Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Emily Wilcox  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

 

2.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 23 April 2019 pdf icon PDF 113 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

          That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 23 April 2019 be    approved as a           correct record and signed by the Chairman.

4.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillors and Chief Officers

Minutes:

There were no announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillors or Chief Officers.

5.

Fire and Rescue - 18/19 Performance Summary pdf icon PDF 1 MB

(To receive a report from Dan Quinn (Planning, Prevention and Protection Assistant Chief Fire Officer), which provides key performance information for 2018/19, in relation to the work of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue)

 

Minutes:

10:08 Councillor K Cook entered the meeting.

 

Consideration was given to a report by the Area Manager – Planning, Prevention and Protection, which provided an overview of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue's (LFR) performance for 2018/19.

 

It was noted that LFR had received an overall rating of good by the Her Majesties Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). Officers were pleased with the positive performance of the service for 2018/19.

 

The Area Manager – Planning Prevention and Protection, outlined LFR's key performance information for 2018/19, as well as providing an outline of the Training and Development exercises completed in 2018/19.

 

Members were referred to Annexe A of the report for a list of LFR's Outcomes and Targets for 2018/19.

 

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

 

·       It was clarified that in the case of false calls, a call challenge system had been implemented which would save valuable time and resource which was spent responding to false incidents. The call challenge system aimed to call the location to verify that the incident was genuine before sending out a respondent. It was possible to issue fines to those repeat offenders of false calling.

·       There were certain high risk locations in which the call challenge system would not be implemented, such as hospitals. In those instances, response vehicles would be issued immediately.

·       It was noted that there was a divisional plan in place which involved working with farmers, farming communities and other key partners to communicate the dangers of hot summers and educate on how to reduce the risk of grassland fires.

·       It was explained that officers had a legal responsibility for any unregistered Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO's) once they had been made aware of them. As part of prevention activities, officers exchanged information with key partners which helped to locate unregistered HMO's in order to implement measures to reduce incidents in those locations.

·       Officers agreed to provide details of the number of HMO's that LFR were aware of and had been categorised.

·       There had been positive feedback from the Elected Member visits to local fire stations for the annual inspections, which had been beneficial for both Members and officers. 

·      It was noted that the number of malicious calls had significantly reduced, however officers continued to work with schools and colleges to educate pupils on the consequences of false calls.

·       Officers agreed to provide members with information on the number of female firefighters employed by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue.

·       Members were informed that the recruitment department were actively looking into ways in which they could diversify the recruitment of firefighters, which included investigating possible reasons why people were opposed to becoming a firefighter.

·       It was clarified the Medical Response Programme had made a significant difference on the time it took a responder to reach those that needed urgent care.

·       LFR were investigating the possibility of introducing 'what3words', which was a form of technology that could provide the location of a person using a mobile  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Engagement and Consultation Activity Annual Review 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 27 KB

(To receive a report from Bev Finnegan (Head of Community Engagement) which provides an overview of council-wide consultation and engagement activity where the Community Engagement Team provided advice and support in 2018/19)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Community Engagement, which provided an overview of council-wide consultation and engagement activity where the Community Engagement Team had provided advice and support in 2018/19.

 

It was explained that the Community Engagement Team provided support and advice to officers across service areas, as well as to elected Members on the planning and delivery of effective and legally sound engagement or consultation activities.

 

The report set out a number of ways in which the Community Engagement Team provided support, as well as a summary of the key findings from engagement activities.

 

Members were referred to Appendix A, B and C of the report, which set out the differences between communication, engagement and consultation; a review of engagement and consultation activity in 2018/19; and the Quality Assurance Process followed by the team when an engagement activity is started.

 

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

 

·       It was explained that service areas were advised about the difference between consultation and engagement, and about being clear when something couldn't be influenced.

·       The Community Engagement Team worked closely with service areas to ensure that the purpose of any engagement was made clear before the process was undertaken, as well as communicating the outcomes once the process had ended.

·       It was clarified that there was no requirement for the service areas to record the percentage of the target audience who had responded to consultations. The Community Engagement Team received quality impact assessments from all consultations.

·       Community Engagement Team Officers were continuously looking at ways to improve its service and responses to engagement activities, including how to engage with all age groups.

·       The Assistant Director – Communities explained there was often a high response to engagement through social media platforms, but these were not currently included as part of formal consultation responses. Officers were investigating whether there were ways to include social media feedback as part of the consultation process. 

·       It was agreed that Step 6 of the Quality Assurance Process, attached at Appendix C of the report, be amended to replace the sentence, 'check if local councillor needs to be notified' with 'confirm that local councillor(s) have been informed'.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1)That the report be noted;

 

2)That Step 6 of the Quality Assurance Process, attached at Appendix C of     the report, be amended to replace the sentence, 'check if local councillor needs to be notified' with 'confirm that local councillor(s) have been informed'.

 

7.

Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 158 KB

(To receive a report by Daniel Steel, Scrutiny Officer, which provides the committee with the opportunity to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity is focussed where it can be of greatest benefit)

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

The Scrutiny Officer presented the committee's prospective work programme.

 

Members were informed that the July meeting of the committee would be held at the Emergency Planning Centre on South Park. A tour of the new Fire and Rescue Station was planned for after the meeting.

 

RESOLVED:

 

          That members were satisfied with the work programme.

 

 

 
 
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