Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies received

At this point Members must declare whether they have an interest, whether personal or prejudicial, in any of the items on the agenda. Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.

Agenda Item 8 - Establishment of the Citizens Power Scrutiny Task and Finish Group

            Councillor Harper declared a personal interest in that he was part of the Civic Commons Group.

The minutes of the Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 14 September 2011 were approved as an accurate record.

The decision notice for each decision will bear the date on which it is published and will specify that the decision may then be implemented on the expiry of 3 working days after the publication of the decision (not including the date of publication), unless a request for call-in of the decision is received from any two Members of a Scrutiny Committee or Scrutiny Commissions. If a request for call-in of a decision is received, implementation of the decision remains suspended for consideration by the relevant Scrutiny Committee or Commission.

There were no requests for Call-in to consider

The report provided the Committee with an overview of Commercial Operations and informed them of the work being done on a day to day basis in the City along with the strategic focus to enhance the City in the long term.   The Head of Commercial Operations presented the report and highlighted the following key activities that fell within the remit of Commercial

Operations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

• Redevelopment of Bridge Street and Cowgate.
• The Olympic Torch 2012 which was due to pass through Peterborough on 3 July 2012.
• The Embankment would host a Euro Football event in 2012
• The BBC One Show would be coming to the City Centre to provide live coverage of Matt Baker’s cycle ride for Children in Need.
• Street Trading Activity which included a review of table and chairs licensing .
• The Enterprise Centre.  The course content would be redesigned to offer more generic courses whilst seeking long term funding to ensure sustainability.

The Committee was asked to consider and comment on the work of each of the following areas:

• The Enterprise Centre
• Parking Services
• CCTV
• General Market
• City Centre Management and Tourism
• Resilience Services
• Passenger transport
• Concessionary Fares
• Public Transport
• School Transport
• Community Transport
• Park and Ride
• Awards
• Events
• 2010 Christmas Lights Switch on
• 2010 New Years Eve Party
• Halfords Cycle Tour
• Italian Festival
• Perkins Great Eastern Run

Observations and Questions were raised around the following areas:

·         Some Members had received comments from regular overseas visitors to Peterborough on how Peterborough had changed over the past five years and that it had looked modern, clean and more continental. Members were pleased that the changes were being noticed.

·         What work was being done with side streets such as Wentworth Street where shops were empty? Members were advised that there was still a lot of work to be done throughout the City centre to attract businesses and a City wide marketing group was being set up to work on this to attract new businesses.

·         Members complimented the Operations Team on how nice the market stalls were in Cathedral Square.

·         Members were concerned with the type of planters that were put on Cathedral Square and wanted to know why they were put out so late.  The Officer acknowledged Members comments and advised that next year the planters would be put out earlier and flowers would be cascading down the sides. The Cabinet Advisor informed the Committee that she had been advised by an Evening Telegraph reporter that there had also been many positive comments made to the Evening Telegraph with regard to the planters.

·         Members commented on how successful the Jazz music had been when it had played outside of St Johns Church.

·         Were there any plans to give existing general market traders the opportunity to trade in Cathedral Square? The Head of Commercial Operations advised that they had tried to work with the general market traders when they started the farmers market in Cathedral Square. General markets were on the decline and there was a need to look at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The report had been requested by the Committee after receiving a request from, the Peterborough North Area Committee to consider dog control orders after having received many complaints about uncontrolled dogs and dog fouling in public places.    The report informed the committee what would be involved in instigating a Dog Control Order including the legal process, evidence base, staffing requirements and potential costs.

The committee was asked to debate the subject and make any recommendations.

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

·         How should constituents deal with a situation when out walking their dog and are confronted with a person walking 12 unleashed dogs finding themselves in a terrifying situation.  Dog fouling was also an issue. How do we educate people to take responsibility for their dogs? The Senior Neighbourhood Enforcement Officer informed the Committee that the complaints made by their constituents were not finding there way to the correct officers in order for them to deal with the issues. There had only been three reports of uncontrolled dogs in the whole year. If Dog Control Orders were to be put in place then it would need to be evidenced statistically that they were required and at present there was not sufficient evidence. A method would need to be put in place to ensure complaints reached the correct department and were recorded.  The Officer advised  the Committee that the following the recent press release stating that the council was considering dog control orders he had received two letters from the biggest charities relating to dogs in the country.  They had stated that they would oppose the decision and they had offered suggestions on other ways of working.

