Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room One, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL

Contact: Rachel Wilson  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

22.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

No apologies for absence were received.

23.

Declaration of Councillors Interests

Minutes:

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

24.

Minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2017 pdf icon PDF 130 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2017 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

25.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillors and Lead Officers

Minutes:

There were no announcements by the Executive Councillors or the lead officers.

26.

Road Safety Partnership Annual Report pdf icon PDF 678 KB

(To receive a report by Steve Batchelor, Senior Manager – Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, which seeks to provide the Committee with an update on fatal, and killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualty figures for Lincolnshire)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP) Annual Report which sought to provide committee members with an update on fatal, and killed and serious injury (KSI) casualty figures for Lincolnshire.  It also provided data on trends, comparisons and areas of priority.

 

Members also received a presentation which provided an opportunity to consider information in relation to killed and seriously injured (KSI) statistics 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 the presentation and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·          One member commented that they had 34 parishes in their division, and at every meeting they attended there would be questions about road safety, requests for variations in speed limits etc.  It was noted that a lot of these requests were received by the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership directly.

·         It was noted that the LRSP was predominantly a vehicle for partners to undertake work together, share best practice and identify priorities.  It was noted that there were two main strategies, the overarching 2015-2025 strategy which set out the priorities and a yearly strategy which sets out the work which would be carried out that year in relation to each of the priorities.

·         In terms of work with parishes, there was a speed limit policy in place at the council, and a number of initiatives in relation to speed enforcement including neighbourhood policing teams undertaking enforcement activities.

·         It was commented that there were always locally known accident black spots and queried why it seemed like residents had to wait until there was a serious accident before anything was done.  Councillors' frustration with this situation was recognised, and members were advised that data from every single injury collision was utilised and where clusters were identified action could be taken which may include local engineering schemes, improvements to signs and lines, junction improvements as a speed reduction for a road was not always the solution. 

·         Collisions which did not include injury were also recorded.  Officers were aware of a lot of locations where collisions but no injuries were recorded, but there was a need to prioritise those locations where fatalities or serious injury were occurring.

·         In relation to comparisons with other counties, it was queried whether they were doing the same things as Lincolnshire.  Members were advised that there was a wide variety, but Lincolnshire was doing more in terms of the way that activities were undertaken and resources were shared.  The LRSP was there to bring together resources and co-ordinate activities.  Nationally there was a lot of consistency in the activities and a lot of best practice being shared.

·         It was queried whether if funding was directed to those areas with accidents, was the service receiving enough funding.  Members were advised that road safety was one of those areas where it could use as funding as it was given.  However, compared to other service areas it had managed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

27.

Fire and Rescue - Statement of Assurance 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 145 KB

(To receive a report by Nick Borrill, Chief Fire Officer, which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Statement of Assurance 2016-17)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report was received which enabled the Committee to consider the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Statement of Assurance for 2016-17.  Members were advised that the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England set out the requirement for fire and rescue authorities to provide an annual Statement of Assurance on financial, governance and operational matters to show that due regard had been given to the expectations set out in the integrated risk management plan and the requirements included in the Framework.  The Statement would be used as a source of information on which to base the Secretary of State's biennial report under section 25 of the Fire and Rescue Service Act 2004.

 

Members were advised that the department for Communities and Local Government had provided 'light touch' guidance on the content of the Statement, leaving it to the individual fire and rescue authorities to decide how best to present the information.  It was noted that as Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue was part of the County Council, much of the financial and governance information had already been published in the Council's Statement of Accounts, and other information was readily available in published documents.

 

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 queried whether the recruitment of retained fire fighters was being actively pursued.  Members were advised that a number of measures had been put in place, which were intended to support retained fire fighters and employers.

·         It was commented that it was important to acknowledge that Lincoln was an urban area and could not be classified in the same way as the other districts when it came to considering any further cuts.  Members were assured that this classification had been reflected in the Statement.

·         It was queried whether there were any concerns from a financial point of view as cost per head of population and cost per hectare were lower than the average.  Members were advised that the comparison was included to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of the Service.  Whilst it was recognised that budgets were tight, this reflected the position across LCC.  Officers did make a case for the budget each year along with other services.  It was also commented that this highlighted the issue of fairer funding, which was a campaign that senior councillors had taken to Parliament.

·         Members were advised that relationships with neighbouring fire authorities were still good and that Section 16 agreements were in place, which were reviewed on an annual basis.

 

RESOLVED

 

            That the comments made in relation to the content of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Authority's Statement of Assurance 2016-2017 be noted.

28.

Progress Report on the Future Governance of Heritage Services pdf icon PDF 70 KB

(To receive a report by Nicole Hilton, Chief Community Engagement Officer, which informs the Committee of the progress made to date in work which has been undertaken to explore ways of reducing the costs of the Council's Heritage Service whilst improving and enhancing its public offer)

Minutes:

It was reported that the Council had been exploring ways of reducing the costs of its Heritage Service whilst also improving and enhancing its public offer.  The Committee received a report which provided an update on the progress to date.

 

(NOTE: Councillor M A Whittington stated that he would not be taking part in this discussion as he was a member of the Commissioning Board)

 

Members were informed that the working group had met three times, and officers wanted to thank those members who participated as they received robust and challenging feedback.  It was reported that the approach that was taken was to provide each of the members of the working group with a resource pack on the Heritage Service which contained large amounts of data on each site including how they operated, staffing structures and costs including various property and leasing arrangements.  The Group also looked at opportunities and risks presented by the different governance options.

