Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

Councillor R Wootten declared an interest in Item 35 – Domestic Abuse Update as he was the representative for South Kesteven District Council on the West Lindsey/Lincoln and South Kesteven Domestic Violence Unit.  He was also a former member of the Domestic Violence Unit in Bedfordshire Police.

Councillor R Wootten declared an interest in Item 38 – Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership Priority Areas Update as he was the Vice Chair of the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel.

It was noted that the opening hours for Boultham Library as stated in the minutes were incorrect and should have read 8.30am – 4.30pm (Minute 27 refers).

Tony McGinty provided an update on the current situation with Wragby Library which was in the process of being set up within the community at Wragby Fire Station.

RESOLVED

That the minutes from 2 September 2015 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to one amendment.

(A report by Karen Shooter,County Domestic Abuse Manager, which provides an update of the Domestic Abuse work undertaken by the Community Safety Team)

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update of the Domestic abuse work undertaken by the Community Safety Team.

Domestic abuse had a significant impact on the communities and public services of Lincolnshire, with estimates suggesting that 1 in 15 adults suffered at least one incident of abuse in 2013/14.

While most victims would not report their abuse to a partnership agency, domestic abuse accounted for a high proportion of the workload of many public agencies in Lincolnshire nonetheless.

Lincolnshire County Council was currently the main funder of tackling domestic abuse, however there was uncertainty over the future of contracts due to cuts to local government funding.

A new Domestic Abuse protocol had been agreed at the meeting of the Domestic Abuse Strategic Management Board on 13 October 2015.  The protocol contained information and guidance for practitioners about all aspects of domestic abuse.  The protocol would be reviewed in six months' time.

Questions to Officers from Members confirmed the following:

·         Some victims would not be aware that what they were experiencing was domestic abuse.  It could take different forms: for example emotional, psychological or physical abuse;

·         The number of high risk cases referred to the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) in Lincolnshire had increased from 91 in 2008 to 843 in 2014;

·         There were areas of Lincolnshire which had higher rates of domestic abuse than others which were Lincoln and East Lindsay, however this coincided with dense population in these areas;

·         An increase in information received from partner agencies would demonstrate to the Committee that improvements were being made in tackling abuse;

·         District Councils had been asked to sign up to the Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse Charter and engagement varied from district to district.  However, all authorities were striving to engage with partners.  An update on where district councils stood in relation to the Charter would be sought for the Committee and circulated by the Senior Scrutiny Officer;

·         Financial issues was one of the top 10 reasons for victims not to leave an abusive relationship.  Housing, children and fear were three of the others;

·         Safeguarding the victims of domestic abuse was a special function.  It was tailored to their vulnerability which was different to that of adult safeguarding;

·         Agencies were attempting to increase the number of refuge places in the county and more had been commissioned.  This was bucking the trend nationally, which was seeing places decreasing.  Refuges worked together to maximise their availability;

·         Offenders were prosecuted where possible and where necessary.  There was also the ability to remove a perpetrator from the home for up to 28 days.

The Committee recognised the important work being undertaken by domestic abuse officers and agencies and offered its full support. In addition, they thanked Officers for a well-written report.

An update in six months' time would be scheduled into the Committee's work programme.

RESOLVED

1.    That the report be noted;

2.    That the work being undertaken by domestic abuse officers and partner agencies be recognised and supported.

3.    That a report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

(A report by Louise Egan, Programme Officer, Community Engagement, in connection with the re-commissioning of substance misuse treatment services, contract following approval by the Executive)

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update on the progress made in re-commissioning the Substance Misuse Treatment service.

The Council was responsible for the treatment of substance misuse for all Lincolnshire residents.  At the present time, service providers included Addaction, Young Addaction, DART and Nacro and incorporated pharmacological and psychosocial services.  Following the transfer of the service to the Council from the NHS in 2012, the Council inherited the existing system which had not been subject to a competitive tender for 15 years.

In March 2015, the Executive agreed to allow the recommissioning owing to the contribution the service made to the Public Health Outcome Framework and the wider joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

An evidence based approach was being taken to modernise services in line with best practice.  The model identified, going forward, was for one provider to cover the whole county for all in need of treatment.

The timing of the recommissioning was paramount.  The Council was ready to start the procurement, but had to wait until the budget had been announced.  However, if the budget altered funding for the service, there may be question marks over whether the new model was affordable.

