To receive apologies for absence from Members.

M Shepherd – Interim Chief Executive, Cllr T Thomas, Cllr T Giffard.

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008 (including whipping declarations)

Cllr Jon-Paul Blundell declared a personal interest in that he is a member of the Public Service Board (PSB) Assets Sub-Group.

Cllr John Spanswick declared a personal interest as he is a member of the PSB Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

Cllr Carolyn Webster declared a personal interest in that she is a Board member for the YMCA.

Cllr Rod Shaw declared a personal interest in that he is a member of the PSB Overview and Scrutiny Panel as well as a member of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority.

Cllr Martyn Jones declared a personal interest in that he is Director of a company that has provided professional consultancy services to the Community Safety Partnership. 

To receive for approval the minutes of 11/02/2019

RESOLVED:                

That the minutes of the meeting of Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 3 dated 17 September 2018 be approved as a true and accurate record.

Invitees:

Cllr Richard Young - Cabinet Member Communities.

Mark Shephard - Interim Chief Executive

Martin Morgans - Head of Performance and Partnership Services

Supt Claire Evans - South Wales Police

Inspector Cheryl Griffiths - South Wales Police

Judith Jones - Partnership Co-ordinator.

The Head of Performance and Partnership Services presented the report to the Committee the purpose of which was to receive an overview of the Bridgend Community Safety Partnership Priorities and Projects to review progress to date.

The Committee were advised that Bridgend Public Services Board (PSB) was established on 1 April 2016, following the introduction of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. At their meeting on 27 March 2017, the PSB took the opportunity to review the governance arrangements and priorities of the Bridgend Community Safety Partnership (CSP). The PSB decided to embed the activities of the Bridgend CSP into its own assessment and planning activities and by making it a sub board of the PSB.  The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and subsequent legislation outlines clear responsibilities for community safety.

The Head of Performance and Partnership advised that a Strategy Group had been established which includes representatives from the 6 responsible authorities including:

• Police
• Police and Crime Commissioner
• Local Authority
• Fire and Rescue Service
• Health
• Probation

The Head of Performance and Partnership described the various responsibilities of the Strategy Group, the work it had undertaken including additional key areas of work as well as responding to community safety issues as they have arisen.

On the subject of funding the Committee were advised that funding was now centralised to make best use of the resources available to them.  In this way, the Authority could be confident that they could look at issues holistically, reduce duplication and target where they needed to.  Key to this however was the reporting of crime, and this was the rationale provided for why Bridgend Town Centre and Maesteg had been focus areas for some of the CSP’s work. The Committee were advised that the work was based on Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) reports in the two areas and whilst appreciating Members’ concerns over smaller, isolated communities, there simply wasn’t the evidence to point in that direction.  The Head of Performance and Partnerships stressed the importance of all crime being reported in order that Cabinet and the Corporate Management Board can then target and focus work appropriately.

The Committee expressed concerns over the Authority’s continuous reduction to Youth Service provision citing it as necessary service to provide diversion for young people. The reliance now appeared to be on grant funding and the Third Sector.  Members were advised that the Youth Offending Service would be returning to Bridgend to sit under the Community Safety Partnership who will provide suitable governance.  In addition to this, the South Wales Police representatives explained that there was an increasing focus on restorative justice with all officers trained to provide community resolution.  This involved the offender acknowledging what they had done and with the agreement of the victim, sometimes apologising or arranging to fix any damage caused.  There was also a matrix score used for youths coming into custody where, should for example, this be their first offence, they may be referred to a restorative youth panel rather than put into  ...  view the full minutes text for item 113.

The Scrutiny Officer presented the Forward Work Programme report highlighting the feedback from the last meeting, the Scrutiny Workshop scheduled to take place at the next meeting and the new proposed Scrutiny items.

RESOLVED:

a)    The Committee approved the feedback from their previous meetings and noted the responses

b)    The Committee:

                        i.         Requested that in relation to the upcoming Scrutiny Forward Work Programme workshops discussion be held around the possibility of engaging other staff representatives of the Authority in scrutiny meetings and discussions to gain a more in depth understanding of service provision.

                       ii.         Agreed to allocate the subject of the ‘Local Development Plan’ (LDP) for their meeting on 26 June 2019, with the ‘Wellbeing of Future Generations Act –Self Evaluation’ as a reserve item.  In relation to the LDP item, Members requested that the report focus on the process involved for developing the plan – including what regard is given for the requirements for other services such as Health and Education?  What regard is given for the impact on communities, the MTFS, employment opportunities, pressures on public services and the future sustainability of all these? The Committee also requested that representatives from Health and the Police are invited to attend this meeting.

c)     In relation to the Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committees FWP the Committee:

                        i.         Agreed the additional items on the FWP;

                       ii.         Agreed that the item titled ‘Review of Enforcement Vehicle’ needed to be more than just an information report but possibly too small for it to be an individual item.  The Committee proposed that this be considered as part of another related topic.  The scrutiny officer agreed to take the comments back and see possibly where it could fit in with another item;

                      iii.         Agreed the following allocation for future items to Scrutiny Committees:

             3 June 2019 – SOSC 1 – Communication and Engagement

       5 June 2019 – SOSC 2 – Post 16 ALN Review

       12 June 2019 –SOSC 3 – Waste

RESOLVED:

The Committee noted that a survey of timings of meetings of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings will be undertaken and that the outcome of the survey will be reflected in the Programme of Meetings 2019/2020 to be considered at the Annual Meeting of Council on 15 May 2019.

The Committee did however ask that the survey include flexibility for other times such as on the half hours and make allowance for any further comments or suggestions.

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in

accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.