Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Emily Wilcox  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

26.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs K Cook and Mrs C J Lawton.

 

It was reported that, under the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, Councillor C J T H Brewis had been appointed as a replacement member for Councillor Mrs K Cook, for this meeting only.

 

 

27.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

28.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 September 2019 pdf icon PDF 170 KB

Minutes:

It was agreed that the following amendments be made to the minutes:

 

·       Minute 24 – the second paragraph be amended to read: Members were informed that at the next meeting there would be an annual report on the Registration, Celebratory and Coroners Service; as well as an update on the Adults Reoffending.

·       Minute 25 – the second paragraph be amended to read: Members were advised of the activity that was being taken to address Anti-social Behaviour; the implementation of a new shared Case Management System; and the progress that was being made to improve representation from mental health and adult safeguarding professions at the at the Anti-Social Behaviour Risk assessment Conference that was used to manage high risk victims; perpetrators and locations of Anti-Social Behaviour.

 

RESOLVED:

 

          That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 September 2018 be     approved as a           correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the        amendments set out above.

 

 

29.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillors and Chief Officers

Minutes:

Members were informed that Shaun West had ended his secondment at Lincolnshire County Council as the Assistant Director – Public Protection and had returned to Lincolnshire Police. Sara Barry would be acting as the Interim Assistant Director – Public Protection, until an officer from Lincolnshire Police was formally appointed to the role.

 

 

30.

Annual Prevent Review pdf icon PDF 167 KB

(To receive a report from Nicole Hilton (Assistant Director – Communities), which provides an update on Prevent activity in Lincolnshire during 2018/19)

 

 

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Assistant Director – Communities and the Prevent Manager, which provided an update on prevent activity in Lincolnshire during 2018/19.

 

Members were advised that at the time of the meeting, the current UK National Threat Level was SEVERE, meaning that an attack was highly likely. Islamic terrorism was the foremost threat to the UK, with extreme right-wing terrorism a growing threat. Members were informed extreme right-wing terrorism remained the biggest threat to Lincolnshire.

 

Members were informed that the government had recently announced the appointment of Lord Carlile as the Independent Reviewer of the Prevent programme, which would focus on the current national delivery of the Prevent programme and make recommendations for the future. The review was expected to report to Parliament by August 2020.

 

Officers had recognised the need to work more closely with commercial and private sector organisations to develop strategies and integrate relationships in the same way as public organisations.

 

Lincolnshire had put in place a robust framework for governance and leadership which included offering training and development to staff; engagement and diversity awareness workshops; women's engagement workshops and a community collaboration project.

 

Members were reassured that officers were working with a number of partners and engaging with the community on prevent. 

 

The Prevent Manager provided a presentation which provided an update on the Annual Present Prevent Review Report 2019.

 

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

 

·         Officers agreed to share further information on the symbols used by far right extremists.

·         Officers advised that Members could help support the PREVENT agenda by encouraging members of the public to report any concerns and highlight the opportunities and services offered by the Council, including avenues to allow people to explore their thinking.

·         Members raised concerns about threats of danger to people by extreme animal rights activists and questioned what processes were in place to manage these threats.  Officers confirmed that they were able to intervene when threats of harm were posed as this was also criminal activity.

·         Members acknowledged that there could be many different interpretations and beliefs within religious groups.

·         Officers had felt that the PREVENT initially not been that well received within communities. However, the representation of PREVENT in communities nationally had now become more accepting and less cynical.

·         Officers highlighted that there continued to be a degree of dialogue between officers at Lincolnshire County Council and the Home Office about the level of information that was able to be shared with Members. Members were reassured that officers were carrying out the necessary requirements.

·         Members were informed that the amount of people showing concern within Lincolnshire was not increasing in a significant way. However, the increase in the amount of people who were gaining awareness of PREVENT meant that people were more informed and that there had been in increase in referrals.

·         Members were assured that the PREVENT Manager and the Assistant Director – Communities had undertaken a high level vetting process to ensure that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

31.

Registration, Celebratory and Coroners Service Update pdf icon PDF 167 KB

(To receive a report by Julie Waller (Business Services Manager – Lincolnshire Registration & Celebratory Services), which provides an update on the Registration, Celebratory and Coroners Service)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Interim Assistant Director – Public Protection, which provided an update on the council's Registration, Celebratory and Coroners Service.

