Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Councillors Fletcher and Goldspink.

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.

Councillor Collins declared a personal interest in item 7 in that he worked for Cambridgeshire Constabulary and was involved in training staff on the Policing Pledge.  He advised the Committee that he had consulted with the Solicitor to the Council prior to the meeting and was advised that this would not exclude him from discussion on this agenda item.

The minutes of the Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 21 January 2010 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 Head of Cultural Services introduced the report and draft business plan which set out why and how a Culture and Leisure Trust would be able to offer better cultural and leisure services to the people of Peterborough.  A Shadow Trust Board had been formed which had six members on it.  The impact on the pension rights of staff transferring over to the Trust had been looked into and was addressed in the report.  The report also included the financial implications of a Trust.  The Head of Cultural Services went through the draft business plan highlighting:

•           What the vision and strategy for the Peterborough Culture and Leisure Trust would be

•           What the Trust would deliver in the first 18 months.

•           The values of the trustees, staff and volunteers

•           The four main areas of work: Arts, Heritage, Libraries & Archives and Sports

•           The strategic governance structure

•           The staffing structure – the current staff would move into the Trust under the Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment Regulations (TUPE)

•           How the Trust would invest their finances

•           That indicative funding that would be sought from the Council

•           How the Trust would work in partnership with the Council

•           How performance would be measured

There were currently over 120 Culture and Leisure trusts in England, of which the most successful had a good partnership relationship with the Local Authority. 40% of Leisure facilities in England were currently delivered by Culture and Leisure Trusts.

The Cabinet Member for Environment Capital and Culture addressed the Committee stating that moving to a Trust would make the services offered more agile, more responsive and less bureaucratic.  Shelagh Smith, Chair of the Shadow Trust, spoke to the Committee stating that culture was at the heart of any City and the Trust would provide a great opportunity to enhance what was already being provided.  The Trust wanted to achieve good quality heritage, culture and sporting events and achieve a bigger offer with more variety and good quality services.  The team of people acting as the Trustees combined commercial expertise and acumen which would be much more customer focussed.  They were keen to make sure people were welcomed and enjoyed what was on offer.  There would be challenging events and experiences in the future.. The Trust would be registered as a charity and would be able to lever funds and resources that the Council could not.  

Observations and Questions:

·         Members asked if the Trust would be able to work independently without pressure from outside.  The Head of Cultural Services explained that it was important that the Trust worked independently but also worked closely in partnership with the Council.  There would be financial pressures in the future and that was where the financial acumen of the Trust would be important so that the right decisions were made.

·         Members wanted to know how confident the Trust would be at achieving the savings of £200K per year. The Head of Cultural Services advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Safer Peterborough Partnership Manager introduced a report on the Safer Peterborough Partnership Plan and explained that it was the statutory responsibility of the Safer Peterborough Partnership to produce a plan on an annual basis.  The process that had been taken to arrive at this plan was that a comprehensive strategic assessment had been undertaken which painted a picture of what Peterborough was like.  There would be a user friendlier version of the Plan available for the public which would draw out the highlights and priorities for the year. 

Observations and Questions:

•           Members noted that the performance indicator for Serious Acquisitive Crime was still not near target and wanted to know what action was being taken to improve this.  The Officer advised that the performance data would be updated at the end of the financial year and that Serious Acquisitive Crime (NI 16) was currently showing as green.  There were still some elements of Serious Acquisitive Crime which were causing some concern such as burglary and robbery, however there had been an improvement and Operation        Alert had made a difference.  In the last month a new group had been formed called the Safer Peterborough Partnership Tactical Action Group which met on a fortnightly basis.  This group brought all of the partners together to look in detail at all of the nominal’s      and look at how partners could work together in gathering intelligence to bring individuals to justice.

•           Members asked what was being done about the high amount of arson cases.  The Officer advised that the latest figures had showed a reduction in the number of arson cases.  There was an arson investigation unit which looked at new ways of tackling arson and would focus on the people responsible and not just the victim and location. There would be CCTV cameras in fire appliances as it was not unusual for arsonists to stay around the scene of the incidents. Intelligence allowed resources to be put in to the areas where the hot spots were.

•           Members asked if extra resources had been put into the most vulnerable neighbourhoods in the city. The Officer responded that resources were targeted at the areas where the need was greatest.

•           Members wanted to know what other evidence could be provided to assure them that resources were being used in Central Ward?  The Officer advised that Central Ward also covered the City Centre and night time economy.  Extra resources were being put into this through initiatives like neighbourhood management.

•           Members asked if there was a way of differentiating in public documents that there was a residential and a City Centre area under Central Ward.  The Officer suggested that a statement in brackets saying that it includes the City Centre could be put next to Central Ward.

ACTION AGREED:

The Committee:

(i)         Endorsed the Safer Peterborough Partnership Plan 2010-11; and

(ii)        Recommended the approval of the Safer Peterborough Partnership Plan to Cabinet.

