Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Raj Bhakar and Ian Moody.

Having given due notice Councillor Terry Hone substituted for Councillor Moody.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 06 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Raj Bhakar and Ian Moody.

Having given due notice Councillor Terry Hone substituted for Councillor Moody.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 6December 2022.

RESOLVED:That the Part 1 Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 6 December 2022 were approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 2 minutes 26 seconds

RESOLVED:That the Part 1 Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 6 December 2022 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Audio recording – 3 minutes 01 seconds

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)        The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(2)        The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

Audio recording – 3 minutes 05 seconds

(1)        The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded.

(2)        The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation at this meeting.

Audio recording – 3 minutes 34 seconds

N.B. Councillor Phil Weeder entered the Chamber at this point at 19.34.

There was no public participation at this meeting.

The Chair to report on any urgent or general exception items which required their agreement.

At the time of printing the agenda, the Chair had agreed the urgency of one item to Cabinet in December regarding the ‘Careline In House Provision’, as notice of Part 2 was not provided in required time.

The Chair advised that he had agreed to one urgency proceedings since the last meeting and this was with regard to the “Careline In House Provision” item that was presented to Cabinet in December, as the Part 2 notice was not posted publicly within the required timeframes.

Audio recording – 3 minutes 36 seconds

The Chair advised that he had agreed to one urgency proceedings since the last meeting and this was with regard to the “Careline In House Provision” item that was presented to Cabinet in December, as the Part 2 notice was not posted publicly within the required timeframes.

To consider any matters referred to the Committee for a decision in relation to a call-in of decision. At the time of printing the agenda, no items of business had been called-in.

There had been no items called-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 04 seconds

There had been no items called-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

To receive and respond to any questions from Members either set out in the agenda or tabled at the meeting.

No questions had been submitted.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 09 seconds

No questions had been submitted.

To receive presentations from Hertfordshire Police and Citizens Advice Bureau on Anti-social behaviour and scams.

Presentations were received from Hertfordshire Constabulary regarding Anti-Social Behaviour and Safe Streets, with a specific focus on women and girls.

A presentation was also received from North Herts Citizens Advice regarding scams, with a specific focus on telephone scams.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 15 seconds

The Chair invited Sergeant Chris Adshead, from Hertfordshire Constabulary, to provide Members with a presentation on Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and the recording of these types of crimes. Sergeant Adshead thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided a presentation, accompanied by slides, which advised of the following:

·       The most widely used definition of Anti-Social Behaviour in the UK is the definition contained in the Crime and Disorder Act (1998). There was not previously an absolute definition of Anti-Social Behaviour, so this legislation formed a definition which the College of Policing follows.

·       The Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act (2014) also describes anti-social behaviour as ‘conduct that has or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person; conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation or residential premises; or conduct capable of causing household related nuisance or annoyance to any person’.

·       Local Authorities often use the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act (2014) to create district legislation.

·       The College of Policing Guidelines suggest detecting and recording ASB through a system of:

o   scanning police recorded crime figures and local service-provider data, and evaluation of victim reports and incidents. Scanning can evaluate ASB incidents either as a general, local issue or as individual incidents which form a pattern of behaviour.

o   Monitoring hotspots, with use of CCTV, community audits, surveys, and street audits to gather the public perception of local Anti-Social Behaviour.

o   Evaluating the findings through policing systems, such as SafetyNet which records incidents of ASB and actions taken by Police to resolve incidents.

·       During an incident of ASB, members of the public can call the non-emergency Police Number 101 or call 999 to speak to Force Control in an emergency/when immediate danger is present. There is also an online reporting service which will also send submissions straight to Force Control. After Force Control Room is contacted, Police will create an Incident Reference Number (ISR). The Risk of the anti-social behaviour will then be assessed and graded. If the incident is a non-emergency but the informant wants police contact, the informant will be given information on officer availability for the following days. Where an incident is not isolated or is recognized as a pattern of anti-social behaviour, it may get an Officer response.

·       There is a team within the Force Control Room called the Community Focus Desk. Reports of anti-social behaviour will be passed to them to be routed out to an appropriate service area. Community Focus Desk is responsible for ensuring the correct risk assessment has been applied and that the report is routed appropriately. Police will respond immediately if a report requires an immediate response.

·       Herts Police use a dynamic risk assessment tool called THRIVE to assess the risk of reported incidents and make decisions. The six factors considered in THRIVE are Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigation, Vulnerability and Engagement. The decision Police make on a case is then documented  ...  view the full minutes text for item 179.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE, MEMBER AND SCRUTINY MANAGER

To consider the outcome of Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolutions.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: That Council continues to support the work of Community Safety Partnerships and other partner agencies and work on the delivery of a Women’s Safety Charter alongside these agencies.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To highlight and enable Full Council to consider the important work of the Community Safety Partnerships and other partner agencies as well as the delivery of a Women’s Safety Charter alongside these agencies.

