Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Peter Martin.

To disclose any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

The following declaration of interest was noted:

Mrs A Macpherson – Police and Crime Panel Member. 

Of the meeting held on 11^th July 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11^th July 2017 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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.  Members of the 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/getting-involved/

There were none.

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

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman expressed sympathy and thoughts to the family of Alan Walters MBE, who sadly passed away.  

For Members to agree the Joint Select Committee Inquiry Report; Is the Council Ready for Growth? The agreed report will be presented to Cabinet on the 25^th September.

The Chairman for each Select Committee will attend to agree the report on behalf of their respective Committee Members.

Attendees:

Dev Dhillion, Chairman of CHASC Select Committee

Brian Roberts, Chairman of HASC Select Committee

David Watson, Chairman of FPR Select Committee

Members agreed the Joint Select Committee Growth Inquiry report and recommendations. It was confirmed that the approved report would go to Cabinet for their consideration on the 25^th September.  

Members will explore the role and responsibilities of the Council under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Members will consider the Council’s current approach and partnership arrangements in relation to Modern Slavery. The Committee will hear a range of perspectives to examine the key challenges, limitations and opportunities for addressing and responding to Modern Slavery and the responsibilities under the Act.

This fact finding evidence session will help the committee ascertain the focus of any further inquiry evidence gathering and detailed scoping to be developed.

Contributors:

·         Nigel Sims,Head of Community Wellbeing

·         April Mcroig, Thames Valley Police, Strategic Lead and Anti-Slavery Coordinator (strategic perspective)

·         Victoria Butler, Thames Valley Police, Intelligence Development Officer for Modern Slavery and Investigation Advisor (operational perspective)

·         Nicola Bell, Rahab Manager, Lead Officer for Adult Exploitation & Modern Day Slavery in Reading

Contributors:

·         Nigel Sims, Head of Community Wellbeing and Community Safety.

·         Victoria Butler, Intelligence Officer and Lead officer for Modern Slavery, Thames Valley Police.

·         April Mcroig, Modern Slavery Coordinator and Anti-Slavery Network Chair.

·         Nicola Bell, Service Manager for Rahab, Victim support service in Reading.

The Chairman introduced the item and reminded Members that it was a fact finding item to help inform further inquiry work. 

The Chairman welcomed Nigel Sims, Head of Community Wellbeing and Community Safety, and invited him to provide Members with an overview of the information paper (paper can be found in the agenda pack).

In his overview Mr Sims highlighted the following:

·         The definition and types of Modern Slavery.

·         The Council’s legal duty under the Modern Slavery Act as "first responders" and the duty to "notify".

·         The steps the Council had taken so far to address the issues surrounding Modern Slavery anf the further steps it could take to improve Council compliance.

·         The issues and challenges that surrounded Modern Slavery and addressing it.

·         That there was currently no dedicated victim service in Bucks for Modern Slavery.

·         That the Council was currently getting legal advice as to whether it should have a Modern Slavery statement in its procurement process.

Members raised the following through their questions to Mr Sims:

·         Adult Exploitation Strategy: Members felt strongly thatChild and Adult Exploitation should not be dealt with separately in relation to Modern Slavery. Members were told that the current strategy focussed on adults and that child exploitation was dealt with separately through other safeguarding measures within Children’s Services.

·         Prevalence of Modern Slavery in Bucks and the limitations of the data: Members heard that the data was only recent, very partial and that there was every indication that the problem would be significantly larger than the data currently suggested.

·         The legal and moral requirements to have a Modern Slavery Statement in the procurement process: Members were told that the team were currently getting legal advice on this. It was suggested that even if there was not a legal duty, other local authorities had taken the approach to do this and that the Council may want to consider following best practice. A Member raised the point that our health partners should consider having the same statements.

·         Industries involved in Modern Slavery: Members heard that research suggested that industries such as nail bars, construction and agriculture are all areas where modern slavery is prevalent. Members were told that there was an understanding of the industries that could be targeted in Bucks, but a lot was still hidden and more needs to be done to gain an understanding of the prevalence.

·         Support for Victims of Modern Slavery: Members heard that there was a bid awaiting a decision through the Police Innovation Fund. If successful it would extend a service currently delivered in Reading across the Thames Valley, including Bucks. However, if this was unsuccessful Members were advised that there were no other current budgets allocated for this within the Council. Members raised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Members will discuss upcoming items on the Committee’s work programme.

The Chairman confirmed the following upcoming committee items:

·         31^st October: An item on the National Infrastructure Commission Report and the 12 month review of the Economic Development Inquiry.

·         12^th December: An item on Energy Income Generation opportunities and the 6 month Sustainable School Travel Inquiry Review.

Other areas suggested by Members for consideration to include within the work programme were:

·         Transport for Bucks

·         The Integrated Transport Programme.

The next meeting will be held at 10:00am on the 31^st October 2017 in the Mezzanine Room 1, County Hall.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 12^th December 2017 at 10am in Mezzanine Room 1, County Hall, Aylesbury.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members only at 9.30am.