential that the number of police officers (1100) and police and community support officers (149) was protected at this level to ensure a high level of service was provided to the Lincolnshire population;
• Lincolnshire Police was committed to Neighbourhood Policing;
• It was important for Lincolnshire to retain its own police force and its own identity to ensure the services were kept at its current level;
• The force was an exemplar for most best practice initiatives; and
• The force worked collaboratively with other East Midlands forces.

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following issues were raised:-

·         Lobbying the Government with regard to funding issues.  The Chief Constable welcomed any support from members;

·         Role of PCSO’s – The Chief Constable advised that the PCSO’s were a success, and that they provided a very important role throughout Lincolnshire;

·         Collaboration forces – Members were advised that there was no intention, nationally, for police forces to merge.  However, there was a clear need to work in partnership on certain issues;

·         Cyber-crime – the force was working proactively to address the increasing rise  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

(To receive a report by David Hair (Team Leader Scrutiny and Member Support), which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider its work programme and the work programme for the Council's Scrutiny Committees)

Consideration was given to a report by David Hair, Team Leader (Scrutiny and Member Support), which provided the Committee with an opportunity to consider its work programme and the work programmes of the Scrutiny Committees.  Copies of the individual work programmes were appended to the report and the following updates were received:-

i)          Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

The Chairman advised Members that a Development Session was scheduled to be held on Friday, 21 November 2014 on financial information, and in particular how best to scrutinise it.  The session would be held in both the morning and afternoon and would be particularly timely ahead of the next budget round in January 2015.

It was noted that the Executive Councillor decision on 'School Funding Arrangements 2015/16', which was taken on 22 October 2014 had been Called-In.  However, the Call-In had since been withdrawn on the understanding that a report on the School Funding Arrangements 2015/16 would be considered by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee at its next available meeting.  The Vice-Chairman of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee confirmed that he would take this forward.

ii)         Adults Scrutiny Committee

The Chairman advised Members that the item on 'Extra Care Housing – Procurement of a Developer' which had been listed for 26 November 2014, would now be considered on 28 January 2015, prior to it being considered by the Executive on 3 February 2015. 

iii)        Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee

The Vice-Chairman advised Members that there were two changes to the work programme: -

The report on the 'Proposal for a Scrutiny Review on School Improvement', which was listed for the 28 November 2014, would now be a proposal for setting up a working group rather than a scrutiny review.  The reason for this was because concerns had been raised by the Executive Councillor Adult Care and Health Services, Children's Services, about the timing of the review, as the contract was not due to end until 2017, and that a review would be duplicating work that was currently being undertaken by officers.  The working group of around three members of the Committee would work with officers who were currently reviewing the School Improvement offer.

Also, a report on 'Topics for Future Scrutiny Reviews' had been added to the work programme for the meeting of the Committee scheduled to be held on 16 January 2015.

It was noted that the Deputy Lead Inspector from the Ofsted Inspection had attended the meeting of the Committee held on 24 October 2014 for the item on the Executive's Response to the Frontline Social Workers and Safeguarding Scrutiny Review.  Ofsted would also be speaking to the Chairman of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee and the Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel during the week commencing 3 November 2014.

iv)        Community and Public Safety Scrutiny Committee

The Chairman advised Members that the Committee's meeting scheduled to be held on 5 November 2014 would be held at St Giles Church  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.