Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors C R Oxby and Mrs C J Lawton.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED:

          The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 23^rd October be approved        as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the below   amendment:

·       Minute 30 – Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members – 'C K T H Brewis' to be amended to read 'C J T H Brewis'.

The Chairman was pleased to inform the committee that Executive Councillor for Culture and Emergency Services had endorsed the committee's recommendation to the Executive to waiver the £4 statutory fee of copy certificates for still-births at the registration for stillbirths and for all deaths under the age of 18.

The Executive Director for Finance and Public Protection announced that Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue had received their first statutory inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate, with a report soon to be produced. It was agreed that the key conclusions of the inspection would be circulated once available.

(A report by Nicole Hilton, Chief Community Engagement Officer, which provides an update on the County Council's revised Volunteer Engagement Policy and its supporting documents)

The committee received a presentation from the Chief Community Engagement Officer, which provided an update on Lincolnshire County Council's revised Volunteer Engagement Policy and its supporting documents.

It was noted that the council currently hosted around 600 volunteers across 30 sites, all of which made great contributions to many services and projects across the council.

Members were advised that the Volunteer Development and Support Group members had undertaken a review of the Volunteer Engagement policy and its supporting documents to assure a consistent approach was followed when engaging volunteers. As a result of this review, a number of minor amendments had been made to the policy.

Members were referred to the Appendix A, B and C of the report, which included the Volunteer Welcome Book, Supervisor's Handbook and Paperwork Pack. 

The Chief Engagement Officer explained that the volunteering area of the council's website was the main source of all information on volunteering and helped to encourage people to volunteer.

Members were invited to ask questions, in which the following points were raised:

·       Members were encouraged to engage with individual audiences to convey the message about volunteering.

·       It was clarified that volunteering was used to supplement a service, and that volunteers did not carry out the same roles as those in paid employment.

·       Members were assured that statutory services were not reliant on volunteers.  

·       Members were pleased to see a high number of volunteers engaging with the council. 

·       On behalf of the committee, the Chairman thanked all volunteers for their services to the council. 

RESOLVED:

1.    That the committee considered the revised Volunteer Engagement Policy.

2.    That the committee endorsed the revised Volunteer engagement Policy.

(To receive a report from Steven Batchelor (Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership), which provides an update on fatal, killed and serious injury (KSI) casualty figures for Lincolnshire. Further, it provides data on trends, comparisons and areas of priority)

The committee received a report from the Senior Manager for the Road Safety Partnership, which provided an update on fatal, killed and serious injury (KSI) casualty figures for Lincolnshire.

Members were informed that there had been 49 fatalities and 517 people seriously injured on Lincolnshire's roads in 2017, which represented a decrease in fatalities but a significant increase in the recorded serious collisions.

A proportion of the increase in serious collisions was attributed to the change in recording mechanisms employed by Lincolnshire Police. The use of mobile data terminals had meant that a higher proportion of collisions were reported in the serious category, meaning the statistical accuracy had improved.

The following points were made in relation to the KSI analysis and trends:

·       KSI collisions were more likely to occur in rural areas and causalities were more likely to be male.

·       80% of fatal causalities in 2017 were male and 20% were female.

·       20% of the fatal casualties in 2017 were young adults aged 17-24 and 22% were mature adults aged 60+.

·       In 2017, the number of fatal collisions that occurred in the morning had decreased.

·       Drivers accounted for the majority of fatal casualties in 2017 with 75% being caused by drivers/riders.

·       The majority of fatal collisions in 2017 happened in fine weather without high winds.

Members were informed that as part of the Community Speed Watch initiative, the council had enabled local communities to tackle their own speeding issues. Community Speed Watch members could now register to carry out speed checks within their parish, using their own groups of volunteers, with the use of 'reactive' speed indicating devices such as speed guns.  Volunteers required training before using the authorised equipment.

There had currently been 49 expressions of interests from Parish Councils and 113 volunteers were already trained on the use of the new devices. It was noted that 5 Parishes were already operating and sending out letters.

The Senior Manager for the Road Safety Partnership was pleased to inform members that Lincolnshire County Council had been successful in all three of its Department for Transport (DfT) Safer Roads Fund bids:

·         A1084, Caistor to Brigg (North Division) - £1,245,000 starting 2019/20

·         A631 (West) Middle Rasen to Bishop Bridge (North Division) - £645,000 starting 2019/20

·         A631 (East) Market Rasen to Louth (North & East Division) - £2,725,000 starting 2020/21

In addition, North East Lincolnshire was progressing with the A18 route as the lead authority. This bid had a total of £2,282,000 and would begin in the 2018/19 financial year. Approximately £300,000 of the allocation was for works inside Lincolnshire, between the A16 and County Boundary.

