Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor R J Phillips.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

During consideration of the minutes, it was clarified that in relation to minute number 29, bullet point 6 there was a minimum age of 18 to become a retained fire fighter, however, there was no upper age limit, subject to the expected criteria being met.  Also, members were advised that the information requested in relation to the last bullet point regarding the number of female retained fire fighters would be circulated shortly.

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2016 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Executive Councillor Community Safety and People Management reported that the launch of the Assisting Rehabilitation through Collaboration (ARC) had taken place the previous Friday.  It was commented that this was a very important subject and a report should come before the committee in the future.  It was noted that 2% of offenders in Lincolnshire committed 13% of all offences, and the top 2% in Lincoln were responsible for 27% of offences.

(To receive a report by Michelle Grady, Head of Finance (Communities) which describes the budget proposals arising from the Provisional Local Government Settlement, announced on 15 December 2016 and the implications for commissioning strategies)

Consideration was given to a report which described the budget proposals arising from the Provisional Local Government Settlement, announced on 15 December 2016 and the implications for the following commissioning strategies – Community Resilience and Assets; Wellbeing; protecting the Public; Sustaining & Developing Prosperity through Infrastructure (heritage Services only).

The Executive would be consulting on a one year budget, and there were still difficult circumstances in terms of understanding the total amount of cost pressures as well as the funding that would be available.  The Council was proposing to increase council tax by 1.95% and also by an additional 2% increase for the adult social care precept, making a total proposed increase of 3.95%.

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

Community Resilience & Assets

·         In relation to the pension scheme, and the intention to reduce the amount paid by service areas and make a lump sum corporate contribution to the fund, it was commented that the effect of reducing numbers of staff on the scheme had not registered.  It was noted that reviews of the pension scheme were done on a cyclical basis, and the contribution method had been changed to ensure that the council's responsibilities were being met.

·         It was queried why the Council was not setting a 4/5 year budget, but the districts had been able to.  Members were advised that it was the Executive's decision to set a one year budget.  There were also some cost pressures which were specific to the County Council such as adult social care and waste disposal costs.  There were also still questions around the Better Care Fund (BCF).  It was commented that South Holland District Council had also only set a one year4 budget.

·         With the announcement that approval would be sought for a poll on unitary authorities, it was queried whether the additional money would come to the county council if the districts were dissolved.  It was noted that the savings would come from reducing the administration of eight authorities.  The government was moving towards a localisation of funding.

·         It was commented that with more services being cut the voluntary sector would become more and more important. Members were advised that there were a high number of disparate service level agreements with organisations, and they would be brought together under one agreement.

·         It was queried how the budget for the CAB could be reduced by £0.684m but it was still going to be funded.  It was reported that the £684,000 was in the base budget, which was a commitment to pay this amount every year.  However, this amount was going to be removed from the base budget, and would instead be funded on a one off basis from the reserves.  It was commented that CAB was a vital service.

·         In terms of the savings from the community and voluntary sector, it was clarified that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

(To receive a report by Chris Weston, Consultant in Public Health, which provides an update on the re-commissioning work that has been undertaken and details what new services have been contracted and what they will deliver over the next five years)

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update on the re-commissioning work that had been undertaken and detailed the what new services had been contracted and what they would deliver over the next five years.

It was reported that in March 2015, the Executive approved the re-commissioning of substance mis-use treatment services, and agreed that the contracts be reviewed at the end of the current contract period. 

Signficant engagement and consultation took place between January and November 2015, and Lincolnshire County Council used this partner input to develop two new specifications that included:

·         Lot 1 – A comprehensive treatment system that included alcohol and drug treatment for young people and adults, delivering both psychosocial and clinical interventions across Lincolnshire.  This specification also included a comprehensive needle syringe programme that had both specialist and pharmacy based services.

·         Lot 2 – A new recovery service that would help bridge the gap between treatment and full recover and integration into local communities by improving social inclusion and employability of those in recovery.  To help achieve this there would be a heavy reliance upon mutual aid and peer support, as well as training and education.

