Agenda and minutes

Venue: Conference Room, Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham

Contact: Email: CommitteeServices@horsham.gov.uk  Direct line: 01403 215465

Items
No. Item

SO/1

Election of Chairman

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That Councillor Leonard Crosbie be elected as Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing Council year.

SO/2

Appointment of Vice Chairman

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That Councillor David Coldwell be elected as Vice Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing Council year.

SO/3

To approve the time of the meetings of the Committee for the ensuing year

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the meetings of the Committee be held at 5.30pm for the ensuing Council year.

SO/4

Minutes pdf icon PDF 109 KB

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 26th March 2018

(Note: If any Member wishes to propose an amendment to the minutes they should submit this in writing to committeeservices@horsham.gov.uk at least 24 hours before the meeting.  Where applicable, the audio recording of the meeting will be checked to ensure the accuracy of the proposed amendment.)

Minutes:

The minutes of the Committee held 26th March 2018 were not approved as a result of a query in relation to minute SO/46a. The transcript from the minute in question would be circulated following the meeting and the full set of minutes from 26th March 2018 would be submitted for approval at the next Committee.

SO/5

Declarations of Members' Interests

To receive any declarations of interest from Members of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

SO/6

Announcements

To receive any announcements from the Chairman of the Committee or the Chief Executive

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed two new Members to the Committee, Councillors Kate Rowbottom and Lynn Lambert.

SO/7

Crime and Disorder Annual Update - Community Safety Partnership Activity Summary 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 60 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Community Safety Manager presented an update on behalf of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) for 2017/18. Since the Crime and Disorder Sub-Committee was dissolved 12 months ago, the monitoring of crime and disorder matters falls within the function of the main Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

The Committee noted that crime was on the increase nationally. There was a 13.4% growth on crimes in the District recorded between March 2017 and February 2018, compared to the same period in the previous year. However, crimes such as anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and theft from a person have shown a decrease.

 

In 2018/19 the CSP would be focussing on Road Safety, Vulnerable Young People and County Lines Drug Dealing as the three action plans.

 

The Community Safety Manager provided the activity log for the CSP for 2017/18.

 

The Committee noted the information provided. The Members raised some concerns related to their own parishes. For example local Members suggested that Steyning Neighbourhood Wardens should be given increased powers. Concerns linked to a recent break-in at the school when the Police did not respond. Also, increasing evidence of drug use in Steyning, which was a serious concern in the community. The Community Safety Manager would feed these concerns back through the CSP.

 

Members questioned the education programme for the District’s schools in relation to drugs. The officer explained that there was a strategy in place to tackle drug use at an early stage and every secondary school in the District had a dedicated module in the syllabus, which the Community Safety Manager could provide for Members.

 

The Committee was informed that a huge amount of Police resources goes into tackling cyber-crime.

 

Members asked for the number of successful prosecutions against the 6221 crimes recorded in the District in the period from March 2017 to February 2018.This information would be provided.

 

A number of Members were concerned about the lack of police presence in their areas.

 

In reply to a question about Horsham town and Horsham Park, the Community Safety Manager reminded Councillors that the Council was in the process of recruiting two town centre wardens to increase officer presence in the town and the park.  Crime in the park continued to be a concern and it was hoped that this would be reduced with the recruitment of these wardens.

 

The Committee agreed to invite the Police and Crime Commissioner to come and talk to all Councillors and answer questions, for example on resources with the extra funding from the Council Tax increase.  

 

                        RESOLVED

 

That the Committee monitors crime and disorder and community safety matters, as set out in the Council’s Constitution.

SO/8

Task and Finish Group Updates

SO/8a

Review of Councillors' Technology Task and Finish Group

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Task and Finish Group explained that the Group had met once and questionnaires had been sent to all Councillors on the use of technology. The results would be collated and analysed with the support of the officers and the Group would consider the findings at its next meeting. The Chairman also explained that the Group would consider costs for any proposed scheme which may arise from this review.

 

The next meeting would be held on 26th June 2018.

SO/8b

CenSus Revenues and Benefits Task and Finish Group

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Census Revenues and Benefits Task and Finish Group explained that the final report would be presented to the Committee at its next meeting on 23rd July 2018.

SO/9

Proposed Review of Operation and Engagement of the Committee from 2018-19

Including the Task and Finish review option

Minutes:

The Chairman raised this item to consider the priorities for review by the Committee and task and finish groups.

 

The Committee discussed how it had been agreed that the success of the new structure and format of the Committee and the task and finish groups would be reviewed after 12 months.  However, Members agreed that it was too soon as to date only two task and finish groups had completed reviews. It was suggested that it was more appropriate to look at this after 18-21 months of implementation.

 

However, it was agreed that the following three elements would form the basis of a new task and finish group review to start as soon as possible: 1) How Scrutiny has worked over the past 12 months and confirm whether this formula should be continued until the end of the year, 2) Consider any other options in relation to major items on the Cabinet Forward Plan or work of the Council i.e. the Budget or major schemes such as the Hurst Road development, and 3) Recommendations for a future structure of Overview and Scrutiny for the new Council year.

 

A suggestion for a future review of staff turnover, was made at the meeting.

 

The Committee agreed that the Chairman would circulate the draft minutes of the Committee meeting to confirm the range of items that Overview and scrutiny may wish to consider in the coming year.

 

The Chairman also encouraged Members of the Committee to read the Scrutiny Guide which had been circulated at the meeting.

 

SO/10

Training for Overview and Scrutiny Members

Minutes:

The Committee discussed at length Scrutiny Members’ training needs and the options available.

 

The Committee supported a training programme and agreed that the following four topics, not in order of priority, were the training needs of the Committee: financial scrutiny, added value scrutiny, scrutiny in the general public and assisting Members of Scrutiny to become more effective.  The Director of Corporate Services would obtain some quotes from appropriate providers, along with budget approval and bring a proposal to the Chairman in order get a training session in place in the forthcoming period.

SO/11

Community Issues: GP/Health Facilities in Horsham and Impact of the New CCG's Area Responsibilities

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Committee added this item to the agenda as a result of concerns around the increasing population in Horsham and the current provision of GP services. There was concern that the local CCG had not been proactive in supporting new surgeries.

 

The Committee discussed whether a review would add value and agreed that instead Members should be encouraged to attend the forthcoming CCG seminar on 26th July 2018 to hear its proposals and raise any concerns.

 

It was concluded that this topic would not be subject to review at this stage.

SO/12

Review of Work Programme 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 48 KB

Minutes:

The Work Programme 2018/19 was noted by the Committee.

 

Major schemes on the Cabinet Forward Plan, an item raised as a potential subject for review by a task and finish group, would form part of the review previously discussed and agreed earlier in the meeting.

SO/12a

Suggestion for the Work Programme on Street Cleaning Operations pdf icon PDF 44 KB

Minutes:

This suggestion was raised for review by the Vice-Chairman of the Committee.  However, it was withdrawn at the meeting as the Vice-Chairman had recently met with the Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling and Cleansing and the Head of Waste, Street Scene and Fleet who explained in depth the street cleaning process in Horsham and he was satisfied that this area was not suitable for review by Scrutiny.

SO/13

Urgent Business

Items not on the agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as urgent because of the special circumstances

Minutes:

None.