PRESENT:  Councillor Davison in the Chair.

 

Councillors Clark (vice-chair), Ali, Armitage, Berry, Collinson and C Sherwood.

 

The Panel met at Pittwood House, Scunthorpe.

 

19  DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AND DECLARATIONS OF WHIPPING ARRANGEMENTS (IF ANY) – The following members declared personal interests -

Member	Minute	Nature of Interest
Councillor Davison	22	Chair of Ashby Neighbourhood Action Team
Councillor Clark	26	Family member employed by North Lincolnshire Council in the Youth Service

No whip was declared.

 

20  MINUTES – Resolved – That the minutes of the proceedings of this Panel held 24 September and 22 October 2007, having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and signed by the chair, subject to the amendment of Minute 11 in that Councillor Armitage declared a personal interest with regard to Minute 13 as a member of Humberside Combined Fire Authority.

 

21  PUBLIC SPEAKING – There were no requests from members of the public to address the Scrutiny Panel.

 

22  NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION TEAMS – Further to Minute 14, the Head of Safer Neighbourhoods was in attendance to present the Neighbourhood Action Team action plan which was agreed by the Safer Neighbourhoods Executive Board at its meeting on 19 November 2007. 

 

The action plan had been prepared in order to establish and resource the 17 Neighbourhood Action Teams in North Lincolnshire. 

 

The action plan was produced in partnership with Humberside Police and North Lincolnshire Council.

 

Members engaged in a question and answer session with the Head of Safer Neighbourhoods on the action plan, as well as additional areas for improvement.

 

Resolved – (a) That the Head of Safer Neighbourhoods be thanked for his attendance and for answering members questions, and (b) that the Service Director Legal and Democratic write to the Safer Neighbourhoods Executive Board advising them of their comments on the action plan.

 

23  (5)  CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION PLAN AND GREENING THE WORKPLACE – The Service Director for Highways and Planning was in attendance to update members on the progress arising from the Panel’s previous report titled “Greening the Workplace”. 

 

Resolved – That the Service Director for Highways and Planning be thanked for his attendance at the meeting and for answering members questions.

 

24  (6)  LEADER OF THE COUNCIL’S FORWARD PLAN – NOVEMBER 2007 TO FEBRUARY 2008 - The Service Director - Legal and Democratic circulated the Leader of North Lincolnshire Council's Forward Plan for November 2007 to February 2008.

 

The plan contained details of all matters and issues likely to be the subject of key decisions for a period of the next four months, updated on a monthly basis.

 

The Panel then engaged in a discussion on the content of the Leader of the Council's Forward Plan for November 2007 to February 2008.

 

Resolved – That the Leader of North Lincolnshire Council's Forward Plan for November 2007 to February 2008 be noted.

 

25  DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – The Service Director Legal and Democratic informed the meeting that as a result of members attendance and participation at the Humberside Police B Division Performance Challenge Day on Monday 29 October 2007, tentative discussions had been held with Humberside Police over the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel conducting a review into domestic violence.

 

At the Performance Challenge Day, Humberside Police had identified that there was gaps in service provision and there were areas of vulnerability around domestic violence.

 

The Chair facilitated a discussion around whether the Panel would like to add the issue of domestic violence service provision to its work programme for 2007-2008.

 

Resolved – That at the next meeting of the Panel, representatives from Safer Neighbourhoods and Humberside Police be invited to discuss domestic violence.

 

26  (7)  CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SCRUTINY PANEL REVIEW OF THE YOUTH SERVICE IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE - The Service Director Legal and Democratic submitted the Children and Young People Scrutiny Panels report into the review of the youth service in North Lincolnshire.

The report was considered by Council at its meeting on 14 November 2007.  The report detailed the background and brief to the review and contained detailed conclusions and recommendations.  One such recommendation was -

 

“That the panel be kept informed about the 'Galaxy' Event, and if successful, be reviewed with the possibility of using current resources within the Youth Service, to promote this  event throughout North Lincolnshire on a Friday night.

 

That the panel refers this issue above to the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel, for them to carry out a more in-depth review on a wider range of issues concerning Friday nights”

 

Members engaged in a discussion on the recommendation referral.

 

Resolved – (a) That Friday night provision for youths in North Lincolnshire be added to the Panels work programme for 2007-2008, and (b) that the Service Director Legal and Democratic write to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel informing them of the decision.

 

27  LOCAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AND MONITORING THE LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT – The Service Director Legal and Democratic informed the meeting that on 17 October 2007, members of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Panel met to discuss forging links with the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) and how to monitor the Local Area Agreement. 

 

As a result of the meeting, it was agreed that the Chair and Vice-Chair of each Scrutiny Panel be put forward as non-voting representatives on the LSP theme partnerships.  This would provide continuity and provide members with a greater understanding of their field.

 

In addition, the quarterly reports produced by each thematic partnership would contain a section on priorities / work for the next quarter.  Allowing Scrutiny Panels access to this would allow scrutiny members to perform their overview role as they would be able to request more information etc. prior to the work / decisions being made.

 

The Service Director would also receive the LSP Board papers.  They would then be distributed to each scrutiny panel.  Members would then be able to comment on the LSP Board papers thus influencing potential decisions of the LSP.  

 

Resolved – That Chief Superintendent Hilditch be invited to a future meeting of the Panel to discuss the Safer and Stronger Communities thematic partnership.

 

28  ADDED ITEM – There was no added item for discussion at this meeting.