To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor John Bowden (Councillor Julian Sharpe was sub) and Councillor Simon Werner (no sub was available).

Apologies were also received from Parish Councillor Pat McDonald (White Waltham Parish Councillor) and Parish Councillor Spike Humphrey (Sunninghill & Ascot Parish Council).

It was noted that Parish Councillor Margaret Lenton (Wraysbury Parish Council) would arrive shortly.

To receive declarations of interests from Members of the Panel in respect of

any item to be considered at the meeting.

None.

To note the Part I minutes of the Crime & Disorder Overview & Scrutiny Panels held on the 27 June 2016.

The Part I minutes of the meeting held on the 27 June 2016 were agreed as a correct record.

The Chairman announced that the meeting was being recorded and that the audio would be available shortly on the RBWM website.

By the Head of Community Protection & Enforcement, Craig Miller (RBWM).

The Team Leader - Environmental Protection, Chris Nash, informed the Panel that he was at the meeting representing himself, the Head of Community Protection & Enforcement, Craig Miller and Members of the Community Partnership.  Members were informed that the Community Safety Partnership Plan had been before the Panel under a different Chairmanship and that since then a lot of work had been undertaken to refine the document and incorporate feedback received from Members and stakeholders.  It was noted that the Head of Community Protection & Enforcement was seeking feedback to this document with the view to a final sign off late October time. 

The Team Leader - Environmental Protection explained that the Community Safety Partnership established its priorities in a number of ways. It was noted that Police data was used to identify crime trends, whilst the borough also conducted an annual survey which highlighted public concerns around community safety; national and regional emerging issues such as child sexual exploitation were taken into account along with issues identified by local neighbourhood action group surveys and police Have Your Say Meetings.  The Panel noted that account was taken of related issues and plans including those of the Adults and Children’s Safeguarding Boards. It was noted that the priorities often fell across two or more themes and were delivered within the theme framework.

Members were informed that the five main priority areas for 2015/16 were as follows:

·         Violent Crime.

·         Sexual Assault.

·         Safeguarding (Crime related).

·         Burglary.

·         Business As Usual.

It was noted that the priorities established in the Annual Strategic Assessment were agreed at the December 2015 Community Safety Partnership Meeting and were categorised under the following three themes:

·         Theme 1 – Prevention (Supporting our communities).

·         Theme 2 – Protection (Supporting victims of crime & anti-social behaviour).

·         Theme 3 – Inclusion (Assisting troubled families and rehabilitating offenders).

·         Theme 4 – Maintaining Public Confidence (Resident reassurance & confidence initiatives).

The Team Leader - Environmental Protection ran Members through the aims under each priority.

In the ensuing discussion the following points were noted:

Ø  The Action Plan that sat behind this document was noted to be on-going.  Councillor Story suggested that this document gave the appearance that the Council had achieved things it hadn’t by showing deadline dates that had since passed.  The Team Leader - Environmental Protection agreed to take this suggestion back to the Head of Community Protection & Enforcement.

Ø  That violent crime in general figures with regard to the Night-time Economy had been on the rise.  It was noted that assault without injury was in double figures although it was stressed that this included a variety of incidents including harassment.  It was requested by Councillor Story that specific figures be supplied at future Panel meetings to help give Members a feel for the numbers involved.

Ø  Superintendent Rai (Thames Valley Police) informed Members that the baseline numbers for repeat domestic abuse victims had been at 32% in April but had since reduced to 26%.  The Team Leader - Environmental Protection stated that the figures and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

By the Managing Director of The Noise Abatement Society, Lisa Lavia.

The Chairman introduced Managing Director from The Noise Abatement Society, Lisa Lavia, to the Panel and invited her to give her presentation on ‘Using a scientific soundscape approach to address anti-social behaviour and noise and help facilitate safe movement of people at night’.

Superintendent Rai (Thames Valley Police) informed Members that she had first been made aware of this innovative project when Lisa had done some work in another area.  It was noted that this project was one part of a much bigger plan if accepted.  The Panel was asked for its feedback.

