Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Bendyshe Brown and Mr Carroll.

To disclose any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

Mr Gomm declared an interest for the meeting of the Designated Crime and Disorder Committee as he is Chairman of Thames Valley Crime Stoppers.

Of the meeting held on 8 April 2014 to be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on the Tuesday 13 May 2014 were agreed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Page 2 – Chairman’s Report

A summary of the key points of the Centre for Public Scrutiny meeting which focused on work of the DCLG Select Committee is to be circulated to Committee Members.

Action: Chairman

The Value for Money – TfB for Bucks Contract

The review has been placed on hold whilst the Cabinet Member for Transport undertakes a strategic review (which will also take into account the findings of the Environment Select Committee).

Page 4 – Library Services in Buckinghamshire

Data including key facts and trends for the library service for 2012/13 has been circulated to Committee Members.  Details prior to 2012/2013 are to be requested.

Action: Policy Officer/Clerk/David Jones

The date of the countywide customer services survey is to be confirmed.

Action: Clerk/Policy Officer/David Jones

Page 11 - ETL Public Transport inquiry - Working Group evidence sessions

Evidence sessions will take place on 10 June and 24/25 July 2014.  The dates have been circulated to Committee Members.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to put a question or raise an issue of concern, related to Environment, Transport and Locality Services.   Where possible, the relevant organisation to which the question/issue is directed will be present to give a verbal response.  The member of public will be invited to speak for up to four minutes on their issue.  A maximum of 30 minutes is set aside for the Public Questions slot in total (including responses and any Committee discussion). This may be extended with the Chairman’s discretion. 

For full guidance on Public Questions, including how to register a request to speak during this slot, please follow this link:

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/about-your-council/scrutiny/get-involved/

No public questions have been received for this meeting

There were no public questions.

For the Chairman of the Committee to provide an update to the Committee on recent scrutiny related activity.

The Chairman reported the following;

EU & External Funding for transport issues

A meeting has taken place with Stephen Walford, Planning, Advisory & Compliance, Jim Simms, Thames Valley LEP and Richard Harrington, Communities & Built Environment.  A further meeting has been arranged.  The outcome will be reported back to the Committee.

Action: Chairman

Transport for Bucks

The Committee was recently advised that one of the key recommendations from the inquiry by the Environment Select Committee was the strengthening of the client in terms of client inspection and quality insurance. 

An update from the Cabinet Member for Transportation has been circulated to Committee Members.  The update advises that the posts for an additional Quality Inspector and the Quality Assurance role have been recruited to and the recruitment into the remaining posts is on hold until the findings of the Strategic review by the Cabinet Member have been received. Mike Freestone has been appointed as a Senior Member of the team on an interim basis (6-12 months) to take strategic oversight of the performance and operation of the transport service.

The ETL Committee’s element of the 2013/14 Annual Scrutiny report was presented to full Council on the 24 April.  This was a useful collation of the scrutiny function and the work that takes place.

Public Transport Inquiry

The Chairman and Working Group members have had several meetings with relevant officers to plan the Committee inquiry.  Workshops and evidence sessions dates have been arranged for June and July.  The initial scrutiny of current policy and budget will take place at Committee on the 17 June.  The Working Group will update the Committee at the 2 September meeting.

Members will receive a briefing on the recent work, activity and approach of the service area. Members will also consider proposed plans to create a Joint Trading Standards Service with Surrey County Council providing the opportunity for the Committee to provide its views and comments prior to a decision that may be made in October 2014.

Amanda Poole, Trading Standards Manager

David Pickering, Team Leader Trading Standards

Steve Ruddy, Surrey County Council

Papers

·      Trading Standards update

·      Appendix – Food authenticity

Amanda Poole, Trading Standards Manager, David Pickering, Team Leader, Trading Standards and Steve Ruddy, Community Protection Manager, Surrey County Council were welcomed to the meeting.

Ms Poole began by explaining that David Pickering is the Team Leader within the service but has a particular responsibility around for food matters as well as having a national lead role for food for the Trading Standards profession.  Steve Ruddy is the Head of Trading Standards in Surrey County Council.

