Agenda and minutes

The Council welcomes engagement from members of the public. To speak at this meeting please register no later than 24 hours prior to the date of the meeting via democracy@southkesteven.gov.uk

There were none.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Steve Cunnington and Councillor Penny Milnes.

Councillor Peter Stephens substituted for Councillor Penny Milnes.

Councillor Tim Harrison substituted for Councillor Steve Cunnington.  

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

There were none.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2024 were proposed, seconded, and AGREED as a correct record.

To receive updates on actions agreed at the previous meeting.

Members noted the updates from the previous meeting.

The Chairman confirmed that the action from the ‘Cost of Living’ item was complete.

There were none.

To provide the Committee an update regarding the Changing Places Toilets facilities project across the district.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste introduced the report.

In July 2021 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced the opening for Expressions of Interest bids for a share of a £30M pot to provide Changing Places toilets in existing, publicly accessible buildings.

Changing Places toilets were larger accessible toileting facilities for severely disabled people, with equipment such as hoists, curtains, adult-sized changing benches and space for carers.

In March 2022 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) informed the Council that its bid had been successful and that it had been awarded the maximum £160,000.  This was reported at Cabinet on 29 March 2022.

The funding is awarded to cover a two-year period for completion of the project.  DLUHC has confirmed that the works will need to be completed by 31 March 2024 to avoid any of the funding being returned.

Rural and Communities were previously provided with an update on this project at their meeting on 11 October 2023.  Since then, there had been significant progress made at the locations in Grantham and Bourne but sadly there will be no facility at Stamford.

An updated position for each identified location was provided:

South Street Bourne

The facility had been introduced within the closed former public conveniences at South Street, Bourne and the building has been modified to include a full changing places facility which are equipped with ceiling track hoists, privacy screens, support rails and height-adjustable, adult-sized changing benches.  The facility also included reconfiguration of the former public conveniences and was scheduled to be competed and open from the end of March 2024.    

Wyndham Park Grantham

This facility had been introduced within the Memorial Arch building at Wyndham Park which was being used as a grounds maintenance as an informal storage area.  The new facility included a fully compliant Changing Places provision and was scheduled to open from Monday 5^th February 2024. 

Grantham Meres Leisure Centre Grantham

This facility had been introduced utilising a former medical space at the Meres Leisure Centre, which had been relocated as part of the works and had been operational since April 2023.

In all cases, the design and layout had complied with the Changing Places standard which has enabled the grant to be awarded to contribute towards the funding of the 3 locations.

The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that the Government, whilst recognising that the allocated £40,000 per location does not meet the actual costs of installing the facility, had been unable to offer additional funding and therefore the financial shortfall has had to be met by the Council’s own budgets as Stamford Town Council were unable to do so.  The Officer confirmed that if there was a further phase of grant support, sites would include Stamford and the Deepings.

This report provided the final position of the Changing Places project and brings it to a conclusion. Should any further Changing Places funding announcements be made then the Committee would be notified accordingly.  

Members raised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

To receive a Crime Disorder and Local Partnership working update and presentation.

The Head of Service for Public Protection introduced a joint presentation which included Lincolnshire Police as well as South Kesteven District Council.

The key officers within the Partnership and their roles were confirmed along with the multi-agency approach which was to consist of joint patrols and visits and a shared system of case management.  CCTV played a crucial role in the partnership, particularly working to avoid criminal activity.

Quarterly Partnership meetings were held alongside regular specific group meetings.

The Committee were informed of the breakdown of Enforcement actions taken over the last year.

ECINS was a county-wide partnership case management and intelligence database.  It was a secure and confidential way of sharing information across teams and the wider partnership.  Multi-agency meetings were coordinated on ECINS with the use of a tasking function to support accountability and ownership.  It supported compliance with Standard Operating Procedures agreed by the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership and enabled seamless partnership working as both South Kesteven and the Police used this as the primary case management system for anti-social behaviour cases.

The Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 provided a wide range of tools and powers that Police, local authorities and other agencies were able to use.  This included civil and criminal remedies, such as a Criminal Behaviour Order or Public Spaces Protection Order.  It promoted a victim focused and harm centred approach and incorporated the corporate Enforcement Policy to ensure our approach was proportionate.

The Senior Neighbourhoods Officer informed Members of the following case studies:

Terrys was a restaurant in a prime location in the centre of Grantham with residential flats above.  As part of Op Disputes, Police identified through intelligence the premises were allowing illegal activities to take place.