Councillor Todd welcomed Chief Inspector Kevin Vanterpool from the Cambridgeshire Constabulary to the meeting.  Chief Inspector Vanterpool was the lead officer responsible for the implementation of the Policing Pledge in Cambridgeshire and he advised that the Pledge was now fully implemented and embedded.  An HM Inspectorate of Constabulary’s (HMIC) inspection report last year had rated the Constabulary as fair in implementing the Pledge.  There had since been a re-inspection and whilst the overall grading remained the same some areas had now improved to a rating of good.  A  Pledge Delivery Group had been formed and had developed the Building Confidence Delivery Plan and Pledge Score Card which showed how the Force was doing and where they needed to improve.  The Pledge Delivery Group was tackling each of the areas for improvement within the HMIC plan and also focused on the work in progress in identifying 33 deliverables, with responsible leads, across the Constabulary. The Pledge was about a culture and the way of doing business.  During training staff had been made to understand what the Pledge meant to them and that it was core to policing.  CI Vanterpool said if there was one request that he could make it would be to have greater representation of elected members at neighbourhood panel meetings.

Observations and Questions:

•           Councillor Goodwin commented that most problems happened at the weekend in Orton Longueville and whilst there was an excellent response from the police there was an absence of police in the area on Mondays and Tuesdays.  CI Vanterpool responded that a survey had recently been completed of when police were most likely to be needed and that there would be a change in shift patterns to address these issues.

•           Members felt that most officers seemed to get sent into the City Centre at the weekends.  CI Vanterpool responded that the City Centre accounted for 20% of violent crime and was the busiest place at weekends; therefore it meant that staff were deployed there from other areas according to the needs of the City Centre night time economy.

•           Members asked if the police visited all victims of burglary.  CI Vanterpool advised that every single victim of a house burglary would receive a home visit.

•           Members commented that they had concerns that the Government may have given the police service an impossible task to achieve.  The police service needed more man power available to achieve the targets of police being out and visible in neighbourhoods.  Complaints from residents were that they did not see their local officer.  CI Vanterpool responded that it would always be a challenge to meet the targets as Cambridgeshire was significantly under resourced, however he was confident that they were being met across the board.  There were many Police Community Support Officers who supported the local police officers to achieve the visibility in local neighbourhoods.  More admin staff was being employed so that the police spent less time having to do the admin tasks and more time in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Head of Neighbourhood Services gave apologies on behalf of the portfolio holders for Environment Capital and Culture; Neighbourhoods, Housing and Community Development; and Regional and Business Engagement and presented the report on their behalf.  He reminded the Committee of the focus of each portfolio holder and referred to the report update.

 Observations and Questions:

•           Members expressed their disappointment that there were still significantly large retail premises lying empty in the City Centre.  The Officer would take this comment back to the relevant portfolio holder and provide an update on the situation to the Committee outside of the meeting.

•           Councillor Sandford expressed his disappointment at the non attendance of the three portfolio holder Cabinet Members.

•           Councillor Sandford advised that he had heard rumours that some of the trees in Bridge Street were to be removed and wanted confirmation if this was true.  The Officer advised that the plan for Cathedral Square was to plant new trees onto one side of the Square but he did not know about the removal of any trees in Bridge Street.  He would find out the position and report back to the Committee.

•           Members wanted clarification that the new seats in Cathedral Square were made of timber from certified sustainable sources.  The Officer would seek clarification and report back to the Committee.

•           Members wanted to see more diverse representation at Neighbourhood Council meetings and wanted to know what was being done to try and achieve this.  Councillor Benton, Cabinet Adviser for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Community Development advised that there was a lot of work being done via New Link and the Cohesion Board to encourage people to attend the Neighbourhood Councils.          Members wanted to see some kind of performance measure in place to measure this.

•           Members wanted to know how the performance of the Destination Centre was being measured.  The Officer advised that income   and foot fall was being measured and this had shown to be increasing and he would provide the relevant statistics to the Committee.

ACTIONS AGREED

1.         The Head of Neighbourhood Services to provide the Committee with a briefing note to update them on the following information:

I.          What action is being taken to find new tenants for the vacant retail premises within the City Centre?

II.         Details of whether any trees are to be removed from Bridge Street and the reason why.

III.        Statistics showing footfall and income for the Destination Centre since its opening in November 2009.

2.         The Head of Neighbourhood Services to look at pro active ways of encouraging a more diverse attendance at Neighbourhood Council meetings and how this could be measured.

The Head of Neighbourhood Services introduced the report, along with the Neighbourhoods and Empowerment Manager; Councillor Goodwin, Chair of Neighbourhood Councils, South 1 & 2 and Councillor Lowndes, Chair of Neighbourhood Councils Central and East 1 & 2.