 

It was concluded that more time was needed to make a decision on what the right fit for the service would be.  It was also noted that a need to split the focus had been identified to look at what the offer that LCC wanted to make would be and what that service would like before looking at what the best delivery model to make that happen would be.  In terms of timescales, it was acknowledged that these would have to be slightly different, with any decision now going into the new financial year, probably either May or June 2018.

 

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

·         It was noted that an e-mail had been received by one of the Members in relation to future access to the Lincolnshire Archives.  It was noted that this had been forwarded on to the Chief Community Engagement Officer who had indicated that she would be willing to meet with the gentleman who had written the e-mail, as he had a lot of questions from a professional point of view.

·         Members commented that they felt that the working group had been very successful and now felt that they understood the issues much more clearly.

·         It was commented that because of the slippage in the timescales, then the right decision would be made.

·         Officers were thanked by the members for their frankness with the working group.

·         One member commented that this had been one of the best task groups that they had been involved in.

·         There was agreement that it had been an excellent working group and that the members had challenged the officers who had come back with the information the group had asked for.

 

RESOLVED

 

            That the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee be satisfied with the assurance given on the progress towards the Future Governance of Heritage Services.

29.

Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 112 KB

(To receive a report by Daniel Steel (Scrutiny Officer), which enables the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity is focused where it can be of most benefit)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which enabled the Committee to comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity was focused where it would be of greatest benefit.  The work programme was reviewed at each meeting of the Committee to ensure that its contents were still relevant and would add value to the work of the Council and partners.

 

Members were advised that there would be two occasions when the Committee would be sitting as the Crime and Disorder Committee, first on the 12 December 2017 and secondly on 13 March 2018.

 

Members were also reminded that there would be an informal session following the meeting in December when the Committee would receive a performance of the 2fast2soon play.

 

It was noted that work would continue to programme in an item on the proposed changes to neighbourhood policing for a future meeting.

 

It was also requested whether a report on the Joint Ambulance Conveyance Project pilot could be brought to a future meeting.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the work programme as set out in Appendix A of the report be agreed.

2.    That the points raised in relation to the content of the work programme be noted and scheduled in to future meetings.

30.

Annual Prevent Review Report pdf icon PDF 135 KB

(To receive a report by Nicole Hilton, Chief Community Engagement Officer, which provides an update on Prevent activity in Lincolnshire during 2016/17, as a result of changes to the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2014 and the introduction of the Government Counter-Extremism Strategy 2015 and the new responsibilities placed upon Local Authorities.

 

NOTE: Discussion of this report may result in the requirement for the disclosure of confidential information ("Confidential" information refers to information provided to the Council by a government department on terms which forbid the disclosure of that information to the public or information the disclosure of which to the public is prohibited by or under any enactment or by the order of a court).  Where the requirement for such disclosure is identified no further discussion will take place on the item.  When discussion that does not require reference to confidential information is complete, the press and public will be excluded from the meeting before the remaining identified items are discussed)

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which provided the Committee with an update on Prevent activity in Lincolnshire during 2016/17 as a result of changes to the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2014 and the introduction of the Government Counter-Extremism Strategy 2015 and the new responsibilities placed upon Local Authorities.

 

Members were advised that the focus of the Prevent work was moving more towards targeting the threat from extreme right wing groups.  Officers were working with schools, colleges and community groups to raise awareness of the Prevent legislation.  However, it was noted that Lincolnshire remained a low risk area.

 

The Committee received a presentation from Paul Drury, the Prevent Officer, which provided further information in relation to the following areas:

·         Principles of the Prevent Duty Guidance

·         Current International Threat

·         Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

·         Threat: Far Right Extremism

·         New wave of Radicalisation

·         Extremist Narratives

·         Channel

 

Prior to the start of the debate on this report, members were advised that discussion of this report may result in the requirement for the disclosure of confidential information ("confidential" information refers to information provided to the Council by a government department on terms which forbid the disclosure of that information to the public or information of which to the public is prohibited by or under any enactment or by the order of a court.) and where the requirement for such a disclosure was identified, no further discussion would take place on the item. When discussion that did not require reference to confidential information was complete, the press and public would be excluded from the meeting before the remaining identified items would be discussed.

 

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 noted that participation in the Channel programme was voluntary and a lot of people did respond to it.  Officers were only aware of one person in 7 years who had turned it down.

·         The concerns regarding the activities carried out by some of the right wing groups, such as operating foodbanks, and providing accommodation for homeless veterans, was around the narrative that accompanied them which was toxic.

·         It was commented that a lot of the problems around this issue were related to the media as it gave 'free advertising' to these groups when they carried out attacks, as well as giving people ideas about how to do things in future.  It was noted, that for the first time in history, when events are unfolding, that information was able to be manipulated by social media.

·         Social media companies acknowledged that use of these platforms was an issue in tackling these activities, but on a daily basis there were 700,000 attempts to spread malicious information and radicalisation.  Members were advised that when one site was shut down, there were another 20 ready to replace it.  It was noted that when one was taken down, it created a void, and there was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

 

 
 
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