Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of Interest.

The minutes of the Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 26 March 2014 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 was introduced by the Head of Community and Safety Services to provide the Committee with the overview report, detailing the role of the Committee in its capacity as the Crime and Disorder Committee, particularly in scrutinising the Safer Peterborough Partnership (SPP) 2014 to 2017.

The Committee was advised by the Head of Community and Safety Services that it was intended to present a report outlining the key themes and performance figures of the SPP progress in terms of monitoring crime.

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

·         Members raised concerns around the performance figures recently captured for crime recorded by the SPP and that there did not seem to be any reduction in criminal activities to date that compared with the 46% figure quoted within the report.  The Head of Community and Safety Services advised Members that the way performance was measured was always being refined and developed.  In addition, the Committee was advised that a new reporting tool application, namely ‘My Peterborough’ was due to be launched for use by the public, partners and agencies and was anticipated to improve the method of reporting criminal activities.

·         Members requested further information over the advertisement for the launch of the ‘My Peterborough’ application and whether it was necessary to produce a whole page advert in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph?  Members were advised that it was not clear why a full-page advert was placed, however the advertisement campaign had been widely received in a positive way.

·         Members commented that they would find it beneficial to receive evidence or a snapshot of the activities implemented in order to monitor and reduce crime.  Members were informed that for future reports, agencies would provide a narrative around the data, which would outline the activities introduced to reduce crime.

·         Members commented that it would be beneficial for them to receive information regarding police resources within their ward area.

·         Members commented that there seemed to be no evidence of PCSOs opportunity to become accustomed with one community’s issues, as they were responsible for patrolling more than one ward area.

AGREED ACTION

The Committee noted the content of the report and agreed to schedule a methodology of how the Safer Peterborough Partnership Plan would be scrutinised as detailed in the report.

It was agreed that the Head of Community and Safety Services would provide:

·         Information regarding the number of police resources such as Warranted Officers, PCSOs and Community Safety Officers within their area; and 

·         Details of the PCSOs on duty within a Councillor’s ward area at any one time by shift pattern.

It was also agreed that the Assistant Director for Communities and Targeted Services would reschedule the:

·         Addressing Crime by Tackling Offending report due to be presented to Committee on 3 September 2014 to 15 October 2014; and

·         The Antisocial Behaviour report to be received on 3 September 2014 rather than 15 October 2014.

The Strategic Partnerships Manager and the Strategic Client Manager for Culture and Leisure introduced the report to the Committee, which outlined the draft Culture Strategy for Peterborough.  Members of the Committee were also advised that following consultation and incorporation of all comments, it was intended to share the final strategy with partners and Full Council in September 2014.

Key visions and priorities summarised within the report included:

·         More people, more often – increasing participation in and enjoyment of cultural activities;

·         Developing, retaining and attracting people with talent;

·         Places to go and things to do – making the best use of our city spaces;

·         Raising the profile of culture and increasing participation within the City; and

·         Raising the profile of the City through culture and increase visitor numbers.

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

·         Members commented regarding the minor references to Vivacity, the Council’s Culture contractor and that there seemed to be a focus on high-level as opposed to more universal activities such as the Peterborough Annual Beer Festival.  The Strategic Client Manager for Culture and Leisure advised the Committee that the themes such as people and places were intended to capture a breadth and mixed level of events. The Strategy had been intended to give a breadth of diversity and a holistic approach by liaising with Vivacity to attract a wide range of activities in the City.

·         Members sought clarification over why Vivacity had not been responsible for producing the Culture Strategy for Peterborough.  The Strategic Partnerships Manager advised Members that the Culture Strategy was a Council owned document and that it held responsibility due to its management of the major policy framework.  However, Vivacity had provided support to shape the content as they held the expertise in arts and culture.  In addition, there would be an opportunity to explore the option of delegating the responsibility for monitoring the strategy in the future by Vivacity. 

·         Members sought clarification over whether there were opportunities to provide financial support for communities to hold lower-level cultural events?  The Strategic Client Manager for Culture and Leisure advised Members that a new funding stream was due to be introduced and administered by Vivacity, namely Connective Culture. The £2k funds could be used towards providing support to a community or individual group event, or to organise a forum to combine funds to purchase bigger items such as a stage;

·         Members sought clarification over what was being introduced to encourage different cultures participation in sports such as speedway? Members were advised that a separate visitor economy strategy was to encompass sports events and was due to be produced later in the year;

·         Members commented on the proposition detailed within the report to merge groups such as the heritage steering group with the culture strategy steering group to form the ’Culture Peterborough’. Members were informed  that there had been lots of disparate reporting by a wide range of culture committees and the aim had been to unify all groups, which was intended to also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Review of 2013/2014

The Governance Officer introduced a report to the Committee on the review of work undertaken during 2013/14.  Members of the Committee were invited to review, comment and make any recommendations on future monitoring to be undertaken in Municipal Year 2014/2015.  Members of the Committee were also invited to identify an item for inclusion on the 2014/2015 Work Programme.

ACTION AGREED

The Committee agreed to the future monitoring of the:

·         Impact on Welfare Reform; and

·         The impact and investment of financial and social benefits arising from the Scrutiny in a Day event to be reported in January 2015.

It was also agreed that the Committee would receive briefing notes on:

·         Progress updates regarding the lines of enquiry from the impact and investment arising from Scrutiny in a Day event; and 

·         Aspects of Public Health performance framework that aligned with the remit of the SCSC.

Work Programme for 2014/2015

The purpose of the report was to provide the Committee with a list of possible items to be included in the Committee’s 2014/2015 Work Programme.  Members were requested to note the remit of the Committee and the items highlighted for the 2014/2015 work programme and suggest any items for future consideration.

ACTION AGREED

The Committee agreed to receive the work programme items outlined for 2014 - 2015.

In addition the Committee agreed:

·         To receive progress reports as part of the Cabinet Member’s for Communities and Environment Capital portfolio;

·         That the ‘Addressing Crime by Tackling Offending’ report due to be presented to Committee in September would be moved to October; and

·         The ‘Antisocial Behaviour’ report to be received in September rather than October.

The Committee received the latest version of the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions, containing key decisions that the Leader of the Council anticipated the Cabinet or individual Cabinet Members would make during the course of the forthcoming month.  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 of Key Decisions and requested further information on:

·         Peterborough City Customer Strategy; and

·         Care and Repair Framework.

3 September 2014

The Chairman advised that the next date of the Meeting for Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee was due to be held on 3 September 2014.