Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Fourth Floor, Easthampstead House, Bracknell

Contact: Hannah Stevenson  01344 352308

Items
Note No. Item

None

1.

Apologies for Absence/Substitute Members

To receive apologies for absence and to note the attendance of any substitute members.

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

None

2.

Minutes and Matters Arising pdf icon PDF 146 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission held on 10 March and 18 May 2016.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission held on 10 March and 18 May 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

None

3.

Declarations of Interest and Party Whip

Members are requested to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interest, including the existence and nature of the Party Whip, in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

 

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or an affected interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Mrs Birch declared a personal interest as the Spouse of the Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing.

 

Councillor Mrs McCracken declared a personal interest as the spouse of the Executive Member for Culture, Corporate Services and Public Protection.

None

4.

Urgent Items of Business

Any other items which, pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chairman decides are urgent.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items of business.

5.

Public Participation

To receive submissions from members of the public which have been submitted in advance in accordance with the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

Minutes:

There were no submissions from the public in accordance with the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

6.

Membership of Committees pdf icon PDF 96 KB

 

To appoint a substitute member of the Adult Social Care and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

 

Minutes:

The Commission received a report which set out the revised position regarding the appointment of Members to serve on Overview and Scrutiny Panels since the Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting held on 18 May 2016.

 

Following the Annual Council Meeting on 18 May the Overview and Scrutiny Commission agreed the membership of its Panels but a Conservative substitute vacancy remained on one Panel.

 

RESOLVED that Councillor King OBE be appointed as a substitute member to the Adult Social Care and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

7.

Community Safety pdf icon PDF 184 KB

Meeting as the Crime and Disorder Committee, to receive a presentation on, and to consider: the performance of the Community Safety Partnership in 2015-16; and the priorities in the Community Safety Plan for 2016-17.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed representatives of the Community Safety Partnership and Thames Valley Police to the meeting of the Commission, in its capacity as the Crime and Disorder Committee.

 

Timothy Wheadon, Chairman of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP), said that the Partnership had another successful year in 2015-16 but there was no room for complacency, and early action was key to success. Kellie Williams, Community Safety Manager, gave a presentation on the Bracknell Forest Community Safety Partnership performance during 2015-16, and plans for 2016-17.

 

Nikki Ross, Assistant Chief Constable, Rob France, Superintendent and Dave Gilbert, Chief Inspector, of Thames Valley Police were present at the meeting for this item.

 

The CSP was a statutory partnership required to conduct an annual assessment of crime, anti social behaviour and substance misuse within the borough. Its work directly supported the Council’s Strategic Theme of ‘Strong, safe, supportive and self-reliant communities’. The Partnership were required to publish a three year plan, which was to be updated annually, of how it intended to make the community safer. The plan was currently in its third year and the Partnership would be starting to refresh the new three year plan in the coming months.

 

The CSP received £154,283 grant funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner in 2015/16. The Community Safety Team was comprised of 3 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and 2 additional posts which included the Community Safety Manager. This totalled 3.84 FTE posts compared to 5.3 FTE posts in previous years.

 

In April 2016 Bracknell and Wokingham Local Police Areas merged to create the new Bracknell and Wokingham LPA. There was no reduction in front line staff and officers due to the merger. It provided an increased resilience and opportunities for resources to be used more effectively and efficiently. The merger also ensured that the police were prepared for future challenges and new ways of working.

 

There were two themes and eight CSP priorities for 2015/16

 

These Themes included Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour. Priorities included Burglary Dwelling, Domestic Abuse, Sexual Offences, Child Sexual Exploitation, Drug Offences, Violence Against the Person, Youth Crime Prevention.

 

Violence Against the Person had increased by 9% since 2014/15, this was the smallest increase across Thames Valley. There was a strong partnership approach to encourage people to report crimes.

 

There had been a 26% increase of Sexual Offences in 2015/16, this was a greater increase than the Berkshire Hub and Thames Valley. It was thought that there had been greater reporting of historic cases due to high profile cases in the media. There had also been changes within the way the Police had been recording and dealing with Sexual Offences. A more proactive approach had been undertaken through a strong partnership approach within Bracknell.

