Council and Democracy

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Virtually via Microsoft Teams

Contact: Brian Offiler  01246 345229

Items
No. Item

10.

Declarations of Members' and Officers' interests relating to items on the Agenda.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

11.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

No apologies for absence were received.

12.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 305 KB

Minutes of the Meeting of the Community, Customer and Organisational Scrutiny Committee held on 26 November, 2020.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Community, Customer and Organisational Scrutiny Committee held on 26 November, 2020 were presented.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the Minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

13.

Scrutiny Project Groups Progress Updates pdf icon PDF 110 KB

Project Start Report of Visitor Economy Strategy Scrutiny Project Group attached.

Minutes:

Councillor Caulfield, Lead Member of the Scrutiny Project Group on the Visitor Economy Strategy, presented the group’s Project Start Report. She explained that the strategy would be developed taking account of the visitor economy audit and that the group was meeting the following week with the consultants appointed to assist in the development of the strategy and action plan.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the Project Start Report of the Scrutiny Project Group on the Visitor Economy Strategy be approved and that the current position of the work of the group be noted.

14.

Scrutiny Monitoring pdf icon PDF 248 KB

Scrutiny Committee Recommendations Implementation Monitoring Schedule attached.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Scrutiny recommendations implementation monitoring schedule.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the Scrutiny monitoring schedule be noted.

15.

Forward Plan

Forward Plan of Key Decisions 1 April – 31 July, 2021 available via link below: https://chesterfield.moderngov.co.uk/documents/l124/Printed%20plan%20March%202021.pdf?T=4

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Forward Plan for the period 1 April – 31 July, 2021.

 

Information regarding the numbers of applications for home repairs assistance and discretionary rate relief was requested.

 

RESOLVED –

 

(1)      That the Forward Plan be noted.

 

(2)      That information on the numbers of applications for home repairs assistance and discretionary rate relief be provided to Members.

16.

Work Programme for the Community, Customer and Organisational Scrutiny Committee pdf icon PDF 124 KB

Work Programme attached.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the list of items included on its work programme for 2020/21.

 

RESOLVED -

 

That the work programme be noted.

CRIME AND DISORDER COMMITTEE

For Minute Nos. 17 - 19 the Committee sat as the Council’s designated Crime and Disorder Committee, in accordance with Section 19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006.

 

17.

Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing - Update as Chesterfield Scrutiny Member of the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel pdf icon PDF 208 KB

Minutes of the Meeting of the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel held on 4 February, 2021 attached.

 

5.15 – 5.20 pm – Cabinet Member’s introduction

 

5.20 – 5.30 pm – Questions and discussion

Minutes:

The Assistant Cabinet Member, as Chesterfield Scrutiny Member of the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel (PCP), presented the minutes of the meeting of the PCP held on 4 February, 2021 for the information of the Committee.

 

It was noted that the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept for 2021-22 had been approved by the PCP.

 

A significant increase in the number of recorded incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB) across the County, including breaches of the Covid-19 regulations, had been reported to the PCP, although the number of non-Covid related incidents of ASB had declined.

 

The PCP had been advised that there was a legal requirement to publicise the location of mobile speed cameras, with the aim of encouraging compliance with speed restrictions.

 

The Chair thanked the Assistant Cabinet Member for his contribution to the meeting on this item.

 

RESOLVED –

 

(1)          That the minutes of the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel meeting held on 4 February, 2021 be noted.

 

(2)          That a further report from the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel meetings be provided to the Crime and Disorder Committee in September, 2021.

18.

Local Government Act 1972 - Exclusion of Public

To move “That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act".

 

Part 2 (Non Public Information)

Minutes:

RESOLVED -

 

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

19.

Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing - Progress Report on Community Safety Partnership

Chesterfield Community Safety Partnership Progress Report attached.

 

5.30 - 5.40 pm – Cabinet Member / Officer’s introduction

 

5.40 - 6.20 pm – Questions and discussion

 

Minutes:

The Service Director – Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing presented the progress report on the Chesterfield Community Safety Partnership’s (CSP) action plan for 2020-21 and the crime and disorder data as at January, 2021.

 

The positive contribution of the CSP in working with partners to address the key risk and threat themes within the action plan was highlighted, despite the additional challenges arising from the Covid pandemic and related restrictions.

 

The report referred to the following areas of activity within the action plan:

 

·      Supporting Rural Action Derbyshire’s Digital Hubs project, which had trained volunteers to be ‘Cyber Buddies’ and promoting online safety through the Digital MOT and scams podcast developed by the Safeguarding Adults Board;

·      Supporting the PREVENT counter terrorism and radicalisation programme, including input planned to secondary schools;

·      An increasing number of ‘guard cams’ cameras to combat anti-social behaviour (ASB), acquisitive crime and the threat / fear of crime, used to support vulnerable people and the Police in information and intelligence gathering;

·      A multi-agency ASB communications campaign planned for the easing of Covid restrictions and the summer holidays and the continuation of the Town Centre Public Space Protection Order;

·      Supporting the development of the county-wide Hate Crime Strategy and Action Plan and promoting Hate Crime Awareness Week in October 2021;

·      Exploring funding opportunities to increase the provision of CCTV (such as in Staveley town centre) and supporting the Derbyshire Business Crime Reduction Partnership in enabling local businesses to reduce acquisitive crime and ASB.

 

The CSP had been chosen to lead a pilot, Operation Blofeld, based on close partnership working and intelligence gathering to protect communities from the threats and risks of serious and organised crime.

 

It was noted that the crime data statistics (attached as Appendix 2 to the report) showed a reduction of 6.2% in the total number of crimes reported in Chesterfield from February, 2020 to January, 2021 compared to the previous 12 months. There had been significant increases in the number of recorded incidents of violence without injury (including common assault, domestic violence, stalking and harassment) and of public disorder (including breaches of Covid regulations). Further information had been requested on the increase in the number of reported incidents of hate crime.

 

Arising from Members’ questions and discussion the following points were raised:

 

·     The Community Safety Team worked closely with the Police in seeking to address ASB in parks and public spaces, including regular walk throughs with PCSOs (which local Members were welcome to join) with the aim to educate and encourage compliance prior to enforcement, regular meetings with the Police to target interventions at identified hotspots and engagement of PCSOs with children in schools. Covid related breaches, as reported in the crime figures above, were where the Police would directly engage given their enforcement powers.

·     Encouraging more people to use outdoor spaces, such as through the Great Outdoors programme from April, 2021, was an approach the CSP was working in partnership on with a view to those spaces becoming less attractive for ASB.

·     The current  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.