New Forest Borough Council Community, Partnerships and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Panel Meeting

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 5 March and 16 May be confirmed and signed.

There were no declarations of interest.  

There was no public participation.

The Panel received and noted an update on progress with contracts at the Council’s Health and Leisure Centre, and Dibden Golf Centre.

The update included details on:

·         Performance

·         Customer engagement and surveys

·         Active Communities programme

·         Capital Projects

Reference was made to the recent computer systems issue affecting the leisure centres, and in response to a query, the Leisure Contract Monitoring Officer confirmed that the systems were resilient and steps had been taken to ensure there was no reoccurrence.

In answer to a query on Soft Play sessions pricing, it was explained that these prices had been benchmarked in the region and felt to be competitive, and there were ‘sibling offers’.     

The Panel received and noted a presentation giving an update on progress with the Creative People and Places initiative, the slides for which are attached to these minutes as Appendix 1.

The Panel welcomed to the meeting Kealy Whenray, who had been newly appointed to her post (which was jointly funded by the  Arts Council, England). The detail of her role was outlined in the presentation. 

It was also noted that Jacqui Ibbotson had been appointed as Programme Director to oversee delivery of the 3 year Culture in Common project.

It was confirmed that the programme would be engaging with local people in the targeted communities at the appropriate time.

The programme would begin in the Waterside area in year one, before moving on to other areas of the District in years two and three.

A further update would be given at the September meeting.

The Panel received an update from the Council’s representative on the Hampshire Police and Crime Panel, Cllr Blunden.

·         In January the Commissioner announced some savings of 700K from office relocation and staffing costs with ongoing annual savings of 550K per annum from 2023/24.

·         Police and Crime Plan - The commissioner had announced an additional £300K for the commissioning of services in support of the Violent Reduction Unit (VRU). The VRU brought together health, police, education leaders, health workers, local government and many other organisations from across local communities to tackle violent crime and address its underlying causes.

·         VRUs were responsible for three specific outcomes:

·             1) Reduction in hospital admissions for assaults with a knife or sharp object and especially among victims aged under 25

·         2) Reduction in knife-enabled serious violence and especially among victims aged under 25

·         3) Reduction in all non-domestic homicides and especially among victims aged under 25 involving knives

The Commissioner hosted a Trauma Informed Conference in March with attendance from all over Hampshire and Isle Of Wight, focussing on how trauma can present itself in victims and perpetrators as adults and children. Over 2000 delegates, including representation from NFDC Community Safety took part and benefited from practical workshops and presentations.

The Commissioner announced that with additional duties and responsibilities in her role, a deputy PCC would need to be appointed. The Commissioner notified the panel of her intention to appoint a preferred candidate, Mr Terry Norton to the role.

It was noted that an order had just been laid before parliament to change the name of Hampshire Constabulary to ‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’.

Cllr Blunden was requested to highlight to the Commissioner, and the Crime Panel, the need for greater visibility of police officers in the District, and for more crimes to be investigated face to face rather than remotely. 

One member referred to the annual report showing crime data and felt that it would be useful to have such reports more regularly. In response, Cllr Blunden would enquire whether it was possible to bring the latest figures to the next meeting.

Cllr Blunden also undertook to a report to the Panel on the number of new police officers allocated to the area and where they were to be deployed.  

Comments were made about the need for the101 service to become more effective. Cllr Blunden reported that this topic had been raised at the Crime Panel and it was hoped that improvements could be made.

The Panel received the Annual Performance Report for 2021/22, together with the provisional outturn of the General Fund revenue and capital budgets for 2021/22 and the provisional outturn of the Housing Revenue Account for 2021/22.

Officers undertook to clarify tree planting figures, in particular whether jubilee trees were included.

Officers would also provide data on abandoned calls / customer calls missed.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the following be noted:

(a)  Annual Performance Report for 2021/22;

(b)  The provisional outturn of the General Fund revenue and capital budgets for 2021/22;

(c)   The provisional outturn of the Housing Revenue Account for 2021/22

The Panel received an update from Portfolio holders on various issues within their areas, including on related performance data.

Cllr Blunden, Partnering and Wellbeing

The strategy and delivery Group met on 6 June to receive updates on the 1^st quarter of this year’s partnership plan, covering :

·         Drug and Alcohol Related Harm

·         Domestic Abuse

·         Reducing Risk to Vulnerable people and Property

Whilst the Council’s partners were embedding these priorities into their respective areas, it was positive to hear of the diverse approach and commitments to our communities in keeping the New Forest a safe place. 