 

Domestic Abuse had decreased 4% from 2014/15 with Bracknell Forest being the only Borough within the whole of the Thames Valley region to have achieved a reduction. This had been achieved through excellent partnership working, a focus on early intervention, repeat victimisation and work with perpetrators.

 

As  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

None

8.

Quarterly Service Reports (QSRs) pdf icon PDF 751 KB

To consider the latest trends, priorities and pressures in terms of departmental performance as reported in the QSRs for the fourth quarter of 2015/16 (January to March 2016) relating to:

 

·                     The Chief Executive’s Office

·                     The Corporate Services Department

 

The Chairman has asked that any detailed or procedural questions arising from the Quarterly Service Reports should be referred to either the Assistant Chief Executive or Director of Corporate Services in advance. Except in cases of urgency, only issues of strategic importance or of wider implications should be raised at the meeting.

 

 

The Chairman has asked that any detailed questions arising from the report should be referred to the Assistant Chief Executive or the relevant departmental officers in advance and only raised in the meeting if you consider the issue requires wider discussion.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Commission noted the Quarterly Service Reports for the fourth quarter of 2015/16 (January to March 2016) relating to the Chief Executive’s Office and the Corporate Services Department.

 

In response to members’ questions, the following points were made:

 

  • The City Deal didn’t pay for  work placements and there had been a problem with delivering placements.
  • The amount of money recovered in debt collection in Q4 had increased by a large sum due to it having been the Council Tax collection period.

 

None

9.

Corporate Performance Overview Report (CPOR) 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 922 KB

To consider the Chief Executive’s Corporate Performance Overview Report for the fourth quarter of 2015/16 (January to March 2016)

 

The Chairman has asked that any detailed questions arising from the report should be referred to the Assistant Chief Executive or the relevant departmental officers in advance and only raised in the meeting if you consider the issue requires wider discussion.

 

 
 

 

Minutes:

The Commission considered the Chief Executive’s Corporate Performance Overview Report (CPOR) for the fourth quarter of 2015/16 (January to March 2016).

 

In response to Members’ questions, the following points were made:

 

  • Further information would be sought for Members on The Community Mental Health Team quarterly indicators which were shown as having no data available or a target set.

 

None

10.

Executive Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Forthcoming items on the Executive Forward Plan of a corporate nature are attached for consideration.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Commission noted the forthcoming items on the Executive Forward Plan of a corporate nature.

 

Item I062268

 

The Commission commented that due to the reduced fee proposed by the current Insurance Broker, Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT), it would be good practice to go out to tender for a new contract as there may be other Brokers who have also reduced their fees. The Head of Procurement would be asked to provide information to Members on this.

 

Item I056853

 

In response to members’ queries it was reported that the Corporate Asset Management Plan was an annual update looking at how Assets were managed rather than a strategic report and had no relation to the Transformation Programme work which was also currently being undertaken. 

 

Item I057529 and I056283

 

The Commission commented that due to both the Customer Contact Strategy and IT Strategy being a key element of the Transformation Programme, these reports should be reviewed and put on hold until the Gateway Review has happened in November. The Commission’s comments would be raised with the Director of Corporate Services.

 

 

None

11.

Overview & Scrutiny Progress Report pdf icon PDF 386 KB

To note the Bi-Annual progress report of the Assistant Chief Executive.

Minutes:

The Commission noted the bi-annual Progress Report of the Assistant Chief Executive on Overview and Scrutiny activity over the period December 2015 to May 2016.

None

12.

Work Programme and Panel Activity Update pdf icon PDF 337 KB

 

To note the progress against the Overview and Scrutiny work programme for 2016-17, and the reports from Overview and Scrutiny Panel Chairmen on each Panel’s progress against the work programme.

Minutes:

The Committee noted progress against the Overview and Scrutiny work programme for 2016-17. There were currently a few gaps within the chairmen’s’ comments. The programme was at an early stage.

 

The Overview and Scrutiny Commission were currently spending the majority of their time on the Transformation Programme.

 

 

Contact Information

Democratic services

Email: committee@bracknell-forest.gov.uk