Questions from the Committee confirmed the following:

·         Lincoln had a high number of service users.  This was due to a number of factors, but mainly supply and demand;

·         The Council supported schools in providing their own education programmes.  A new website was in development which provided quality assured, accredited programmes for schools to use;

·         There were permanent treatment centres in the main towns of Lincolnshire and the new model would see the addition of outreach workers in hospitals;

·         There was discussion regarding the effect that drugs had on communities and it was reported that the Police have a policy of tackling the supply of drugs at the top of the chain rather than the local dealers.  Evidence showed this was a more successful approach than enforcement with low level dealers, or users who dealt to support their own addiction.

The Committee would be provided with a further update on the commissioning within the next six months.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted and that an update be received within six months.

(A report by Nick Borrill, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Planning, Prevention & Protection, in connection with Government consultation on measures to transform the delivery of local fire and police services and drive greater collaboration between the three emergency services (Police, Fire and Ambulance).

The Committee considered a report regarding the Government's consultation on a series of measures to transform the delivery of local fire and police services, and drive greater collaboration between the police, fire and rescue, and NHS ambulance services.  The key measures being consulted on were listed in the report.

There was already extensive collaboration between blue-light services in Lincolnshire which had been very successful and well regarded.

The consultation was discussed and the following issues were raised by the Committee:

·         Some Members did not agree with having joint roles for more than one service, feeling that having joint services, led by one individual would not work well;

·         There were democratic issues in that as the Police and Crime Commissioner was elected by the public, his role may change with the proposed collaboration of services;

·         The collaboration may present significant operational challenges for which there may be no funds to correct;

·         Would there be any additional funding from central government for it?

The Chairman summarised the Committee's concerns that one size would not fit all services and the existing collaboration was working very well for Lincolnshire.

All comments made would be fed into the authority's response to the consultation.  Members were informed that they could also submit individual responses to Nick Borrill, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, if they wished.

It was reported that Dave Ramscar, Chief Fire Officer, was due to retire at the end of November 2015. It was agreed that the Chairman would send a letter of thanks and appreciation to Dave Ramscar on behalf of the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted and comments made by the Committee be noted for inclusion in the consultation response.

(A report by Claire Seabourne, Service Partnership Liaison Officer, which provides an update on the Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership (LCSP), including the priority setting process, structure of the LCSP and progress highlights for each of the priority areas)

A report was considered which provided an update on the Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership (LCSP).  This included the priority setting process, structure of the Partnership and progress highlights for each of the priority areas.

Prior to the creation of the LCSP there were countywide arrangements between agencies, which did not work as efficiently as the Partnership.  A diagram of the number of agencies currently involved in the Partnership was included in the report. 

The report updated on the priority areas of the Partnership and the following changes had been made:

·         Hate crime had been added: an area in which crimes were underreported;

·         Reducing Offending had been added, which had previously been entitled 'Reducing Reoffending', however it was felt that trying to reduce offending in the first instance would provide better outcomes for communities;

·         Serious and Organised Crime had been added which, it had been shown, was beginning to filtrate into communities and had to be tackled in an open and transparent way.  The Lincolnshire model for tackling organised crime had been praised by the Home Office.

In other areas, an increase had been seen in cases of sexual violence which had been seen in care settings, in relationships as "stranger" attacks.

Road safety was coordinated by its own robust partnership and did not require being included in the LCSP.  The Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership fed into the LCSP and had the power to overrule their decisions on road safety, however, this had never occurred.

Certain issues had not been chosen for the Partnership to focus on as they were not issues that affected the whole county. 

Each council had representatives on the Partnership and Lincolnshire's representatives were Councillor B Young and Councillor P A Robinson.  The Committee felt it would be beneficial to them if these representatives fed back to the Committee on a regular basis.

The Committee discussed areas the Partnership dealt with and requested focus on certain topics.  Any further requests should be sent to the Senior Scrutiny Officer.

RESOLVED

That the report and comments made be noted.

(A report by Tracy Johnson, Scrutiny Officer, in connection with the latest situation of the Committee's Work Programme)

The Committee considered its work programme report which provided details of items due to be discussed at forthcoming meetings.

RESOLVED

That the Work Programme and changes made therein be noted.