Members were advised that the specifications used an outcome focused approach which enabled the Council to detail what the service should achieve rather than saying how it should be structured.  This allowed bidder more room for innovation and potentially more efficient ways of working.  It was reported that on 30 March 2016, Addaction were awarded both contracts for the Treatment and Recovery Services.

Fern Hensley and Natasha Swift from Addaction were in attendance to answer any questions from the Committee in relation to the operation of the service.

The Committee was provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         Volunteers would be welcomed from anywhere in the county.  Officers confirmed that they would provide members with leaflets to distribute in their areas regarding volunteering opportunities.

·         It was queried what was meant by 'full recovery' and whether there would be follow up of clients.  Members were advised that recovery was a very personal thing, and there wasn't a 'checklist', but was instead dependent on what the individuals' aspirations for recovery were.  The service would not cherry pick who it worked with based on how long their recovery would take, but would work with everyone who approached them for treatment services.  It was noted that it would be a massive task to track everyone after recovery, and was not viable in the budgets that the service had.  However, if an individual came back into treatment that would be tracked.

·         In terms of the recovery service, it was noted that students from outside of Lincoln would be offered transportation costs, but this had been budgeted for.  As the service developed there would be increased infrastructure costs, but the costs of transport would reduce.

·         It was noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

(To receive a report by Emma Milligan, Principal Trading Standards Officer, which provides an update and overview following the introduction of chargeable advice to Lincolnshire businesses on the 1^st April 2016 by the Council's Trading Standards Service)

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update and overview following the introduction of chargeable advice to Lincolnshire businesses on 1 April 2016 by the County Council's Trading Standards Service.  It was reported that Trading Standards was now able to offer many services to Lincolnshire businesses on a cost recovery basis including providing up to the minute advice on complex consumer legislation.  Members were advised that since April 2016 the following levels of advice were available:

·         General basic advice without charge up to one hour of a Trading Standards Officer's time to provide a general explanation of the law to help the business comply with the law

·         Where a business requires more in-depth information and guidance or required detailed research an hourly charge of £58 (plus VAT) would be incurred.

·         A Primary Authority Partnership was available for those eligible authorities and traded outside of the County.  This was a national statutory scheme signed off by the secretary of state which allowed businesses to form a partnership with a single local authority.  Qualifying businesses would receive an annually agreed package of advice and support charged at £58.00 per hour.  Primary Authority also simplified how businesses could comply with the necessary regulations and helped Lincolnshire Trading Standards to engage better with businesses in Lincolnshire.

Members were advised that there was no price rise in 2015/16 and it was proposed to increase the charges to £60.00 per hour from 1 April 2017.

The Committee was provided with an opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was confirmed that the advice provided to businesses was legally binding and it would also be put in writing to the business as well.

·         There had been a need to restructure business advice service to ensure that there was a balance with the enforcement role.

·         It was confirmed that Trading Standards was only able to charge an amount which enabled them to recover their costs.  It was noted that this referred to all costs including accommodation, IT services and officer time. 

·         It was noted that the charge had not been increased for 18 months.

·         It was requested the Committee could receive updates on this service in the future.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Committee support the continuation of the business advice strategy service which commenced in April 2016.

2.    That the Committee support the proposed price increase from 1 April 2017.

3.    That further reports be received in the future.

(To receive a report from Robin Bellamy, Assistant Director Public Health Commissioning in connection with the Funding for Supported Housing Consultation issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government and Department for Work and Pensions in November 2016)

The Committee received a report which provided the opportunity to consider and comment on government proposals for the future funding of supported housing.

It was reported that supported and sheltered housing supports tens of thousands of people across the country, including the elderly, homeless and those living with disabilities, to live independently and get their lives back on track.  In September 2016, the Departments for Work and Pensions and Communities and Local Government outlined proposals to change the way that supported housing would be funded.  The Government announced that a new system would be introduced in April 2019 and a formal consultation process was underway.

Members were advised that the consultation would run for 12 weeks until 13 February 2017 and a Green Paper on detailed arrangements for the local top-up model and approach to short-term accommodation would follow in the spring.

