Archived decisions

ITEM 3

At a meeting of the POLICY AND RESOURCES SCRUTINY AND SELECT COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 5 June 2006

PRESENT:

Councillors:

ALSO PRESENT:

Councillors:

57. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

It was noted that Councillor Cartwright's apologies were by reason of his being engaged on Fire Authority business.

58. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should normally, at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed. Councillor A P Collett declared a personal interest relating to Minute 62 below, as he was a County Council-appointed member of the Hampshire Police Authority. Councillor Mrs J A Porter declared a personal interest relating to Minute 64 below as she was Chairman of an organisation which received grant aid from the County Council towards services for young people.

59 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 April 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

60 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman had no communications to make on this occasion.

61 DEPUTATIONS

No deputations had been notified under Standing Order 21.

62 ACCREDITED COMMUNITY SAFETY OFFICERS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services (Item 6 in the Minute Book). The Director amplified the contents of the report and referred to the initiatives taken by the County Council in establishing, recruiting and training Accredited Community Safety Officers (ACSOs) in response to community demands and to help mitigate the fears of crime and disorder. He explained the important distinction whereby ACSOs were employed by the County Council and could be deployed in accordance with needs and priorities directed by the County Council; whereas Police Community Safety Officers (PCSOs) were deployed as directed by the Chief Constable. He outlined the close links with the Police, Trading Standards and Youth Service and referred to initiatives being taken with parents in an attempt to pre-empt misbehaviour by young people before it deteriorated into crime or disorder. A report on the future direction of the service and future recruitment would be referred to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources at his decision day in July.

The Chairman introduced Councillor Goff Beck, the New Forest District Council's portfolio holder for crime and disorder. Councillor Beck made a presentation giving evidence to the committee on his experience of ACSOs and the partnership arrangements which had been established between the District Council and the County Council, with particular reference to his area of New Milton. He expressed his support for the concept of ACSOs and the collaborative ways of working between the various tiers of local government. He made the following suggestions for consideration by the committee and by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources:

· The shift pattern for ACSOs needs to focus clearly on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings which posed the greatest problems in terms of disorder usually fuelled by alcohol.

· Could the coverage achieved by ACSOs be broadened if they could patrol singularly rather than in pairs.

· There might be merit in management and deployment of ACSOs being integrated with PCSOs in order to achieve wider coverage and improved community impact.

· In terms of value for money, ACSOs still need to be locally based in order to avoid undue costs and time incurred in travel.

· There was scope and demand for the ACSO Service to be extended by the Local Authorities to other areas of the New Forest, notably Totton and Hythe.

· There was a need for the funding authorities jointly to set specific tasks for ACSOs and to evaluate performance.

· There was a balance to be struck between consistent presence of ACSOs at known trouble spots and problem times, and short-term targeted campaigns in specific areas to overcome a particular problem.


· There would be merit in those district councils that part-fund ACSOs having the chance to contribute to the decision - making process when their tasks and duties were allocated.

The Executive Member for Policy and Resources then outlined the way in which the ACSO Service had developed in Hampshire, but pointed out that it was still early days and all concerned were learning from experience. He confirmed that he expected to take a decision in July on the future direction, scale and scope of the service. He would welcome support in funding ACSOs from other District and Parish Councils.


Members of the Committee then discussed the contents of the report and the evidence submitted by Councillor Beck. The main areas to which they drew attention were:

· The need for an ACSO career structure.

· The importance of close working relationships, not just with the Police but also with District Council Community Wardens where they exist, and with the Youth Service in order to engage with young people.

· Support for the extension of the ACSO service into areas not covered hitherto, in collaboration as necessary with District Councils and ideally with a funding contribution from them.

· A clear distinction between the roles of PCSOs - to be deployed by the Police to trouble spots where crime, disorder or violence might be apprehended; whereas ACSOs would be deployed by the County Council in consultation with districts as necessary to areas of greatest community benefit.

· Preference for ACSOs to patrol in pairs for reasons of health and safety.

· Endorsement of the concept of younger or apprentice ACSOs as a means of developing links with young people.

· Some concerns about the training of ACSOs to use defibrillators in cases of cardiac arrest. In this connection members felt that the ACSOs should not be diverted away from their core responsibilities and should certainly not become an adjunct to or replacement for the Ambulance Service. However they felt there was no reason why ACSO staff, if ready and willing, should not be trained to use defibrillators so that they could cope if they were the first on a scene where a cardiac arrest had occurred and their prompt intervention might make a difference between life and death. Members noted that other organisations such as supermarkets and leisure centres were training staff in the use of defibrillators and felt that problems of liability and insurance were not insuperable.

· Some scope for generating income, for example if ACSOs took the lead in securing the return of abandoned supermarket trolleys.