A multiagency investigationcommenced to disrupt the activities at the location and safeguard vulnerable people. 

During the course of the investigation, a warrant was executed and 7 people were arrestedincluding a young person.  As a result of the evidence obtained, a Full Closure Orderwas secured for the commercial premises, Terry’s, and a Partial Closure Order was obtained for the residential flat.  Further safeguarding, disruption and positive interventions have taken place for the young person and other vulnerable people linked to the premises.

In another case study anti-social behaviour centred around 3 addresses on Eastwell Place, Grantham was reported to both South Kesteven District Council’s Housing Teamand Neighbourhoods Team and the Police.

Occupants and visitors to the 3 addresses had no regard for the other residents in the area. Their behaviours took place at all times of day and night and included shouting, screaming, fighting, drug use, street drinking, criminal damage and loud music. They also included threatening and intimidating behaviour directed at other residents.  As a result of a multiagency investigation, following the Anti-Social Behaviour Incremental Approach, the following actions were taken:

•       5 CPN (Community Protection Notice) Warning’s served.

•       5 CPN’s served.

•       3 NOSP’s served.

•       2 Full Closure Orders.

•       1 Partial Closure Order.

Due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

To present the proposed key performance indicators (KPIs) for the Corporate Plan 2024-27, to be monitored by this Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and to recommend the approval and adoption of the KPI suite from 1 April 2024.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing introduced the report and began by thanking the team for their hard work – naming the Corporate Policy Officer and the Head of Corporate Projects, Policy and Performance.

The Corporate Plan 2024-2027 was adopted by Council on 25 January 2024.

Once approved, reporting on the KPIs were to be a regular part of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees workplans.  Mid-year (quarter 2) and end-of-year (quarter 4) reports would be presented to the OSCs.  Quarterly reports were to be presented to Cabinet and the Corporate Management Team (CMT). 

Effective performance management was essential to the success of the Plan. It established how delivery was to be monitored, improvements driven, and open and transparent accountability upheld. 

An effective KPI suite must be able to perform three functions:

• Measure activity and performance.

• Understand experiences and outcomes.

• Use evidence to inform and drive improvement.

Meeting these functions had underpinned the approach to developing the KPI suite.  To do this, two basic foundational principles had been observed:

• The selected metrics must be wholly within the Council’s control, so offering accountability and stimulating continuous improvement.

• The selected metrics must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant & Timely).

The draft KPIs had been developed in close consultation with the relevant Officers for each service.  It was expected that the KPI suite will experience a degree of evolution over the next four years.  This improvement was to be prompted by the needs of decision makers and the scrutiny committees, and further consideration of how to best meet those needs by Officers.

During discussion, Members raised the following points:

·       Some of the targets were not able to be adequately measured in terms of high amounts.  For example, housing adaptations may have limited applications but the target could be that 100% of applications received were concluded.

·       A Member asked that a specific target be set for safeguarding as it was a statutory responsibility and essential for protecting communities.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing clarified that Members of the Committee were able to set the KPIs as they decided to be appropriate and had the facility to change any targets set.

The Head of Public Protection clarified that the KPI for adaptations related to privately-owned homes.  100 adaptations as a target was deemed reasonable by Officers and the Team would be happy to consider a trial period working to that target.

Head of Corporate Projects, Policy and Performance informed Members that the KPI for Safeguarding came under the remit of Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  It was acknowledged that safeguarding was about people and communities and the Officer informed the Committee that the Safeguarding targets could, with the agreement of the Housing Committee Chairman, be moved to within the remit of the Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  .

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED that the Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

1. Approved the key performance indicators it wished to review  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

This report provides an update on the progress of the review and the updated Safeguarding Policy 2024 – 2027 for review.

The Cabinet Member for People and Communities presented the report that provided an update on the progress of the review and the updated Safeguarding Policy 2024 – 2027for review.

The Children Act 2004 and the Care Act 2014 placed responsibilities on the Council to safeguard vulnerable people from harm.  As a District Council there was a general duty of care and statutory requirements in relation to the safeguarding of both children and adults.  Safeguarding was the responsibility of all staff and elected members, so the Council had to ensure that staff and members had access to support, were trained, were able to recognise signs of safeguarding issues and, most importantly, act upon concerns.

