Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare:

·        Any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        Any prejudicial interests or

·        Any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on the agenda.

Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests that they might have in respect of the business on the agenda. 

Councillor Richardson declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 (Update on Implementation of Recommendations from Previously Completed Community Resilience Scrutiny Review) as he had been involved in the drawing up of a plan for Haxby Town Council.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 4 March 2015.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2015 be approved and signed as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme may do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Monday 15 June 2015.

Members of the public may register to speak on:

·        An item on the agenda

·        An issue within the remit of the Committee

Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings

Please note this meeting will be filmed and webcast and that includes any registered public speakers, who have given their permission.  This broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting.  Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer (whose contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting.

The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present.  It can be viewed at https://www.york.gov.uk/downloads/file/6453/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_council_meetingspdf

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report highlights the Council’s structure for the provision of the overview and scrutiny function and the resources available to support it.  It also details the current terms of reference for the individual Policy and Scrutiny Committees.

Members considered a report that highlighted the Council’s structure for the provision of the overview and scrutiny function and the resources available to support it.  The report also detailed the current terms of reference for the individual Policy and Scrutiny Committees.  It was noted that these terms of reference may be subject to change by the new administration following the re-naming and redesignation of the Scrutiny Committees.

Referring to paragraph 10 of the report, Members pointed out that the terms of reference of the Committee needed to be updated to reflect that the Police Authority and the Primary Care Trust were no longer in existence.  It was, however, important to ensure that the work that the scrutiny committee had previously carried out in respect of these bodies was being picked up through the alternative arrangements that had been put in place.

Members’ attention was also drawn to changes in the way some of the Council’s responsibilities were being delivered.  A Public Protection Team had been established which had two core functions:

·        Investigation and compliance

·        Regulatory advice and support

A synopsis of the work carried out by these teams would be prepared for Members.

Members also requested that they received the following information:

·        A corrected version of the terms of reference

·        A brief summary of the areas of work related to the each area of the committee’s terms of reference (including names of lead officers for each area) to be circulated prior to the next meeting, with an opportunity for Members to raise any questions at the next meeting

Discussion took place regarding possible changes to the arrangements in respect of scrutiny, including the possibility of increased opportunity for pre-decision scrutiny. 

The Chair informed Members of the resources available to support the work of the committee.

Resolved:  (i)      That the contents of the report be noted.

                   (ii)      That the additional information requested by

                             Members be circulated.

Reason:     (i)      To inform Members of scrutiny arrangements.

(ii)      To enable Members to carry out their responsibilities effectively.

A verbal update will be given on the costs associated with fly tipping.

In response to issues raised at the previous meeting, a verbal update was given on the situation in respect of costs associated with fly tipping.

Officers explained why the information requested at the previous meeting was not readily accessible.  The Council’s cleansing team carried out the work to address the problem but did not break down specific costs of this aspect of their work. There were no plans to separate this cost as there were not the resources and capacity available to do so.

Members were informed that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs produced statistics on fly tipping which could be used for benchmarking purposes.

Resolved:  That the update be noted.

Reason:     To update Members on the situation in response to issues raised at the previous meeting.

This report provides Members with a further update on the implementation of the recommendations arising from the previously completed Community Resilience Community Review, and asks Members to sign off any recommendations now considered to be fully implemented.

Members considered a report which provided a further update on the implementations arising from the previously completed Community Resilience scrutiny review.  The report asked Members to sign off any recommendations now considered to be fully implemented.

At the request of new Members, officers detailed the work that had taken place with Parish Councils, Residents’ Associations and individuals to encourage the putting in place of Community Resilience Emergency Plans.  It was agreed that, in view of the number of new Members, it would be useful for the information to be circulated again to see if further interest could be generated within their communities.

Resolved:  That the remaining recommendations be signed off as having been fully implemented but that information encouraging communities to put in place a plan be reissued in view of the number of new Council Members and changes in the membership of community groups.

Reason:     To complete this scrutiny review.

Members are asked to give consideration to the committee’s work plan.

Members gave consideration to the committee’s work plan.  The following suggestions were put forward:

·        As agreed under agenda item 4, include an opportunity at the next meeting for Members to raise any questions in respect of those areas of work which fall within the Committee’s remit.

·        It would be preferable for the Executive Member for the Environment and the Executive Member for Housing and Safer Neighbourhoods to attend different meetings rather than both being invited to the meeting on 27 July 2015.

Consideration was given to possible topics for scrutiny review during the municipal year.  The following suggestions were put forward:

·        Commercial waste and recycling (including costs and revenue)

·        Late Night Levy

·        Geese

·        The impact of Hen and Stag parties on the city

·        Drainage systems in the shopping areas of York

·        Domestic violence

Members requested that they receive summary information regarding these possible topics and a briefing paper on domestic violence.  They noted that some aspects of the proposed topics may have been considered as part of previous reviews carried out by the committee.  For this reason it was agreed that it would also be useful for Members to be provided with details of topics that had been scrutinised by the committee over the last two years.  Copies of scrutiny topic registration forms would also be circulated.

Officers suggested that Members may also find it useful to receive the last update from the Safer York Partnership and from AVANTE (Alcohol, Violence, and Night Time Economy) in order to inform their decisions regarding scrutiny reviews.

Resolved:  That the work plan be approved.

Reason:     To ensure that the committee has a planned programme of work in place.