Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

There were no apologies for absence

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To provide an opportunity for Members to declare the existence of a party whip in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no whipping declarations

To approve the minutes as a correct record

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

A total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to make a statement(s) on any matter that falls within the remit of the Committee.

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.

Note: In order for officers to undertake any background research, it would be helpful if members of the public contacted the Scrutiny officer listed at the foot of the agenda, at least one working day before the meeting to provide brief details of the matter to be covered.

There were no members of the public wishing to speak

To receive a presentation by J Gibson, Domestic Abuse Partnership Co-ordinator

J Gibson, Domestic Abuse Partnership Manager and K Rose, Head of Integrated Safeguarding Unit attended the meeting to provide an update on domestic abuse and sexual violence.

It was highlighted that voluntary perpetrator provision had been secured for 1 year due to a health under spend; this would be used to facilitate the Lifeline Voluntary Perpetrator Programme. The programme would be evaluated by MMU, providing an independent view point on its success. As the funding was not sustainable, Members stressed the importance of providing hard evidence to prove the financial success of the programme, possibly thorough a cost/benefit analysis.

The following enhanced provisions had also been secured:

·         Specialist Domestic Abuse Worker at Leighton Hospital

·         Specialist Domestic Abuse Worker with Children’s Services ‘Front of House’

·         Young persons advocate post being established within the Council Safeguarding Education Team.

·         Cheshire east Council had been ranked 4^th nationally in the Partnership Review.

·         The Cheshire East Domestic Abuse Partnership was now accountable to both Adult and Children’s Safeguarding Boards.

·         Major Safeguarding Conference in May 2013 – Breaking the Silence, allowing survivors to have their voice heard.

·         Establishing Shared Outcomes

As part of their corporate parenting role, it was agreed that Members required refresher training on what to do if they suspected a child was a victim of domestic abuse. This training should also be extended to Town and Parish Councillors and could be delivered through the circulation of a DVD. It should form part of the Members induction package, which would also help raise the profile of domestic abuse.

By April 2015, Cheshire East Domestic Abuse Partnership would be redesigned to be more effective, providing one service to assess and respond to need, providing:

·         The provision of a holistic domestic abuse service for victims, survivors, perpetrators and families.

·         A focus on early intervention to reduce the long term demand for domestic abuse services.

·         Compulsory education on healthy relationships in schools and colleges.

·         Ease of access to domestic abuse services.

·         Consistent service provision achieved by all agencies committing to best practice and implementing current procedures.

·         Improved skill sets across agencies so that practitioners can ask the right questions, listen to victims/perpetrators and recognise risk.

·         The provision of voluntary perpetrator programmes across the Cheshire sub region.

It had also been agreed to align and pool all specialist domestic abuse funding by April 2015. It was noted that the authorities’ contribution was £873,000, however, as in previous years, to the Police and Crime Commissioner had only committed £9750, which was not in line with police contributions nationally. The Committee agreed that resources needed to be invested in prevention as key partners needed to be proactive rather than reactive, and therefore the Chairman agreed to raise this issue with the Commissioner.

RESOLVED

1.    That the officers be thanked for their presentation.

2.    That Members receive refresher training on what to do if they suspected a child was a victim of domestic abuse, this training should also form part of the Members induction package.

3.    That the training be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

·         Street lighting switch off

·         Staffing of the CCTV control room

·         Complaints information relating to external partners

The Chairman raised the following issues as possible areas requiring scrutiny by the Committee:

Street Lighting Switch Off

The Chairman informed the Committee that he had received several letters of complaint regarding the safety of switching off street lights. It was agreed that a review of the pilot scheme should be undertaken and the following questions asked:

·         Were there any safety issues as a result of the switch off?

·         Has the decision reduced costs?

·         Has the decision reduced the Council’s carbon footprint?

CCTV – Control Room Staffing

The Chairman highlighted that there was a problem with the staffing levels of the CCTV control room. In light of the possible devolution of this service to Town and Parish Councils and the importance of the control room being properly manned, it was agreed that this issue should be reviewed by the Committee.

Complaints about External Partners

Information had been sought regarding the level of complaints the Council received about its partners in an attempt to identify possible areas requiring scrutiny. This request highlighted the fact that the Corporate Complaints process did not log complaints about partners. Members found this to be unsatisfactory agreed to scrutinise this issue further.

List of Cheshire East Council Partners

It was noted that Cheshire East did not currently hold a complete list of its partners. Members agreed that this needed to be addressed and requested that a list of all the partners, including the reasons for partnership, and any financial contributions be brought to the next meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the following items be added to the work programme;

·         Street lighting switch off

·         CCTV control room Staffing

·         Complaints about external partners

·         List of Cheshire East partners

To give consideration to the work programme

Consideration was given to the work programme.

RESOLVED

1.     That the following items be added to the work programme for the next meeting scheduled to be held on 24 October 2013:

·         CCTV – Control Room staffing

·         Street lighting switch off

·         Complaints about external partners

·         List of Cheshire East Council partners

2.  That quarterly crime statistics be reported to the Committee.