Members were invited to ask questions, in which the following points were raised:

·       Officers were unable to make a direct correlation between the reduction of Road Traffic Officers on Lincolnshire's roads, and the increase in KSI's.

·       It was hoped that the introduction of the Lincolnshire Police Safer Roads Team into communities, along with community speed initiatives, would ease the impact of the reduction of Road Traffic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

(To receive a report from Sean Taylor (Area Manager – Planning, Prevention & Protection), which provides an update on the Fire and Rescue emergency medical response)

The committee received a report from the Area Manager for Planning, Prevention and Protection, which provided an update on Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue's (LFR) co-responding and Joint Ambulance Conveyance capability in regards to its emergency medical response support.

Members were informed that there had been a significant reduction in the calls responded to so far in 2017/18.

Officers outlined the following in relation to co-responding:

·    Benefits

·    Resourcing

·    Funding

·    Outcomes

The Area Manager for Planning, Prevention and Protection reminded members that in 2014, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) and East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) had received funding from the DCLG's Transformation Challenge Award to conduct a pilot project aimed at enhancing ambulance provision within the County. As a result, the Joint Ambulance Conveyance (JAC) had been established.

Members were informed of the key benefits of JAC, which included the following:

·       Reduced patient transport times

·       Increase availability of EMAS Dual Crewed Ambulances

·       Provision of a cost effective method of meeting demand for the growing number of ambulance calls

·       Less time on scene for responders

·       Improved patient care at the initial scene as a result of enhanced firefighter co-responder medical skills.

·       Substantial returns of social value for the investment made which can be translated into real tangible financial savings.

·       Alignment with the national drive for closer collaboration between blue light services.

It was noted that there had been an average of 300 conveyances a year to hospital by the JAC crews, although it was anticipated that there would be a reduction in calls for 2018/19 due to the instruction introduction of the Ambulance Response Programme.

Following the introduction of the Ambulance Response Programme (ARP), further analysis was being conducted with EMAs to explore how best to optimise the current JAC capability, which would be completed over the next 12 months with a view to identifying an appropriate way forward.

The committee were invited to ask questions, in which the following points were raised:

·       In response to a question, officers clarified that there had previously been large waiting times for ambulances when arriving at hospitals, but large wait times had now ceased.

·       Not all of the £4000K £400K funding received from DCLG had been spent and the remainder would be put back into the EMAS fund.

·       It was noted that co-responding was quite unique to Lincolnshire, so there was no national funding model for the services.

·       Officers felt a high proportion of the success of LFR's co-responding programme was the charity 'Lives'.

RESOLVED:

That the committee considered the report and the comments made be noted.

(The accompanying appendices to this report provide key performance information that is relevant to the work of the Committee)

The Chairman referred the committee to the Quarter 2 Performance data shown in the appendices of the report.

Members were invited to consider and comment on the data, in which the following points were raised:

·       Officers agreed to circulate data showing how many re-offending adults had previously been through the restorative justice system.

·       In response to a question, it was explained that districts did not report data on reoffending to the county council, and therefore this data was not included in the figure shown. It was noted that a new case management system was now in place so all district council and police information would be provided in future to hopefully give a more accurate picture in future.

·       It was clarified that voluntary libraries had been given the choice as to whether they wanted to record their own performance data, and it was not compulsory for them to do so.

·       It was highlighted that there was a changing pattern of behaviour and people were not using libraries in the same traditional way or perhaps not physically visiting as frequently.

·       Local hubs were becoming more popular as they offered a range of services, and there was ambition to create more local hubs.

RESOLVED:

            That the report and comments made be noted.

(To receive a report from 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 greatest benefit)

The Committee considered a report which provided an opportunity to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year.

It was noted that the meeting scheduled for 22nd January 2019 would also consider a report on the Fire and Rescue breathing apparatus equipment.

It was suggested that a visit be planned to the new blue light campus once it has been opened, with the possibility of holding a future committee meeting at the Emergency Planning Centre.

RESOLVED:

          That the committees work programme be endorsed.