The Neighbourhoods and Empowerment Manager advised the Committee that two full rounds of meetings had now been completed and that a third round was in progress.  The Neighbourhood Council meetings had been well received but there was ongoing consultation as to how they could be improved.  Suggestions that had been made included:

•           Neighbourhood Council meetings needed to be more dynamic, informative, interactive and relevant

•           Agendas should focus on feedback from previous meetings and open debate sessions and discussion

•           There should be visually impactful content using mapping and photographs

•           There should be time before the meeting set aside to display items of public interest

•           There should be some targeted marketing work to boost public attendance, including highlighting the differences between the roles and responsibilities of Neighbourhood Councils, Neighbourhood Panels and Parish Councils

•           Agendas, Minutes and associated paperwork should have less jargon and be more accessible

•           The Neighbourhood Council meetings should be less officer and more Member led

Observations and Questions:

•           Members asked if there was a possibility of running the Neighbourhood Council and Neighbourhood Panel meetings together or back to back as there were often similar issues discussed at both.  The Neighbourhoods and Empowerment Manager advised that the Council and Panels were designed to run six weeks apart to work in partnership with each other and that the current length of the         meetings would make back to back meetings lengthy and difficult to manage.

•           Members congratulated the Neighbourhood Management Team on the success of the Neighbourhood Council meetings so far and the numbers attending them.  A £25K budget had been allocated to each of the Neighbourhood Councils but Members noted that this funding would not be unlocked until the Community Action Plans were in place.  When was this going to happen?  The Neighbourhoods and Empowerment Manager advised that no decisions had yet been made and noted their concerns.

•           Members advised that the Successful Community Planning meeting had been held during the day and therefore no Councillors were able to attend.  The Neighbourhoods and Empowerment Manager advised that the meeting was only the start of process and    Councillors and other people would be involved throughout the process.

•           Members commented that in some areas there was confusion as to the role of the Neighbourhood Council, Neighbourhood Panel and Parish Council.

•           Councillor Goodwin advised that in the short time the Neighbourhood Councils had been running she felt that they had gone exceptionally well and people were much more positive.

ACTIONS AGREED

The Neighbourhoods and Empowerment Manager to note the comments made by the Committee and to feed them into the process for the ongoing development of the Neighbourhood Councils.

The Senior Housing Options Officer and the Rough Sleeper Outreach Officer introduced the report highlighting the key issues around the following areas:

•           Repossessions

•           Private rented sector

•           Rough sleeping

•           Choice based lettings

The credit crunch was having far reaching implications, some of which had not yet been fully realised. Housing Options had seen a 72% increase in people seeking advice regarding mortgage arrears and a 59% increase in relationship breakdowns resulting in the threat of homelessness. The mortgage rescue scheme had been introduced in January 2009 in response to rising mortgage repossessions and the associated increased risk of homelessness. The scheme was a specific targeted homelessness prevention tool for vulnerable households.   There had been high numbers of A8/A2 Nationals rough sleeping in the city.  The A8 countries included Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia; and the A2 countries included Romania and Bulgaria.  Peterborough was considered to be a hot spot for rough sleepers. 

Observations and Questions:

•           Members advised that 15 individuals had been seen living in the Potters Way flood plains and wanted to know what was being done to stop this.   The Officer advised that they were aware of this and that assertive outreach continued.  They were also working with the Department of Communities and Local Government and the UK Border Agency on a National Relocation Pilot (NRP) project to try and resolve that type of issue.  The NRP offered the client group (A8/A2 Nationals) reconnection to their country of origin, or assistance with obtaining identification documents to enable them to seek employment.  The project had carried out 56 assessments, of which 23 wished to be reconnected with their country of origin.  18 had been successfully reconnected and 24 had been issued with documents to enable them to seek employment.

•           The Executive Director of Operations advised that he had visited all of the homeless sites and there were many people making lifestyle choices who did not want to work or were drinking and taking drugs.  The Rough Sleeper Outreach Officer was working hard to get the homeless on the workers registration scheme and agencies had been providing replacement clothes to people who did not          take care of their own possessions.  If people had been in the country for more than three months and had not worked they would be sent back to their home country.  A robust stance was being taken with people who did not want to help themselves.

•           A Member asked what help was being given to people with mental health problems.  The Officer advised that she was working with a doctor who conducted mental health assessments.

ACTIONS AGREED

The Committee noted the report and the excellent work being done throughout the City by the Housing Options Team.

The Head of Neighbourhood Services presented the Quarter 3 progress report on the Local Area Agreement priority Creating Strong and Supportive Communities.  The priority had four outcomes:

•           Making Peterborough Safer

•           Building Community Cohesion

•           Empowering Local Communities

•           Building Pride in Peterborough

Overall performance of the priority had remained similar to that of Quarter 2 performance and was showing a rating of amber. 

ACTIONS AGREED

The Head of Neighbourhood Services to bring to the next meeting the end of year performance data for the Creating Strong and Supportive Communities priority.

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 agreed that there were no items to bring to the Committee.