Agenda and minutes

The Committee to be notified of any substitute members.

The Committee were notified that Councillor Baxter was substituting for Councillor Powell.

Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting.

None disclosed.

(Enclosure)

The action notes from the meeting held on 7^th November 2017 were agreed.

As microphones were being used for the meeting the question was asked about whether the meeting was being recorded, to which the Chairman replied that it was not.

Councillor Baxter asked that the venue of future meetings be discussed by the Committee as it had been at each of the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees.    The Chairman stated that he was happy to move the venue of the meeting as and when it was required to do so subject to what items were on the agenda.

Report LDS263 from the Chairman of the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

(Enclosure)

As Inspector Outen had not yet arrived agenda item 8 was dealt with next.

The Chairman in introducing his report spoke about engagement with the Muslim and Hindu Community and the work that was carried out by the Jubilee Life Church.  He had spoken with Chief Superintendent Davidson about hate crime in the area but the most prevalent hate crime at the minute was with regard to Brexit and disabled community groups.

The Cabinet Member indicated that he had spoken to the report author and work could be moved forward with limited cost to ourselves.

The Chairman stated that he had spoken to Paul Drury, Prevent Officer from Lincolnshire County Council and he suggested that Mr Drury be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to see what funding can be accessed by South Kesteven.

The background to the report was discussed and the disparity between what the statistics revealed and what people thought especially in relation to hate crime was highlighted. Statistics revealed that the number of hate crimes within Lincolnshire was low,  The Committee was asked to consider whether this was because there weren’t a high number of incidents or was it that people didn’t report the incident for fear of reprisal.  To counter this, the national charity Stop Hate could be accessed anonymously.    Within communities there could also be disquiet and tensions as a result of people being out of work for lengths of time which could lead to individuals or whole communities becoming disenfranchised.

Reference was then made to target communities that had been identified during the gathering of information which included those with disabilities, including those with learning disabilities who were potential vicitos of Mate crime, where people were befriended and then could be subject to finacial and other forms of abuse.  This was a potential area where work could be done by the Committee. 

At a recent celebratory event held at the Jubilee Life Church Centre in Grantham at which 250 attended, 26 different nationalities were represented.  This showed the wide diversity within the District but also highlighted that communities were relatively small and therefore could be hard to reach.   

The Chairman asked about a breakdown of numbers in relation to Hate crimes to which the officer present stated that she received monthly reports and could being the information to the next meeting of the Committee.

> Action Note

A breakdown of Hate crime figures to be circulated at the next meeting of the Committee.

Examples of integration within society were then given.   The Chairman proposed that Paul Drury be invited to a future meeting to expand on the topic and this was met with agreement from the Committee. 

A question was asked about what was being done to be more inclusive for young people under 17 years of age especially in relation to democratic functions and the democratic process.  Mention was made of the Youth Parliament which went around the County and it was suggested that they be asked to come  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

One of the roles and functions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees is to discharge the functions of Section 19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 and the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations.  As part of these functions Chief Inspector Simon Outen from Lincolnshire Police has been invited to attend the meeting.

The Chairman referred to the remit of the Committee which included functions under Section 19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 and the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations.  As part of these functions Inspector Simon Outen had been invited to attend the Committee and give a presentation.  The Chairman reminded Members that he attended the Lincolnshire Police Crime Panel and that the force budget would be known on 5^th February 2018.

Inspector Outen thanked the Committee for the opportunity to speak to them. He began with an overview of policing stating that nationally crime was increasing with crime in Lincolnshire being up by 10.18%, Grantham had one of the lowest crime increases and was the 6^th best performer in the County.  Anti-Social Behaviour was increasing, reasons included:

- current level of austerity

- reduction in police numbers

- social structures – how benefits were now being paid by a single payment

The current funding formula for Lincolnshire had still not been resolved, the formula that had been put in place previously was found to have been flawed and deficits in the budget meant that the police nationally were under funded and this impacted the service given.  Currently reserves were being used to maintain policing but these were due to run out for 2019/20.

