Archived decisions

Item 5

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Report

1. Introduction

1.1 Community Safety partners have a long history of working together and getting results. The introduction of crime and disorder scrutiny committees enhances existing partnership arrangements by developing a clear structure for overseeing and reviewing the delivery of joint responses on community safety, and by creating a clearer link between partner agencies and the public on community safety.

1.2 The powers to scrutinise are given to the scrutiny function of all local authorities by sections 19 and 20 of the Police and Justice Act 2006, as amended by section 126 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. Regulations have been passed under section 20 of the 2006 Act, and these provide local authorities with a framework for the development of an ongoing relationship between Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) and scrutiny bodies.

1.3.1 Guidance for the scrutiny of crime and disorder matters was issued in May 2009, supporting the implementation of the Act and the Regulations, and providing a range of information and advice on scrutiny and community safety for the various players, in both community safety services and in local authorities, who are to be involved in this activity.

2. Key provisions of the Acts

2.1 The key provisions of the 2006 Act relating to overview and scrutiny include:

a) an expectation that all local authorities put in place arrangements, either individually or jointly with other authorities, for a committee which will review, scrutinise, and report on the decisions made, and actions taken by `responsible authorities' under the Crime and Disorder Act.

The Guidance relating to the Act clearly states that the role of scrutiny is to scrutinise the partnership as a whole:

` The terms of reference of the committee are to scrutinise the work of the community safety partnership and the partners who comprise it, insofar as their activities relate to the partnership itself'. Guidance, para 3.1

`...if issues arise which relate specifically to a particular partner organisation, it may be appropriate to refer such issues to the governing bodies of that organisation'. Guidance, para 1.6

b) no requirement on a local authority to set up a separate committee if it already has one that includes crime and disorder

There must, however, be a formal place where community safety matters can be discussed'. Guidance, para 3.1

c) the crime and disorder committee being enabled to set up one or more sub-committees and arrange for the discharge of its functions by any such committee

d) the crime and disorder committee, or its sub-committees, being allowed to co-opt people who are not members of the authority

2.2 The above development of the local authority scrutiny role sits comfortably with the powers given to local government in the 2007 Act. These enabled scrutiny to:

(i) request information from a wider range of partners than before, eg. partners to the Local Area Agreement

(ii) brought in provisions that allow for the creation of joint committees, eg. in two-tier areas between a county council and one or more district councils

(iii) introduced the power to resolve problems through the Councillor Call for Action.

2.3 Areas covered by the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations 2009 are:

· co-opting of additional members - provided they are an employee, officer or member of a responsible authority or of a co-operating body'/person and not a member of the local authority executive

· frequency of meetings - minimum of one a year

· sharing of information - requests for information should be responded to as soon as reasonably possible

· attendance at committee meetings - reasonable notice to be given

· reports and recommendations - relevant partner/s to respond within 28 days

3 Scrutiny of crime and disorder matters in Hampshire

3.1 In preparation for the implementation of the legislation relating to crime

and disorder scrutiny, Hampshire County Council's Safe and Healthy People Select Committee members have been familiarising themselves with the changes, and in particular the Regulations and the county-wide arrangements.

The latter was achieved through making connections with the County Council lead Member and supporting officers representing the Hampshire County Strategy Group (CSG) on Crime and Disorder; this led to a meeting between officers, representing the chairman of the CSG and the Select Committee members on the 24 April 2009.

3.2 In addition, the first Hampshire annual scrutiny conference, held on 21

April 2009, also included discussion of the national developments to

that date; the conference was attended by district and borough councils

and included focused discussion of the draft Regulations, and the potential for joint scrutiny between the two tiers of government. In principle, this could take the form of either a standing arrangement or a more ad hoc approach.

Those attending expressed a wish to reconvene following the publication of the Guidance, to discuss further how to take the matter forward.

`While a joint approach to crime and disorder scrutiny is beneficial, it should not be undertaken instead of scrutiny by individual local authorities at a district or county level, but should be used to complement that form of scrutiny. It should also be emphasised that it is quite possible to take advantage of many of the benefits of joint working merely through enhanced communication between neighbouring authorities and their relevant partners. For many authorities and their partners, joint arrangements may not be appropriate or desirable at present'. Guidance, para 3.3

Appendix

Summary of community safety focused scrutiny by Hampshire County Council, and identified ways forward

a) Arrangements have been in place in Hampshire since 2006 for the exercise of the county's overview and scrutiny function in relation to matters to do with safety. These have been included within the work of the Safe and Healthy People Select Committee, whose terms of reference are:

Looking at how policies, services and decisions support safe, well, independent, and continuously developing people (adults and older persons); how they are implemented and how performance is evaluated and improved.

b) The breadth of potential safety issues to be addressed has meant that, within the work programmes over the last three years, matters to do with community safety have, of necessity, sat alongside those to do with food, roads, and the safety of particular population sub groups.

c) Where the committee members have considered crime and disorder

related matters during this period these have included:

· the 101 emergency call service

· the Hampshire Community Safety service

· the substance misuse county-wide strategy

· safety issues faced by sex workers in the county

d) The activity has been overview and real-time scrutiny; there has been no in-depth scrutiny with a community safety focus.

e) Various areas of action are being pursued that will help to shape the

next steps to implement the new crime and disorder scrutiny developments:

· plans to brief the new chairman and vice chairman of the Safe and Healthy People Select Committee once they have been identified after the June elections

· familiarisation of the (post June) Safe and Healthy People Select Committee membership with the changes

· further contact with district and borough councils, and other interested parties as appropriate, as outlined in para 3.5 above, to explore the potential for a joint approach

· sharing of work programmes across the local authorities in Hampshire, with a view to building on the current ways in which crime and disorder related topics are identified