Members were given a brief presentation which covered the following areas:

• Presentation outline.
• Soundscape: a new International and British standard and an emerging science.
• West Street, Brighton – a police high impact area.
• West Street Story: Interacting with the camera.
• West Street Story: Queue Formation.
• Fast vs Slow Tempo.
• West Street Story night noise intervention results.
• Acknowledgements.
• Project scope and Case for Investment.
• Indicative Intervention Costs.
• Indicative Funding Streams.

In the ensuing discussion the following points were noted:

Ø  The Managing Director from The Noise Abatement Society explained that putting in a semi-permanent installation in the Royal Borough that could be combined with local interventions / measures could be a good tool going forward. 

Ø  That the Goswell Hill area in Windsor would be a similar area to that of Brighton.

Ø  That the next step would be to find funding for a three month trial.  It was noted that match funding might be an option available to the Council. 

Ø  It was noted that sourcing funding was a relatively quick process and could take a couple of months.

Ø  The Panel was informed that if interested this could go live in approximately 4-6 weeks.

The Chairman stated that he liked the sound of this project and that it could be a good way to feedback to the public with regard to outcomes. 

The Chairman thanked the Managing Director from The Noise Abatement Society for attending meeting and addressing the Panel.

·         Thursday 6^th October 2016 – Annual TVP Presentation (6pm start).

·         Monday 14 November 2016.

·         Monday 30 January 2017.

·         Thursday 20 April 2017.

The Chairman informed Members that the dates of the next meetings were as follows:

·         Thursday 6th October 2016 – Annual TVP Presentation (6pm start).

·         Monday 14 November 2016.

·         Monday 30 January 2017.

·         Thursday 20 April 2017.

The Chairman requested that all meetings from November onwards started at 19:00. 

To note the Part II minutes of the Crime & Disorder Overview & Scrutiny Panel held on the 27 June 2016.

To comment on the report to be considered by Cabinet on the 29 September 2016.

The Strategic Director of Operations, Simon Fletcher, referred Members to pages 3-12 of the supplementary agenda and explained that the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) presented to Council in February 2016 identified the need to reduce council expenditure by £5.6m in 2017-18.  Members were informed that as the economic climate changed in the UK the Council's expenditure level might need to change.  Any significant changes will be weaved into the Medium Term Financial Plan.

The Strategic Director of Operations went onto explain that in March 2016 Cabinet approved a refreshed Transformation Programme 2016- 2018 with the aim to create a leaner and more agile organisation, focused on the customers, services and the communities the Council serves.

Members were informed that guided by the Council’s Transformation Programme, work to date had identified how the council’s expenditure could be reduced by £5.3m in 2017-18 through a mixture of increasing income and reducing cost.  The details were included in the report and further savings proposals would be brought to Cabinet in February 2017.

The Strategic Director of Operations explained that Members should be aware that some of the savings proposed were subject to individual cabinet reports and were therefore only included as draft proposals to be subsequently approved for inclusion in the budget.

Members were informed that the report recommended that managers were authorised to implement the proposals as soon as practicable to secure implementation by 1st April or earlier and that these proposals were included in the Budget for 2017-18 when discussed in February 2017.

Members were informed that the report would be going before Cabinet on the 29 September 2016.

Following the ensuing discussion the following points were noted:

Ø  With regard to the Community Wardens and Parking Enforcement section of Appendix A on page 11 of the report.  Members were informed that the Council was currently trialling a small pilot in the Town Centre and had been since the middle of August.  It was noted that the pilot was going very well due to the parking wardens heightened presence.  Members were informed that the findings of the short-term pilot would be fed into the report. 

Ø  The Strategic Director of Operations explained that one of the Councils Manifesto Commitments was to increase the number of Community Wardens but not spend more money and that the Council was therefore looking at creative ways of doing this.  It was noted that the Council was talking to the private sector to see if it could protect the Community Wardens function by enabling them to do more enforcement work. 

Ø  That Westminster Marshalls had been introduced recently and that the Strategic Director of Operations was looking forward to taking Members to speak to Westminster Council to find out the pro’s and con’s.  The Chairman stated that the mentality of people at Westminster might not be the same as people in the Royal Borough and that he did not want it to look like a private police force. 

Ø  Councillor Story stated that any changes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.