· ACSOs to work with and complement, rather than be expected to replace, existing services such as the Youth Service, Drug/Alcohol teams etc -

· General support for a mixed economy whereby PCSOs, ACSOs and Community Wardens all had invaluable and complementary roles in support of their communities, in a concerted attempt to reduce the impact of crime and disorder, as well as the fear of them.

The Committee thanked Councillor Beck for his contribution and after a full discussion it was

RESOLVED:

That the following advice be offered to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources:

1) That the progress made by the Accredited Community Safety Officer Service and the partnership and support of other agencies in the field be noted.

2) That continued efforts be made to increase the scope of the pilot ACSO service as described in the report, with further focus on the possibilities for:

· Close links with the Youth Service, Youth Offending Team and other services working with young people and families.

· Use of local knowledge to ensure the effective targeting of the Accredited Community Safety Officers (and the particular approach they offer) in the light of developing Police Community Safety Officer presence as it unfolds.

· Seeking further opportunities for matched or additional funding with other local partners as a potential route towards increasing resource.

· Raising income from return of trolleys to supermarkets.

63 MARINE BILL

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the County Council's proposed response to consultation on the Marine Bill. Members welcomed the generality of the approach set out but expressed concerns about the role of English Nature (Natural England) since they had a power of veto on environmental or nature conservation grounds over coastal protection works which might be urgently needed.

RESOLVED:

That the following advice be offered to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources:

That the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs be informed that the County Council

1) Welcomes the opportunity to comment on the consultation document "A Marine

Bill" and supports the broad proposals set out in the document, but would wish to comment on the detail as soon as it becomes available.

2) Requests the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to take into account the County Council's comments when drafting the Marine Bill, to include the following:

(a) Support for the introduction of marine spatial planning on a statutory basis, including at sub-regional level where appropriate (e.g. the Solent) but would like further consideration to be given to how it will interact with the terrestrial planning system and who will oversee its production.

(b) Full recognition being given to the important role that local authorities should plan in marine spatial planning at sub-regional level, due to their involvement in land-based spatial planning, their representation of coastal communities and their democratic accountability.

(c) Support for an integrated marine licensing regime that brings together all types of consents and licences for which government departments are responsible into a single system; however it is suggested that other consents should also be considered and that this should be implemented at a local level.

(d) Support for proposals for marine protected areas and marine eco-system objectives.

(e) Support for a new marine management organisation to oversee a number of roles; however the County Council feels that delivery of some of the roles should be locally based in line with the government's commitment to local delivery and accountability.

3) Requests the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to limit the veto of English Nature/Natural England by considering transferring some of its powers and responsibilities to any new Marine Management Organisation.

64 RISK TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) in response to the scrutiny study undertaken during 2005. The Director of Children's Services amplified on the report and referred in particular to the development of joint working relationships, the restructuring of his department to merge Children's Social Services and Education, and the formulation of the Children and Young People's Plan - with particular reference to the sections headed "staying safe". Members endorsed the approach, with particular reference to the early identification of risk and prompt intervention to avoid problems becoming more serious later on. Members underlined the importance they attached to:

· Early intervention services consistently available in all areas.

· Involvement of the voluntary sector.

· Partnership with schools.

· The relationship with private schools and children attending them.

· The need for seamless services as children progressed from Children's Services to Adult Services and the importance of effective transition.

RESOLVED:

1) That the contents of the report by the Director of Children's Services in response to the scrutiny study of risk with children and young people be welcomed and his approach be endorsed

2) That further consideration of progress with the Change for Children programme be referred to the Children's Services Policy Review Committee (and its successor the Children and Young People Policy Review Committee) for them to undertake regular monitoring through the Children and Young People's Plan; with the Policy and Resources Scrutiny and Select Committee to become involved only if major corporate issues were to emerge.

65 NEW SCRUTINY ARRANGEMENTS

The Committee considered the way forward in the light of the structure and terms of reference endorsed by the County Council on 11 May - a copy of the terms of reference is set out as Item 9 in the Minute Book. It was agreed that members would notify the Chief Executive's department of any items which they would like to highlight as subject suitable for scrutiny.

66 IT SCRUTINY - PROGRESS

It was agreed that this item would be deferred until the next meeting, and Councillor Baulk was asked to produce a short written report.

67 REVIEWS PROGRAMME

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on progress with remaining Best Value and other service reviews. They questioned whether the "new authority-wide web-based tool" (referred to in Appendix 1) was yet in operation.

RESOLVED:

1) That progress on the 2004/05 Improvement Plan and the 2005/06 summary be noted.

2) That these progress summaries be included in the update of the Performance Plan published on 30 June 2006.

3) That the Policy and Resources Scrutiny and Select Committee be involved in improving the process for selecting areas for review and in recommending areas for review.