(b)Declarations of Interest by all Members present of
any personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any
interest and whether the Members regard the interest as prejudicial
under the terms of the Code of Conduct.
(c)Exclusion of Press and Public - To consider whether,
in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the
nature of the proceedings, the press and public should be excluded
from the meeting when any of the following items are under
consideration.
NOTE: Any
item appearing in Part 2 of the Agenda states in its heading the
category under which the information disclosed in the report is
exempt from disclosure and therefore not available to the
public.
A list and description of the exempt
categories is available for public inspection at Brighton and Hove
Town Halls.
Minutes:
1A
Declarations of Substitutes
1.1
Councillor Cobb declared that she was
attending the meeting as a Substitute Member for Councillor Hyde.
Councillor Watkins declared that he was attending the meeting as a
Substitute Member for Councillor Elgood.
1B
Declarations of Interest
1.2
There were none.
1C
Exclusion of Press and Public
1.3
The Committee considered whether the press and
public should be excluded from the meeting during the consideration
of any items contained in the agenda, having regard to the nature
of the business to be transacted and the nature of the proceedings
and the likelihood as to whether, if members of the press and
public were present, there would be disclosure to them of
confidential or exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A, Part
5A, Section 100A(4) or 100 1 of the Local Government Act 1972 (as
amended).
1.4
RESOLVED- That the
press and public be not excluded from the meeting.
Minutes of the
meeting held on 25 February 2008 (copy attached).
Minutes:
2.1
RESOLVED– That
the minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2008 be approved and
signed by the Chair.
3.
Chairman's Communications
Minutes:
3.1
The Chairman confirmed that under his role as
Cabinet Member for Environment, being the Chairman of the Community
Safety Forum was his remit.
3.2
The Chairman informed the Panel that the dates
of the meetings scheduled to be held in December 2008 and March
2009 would have to be changed by one week. The meeting scheduled
for Monday 1 December would now be held on Monday 8 December, the
meeting scheduled for Monday 2 March would now be held on Monday 9
March.
4.
Callover
NOTE: Public Questions will be reserved
automatically.
Minutes:
4.1
All Items were taken for
discussion.
5.
Public Questions
a)theclosing date for receipt of public questions is 12 noon on
Monday 30 June 2008.
b)theclosing date for receipt of public questions for the meeting to
be held on Monday 6 October is 12 noon on Monday 29 September
2008.
Councillor Morgan cited from his letter (for
copy see minute book).
6.2
Sgt. Peter Castleton stated that he had
included in the agenda the full powers of PCSOs. He stated that PCSOs do have the power to issue Fixed-Penalty
Notices (FPNs) and that they are
expected to issue tickets. It was recommended by the Forum that
PCSOs should be made aware that they do
have the power to issue FPNs for this
offence.
6.3
Ms Macho stated that the council employed 4.1
posts as animal welfare officers but stated that the issue of dog
mess was a difficult area to enforce. She stated that the officers
would first have to catch dogs fouling and then wait to see whether
the owners picked up the mess. Ms Macho said that the council
approach to the problem focussed around issues of education and
information. Ms Macho added that the new Dog Control Orders would
see a uniform system across the city which would help to satisfy
concerns.
Ian Glossop, Interim Head of Scrutiny, gave an
overview of how scrutiny would work under the new governance
arrangements (for copy see minute book). He stated that the
scrutiny committee of relevance and interest to the Forum would be
the Environment & Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny
Committee.
7.2
Councillor Morgan extended an open invitation
to all Members of the Forum to come and view a meeting, as the
Environment & Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny
Committee, which had issues pertaining to community safety at its
heart.
7.3
Mr D Peacock, of St. James’ Street
Community Safety Group, stated that he was concerned that under the
new arrangements, the Forum would move further away from its
grassroots level of involvement and become too
“technical” for people to feel involved. He stated that
he was concerned about the level of participation that people would
need to put in to the relevant groups following the governance
change.
7.4
Councillor Duncan stated that he was concerned
about the capacity of the Environment & Community Safety
Overview & Scrutiny Committee and whether it would be able to
persevere under a potentially very heavy workload. Councillor
Duncan stated that he wanted to believe that the Committee would be
able to cope with workloads but that he was pessimistic. Mr
Stevens, Area Housing Panels Representative, expressed a similar
sentiment and requested that the there be enough resources
available so that the Committee is not overloaded by work
requests.