RESOLVED: That the document entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and comment on actions and feedback received regarding resolutions previously made.

Audio recording – 75 minutes 27 seconds

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager presented the report entitled ‘Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’ and advised of the following updates:

·       An email had been sent to Group Leaders to request nominations to be appointed to the Task and Finish Group. No responses had yet been received.

·       An update on the timescales for the SPDs had been provided to Cabinet in January, which detailed the Sustainability SPD would be drafted by March 2023 and the Design Code SPD was scheduled for Autumn 2023.

·       The glossary as part of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy had been removed following consideration at Cabinet.

·       The new Peer Review document would be shared with Members when confirmed with the LGA and Officers.

In response to a question from Councillor Claire Strong, the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager advised that following final confirmation of the updated Peer Review document, it could be presented as an agenda item at a future meeting of the Committee.

Councillor David Levett, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Val Bryant seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: That Council continues to support the work of Community Safety Partnerships and other partner agencies and work on the delivery of a Women’s Safety Charter alongside these agencies.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To highlight and enable Full Council to consider the important work of the Community Safety Partnerships and other partner agencies as well as the delivery of a Women’s Safety Charter alongside these agencies.

Councillor David Levett, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Val Bryant seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the document entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and comment on actions and feedback received regarding resolutions previously made.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – ENTERPRISE.

To provide the committee with an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate as set out in the departments work programme

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.

REASON FOR DECISION: The report is following the request of the committee for an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate work programme and is for information only.

Audio recording – 109 minutes 18 seconds

The Chair presented the report entitled ‘Enterprise Update – Part 1’ and there were no questions from Members.

Councillor David Levett, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Alistair Willoughby seconded and, following a vote, it was: 

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.

REASON FOR DECISION: The report is following the request of the committee for an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate work programme and is for information only.

To consider passing the following motion: 

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

Audio recording – 81 minutes 53 seconds

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – ENTERPRISE.

To provide the committee with an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate as set out in the departments work programme.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.

REASON FOR DECISION: The report is following the request of the committee for an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate work programme and is for information only.

Details of minutes taken on this item are restricted due to the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of Section 200A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

Councillor David Levett, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Phil Weeder seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.

REASON FOR DECISION: The report is following the request of the committee for an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate work programme and is for information only.

To take as read and approve as a true record the Part 2 minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 28 September and 6 December 2022.

RESOLVED:That the Part 2 Minutes of the Meetings of the Committee held on 28 September and 6 December 2022 were approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Details of Minutes taken on this item are restricted due to the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of Section 200A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

Councillor David Levett, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Adam Compton seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Part 2 Minutes of the Meetings of the Committee held on 28 September and 6 December 2022 were approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE, MEMBER AND SCRUTINY MANAGER

To consider the issues that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee plans to review at future meetings and the activities of its sub-groups.

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Committee prioritised proposed topics for inclusion in the work programme attached as Appendix A and, where appropriate, determined the high level form and timing of scrutiny input, with the additional agenda item:

(2)   That the Strategic Housing Update be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny on 9 March 2023. 

(3)   The Committee, considered the most recent iteration of the Forward Plan, as attached as Appendix B.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To allow the Committee to set a work programme which provides focussed Member oversight, encourages open debate and seeks to achieve service improvement through effective policy development and meaningful policy and service change.

Audio recording – 110 minutes 00 seconds

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager presented the report entitled Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme and drew attention to the following:

·       The report of Chair on the Call to Account was due to be presented at the March meeting of the Committee.

·       The Strategic Housing Manager was expected to present an update to the Committee in March.

Councillor Claire Strong requested that the Strategic Housing Manager provide an update not only on Lord Lister, but on other strategic housing matters around the district, including the new Baldock site, whether there had been any development on the new facility and the situation of the shelter on Grove Road.

Councillor Adam Compton noted that the Work Programme had listed the Strategic Housing Update and Call To Account Report under ‘To Be Scheduled’ and the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manger advised this would be updated following this meeting.

Councillor Terry Hone questioned what the Annual Report was listed on the Work Programme, and it was confirmed that this was the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor David Levett, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Adam Compton seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Committee prioritised proposed topics for inclusion in the work programme attached as Appendix A and, where appropriate, determined the high level form and timing of scrutiny input, with the additional agenda item:

(2)   That the Strategic Housing Update be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny on 9 March 2023.

(3)   The Committee, considered the most recent iteration of the Forward Plan, as attached as Appendix B.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To allow the Committee to set a work programme which provides focussed Member oversight, encourages open debate and seeks to achieve service improvement through effective policy development and meaningful policy and service change.