Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Mr P Rogerson and  Mr A Oxley.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 August 2010 were agreed.

Context:

At the last meeting of the Task & Finish Group, members considered the interim report resulting from the Joint Crime and Disorder Review.  Members agreed that this reflected key findings based on evidence gathered, and discussed where they would like to make recommendations.

A draft report has been written based on these discussions.

Purpose:

For Members to consider and comment on the draft report

Papers:

·               Draft report

Members were asked to comment on the draft report of the Joint Crime and Disorder Review.

During discussion the following points were noted:-

·         An Executive Summary would be produced with the report.

·         Thames Valley Police were currently undergoing a re-organisation looking at Area Commanders in Bucks, Berks, Oxfordshire. Operational roles may be merged and the Strategic Team could be moved to a central location. There could also be changes to Neighbourhood Action Groups and Community Policing but cuts to frontline staff would be avoided where possible.

·         The letter to Dominic Grieve, MP should be circulated to Members before it was sent. Members could present the letter to the MP at a meeting which they were both attending. The letter should be sent before 1 October 2010, if possible.

·         A progress report should be made in May 2011, and also at this time it would be helpful to look at what should be considered for the following year. An officer of the Police Authority should be asked to attend.

The following amendments were agreed:-

Recommendation 1

That the Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership Board continues its focus on the ‘Stronger’ element of its remit to develop greater community resilience and cohesion with collaboration between all partners.

Recommendation 3

That Partners ensure copies of the Community Safety Information publications are distributed electronically or otherwise to Parishes, Neighbourhood Watch Groups, Neighbourhood Action Groups, Residents Associations, Members and Local Area Forums so that positive community safety messages can be included in their local magazines and websites.

Websites to be also included under the second paragraph (42).

Recommendation 4

That the public and elected Members (Parish, District and County), encouraged by their leadership, sign up to Thames Valley Community Messaging, and that they use the information included on I:on Bucks, so that they are kept informed about community safety issues in their areas, with a view to reinforcing positive messages to residents.

Paragraph 46 – amend ‘daily’ emails to ‘regular’.

Recommendation 7

That a report detailing progress against the recommendations is reported back to Buckinghamshire County Council’s Commissioning Committee, in May 2011.

P19 – Executive to be changed to Cabinet.

New recommendation to be added

The Group suggested that future reviews relating to crime and disorder should look at Neighbourhood Action Groups to ensure that they have a uniform approach.

Context:

Joint Overview & Scrutiny reviews in Buckinghamshire traditionally report back to each Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Executive.  In this case, the final review report will also need to be submitted to the Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership Board.

Purpose:

This is an opportunity for the Chairman with Members to discuss how the reporting arrangements will work.  Members will recall that there are principles for the operation of Joint County and District reviews.  These principles provide the following guidance for the reporting process:

Reports

‘A written report with recommendations will be produced at the end of each review.  Committee members from each authority will be responsible for ensuring the report is disseminated to their authority using individual reporting mechanisms.  In addition, the Chairman will be responsible for ensuring the report is presented to any other organisation which participates in the review or is able to implement the review recommendations.’

Papers:

·               None

Members were asked to discuss how the reporting arrangements would work. Members from each Authority would be responsible for ensuring the report is disseminated to their authority using individual reporting mechanisms. The Group noted that the report would be signed off at the Overview and Scrutiny Commissioning Committee on 19 October 2010 where it could then be submitted to District Councils Cabinets, as it was a statutory responsibility of Cabinet Members. It would also be submitted to the Safer and Stronger Partnership Board. All Members would get a copy of the report and a press release would be sent out.

The Chairman and Members of the Group were thanked for all their hard work. This review was a good example of partnership working. Claire Street, Policy Officer was thanked for her support.

Not applicable

Not required as review completed.