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

RESOLVED:

That Cllr A O’Sullivan be elected Chairman of the Panel for the remainder of the municipal year.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2021 be confirmed and signed.

Councillor O'Sullivan declared a non - pecuniary interest as Treasurer of Milton Heritage Society.

Councillor Rackham declared a non pecuniary interest as a former employee of the arts centre in New Milton.

There were no issues raised during the public participation period.

The Panel received an update from the portfolio holders in connection with the performance dashboards. The following issues were raised:

Cllr Blunden

The Environmental Health team continued to support businesses during pandemic, giving guidance for hospitality venues.

Natasha’s Law came into effect on 1 Oct 2021, which required clear allergen information on food labelling, for foods that had been wrapped on the premises prior to sale. The Food Safety Team had visited approximately 50 local businesses to provide information about the new rules.

The Environmental Protection team continued to work with neighouring authorities and the Environment Centre on the Burn Better Campaign, providing advice to residents and businesses on the use of wood burners and garden bonfires.  During 2022, it was hoped to increase opportunities for more face to face meetings with stakeholders to discuss the project in more detail, and start an air pollution monitoring programme to support the campaign and provide related data.

The last 18 months had placed increased responsibilities on the teams over the past 18 months, and work had been prioritised on the basis of a broad risk approach in order to meet statutory requirements. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities had assisted in this regard by issuing guidance to authorities indicating a reprioritisation of these requirements, to reduce pressures on services.

The Portfolio Holder had recently chaired a meeting of the Safer New Forest Strategy and Delivery Group, which had been fully attended by all the partner agencies. He was particularly pleased to see the joint commitment of the partners in recognising the impact of crime on residents and visitors to the New Forest, and their drive to reduce it.   

Cllr Russell

Arts Council bid presentation, excellent opportunity

Performance Dashboard shows a number of task and finish groups in process and updates would be given.

In response to a question on the effect of the removal of bins in Minstead, it was explained that these had been removed on the advice of the local member, no problems had been reported and the relevant areas had seen a reduction in waste.

The Panel considered the Community Grants Task and Finish Group’s recommendations with respect to the allocation of grants for 2022/23.

The Panel recognised the difficult decisions required given the number and value of applications received and praised the Group members and Officers for their hard work in reaching the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

That the Community, Partnership and Wellbeing Scrutiny Panel recommends to Cabinet that:

a) Community Grant awards, totalling £130,000 in revenue grants and £85,600 in capital grants, as set out in Appendix 1, and in more detail in Appendix 2, be approved for inclusion in the Medium-Term Financial Plan and proposed budget for 2022/23.

b) Grant awards totalling £28,500 be made from the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable funding held by the Council as part of the COVID-19 funding support received by the Government .

c) That the proposed grants procedures and process changes as set out in section 5.2 of the report be approved.

The Panel received a presentation on the outcome of a local bid for funds under the Creative Peoples initiative. The slides from the presentation are attached to these minutes as Appendix 1.

The Creative England National Learning Programme was funded by Arts Council England, and focussed on parts of the country where involvement in the arts was below the national average.  The Programme covered 56 local authority areas.

‘Culture in Common’ was the name of the Creative People and Places Programme in the New Forest.  The Council had worked as part of a consortium of local organisations in drawing up the £1m bid, and in December 2021, it was announced that the bid had been successful.  The programme team and director were being recruited and the programme was due to start in April 2022.

It was confirmed local members would be kept informed about the project.

The consortium would work with agencies such as the Minstead Trust and ensure  that people with learning disabilities would be involved in the programme.

The Portfolio Holder thanked Mr Burton for his invaluable input into the bid and noted that the Arts Council were impressed with his enthusiasm for the project.  He also thanked Mr Burton for his knowledgeable input into the Community Grants work, which usefully fed into the bid process.

An update on the project would be brought to the June Panel meeting.

The Panel considered the Safer New Forest Annual Strategic Assessment and Proposed Priorities for the local Safer New Forest Partnership, for inclusion in the 2022/23 Plan.

The Plan for 2022/23 was informed by crime data from 2020/21. This period was within covid restrictions throughout his time. It was acknowledged that numbers of some offences had decreased primarily due to lockdown, whilst some forms of online crime had increased.  Drug offences were more visible as most people were isolating due to the pandemic.  There was an overall reduction of approximately 2200 crimes in the year. Emerging trends were discussed and further being analysed.

