Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P Hayes and K Hickson.

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

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 present wishing to speak

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2014 as a correct record.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2014.

RESOLVED

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

To give consideration to a presentation on the Safer Cheshire East Partnership Annual Report.

Consideration was given to a presentation on the Safer Cheshire East Partnership (SCEP) Annual report. It was noted that the SCEP Plan and statistics would be brought back to the Committee in June 2015, once the partnership had been strengthened. The presentation outlined:

·         Strategic Intelligence Assessment

·         Current SCEP priorities

·         Achievements for 2013/14

·         SCEP Funding

·         Cheshire and Warrington Community Safety

·         New Challenges

·         SCEP Plan for 2015/16

It was noted that the SCEP Plan needed to be made more robust and the current priorities of the plan were historical, as the types of crime committed had changed dramatically; rural crime and serious and organised crime were now high within Cheshire East compared to the rest of Cheshire. The Strategic Intelligence Assessment would focus on child sexual exploitation, self neglect, hate crime and human trafficking, which would be reflected in the revised SCEP Plan.

RESOLVED

That the revised Safer Cheshire East Partnership Plan and statistics be brought back to the Committee in June 2015.

To give consideration to the progress report

The Committee received a progress report on the implementation of the Sustainable Libraries Strategy. It was noted that good progress had been made against the priorities for action and the service had delivered £700k efficiency savings to date. Members were pleased that a new mobile library vehicle had been procured, which would be ready for service in April 2015.

RESOLVED

That the service be congratulated and the progress report be endorsed.

To give consideration to the draft Enforcement Policy

Consideration was given to the draft Corporate Enforcement Policy, which was to provide a refreshed umbrella document for all enforcement services and set out what the Council can and cant do and how the Councils enforcement approach would be carried out. Service specific policies would link up with this document and each other underneath this policy for the detail. The Committee agreed that:

·         The policy showed residents and businesses what they could expect from the Council if they were breaking Council rules of Enforcement, or of they are a victim of someone else doing this.

·         Reflected the Councils ambition to be an Enforcing Council, and demonstrated that the Council would take the most appropriate action, whether this be informal or full prosecution.

·         The policy was a high level umbrella policy for all enforcement and was not about service specific detail.

·         The policy needed to be more user friendly, including a summary, case studies and pictures.

·         There were several issues around taxi licensing which needed to be addressed.

·         A paragraph showing the range of powers available to the Council should be included in the policy.

·         Several typographical errors be amended.

RESOLVED

1.    That subject to the comments highlighted above the draft Corporate Enforcement Policy be recommended for approval.

2.    That the next steps for the document be noted.

To note the forward plan, identify any new items, and to determine whether any further examination of new issues is appropriate.

Consideration was given to the areas of the forward plan which fell within the remit of the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the forward plan be noted.

To give consideration to the work programme

Consideration was given to the work programme. It was agreed that:

·         The Community Infrastructure Levy be removed from the work programme until the Local Plan had been revised.

·         An update on Community Hubs be considered on 26 March 2015.

·         The Domestic Homicides Review be considered on 26 March 2015.

·         The Community Safety Partnership Performance and Plan be considered in June 2015.

RESOLVED

That the work programme be amended to reflect the items highlighted above.