Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Paul Phillipson.

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.

            Ansar Ali declared that he was a possible candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioners elections.

The minutes of the Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 7 March 2012 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 purpose of this report was to provide the Committee with an overview of the issues, opportunities, priorities and challenges in connection with the Strong and Supportive Communities theme, with the aim of establishing a scrutiny work programme for the year.

The committee were asked to discuss the content of the report and agree a scrutiny work programme for the year.

A presentation was delivered to the committee by the Head of Neighbourhood Services and lead officers from that service area. The following key points were highlighted:

• The responsibility of the committee:

- Neighbourhood Services

- Cohesion

- Cultural Services

- City Centre

o        To act as the statutory Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee

Service Area Review for Safer and Stronger Peterborough Team

Achievements with support of the Scrutiny process:

• The Co-located, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary Safer/Stronger Team at Bayard Place
• Intent to deal with the causes not just the symptoms of crime had been declared
• The continued development of the Neighbourhood Committees
• The Citizen Power programme had been continued
• Community action plans for all areas had been developed

The priorities for 2012/13:

• To continue to drive down crime and reduce the number of victims making Peterborough even safer
• To continue to make people feel even safer
• To improve the quality of life of people in our communities
• To ensure that communities influence decisions made in their local areas through Community Action Plans

This will be done by the Safer Peterborough Partnership Performance Framework which will aim to illustrate:

1)      Peterborough’s rate of improvement compared to the other 329 Community Safety Partnerships in England and Wales

2)      Peterborough’s month on month change in levels of crime, with a view to meeting or exceeding the 10% reduction target for 2014

3)      Issues that affect citizen’s quality of life

Suggestions for the Work Programme were:

• Police and Crime Commissioners and Police and Crime Panels
• Annual Community Safety Plan
• Citizen Power Peterborough final programme report
• Neighbourhood Committee Review and final report
• Peterborough City Council’s Consultation and engagement Strategy
• Implementation of relevant aspects of the Localism Act

Comments and questions were raised around the following areas:

·         Members queried whether the rate of fly tipping had increased or decreased from last year. The Safer and Stronger Peterborough Strategic Manager advised members that they only had one month’s data with regard to fly tipping so it was difficult to tell as there was no previous data. The Regulatory Services Strategic Manager advised members that he would obtain the data from the last year.

·         Members commented that they were pleased that crime types were being identified and that they were being mindful of vulnerable people. They felt that agencies needed to deal with antisocial behaviour quickly before the problems escalated

·         Members asked to be informed on what action was being taken with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The purpose of this report was to provide the committee with a review of the work undertaken during 2011/12 and to develop a work programme for 2012/13.

The Senior Governance Officer presented the report and asked that the Committee considered the 2011/12 year in review and make recommendations on the future monitoring of these items where necessary and that the committee determined its priorities and developed a work programme for the forthcoming year.

This report was also presented to advise new members of the remit of the Committee.

The Senior Governance Officer advised the committee that some items may be information items and could be sent to the Committee as briefing notes rather than a formal report.  The Committee were asked to think about themes, challenges or any issues they felt needed to be brought to the committee.

The following suggestions were put forward by Members:

·         Housing and Neighbourhood Issues.

·         Members asked for Annette Joyce and Vivacity to report more than once a year to the committee

·         The Issue of Fly tipping and the impact it has had on communities

·         Members asked when the Neighbourhood Implementation Scrutiny Task and Finish Group were going to report to the committee. The Senior Governance Officer informed the committee that this report would be delivered at the next Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting in July.

·         Members suggested that Selective Licensing and Homelessness was added to the work programme.

The Senior Governance Officer suggested to Members that items could be grouped into themes for the committee meetings and this could be discussed at the next Group Representatives meeting.

ACTION

The Governance Officer would circulate the date for the Group Reps meeting.

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 for further consideration.

25 July 2012

25 July 2012