Part of the reason for presenting the report to the Select Committee is to provide information about the recent work and approach of the Service as well as for consultation and to seek the views of the Committee prior to a decision that may be made to create a joint Trading Standards Service with Surrey County Council.

In the past year, the Service has developed three areas to maximise the impact of the Service;

·      A stronger intelligence-led approach

Mapping techniques have been used to target information and enforcement action to areas highlighted as potential crime hot-spots.  The mapping technique has revealed that some areas of the county are more prone to doorstep crime. Trading Standards have adopted an intelligence led approach rather that the traditional ‘testing the market’ approach with the exception of food work which looks at food authenticity problems in the market.

·      A wider and therefore more effective approach to investigations

A Thames Valley Police Officer joined Trading Standards in July 2013 on secondment for a year.  This arrangement has recently been extended for a further year (until July 2015).  An Accredited Financial Investigator has also joined the Service on a permanent basis.  The two additional capabilities have enabled the identification of some criminals causing significant detriment who previously were beyond the reach and capability of the Service i.e. the tracing of cheques or bank transfers in incidents of door step crime.

·      Developing a new ‘volunteering arm’

The Service currently has 32 volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds who have contributed 394 hours of work in the last financial year.

The three developments enable the Service to maximise the impact of the resources it has.

One of the challenges Trading Standards is facing is around knowledge.  As the Service becomes smaller, there is the need to retain knowledge to be able to respond to wider areas and issues of concern.

Talks have taken place with Surrey County Council about the development of the first ‘strategic alliances’ between Buckinghamshire County Council and Surrey County Council through the creation of a joint Trading Standards Service to be overseen by a Joint Committee.

Previous discussions with Oxfordshire about the creation of a similar model did not progress.

In terms of timescales, the process is in the early stages of discussions and development. The Business Case for the joint service will go to Cabinet for Bucks County Council and Surrey County Council in October 2014 for approval.  If the decision is approved, the aim would be for the joint Service to go live from 1  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members will discuss the Committee’s work programme and proposals for future items with input from The Strategic Director for Communities and the Built Environment.

Neil Gibson, Strategic Director for Communities and the Built Environment

Papers:

Committee Proposed Work Programme

Neil Gibson, Strategic Director for Communities and the Build Environment was welcomed to the meeting.

Members discussed the Committee’s work programme and proposal for future items with the input of the Strategic Director.

The Chairman explained that the work programme is an evolving document.  Members of the Committee were asked for comments on the proposed work plans and suggestions for additional topics/items

During discussion, the following comments were made:-

The inclusion of the Flood Risk Strategy, the role of the County Council and how this role could be developed has been suggested

Mr Gibson explained that the Government have given Local Authorities new responsibilities to take a strategy overview of the responsibilities linked to ground water flooding and river flooding in Buckinghamshire.  The County Council has a new statutory duty to understand how the system works and to build partnerships and relationships and to provide plans to avoid flooding in the future. The County Council’s role as the Transport Authority and the duty to keep gulley and drains clear is only part of the Council’s broader flooding responsibilities.

The Planning, Advisory and Compliance team have the responsibility to take the overview. The team have been collecting data and knowledge around flood events in county and should be developing a good strategic picture of the issue and what the issues might be.

Has there been any work undertaken from an officer point of view in bringing together the water companies, the internal drainage boards and other riparian owners? Mr Gibson explained that Planning, Advisory and Compliance team have to do this to meet their new strategic responsibility.  For example in the recent floods, there was a disagreement between TfB, Thames Water and a Housing Association as to why a car park at the back of a row of shops floods. Very often it is the private owner of the land who has the responsibility for the drainage systems not Thames Water or the Highway Agency.

With regard to planning, last year the Committee received an update on S106, how the process is changing and how we can work with the changes in the landscape of the S106 and Community Levy Infrastructure (CIL).  Is there scope for the Committee to do more work to understand the management of the contracts and CIL agreements etc.

There also needs to be an understanding of the strategic role of how different departments submit bids for S106 monies as well as how the process is co-ordinated and managed. Mr Gibson said that the Committee could look at the process of S106; e.g. the negotiations, enforcement, management and the robustness of the administration of legal contracts as well as the role of local Member in the process.