It was noted that over 100 bicycles belonging to residents and visitors to the New Forest were reported stolen, and although a number were retrieved, Police were not always able to return these due to lack of ownership details. Safer New Forest partners from within NFDC Community Safety and the police had been facilitating bike - marking events. A member asked that further awareness be raised on where the public could hand in bikes that had been found, and he would advise the member in due course.

The Community Safety Team and Hampshire Constabulary will be engaging with residents, visitors and employees of the New Forest and completing surveys regarding crime & disorder and anti-social behaviour at the following venues and dates:

Tuesday, 26^th July – Hythe Market

Wednesday, 27^th July – Ringwood Market

Wednesday, 3^rd August – New Milton Market

Thursday, 11^th August – St Thomas Car Park, Lymington

Wednesday, 17^th August – Totton Precinct, Totton

Alongside these annual engagements, the Community Safety Team will also be visiting Totton, Waterside, New Milton and Lymington Skate Parks in the afternoons of the summer holidays and visit Food Banks. Some school visits were also planned.  The intention was to gain an overall picture of residents’ concerns regarding crime and anti - social behaviour. It was suggested that village fetes and other events and venues be considered over future years, and the Portfolio Holder would discuss this further with officers and members.

The Food and Safety team continued to implement the food safety recovery plan following the pandemic and have visited all of the highest risk food premises which were due for a food hygiene inspection. It was really good to see the large number of street parties and events held across the New Forest over the Jubilee weekend. The Environmental and Regulation teams provided advice to many of the organisers to help the events run safely and processed over 35 road closure orders.

It was reported that 16 June was Clean Air Day and the Council was working with partners across Hampshire to promote measures to reduce pollution. As well as the Clean Air day website, there were resources specific for schools, as well as a webinar being run by the Environment Centre, on health impacts of air pollution and how to engage with local residents.

The Portfolio Holder was asked to what extent NFDC was working with HCC on reduction of speed limits to contribute to reduction of air pollution. In reply, it was explained that the Council did work with Hampshire Highways and the Transport section, and NFDC’s Planning and Air Quality teams were consulted on relevant programmes.  Officers would enquire and advise the member in due course.  

The Health and Wellbeing Delivery plan was progressing well and would be shared with Members at the next Panel meeting in September.

A member asked what was being done to combat cyber crime and raise awareness of this among local residents, particularly vulnerable people in the Forest.  In response, the Portfolio Holder acknowledged that this was a significant area of concern, but undertook to reiterate these concerns in relevant forums at the appropriate time. He also referred to  the specialist unit within Hampshire Constabulary dealing with cyber crime.  Furthermore Cllr Blunden would enquire whether the Council’s Communications team could issue some advice to the public raising awareness of the problem and giving information on the latest forms of internet scams and other online fraud.  

The Portfolio Holder was asked how parish and town councils could suggest new areas for CCTV coverage. The Portfolio Holder indicated that this was an area he wished to review across the District in consultation with the town and parish councils.

Cllr Russell, People and Places

Cllr Russell explained that more trees were being planted, taking account of Ash Die back and in recognition of the Jubilee, as well as coppices and woods.

He reported that NFDC’s grant of £10,000 to CODA had levered in an Arts Council for England grant of £340K, in addition to the £1m Arts Council grant over 3 years.

The Litter Strategy was nearing completion and would be brought to the next Panel meeting.  

The Customer Service Strategy was also nearing completion.  

There was a pilot project in Totton to map grass cutting responsibilities among local bodies. A number of members spoke in support of this project and hoped that it could be rolled out elsewhere. It was commented that a number of footpaths were overgrown and it was not always easy to identify which council was responsible for its upkeep, including unadopted footpaths. The portfolio holder asked for details of the particular issue and he would respond.      

A member pointed out the biodiversity benefits of long grass, and that awareness should be raised so it was understood why certain areas were not being mown in the normal way.

Members paid tribute to the Street Scene team for their excellent work and the portfolio holder undertook to pass these compliments on to them.

Back office ICT systems for functions such as Street Scene were being upgraded.

It was confirmed that the stated net gain in trees, this was included in the Council’s carbon reduction measures.

It was pointed out that the cemeteries performance indicator was showing red and it was explained that lots of work was being done in the background to improve the situation and further information would be available in due course.

The Panel received and noted its work programme.