Priorities this year had been agreed as follows:

·         Drug and alcohol related harm

·         Domestic abuse

·         Reducing the risk to vulnerable people and property

The team would work with town and parishes on the Plan.

Members queried the extent to which Restorative Justice (RJ) was used in the District, (for example where a meeting might be organised between a victim and an offender, sometimes with representatives of the wider community). It was felt useful for young people and adults in preventing reoffending.  In response, it was acknowledged this had a significant impact on re-offending rates. Youth Offending Teams used RJ as a matter of course for low tariff offending.  It was also used by the prison service. Hampshire Police were also considering re-introducing a Young People’s Peer Court.

It was suggested that work could be done to raise awareness of RJ among residents, and the Team would pursue this.    

The portfolio holder gave assurances that a number of initiatives were being actively  pursued to combat online crime

Members paid tribute to the Council’s Team for their hard work on the document and their efforts throughout the year in community safety.

RESOLVED:

That the Strategic Assessment be approved.

The Panel received an update from the Portfolio holder for Partnering and Wellbeing, Cllr Blunden,  on latest developments in respect of the Hampshire Police and Crime Panel.   

It was noted that as part of the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), the Commissioner aimed to reduce offending and support victims, enabling people to avoid being drawn into the Criminal Justice System.

The Commissioner had pledged to secure services that empowered partners through regular opportunities to bid for grant funding for projects and contracts. The PCC invited organisations to explain how they could work with the PCC’s team to achieve the PCC’s priorities and make communities safer, through looking for new and exciting approaches, whilst still supporting those ideas that have been proven to work.

The Commissioner received funding applications for the Safer Communities Fund 2022 – 2025 which would be reviewed and considered by members of the Safer New Forest Strategy & Delivery Group to ensure the needs of residents of the New Forest were reflected within any commissioned service.   

The Commissioner had listened to the challenges that many organisations faced and took the decision to establish a longer term funding period.  For this grant round, applications were for up to the sum of £40,000 per year. The funding period was from 1 July 2022 until 31 March 2024, with an option for an additional 12 months funding for projects that were performing well, and where there was still a strategic need for them.

I will update members of progress in these applications for the New Forest at the next panel meeting in March.

The Panel considered the Draft Supplementary Planning Document on Air Quality Assessments in New Development.

Members made a number of comments on various related issues including:

·         The importance of Green energy sources

·         That developers should be encouraged or required to provide solar panels or similar on new developments

·         Train cuts

·         On mitigation measures, it was suggested the Council write to South West Trains expressing disappointment on the level of rail services in Dorset and the Forest.  

·         Car sharing clubs should be encouraged in the Forest

·         The lack of electric charge points in the Forest.

It was explained this was one of a suite of planning policy documents, and climate change was being addressed in a number of different ways within the planning system.  There were also some changes to building regulations, and a related member training session was being provided. 

Officers undertook to write to South West trains on the state of the current rail service and the need for improvement.

There were also some opportunities for various improvements in public transport with housing growth.

There was soon to be a requirement to provide electric charging points at new properties.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Panel received and noted an update on the operation of the Council’s Health and Leisure Contract since the transfer to Freedom Leisure on 1 July 2021, and on the MyTime contract operating at Dibden Golf Course.

Members noted the delays caused by Covid and queried when the refurbishment of the centres would be commence, particularly at Totton.  In response it was anticipated that the refurbishments at Totton should be finished by the end of May.

The Chairman of the Health and Leisure Contract Monitoring Group wished to thank the Leisure Contract Monitoring Officer for his assistance at the Group meetings, in answering demanding questions posed by the Group.

Members queried the relative impact on income levels at Dibden and at the leisure centres.  It was explained that there were greater opportunities at the Golf Centre given the function suite and catering facilities, though provision at some centres was being improved.

The Portfolio holder paid tribute to the Leisure Contract Monitoring Officer and the team at the Golf Cenrtre for their co operation and improvements at the Centre in recent times, which was as a result of working as a team.         

The Panel received and noted its work programme.

It was reiterated that a progress update on the Creative People bid would be brought to the June Panel meeting.    

Also scheduled for June was an update on the Telecare Upgrade within the control room of Appletree Careline.