In October 2023 the Council identified the Head of Housing Services as the Designated Lead for Safeguarding.

The Community Engagement Manager informed Members that the policy had a timescale of three years and should however, be reviewed annually to ensure that it remained up to date and even more frequently if required to embed any changes to legislation.  The policy was made up of 11 chapters.  Updates included:

·       Amendments had been made throughout Chapter 3 Safeguarding Children and Young People to reflect updates to statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.

·       The chapters relating to Domestic Abuse (Chapter 5) and Prevent (Chapter 6) had been updated in relation to the introduction of, or changes to, the law.

·       Amendments had been made to Chapter 11 – Transient Families

·       Appendix B – Training Structure and Programmes had been updated to meet the requirements of the 6 year training pathways of the LSCP and the LSAB to ensure we meet national competency standards.

Working Together to Safeguard Children was statutory guidance updated in December 2023 – it was last updated in 2018.  Many of the changes to Working Together related to partner organisations such as Lincolnshire County Council – Social Care, Care Leavers, Child protections etc and Health including changes around procedures relating to child death, for example.

The importance of multi-agency working was highlighted to ensure successful outcomes for children and young people.  This would relate to cases of early

help through to child protection.

The Domestic Abuse Act brought in a number of changes most of which related to criminal behaviour and therefore within the responsibility of the Police.  From the perspective of the Council it created a statutory definition of domestic abuse, emphasising that domestic abuse was not just physical violence, but can also be emotional, controlling or coercive, and economic abuse.

Other changes were brought in that related specifically to housing and duties around providing accommodation-based support to victims of Domestic Abuse and their children.

The Safeguarding Policy covered Domestic Abuse in generic terms.  It provided the definition, outlined signs of and types of abuse and gave guidance on what to do if anyone had a concern.

Any housing related responsibilities connected to the Domestic Abuse Act were covered in housing policies and the housing-specific Domestic Abuse Policy.

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The Prevent Duty for local authorities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning.

Change4Lincs was an initiative which had been set up to tackle rough sleeping across Lincolnshire for South Kesteven, North Kesteven, West Lindsey and South Holland.  The scheme was hosted by South Kesteven District Council and was delivered in partnership with North Kesteven District Council, West Lindsey District Council and South Holland District Council from pooling the Rough Sleeper Initiative 48 funding to create this scheme.  The initiative was launched in October 2020 and funding was secured until March 2025. 

Regular Change4Lincs Strategic Partnership Meetings had been initiated, the last meeting took place on 21st February 2024.

Rough sleepers could be referred by each local authority as well as the general public who may have concerns about a known rough sleeper.  The outreach team then sought to visit the rough sleeper onsite to capture all relevant information discuss their options and pass on to the support workers.

The package of support provided by the team was a bespoke package for each client dependant on their need.  Support included help with budgeting, benefit claims, signposting to mental health services and substance misuse services.  Support had the clear aim of supporting clients back into settled accommodation.  As funding was only currently in place to run this service until March 2025, discussions were being held with districts in relation to the future of this service and whether the partnership will continue in its current format.  Central Government were yet to announce Rough Sleeper initiative funding for 2025/2026 so once this was announced, it will be at this point that the four districts will decide if a joint bid will be submitted.

Over the past years, the number of rough sleepers had increased by 70% locally, similar to the national trend, as confirmed by the Housing Options Manager.  There were many complex issues that led to rough sleeping.  The solution involved more than finding accommodation.  There was a small budget available to assist rough sleepers in finding accommodation but Central Government had yet to announce funding in the longer term.

During discussion, Members raised the following points:

·       Was the Council able to identify genuine rough sleepers and were dogs a hinderance to someone securing accommodation?

·       The work was welcomed as essential.

The Housing Options Manager confirmed that the daytime identified those who begged on the street, some of whom were accompanied by dogs but the night-time helped to identify rough sleepers through consistent engagement with the outreach team and safeguarding officers. 

It was AGREED that the Committee noted the latest update for the Change4Lincs partnership initiative.

To receive the Work Programme for 2023-24.

The Committee considered the Work Programme.

The Chairman informed Members that a report on CCTV would be scheduled after the relocation had been completed.

To be scheduled within the next meetings were the following reports:

·       Car Parking

·       Prevent Update

·       Police and Crime Panel Update

·       SK Community Fund

There were none.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 16:05.