Agenda item

(To receive a report from the Director responsible for Democratic Services, which invites the Executive to consider the scrutiny review on the Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy and to make arrangements to respond to the report by 5 September 2018)

(1)  That the Scrutiny Review on the Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy be received.

(2)  That the Executive supports, in principle, the five recommendations of the Scrutiny Review, as detailed in Appendix A to the report.

(3)  That the Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management be requested to respond to the report by 5 September 2018:

(a)  to indicate in the response which recommendations have been accepted; and

(b)  where recommendations are accepted, to bring forward an action plan for their implementation.

A report from the Director with responsibility for Democratic Services was considered, which presented the Executive with the Scrutiny Panel's final report following its scrutiny review into the Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy.  Attached at Appendix A to the report was a copy of the Final Report of the Scrutiny Panel.

The Scrutiny Panel was chaired by Councillor Mrs A M Newton.  The Scrutiny Panel had also included Councillors S R Kirk (Vice-Chairman), G E Cullen, D McNally, P A Skinner, A N Stokes, M J Storer and R Trollope-Bellew.  The scrutiny review had been carried out between October 2017 and April 2018.

The Executive was asked to make arrangements to respond to the report by 5 September 2018. 

Councillor Mrs A M Newton (Chairman of the Scrutiny Panel) presented the report to the Executive, alongside the Group Manager (Design Services) and the Scrutiny Officer.  The Executive was advised that the purpose of the review was to look at the impact of the change in the Street Lighting Policy to turn street lights off in certain areas between midnight and 6.00 am.  The review had considered topics including the environment; road collisions; crime rates; fears about safety and crime; emergency services; health; public health services; the impact on businesses; and the night time economy. 

The views of the public and partner organisations had been sought as part of the review and the Chairman took the opportunity to thank all those who had completed the online questionnaire, of which circa 5,300 responses had been received. 

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Panel thanked the members and officers involved in the scrutiny review.  The Chairman presented each of the five scrutiny panel recommendations to the Executive. 

The Executive supported, in principle, the five recommendations as detailed within the report.  However, it was suggested that the Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management liaised with Lincolnshire Police, to ascertain whether it would be possible for their recording systems to be adjusted to enable the recording of lighting conditions for when crime had occurred.  It was highlighted that the content of the recording system was centrally imposed and it was therefore unclear as to whether an adjustment could be possible.  In response, the Chairman of the Scrutiny Panel advised that the Panel had been advised by the Chief Constable that this could be implemented.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board highlighted that the final report had been considered by the Board at its meeting on 26 April 2018.  The comments of the Board were detailed on 77 and 78 of the Executive report. 

RESOLVED

(1)  That the Scrutiny Review on the Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy be received.

(2)  That the Executive supports, in principle, the five recommendations of the Scrutiny Review, as detailed in Appendix A to the report.

(3)  That the Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management be requested to respond to the report by 5 September 2018:

(a)  to indicate in the response which recommendations have been accepted; and

(b)  where recommendations are accepted, to bring forward an action plan for their implementation.