·         How would we crack down on the minority of irresponsible and antisocial dog owners? The Officer advised that running educational programmes in schools would need to be considered before dog control orders were put in place. The council had adhered to its statutory obligation which was to deal with stray dogs only. If a Dog Control Order were to be installed then an additional member of staff would be needed to effectively police it and at the moment the resource level is low. The department that would be affected the most should the Dog Control Orders be put in place would be the Neighbourhood Officers who also dealt with fly tipping, abandoned vehicles and all things that were in the public eye. They did deal with dog fouling but it was hard to catch people. The officer felt it would be necessary to employ a full time person should the council go ahead with the Dog Control Orders.

·         Was it an offence for dog owners to allow their dogs to roam around freely in a fenced off children’s play area while the children were playing. Could anything be done about it. Some local councils have Dog Control Orders on specific areas like a children’s play area.

·         The Head of Neighbourhoods commented that the solution to the problem was more than would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The report was presented by Detective Chief Inspector Mark Alexander, the Integrated Offender Management Project Manager for Cambridgeshire and Annette Powell, Director of One Service.  The report provided the committee with an update on developing an Integrated Offender Management (IOM) approach to offender management and its effect on reoffending within the city. The report explained how the IOM scheme was developed in accordance with joint Home Office Ministry of Justice Guidance published in the IOM Government Policy Statement June 2009. ‘The IOM approach complemented Peterborough’s preventative agenda by looking to change behaviour and prevent reoffending’.

The Committee was asked to endorse and support the continued development of an Integrated Offender Management scheme within the city and to suggest additions or further opportunities to the approach that will further enhance it.

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

·         Members noted the good work being done through the IOM scheme but also wanted to know what support was being given to the victims of crimes.   The DCI informed the Committee that the victims were equally as important.  There were two parts to his responsibility one being the IOM programme and the other being the Multi Agency Referral unit which consisted of police officers, staff from Children’s Services and Social Services all working within one team. The victims would be referred to the unit then they would decide which service would be most appropriate to help those individuals. This scheme was very much in its pilot stage at present.

·         Members queried as to whether the officers had any contact with the members of the Citizen Power Project. The Director of One Service advised the Committee that in the early days of developing the One Service they did meet with people from the Citizens Power Project and held some workshops. She had also spoken at some of their events to share some of the learning and compare notes. The discussions were ongoing. The Head of Neighbourhood Services informed Members that a product of the Citizens Power strand had led to a fully re-commissioned drugs treatment system.

·         Members referred to page 30 section 4.4 of the report and asked for clarification on the statement ‘The scheme now manages regularly around 100 offenders. At any one time about half are in custody and half are in the community’. This point was clarified by explaining that the type of people the IOM Scheme was managing had received short custodial sentences. The problems they faced were that they returned to live with their families or friends or they slept on people’s sofas or were possibly homeless. IOM and One service try to ensure that when they come out of prison they go into stable accommodation and remove them from the friends and family who encouraged their criminal activity.

·         Members commented that they fully supported the scheme and felt that it helped to break the chain of criminality in families and helped them to get the support they needed to not reoffend. The DCI added that what  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The purpose of this report was for the Committee to consider and agree the Terms of Reference and membership of the Task and Finish Group which was formed at the request of the Committee on 14 September 2011 to oversee and monitor the actions and recommendations of the Citizens Power Programme Review.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Committee recommended that:

1.      The Terms of Reference for the Task and Finish Group are accepted and:

2.      The membership of the Task and Finish Group are agreed

The Committee received the latest version of the Council’s Forward Plan, containing key decisions that the Leader of the Council anticipated the Cabinet or individual Cabinet Members would make during the course of the following four months.  Members were invited to comment on the Plan and, where appropriate, identify any relevant areas for inclusion in the Committee’s work programme. 

ACTION AGREED

The Committee noted the Forward Plan and requested further information on the following key decision:

·         War Memorial - KEY/02NOV/11

Members considered the Committee’s Work Programme for 2011/12 and discussed possible items for inclusion.

ACTION AGREED

To confirm the work programme for 2011/12 and the Scrutiny Officer to include any additional items as requested during the meeting.

Thursday 5 January 2011

Joint Meeting of Scrutiny Committees and Commissions to scrutinise the Budget 2011/12 and Medium Financial Strategy to 2015/16.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee

Wednesday 18 January 2012