Agenda and minutes

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any personal and /or prejudicial interests in any item on the agenda.

None

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 11 February 2010 as a correct record

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 February 2010 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

None

To give consideration to the CCTV/UTC project update

Consideration was given to an update on the CCTV and UTC Project.

The Committee made the following observations regarding the review:

With regard to creating a single modern CCTV control facility, Members stressed the importance of having a back up system in case the facility failed.

The Committee noted that the Police Authority was happy with the proposals and that Cheshire East Council had worked with the Police Authority in setting up a secure server.

Members expressed concern that there would only be 9 operators to staff the control centre. It was agreed that further operators may be required and that national guidance on the number of screens per operator should be sought.

It was noted that the proposals would result in a saving for Cheshire East Council and the Police Authority.

It was noted that a refurbishment programme, changing the pan and tilt cameras to dome cameras was still to be investigated for the 2011/2012 budget and that the life expectancy of a camera was around 5 years.

The Committee welcomed the fact that the out of hour’s service was to be improved and that the control centre would be manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

RESOLVED

1. That the report be received

2. That an update on the project be emailed to the Committee asap

3. That the Portfolio Holder for Safer and Stronger Communities be informed of the following observations:

·        That best practice guidance should be sought on the number of screens one operator could effectively manage.

·        The Committee welcomed that fact that the control room would be manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

·        The Committee welcomed the improved out of hours service.

·        The Committee welcomed the approval of the Police Authority.

·        There was a high degree of risk involved with the staffing levels proposed and therefore the levels should be increased.

·        The Committee welcomed the refurbishment programme for the cameras which was scheduled to take place in 2011.

·        The Committee expressed concerns regarding the back up plan for if the system failed.

·        The Committee acknowledged that the control room would be in Macclesfield

(Councillor E Alcock arrived at the meeting during consideration of the above item)

To give consideration to an overview of 2009/10 Q3 performance and the progress made on the Local Area Agreement

The Committee received an overview of the 2009/10 Q3 performance for indicators falling within its remit and for the LAA, which summarised performance against all National Indictors and key performance measures.

The report detailed the 19 national indicators for the Committees area of responsibility, 58% were green, 11% were amber and 32% red.

The report also detailed 35 national indicators and 10 non designated indicators in the LAA, a number of indicators had two parts and data had been collected for 41 measures. Overall 46% were green, 12% were amber and 10% were red.

With regard to the LAA refresh, it was noted that the due to the economic downturn, the Government had agreed to adjust NI154 – Net additional homes provided and NI155 - Number of affordable houses delivered.

With regard to NI018, the Committee felt that it did not fully understand this target and therefore the Probation Service should be requested to attend a future meeting of the Committee to explain the target in detail.

It was noted that due to the different data reporting systems used by all partners, some of the indicators were lagging and that there was a proposal for a common data base to be used by all partners.

It was agreed that the prime cause of underperforming indicators needed to be investigated and that some underperforming indicators had a knock on effect on other indicators. Councillor D Flude and J Grant agreed to meet to put together a breakdown of those indicators affected and discuss a resolution to this problem.

RESOLVED

1. That the report be noted.

2. That Councillor D Flude and J Grant meet to discuss the cause and effect of underperforming indicators.

That a representative of the Probation Service be requested to attend a future meeting of the Committee to discuss NI018

To receive an update from A Waller (Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service) representative of the Safer Cheshire East Partnership

A Waller from the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the meeting to discuss NI47 – Number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents, as this indicator was currently underperforming.

It was reported that the indicator was only underperforming due to a badly performing year in 2008, which had a knock on effect on subsequent years. Therefore even though the statistics had since improved, the target could not be achieved.

Member then went on to discuss the split between the number of people seriously injured and those killed. It was agreed that a breakdown of these figures and how the accidents happened would be emailed to the Committee.

A Waller informed the Committee that there were two Road Safety Units in Cheshire East, which were working on improving road safety through education, engineering and enforcement. There was also a strategic plan outlining how this issue would be tackled and by whom.

It was reported that although communication between the partners had improved through the LAP’s, it was still not good enough and that the partners needed to be brought together to enable the public to be better informed and targeted correctly.

It was agreed that A Waller and the relevant Portfolio Holders would attend the Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee scheduled to be held on 15 July 2010 to discuss what should be happening, what is not happening and how the Committee can help address any issues.

RESOLVED

1. That A Waller and the relevant Portfolio Holders attend the meeting scheduled to be held on 15 July 2010 to discuss the issues outlined above.

2. That details of the breakdown of those seriously injured and killed, including the cause of the accident be circulated to the Committee.

To receive a progress report on the development of the Sustainable Community Strategy and feedback on the Community Strategy discussion document.

Consideration was given to the progress made on the development of the Sustainable Community Strategy.

With regard to the ‘Golden Thread’ Members expressed concern that certain groups of the community could be omitted from the consultation exercise due to not being represented by a Town/Parish Council.

RESOLVED

That the approach to developing a Sustainable Community Strategy be noted.

To approve the draft Protocol between the Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee and the Safer Cheshire East Partnership

Consideration was given to the draft protocol between the Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee and the Safer Cheshire East Partnership. It was noted that this protocol had been approved by the Partnership on 3 March 2010.

RESOLVED

That the protocol be approved.

To give consideration to the work programme

Consideration was given to the work programme. The Committee made the following amendments:

• Update on Community wardens and PCSO’s be considered at the meeting scheduled to be held on 3 June 2010.
• An executive summary of the outsourcing of discretionary Leisure and Cultural Services be considered at the meeting scheduled to be held on 3 June 2010 (Portfolio Holder to attend).
• The CDRP Plan be considered at the meeting scheduled to be held on 15 July 2010.
• A Waller and relevant Portfolio Holders to attend the meeting on 15 July 2010 to discuss NI47
• A representative of the Probation Service to attend a future meeting of the Committee to discuss NI018.

RESOLVED

That the work programme be approved subject to the amendments highlighted above.