The Committee could look at what the current and future funding process for CILs, and how influence can be exercised during the process to ensure maximum taxation and development.

Strategic planning is no longer a statutory role for the Local Authority. How can we as a county, have an overview  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The next meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 17 June 2014 in Mezzanine 2, County Offices, Aylesbury at 10.00am.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members at 9.30am.

Future meeting dates for 2014

Tuesday 2 September

Tuesday 14 October

Tuesday 18 November

The next meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 17 June 2014 in Mezzanine 2, County Offices, Aylesbury.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members are 9.30am.

Future meeting dates for 2014

Tuesday 2 September

Tuesday 14 October

Tuesday 18 November

In accordance with the BCC Constitution, the Environment, Transport and Locality Services Select Committee shall also sit as the designated Crime and Disorder Committee and will hold the countywide Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (known as the Safer Bucks Partnership) to account for the decisions it takes and to take part in joint reviews with District Councils of District Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships.

The Chairman explained that in accordance with Buckinghamshire County Council’s Constitution, the Environment, Transport and Locality Services Select Committee shall also sit as the designated Crime and Disorder Committee and will hold the countywide Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (known as the Safer Bucks Partnership) to account for the decisions it takes and to take part in joint reviews with District Councils of District Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships.

Members will receive the statutory annual update from the County Council’s crime and disorder reduction partnership; The Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership. They will review partnerships progress over the past year against the plan and consider the priorities for the coming year providing their views and comments on the plan.

James Sainsbury, Acting Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership Manager

Papers:

Crime and Disorder information paper

Draft Safer Bucks Plan

James Sainsbury, Acting Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership Manager was welcomed to the meeting.

Members of the Committee were referred to the draft Safer Bucks Plan and the report detailing the progress against the Safer Bucks Plan 2013/14, priorities for 2014/15 and emergent priorities within the plan.

Mr Sainsbury highlighted the following salient points of the report:-

The Safer Bucks Plan forms the Community Safety Agreement and is a requirement under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.  As Buckinghamshire has a two tier Authority system, both the Districts and Bucks County Council are required to have such a plan in place.

The Safer Bucks Plan is designed to identify;

·      How the partners can work together to address the most important community safety issues relevant to the county. These issues are based on analysis of crime and disorder data and on feedback from the community.

·      The issues that will be fed into the work of the partnership across the county and will set out how the partners plan to deliver against these priorities.

Key highlights of the achievements are:-

·           A substantial reduction (35%) in reported incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB) across Buckinghamshire, equating to 4,372 fewer incidents than the previous year

·           An increase in reporting of Domestic Violence (DV) which is considered as positive development as DV is traditionally a hidden and under reported crime.

·           A decrease of 20% incidents of serious acquisitive crime (222 fewer reported incidents when compared to the same period last year).

·           In line with the recommendations from the Macpherson report (70 recommendations for a series of measures that would subject the police to greater public control, enshrine rights for victims of crime and extend the number of offences classified as racist), the Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership has commissioned Thames Valley Victim Support to be the lead agency, to provide support to victims of hate crime and provide case and risk management for hate crime incidents. 

·           There is a new emergent work stream in terms of the Community Safety Team working in partnership with Trading Standards and Thames Valley Police to analyse current and potential hot spots for door step crime to help with the strategies to protect vulnerable individuals and the community.

·           Substance misuse in the community - there is greater emphasis on moving the cohort into recovery in line with the Government strategy.  Funding has been sourced from the Police and Crime Panel for this area of work.

Key issues are:-

·           Reducing violence, acquisitive crime, re-offending, anti-social behaviour

·           Working with communities to address the negative impact of drug and alcohol misuse

·           Working together to address emerging concerns

·           Addressing concerns and issues relating to gangs

·           Countywide priorities for supporting stronger communities

·           Protecting the vulnerable

During discussion, the following questions were asked and points made:-

The chart on page 26 of the agenda shows the current structure of the Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership.  Is it possible to have a brief summary of the governance arrangements and the relationship between the Board and the Groups as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.