Agenda and draft minutes

An apology for absence was received from Executive Councillor C N Worth (Culture and Emergency Services).

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

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Community and Public Safety Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 25 January 2017, be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Community and Public Safety Scrutiny Committee held on 1 March 2017, be signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to the addition of the word 'Unanimously' to the first resolution in relation to Agenda Item 48 entitled 'Blue Light Campus and Collaboration Agreement'.  The resolution to read: 'That the Committee unanimously support the recommendations to the Executive as set out in the report'.

No update was received.

(To receive a report from Tony McGinty, Interim Director of Public Health which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health on the Health of the People of Lincolnshire.  The report raises issues of importance to the health of the population of Lincolnshire)

Consideration was given to a report by Tony McGinty, Interim Director of Public Health which invited the Committee to consider his Annual Report of the Director of Public Health for Lincolnshire for 2016. The Committee was advised that the focus of this year's report was the mental health and mental illness profile of local people.

It was explained that good mental health was the cornerstone of the achievement of other life goals and that it was essential that the importance of good mental health was not overlooked. The Committee was advised that recent research had identified that one in four adults would be diagnosed with a common mental health disorder during their lifetime. It was also highlighted that many people live with mental health issues which are either undiagnosed or fall below the threshold for a clinical diagnosis. It was estimated that at any one time over 100,000 people in Lincolnshire aged 16 and over were living with a diagnosed common mental health disorder.

Mr McGinty advised that his report had been split up into a section considering mental health risk factors, and then sections addressing mental health conditions in three key groups; perinatal and maternal, childhood and adolescent, and adult and older adult. The report included 17 recommendations for improvement based around these key areas. Rather than just highlighting these issues to the people of Lincolnshire through his report, Mr McGinty declared his intention to continue to raise these issues over the next 12 months and to see how improvements could be made. He was interested to see how the Health and Well-Being Strategy could address some of the issues he had raised and how mental health could be addressed in a strategic sense.  

A discussion took place based on the report and a presentation that Mr McGinty made to the Committee. The following issues were raised by members of the Committee:

Social isolation was highlighted as a problem particularly amongst older people. It was observed that Lincolnshire may be at risk because of the higher numbers of older couples who move to Lincolnshire for retirement only for one partner to die leaving the other person potentially isolated some distance from the rest of their family.

Modern living could contribute to mental health problems because of the lack of open and green spaces and planners needed to do more to consider these issues when designing new housing developments. It was also mentioned that reliance on the internet and new services such as on-line shopping actually reduced valuable social interaction.

It was queried whether the 18 week referral target for adult outpatients was always met and it was confirmed that performance against this target was strong in the west of the County but that the picture became more mixed towards the east coast.

Partnership working was highlighted as an important aspect of providing proper support to people suffering from mental health problems. Engagement with the police was good and it was confirmed that there were plans for a mental health  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

(To receive a report which provides Members with an opportunity to consider key performance information relevant to the work of the Community and Public Safety Committee.  Daryl Pearce, County Officer Public Protection; Nicole Hilton, Community Assets and Resilience Commissioning Manager; Robin Bellamy, Assistant Director Public Health Commissioning and Nick Borrill, Chief Fire Officer will all be in attendance for this item)

The Committee considered a report containing performance information for Quarter 3, 2016/17 covering the period from 1 October to 31 December 2016. The performance information related to Community Safety, Libraries and Heritage and Public Health.

Members noted that the number of reports of domestic abuse had dropped from the same period of 2015/16 and concern remained that instances of domestic abuse were under-reported. The Committee was advised that visits to the domestic abuse section of the Council's website were increasing and that there was a levelling-out of reported cases across the region. It was also reported that central government additional funding was becoming available to help combat this type of crime.   

Members queried the number of PCSOs in Lincolnshire and officers advised that there should be 149 PCSOs in Lincolnshire at any one time. However, due to xx this figure had temporarily dropped to 118. An internal recruitment drive was underway and the Committee was also informed that Lincolnshire also benefitted from the contribution of 60 volunteer PCSOs.    

The issue of street lighting was raised and how the earlier switching-off of street lights might be impacting levels of crime. Officers responded that it would be usual to look at any trends when 12 months data was available and that even then it was questionable whether it would be possible to say any changes were directly attributable to street lighting policy. It was confirmed that the policy would be reviewed in due course as with any other new policy initiative.

It was noted that the target for inspections of high risk premises by Trading Standards had not been met. Cumulative visits up to the end of the reporting period stood at 280 against a target of 304. Officers acknowledged that visits were slightly behind schedule and attributed this in part to some resources having to be reassigned to deal with Avian influenza incidents. Officers remained confident that the target would be achieved by the end of Quarter 4. 

RESOLVED

That the Quarter 3 Performance – 1 October to 31 December 2016 report be received; and the comments raised by Committee be noted.

(To receive a report by Daniel Steel, Scrutiny Officer, which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year)

It was recognised that, following the recent review of scrutiny including its structure, this was likely to be the last meeting of the Committee unless any pressing business emerged in the near future. The Chairman took the opportunity to thank all the members of the Committee and the officers who provided support for all their hard work over the lifetime of the Committee. 

RESOLVED

That the work programme as set out in Appendix A to the report presented be received.