Since coming in to post the Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police, Bill Skelly has made rural crime a priority.

Inspector Outen then discussed issues specific to South Kesteven.  He did ask Members to treat the latest figures with caution.  Crime, vehicle crime, violence without injury and damage were all on the increase.  Violence without injury was not part of the night time economy and domestic abuse was on the increase although whether this was due to a genuine rise or more confidence in reporting these incidents he could not say.   He stated that recording standards had changed in relation to victim crime and this impacted the figures given.  Work was carried out with partner agency and third parties, domestic abuse was not acceptable in any form.

A question was asked about violence with injury crimes to which Inspector Outen replied that there was a long list of crimes and he had only highlighted a small sample, but violence with injury crimes had risen slightly.

The trend for burglary was down but changes to how burglary was recorded changed in April last year.  Burglary had been recorded as dwelling and non-dwelling/other. The changes meant that where garages, sheds etc. used to come under non-dwelling/other the changes meant that they now came under dwelling as it was anything within the curtilage of a property.    He referred to trends in relation to vehicle crime and how this worked cross border.

Inspector Outen then spoke about staffing issues.

-       Currently 19 new PCSO’s were being mentored (11 Grantham and 8 to cover Bourne/Stamford/Market Deeping), mentoring had taken place elsewhere but they were due to start towards the end of March this year

-       Two Community Beat  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

Members to be updated from the Working Group held in connection with the Ward Member Scheme.

Members of the Committee were circulated with the notes from the Ward Member Scheme Working Group that had taken place since the last Committee.   Following the Cabinet meeting held on 9^th November 2017 the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been asked to look at various issues in relation to having a new Ward Member pilot scheme.

A copy of a draft application form was also circulated to Members. 

A question was asked in relation to the notes of the Working Group and it was stated that any recommendations from the Working Group had to be agreed by the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee before being made available to the wider public.  A further comment was made about the use of £56,000 of reserve money to fund the pilot.  It was stated that no decision had been made with regard to the proposed funding, it was part of the budget and that would not be agreed until the Council meeting on 1st March 2018.

The Chairman then went through the issues considered by the Working Group.

·       The name of the scheme to be the Ward Member Grant Scheme.

·      Payment from the fund would be by BACS or cheque no payment in cash would be given.

·      Restrictions and guidance in relation to the scheme would be shown on the back of the application form.

·      Organisations could apply for a scheme once per calendar year

·      Ward Councillors within the same ward or in adjacent wards could use their funding collectively if they wished to do so.

·      It was suggested that funding not spent could be put back into the Community Fund scheme however, as this was a pilot scheme any unspent allocations would be considered when the scheme was reviewed and this included whether the money could be rolled over to the following year.

·      Organisations would receive the money direct with the Ward Member being notified that the funding had been allocated.

·      Organisation would receive a certificate showing the amount of Member funding.

·      Revenue funding was discussed but it was felt that there could be adverse longer term consequences in relation to revenue funding and it was considered not relevant for the small amounts of funding being allocated through the Member fund.

It was asked if the application form could include a box for the Ward Members signature.  It was confirmed that a Ward Member signature would be required.

A further comment was made about Working Groups and their notes and it was confirmed that notes and recommendations from any Working Group had to be ratified by the relevant Committee at a public meeting before they were made available to the wider public.  Subject to permission by the Chairman of the Committee a Member could speak at a Committee but it was at the Chairman’s discretion. 

The Chairman asked if Members were happy with the application form and the responses from the Working Group subject to the inclusion of the Ward Members signature on the application form.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

Reference was made to the Committee’s Work programme for 2018/19, issues that would need to be included were the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), tenancy policy and strategy.    It was suggested that the Work Programme be discussed at the next meeting and that the remit of the Committee be circulated to all Members as a refresher.

> Action Note

That the remit of the Communities and Wellbeing Committee be circulated to Members of the Committee.

The Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing, and Skills informed Members that the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Consultation would be discussed at the next Rural Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 7^th February 201 and Members of the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee were invited to attend the meeting to discuss this item.

The meeting closed at 3:56pm.