Agenda item

(To receive a report from Cllr Mrs A M Newton (Chairman of Scrutiny Panel B) which presents the final draft report arising from the scrutiny review into the Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy.  Subject to the approval of the Board, the report will be submitted to the Executive on 5 June 2018 for its consideration and response)

Consideration was given to a report from Councillor Mrs A M Newton (Chairman of Scrutiny Panel B) which included the final draft report arising from the scrutiny review into the Impact of the Part-Night Street Lighting Policy, and which would be presented to the Executive on 5 June 2018 for its consideration and response, subject to the approval of the Board.

Councillor Mrs Newton introduced the report and advised that over 5,000 observations had been received, all of which had been used to identify a number of 'key themes':-

·       Crime rates, fears about safety and crime;

·       Road safety and collisions;

·       Impact on emergency services;

·       Social impact and personal safety;

·       Economy and employment;

·       Environmental impact;

·       Public/Community Engagement; and

·       Technical considerations.

The recommendations within the report had been agreed with each of the key themes at the fore:-

1.    The Lincolnshire Police are requested to continue to review and update a street lighting crime data report for consideration by Lincolnshire County Council's Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis;

2.    That the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership ensures data regarding street lighting levels is captured and reported as part of any analysis of road safety and collisions.  And, for this data to be reported and considered by Lincolnshire County Council's Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis;

3.    That the Executive considers formalising the list of exemption sites as part of the County Council Street Lighting Policy and include an additional exemption for community public access defibrillator sites where requested by local communities;

4.    That the Executive endorse working between the County Council and other agencies to plan communication activity with the public to reassure and address the cause of fears of crime surrounding the change to part-night street lighting.  And, to develop and action plan and work to reduce these fears and change public perceptions; and

5.    That the Executive considers the County Council developing an appropriate protocol to enable local communities (through Town/Parish/District Councils) to financially support street lighting to be upgraded to LED and reinstated to full night operation on request as part of routine maintenance.

Councillor Mrs Newton also asked that her thanks to Daniel Steel (Scrutiny Officer), Sara Barry (Safer Communities Manager), John Monk (Group Manager (Design Services)) and Pat Cant (Senior Engineer), for their support and guidance throughout the review, be formally recorded.

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

·       It was reported that there had been a rise in crime locally with new data suggesting an increase of 10% and 15% nationally.  Although a team within Lincolnshire Police analysed incidents to ascertain what may impact on crime, it was noted that they did not currently report the lighting status at each incident.  There was a facility to do so but this would take time to implement;

·       A percentage breakdown of crime between the hours of midnight and 6.00am was requested.  Members were advised that this data was available from Lincolnshire Police but that the part-night street lighting had not been in place long enough to compare the correlation between crime in those areas since the switch-off.  It was agreed that this would be presented on a rolling basis;

·       Some of the increase in crime was thought to be an increase in reporting rather than crime itself as a result of the growth in confidence of the police and the support given to victims.  For example, due to the high profile cases in relation to sexual assault, the number of reports of this type of crime had increased;

·       Lengthy discussions had taken place during the review in regard to the night time economy on the coast and the impact on residents;

·       The panel had considered a report during the review which presented experiences of other local authorities who had implemented similar changes.  Warwickshire County Council, in particular, had made extensive changes several years ago and, although there were a number of complaints and concerns initially, these had now significantly reduced and the scheme was generally accepted;

·       One member of the Board suggested that people, in general, were not used to the dark anymore and that crime was only one factor to be considered;

·       Concern was noted in relation to shift workers who had very early starts or very late finishes.  This was acknowledged but the cost to make alterations were significant and it would be near impossible to identify where shift workers lived and which lights should be extended;

·       It was suggested that options should be given to Parish Councils to have the flexibility to request changes to the timings but at their own cost;

·       It was confirmed that there had been no concerns raised by members of the public or partners about the correlation between street lighting and the location of public access defibrillators or life buoys.  Officers were unaware of where these were located and were entirely reliant on locations being advised to them;

·       One member mentioned the health benefits of turning the street lights off as the dark helped to produce melatonin which was required to help the brain recognise when it was time to sleep and time to wake.  Many people suffer from sleep deprivation and it was suggested that excessive lighting at night may be a factor;

·       The Board was advised that a study had been undertaken by Exeter University which suggested that areas lit by LED lamps (blue light) were at risk of serious health issues, particularly men who were reportedly twice as likely to develop prostate cancer and women who were 1.5 times as likely to develop breast cancer due to the effect of blue light on melatonin.  This issue had been specifically considered and, as a result, warmer white lights were used in residential areas and blue light LED lights only on traffic routes;

·       Since the implementation of the scheme, it was reported that the habits of some parishioners had changed which, in turn, was affecting churches.  Midnight mass had been moved, in some areas, to 10.00pm to allow the congregation to walk home safely;

·       Liaison between the police and Student Union and pensioner groups was encouraged in order to promote street safety at night;

Members agreed that the report was a very good piece of scrutiny work and one which would be advocated to the Executive.

RESOLVED

1.    That the draft final report on the Impact of Part-Night Street Lighting Policy, without amendment, be approved; and

2.    That the submission of the final report to the Executive on 5 June 2018 for its consideration and response be agreed.