The Committee received a presentation which outlined the key elements of the proposals, and provided further information in relation to the following areas:

·         Supported housing

·         Groups of people in supported housing

·         The government funding reform

·         The key elements of the new proposals

·         What next

·         The consultation covers these key areas

·         The impact for Lincolnshire

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and presentation and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was clarified that 'older people with support needs'  referred to those people in extra care, longer term care, residential homes and those with re-ablement needs.

·         LCC invested £4m per year in supported housing related issues.

·         It was requested whether the draft formal response could be sent to the Committee.

·         It was commented that there was a short time frame for the consultation and it was queried how service users would be engaged with.  Members were advised that this document had already been sent to a lot of providers to ask if they wanted to provide a response.

·         It was suggested that there was a need for much closer working with districts, and it was noted that a co-ordinated response was expected from the districts on this consultation.

·         Concerns were raised that a lot of service users were very vulnerable and so may not speak out if they did not agree with the housing association.   Members were advised that there were engagement groups which service users would be able to feed into.

·         Devolved responsibilities would come with devolved funding, and whether this would include funding for administration would be included within the response.

RESOLVED

            That the Committee welcome the consultation and the authority's  approach to a response.

(To receive a report by Daniel Steel, Scrutiny Officer, in connection with the Committee's Work Programme)

The Committee received a report which provided the opportunity for members to consider and comment on the content of the work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity was focused where it could be of greatest benefit.

During consideration of the work programme, the following was noted:

·         The Director of Public Health's Annual Report would be added to the agenda for the meeting on 9 March 2017.

·         Re-commissioning of the Wellbeing service and Blue Light Collaboration Process were still in the planning stages

·         There may be a requirement for an additional meeting in order to consider pre-decision scrutiny items prior to the Executive in March.

·         An item on ARC would also be programmed in.

RESOLVED

1.    That the work programme, as presented, be agreed.

2.    That the above items be noted for inclusion on future agenda's.

(To receive a report by Sara Barry, Safer Communities Manager, which considers the partnership approach to reducing Sexual Violence and Abuse in Lincolnshire and provides information on the role of the County Council in supporting and protecting the victims and tackling the perpetrators of this crime)

Consideration was given to a report which outlined the partnership approach to reducing sexual violence and abuse in Lincolnshire.  It also provided information on what role Lincolnshire County Council would take in supporting and protecting the victims and tackling the perpetrators of this crime.

It was reported that sexual violence was a new priority, and there was now more high profile reporting.  Some analysis had been carried out using police data and it was found that there had been a 55% increase in sexual violence and abuse offences in Lincolnshire between 2012 and 2014.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was acknowledged that the actual number of rapes which took place nationally was over 200,000 per year, based on only 11% being reported.

·         Child sexual abuse would be dealt with by the safeguarding teams as they were very different issues and had different profiles in terms of perpetrators.

·         It was queried what the actual figures were for the number of offences in Lincolnshire between 2012 and 2014, rather than a percentage.  Officers agreed to circulate this information to the Committee.

·         It was reported that a new team had been set up within the Police to engage with migrant groups.  This was commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioner.

·         It was queried what legal duties there were on organisations/groups to require them to report to the authority if sexual violence or abuse was suspected.  It was noted that this depended on the age of the person, as there were increased in relation to safeguarding if a child was involved.  Safeguarding requirements were also within LCC's standard contracting terms.

·         There was a time lag on the reported figures as the most up to date data was from at least two years ago.

·         It was queried were the number of incidents would continue to rise as Lincolnshire's population grew.

·         It was reported that one of the areas with an increasing number of incidents was the student population, but they would not be included as part of the census.  It was noted that this issue was not unique to the University of Lincoln, but they were becoming a very important partner in this work.

·         It was thought that these incidents were growing within the student population due to a combination of freedom, no parental supervision and access to alcohol.

·         It was confirmed that the team also worked with colleges, and it was suggested that the team also contacted the Youth Council as well.

RESOLVED

            That the comments made in relation to the report be noted.