 

Members were advised that the service was meeting requirements to register births and stillbirths, with 99.62% of people had rated the service as good.

 

Members were informed that as of July 2019 the Registration service had been able to take card payments for certificates and all other services at their main Lincoln Office, and the card payment system had begun to be rolled out to the other offices, with a the work scheduled to be completed by the 4 November 2019.

 

The service also was piloting the taking of death appointments within the Bereavement Centre at the County Hospital in Lincoln.

 

Members were referred to the key performance indicators, as set out at Appendix B to the report.

 

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

 

·       Members were assured that the chip and pin services would be completed within the set timescales.

·       It was noted that the pilot of the death appointments had been introduced as a way of improving the time taken to register deaths. The appointment system had had mixed success.

·       It was clarified that MCCD meant medical certificate of cause of death.

·       It was confirmed that the council were in the process of refurbishing the Sleaford registration office.

·       Members were advised that Lincolnshire's post-mortem examinations were currently carried out in Nottingham or Leicester. Officers acknowledged that the location may need to be reviewed when the contract was up for renewal.

 

RESOLVED:

 

          That the report and comments made be noted.

 

 

32.

Performance Review: Adults Reoffending pdf icon PDF 174 KB

(To receive a report by Clare Newborn (Community Safety Manager), which provides an update on the Adult Reoffending performance measure in the Council Business Plan, as requested by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Chief Inspector Pat Coates to the meeting. 

 

Consideration was given to a report by Chief Inspector Pat Coates, which provided an update on the Adult Reoffending performance measure in the Council Business Plan, as requested by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board; as well as providing information on the prevalence and composition of offending in Lincolnshire, and the key actions currently being undertaken to address offending in the county.

 

Members were informed that the reoffending rate for adult offenders in Lincolnshire had remained around 29.6% on average for the last two years. It was noted that the offence type with the largest cohort of offenders and reoffenders was shoplifting. Other offences with high reoffending rates were drug possession and public disorder.

 

In 2016, Lincolnshire Police had launched an Assisting Rehabilitation through Collaboration (ARC) scheme, which involved working with the most prolific offenders to address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour, in order to reduce the likelihood of further offending. Where rehabilitation was not possible, scheme users would be tackled effectively using both informal and formal powers tools.

 

Members were advised that ARC had seen a significant reduction in reoffending rates. It had been acknowledged that there were some gaps in the service that needed to be addressed. Lincolnshire police were looking to bridge those gaps and were working with a number of partners to improve the pathways for people leaving prison and ensure that all the relevant services were available to them.

 

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

 

            Members were advised that there were a number of things that led to people committing crimes, but the majority of prolific offenders had mental health issues, drug addiction or alcoholism. Each individual case was different.

            Members felt that there needed to be more Police Officer patrol to deter people from committing crimes.

            Members were informed that evidence had suggested that shorter sentences could be more problematic as they disrupted work that was being carried out to improve mental health, addition issues and stable relationships.

            Members were advised that all efforts were made to engage with offenders in a number of ways. Assurance was provided that formal action was taken against those who were not engaging in the service.

            Members were pleased to see a report on re-offending that was specific to Lincolnshire.

            It was clarified that formal powers allowed Police Officers to arrest, charge and take offenders to court. Lincolnshire Police had the ability to use informal powers which involved the ability and opportunity to engage with offenders and with the relevant pathways through community resolution. If offenders were not engaging with the informal route, the formal powers were implemented.

            Officers recognised the need for a slightly different approach to female offenders which would be investigated as part of the task and finish group.

            It was clarified that most retail stores preferred to prosecute for offenders who had shoplifted from their stores. It was noted that most first time shoplifting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

33.

Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 132 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 outlined the committee's prospective work programme.

 

It was questioned whether there were any intentions for the committee to revisit RAF Waddington or the HM Prison, Lincoln. The Interim Assistant Director - Communities agreed to explore the possibility of the committee attending HM Prison, Lincoln for a visit.

 

RESOLVED:

 

          That the work programme be noted.

 

 

 

 
 
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