7.5
Mr Glossop stated that he would ensure that
the work programmes for the Scrutiny Committees were robust and
properly resourced and that he wanted to develop a Scrutiny
focussed on outcomes. Ms Beanlands
stated that the Community Safety Forum would have the same
functions as before, and that the Forum would continue to ask
questions and examine ideas/reports. Ms Beanlands stated that the Forum could call for
reports and if the Forum was not happy with outcomes, she stated
that the Forum could call for scrutiny and request that a matter be
considered for inclusion within the work programme.
7.6
Councillor Morgan stated that he wanted to see
a crossover between the CSF and the ECSOSC but that he wanted to
avoid duplication.
The Forum considered a report of the Director of
Strategy & Governance and Acting Director of Cultural Services
on the Development of a Community Engagement Framework by the 2020
Community Partnership (for copy see minute book).
8.2
Ms Angie Greany
said that the document before the Forum was dependent on partners
that make up the Forum as she wanted to determine what community
engagement means and how community engagement would be able to get
the best outcomes for the community.
She stated that these outcomes would develop into a citywide
framework for community engagement. Therefore, she drew attention
to the recommendation that groups at the forum should take the
consultation document back to their respective individual
organisations for discussion and to provide a response. She stated
that it was important that all groups undertook this consultation
in order to develop a framework to which all groups
adhered.
8.3
Mr Francis Tonks,
Older People’s Council, stated that he would like to see
older people represented as they were a very significant community
within the city. Ms Emma McDermott stated that older people were on
the Local Strategic Partnership and that the council was working
with the Chair of the Pensioners’ Forum and the Older
People’s Council.
8.4
Mr Bill Gandey, of
the Bevendean LAT,asked how
organisations would get involved with the development of the
Community Engagement Framework if they were not part of any listed
group.
8.5
Many Members of the Forum expressed concerns
that they had other commitments during the week when officers were
available to meet with them and asked that alternative options for
consultation be arranged. The Chairman suggested that officers be
available some Saturdays to meet with the community
groups.
8.6
It was noted that there was to be a separate
session arranged for Councillors of Brighton & Hove City
council on the Community Engagement Framework.
Sgt. Peter Castleton introduced the statistics
detailing crime trends and performance in Brighton & Hove in
April and May 2008 with the same period last year (for copy see
minute book). Sgt. Castleton stated that in the months of April and
May that total crimes had reduced 20.9% compared with the same
period in the previous year, well in excess of the target. He said
that there was a significant increase in domestic burglary, but
that this was the only crime showing a notable increase.
9.2
Councillor Duncan stated that he was concerned
at the significant upward trend in domestic burglary and asked if
this was in someway related to the current economic
climate.
9.3
Councillor Kennedy stated that she was again
pleased to see a fall in the total crime rate but that she was
concerned by a sudden increase in domestic violence
incidents.
9.4
Sgt. Castleton stated that a lot of crime in
the city had alcohol as a contributory factor. He stated that
70-80% of arrests in the city can be linked with alcohol in some
way.
9.5
Sgt. Castleton confirmed to the Forum that
many violent criminals were ‘home
grown’. Sgt Castleton stated that it was not an influx of
people from outside the city that caused many of the statistical
charts to spike in the summer but rather that more people were out
on the streets and that there was more chance of encountering
conflict. He stated that many victims and offenders were
local.
10.
'Challenge and Support' and the development of a new targeted Youth Support Service
Presentation.
Minutes:
10.1
Ms Beanlands gave
an overview on the development of a new targeted youth support
service. Ms Beanlands stated that the
scheme, being led by Aaron Devereaux,
aimed to lead young people away from crime. The scheme aimed to
change the behaviour of young people in order to keep them out of
the Criminal Justice System.
10.2
It was stated that two hubs for the service
would be established in each of the central, east and west areas of
the city. These hubs would provide a new targeted youth support
service working to deter young people from getting involved in
crime and anti-social behaviour.
10.3
Members of the Forum praised the work being
undertaken, and that the fact that the work was being done
in-house.
10.4
Members of the Forum expressed concerns that
the reason for the anti-social behaviour was a lack of facilities
for young people.
10.5
Councillor Young stated that in her role as a
Cabinet Member for Finance, that she
intended to look more at youth provision in the city.
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