Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2018 and 19 September 2018 be confirmed.

Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary.

No declarations of interest were received.

Pat Jukes, Business Manager, Corporate Policy

a.    presented the proposals for a Commemorative Plaque Scheme for Lincoln.

b.    referred to paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3 of the report and detailed the background of the report.

c.    advised that there were a small number of commemorative plaques already in place at various locations across the city, erected under previous schemes operated by CoLC and Lincoln Civic Trust, the schemes had now lapsed and no guidance or criteria existed.

d.    highlighted the draft guidelines and criteria for the new Lincoln Scheme at appendix C of the report and advised that it was based on schemes operated by other councils.

e.    advised that the number of plaques would be limited to 3 per year.

f.     advised that the scheme would be operated by Development Management within existing staff resources, it was proposed that the new scheme should be partly funded by City of Lincoln Council (producing and installing the plaque)  for which a reserve budget of £2k initially would be identified through Finances.

g.    advised that each application would be considered by the Historic Environment Advisory Panel (HEAP) and recommended to Executive for a decision.

h.    invited members questions and comments

Question: Would all applications be considered by HEAP?

Response: The applications that did not fit the set criteria would be filtered out before they were considered by HEAP.

Question: Some of the eligibility criteria was very subjective, could all of the applications be considered by HEAP?

Response: We would take as many of the applications to HEAP as possible.

Comment: The unveiling of the plaques should be celebrated and suggested that they be a civic event.

Question: Were there any plans for updating the current plaques so that they were all of the same style?

Response: Not at the moment due to the cost, however, it could be considered if 3 applications were not received by the end of the year.

Comment: It was important that women were also recognised for their achievements as part of the scheme.

Response: Suggested that the balance of applications represented by men and women be monitored.

RESOLVED that

1.    the proposal to adopt a commemorative plaque scheme be supported.

2.    the following suggestions be considered by Executive:

a.    that the unveiling of the plaques be celebrated by holding a civic event.

b.    that the balance between the number of men and women that were being recognised for a plaque be monitored.

c.    that the current plaques be updated to the new style.

Francesca Bell, Public Protection, Antisocial Behaviour and Licensing Service Manager

a.    presented the proposal to implement a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to allow the gating of St Peters Passage, Lincoln.

b.    explained the legal conditions of the PSPO as detailed in paragraph 4 of the report.

c.    showed a video highlighting the issues in the passage including drug use and paraphernalia, also the passage was  being used as a toilet, smelling particularly strong of urine and also containing faeces.

d.    advised that for a number of years the City of Lincoln Council had received intermittent complaints about the condition of the passage and the number of complaints had increased significantly over the last 12 months.

e.    advised that the passage was unsanitary and posed a health and safety risk to both the Public, Street Cleaning Employees and Partner Agencies that accessed the passage. Additionally the passage did not portray Lincoln as a vibrant and welcoming city.

f.     advised that the proposed PSPO would be put in place for a maximum period of 3 years after which a full review would take place.

g.    referred to paragraph 5 of the report and detailed the consultation that had taken place with both the public and partner agencies and gave an overview of the 27 responses received.

h.    suggested that a review be undertaken with the Service Manager, Assistant Director and Portfolio Holder after 12 months and matters arising would be fed back to Policy Scrutiny Committee.

Question: Expressed concerns over displacement of the issues and asked what were the benefits of gating the passage?

Response: The issues were specific to this passage due to the layout. The gating of the passage would break the cycle of ASB and the task force would be in a better position to tackle the issues.

Question: Would gating this passage set a precedence for gating other passages if the issues were moved?

Response: Most of the other passages in the City would not be able to be gated.

Question: Expressed concerns over the displacement of issues and suggested that CCTV be placed in other passages such as the Glory Hole.

Response: This could be looked into.

RESOLVED that

1.    the proposed PSPO permitting the gating of the St Peters Passage be supported and referred to Executive for approval.

2.    that a review of the PSPO be brought to Policy Scrutiny Committee in 15 months’ time.

3.    That Executive consider implementing CCTV at other passages in the City.

Item deferred to the next meeting.

Becky Scott, Legal and Democratic Services Manager

a.    updated members on recent unauthorised encampments in the city and advised that there were proposed amendments to the Joint Protocol for Unauthorised Encampments in Lincolnshire.

b.    referred to Appendix A of the report and gave an overview of the encampments in the city in the last 3 years including the cleaning up costs.

c.    explained the current process for dealing with encampments and advised that each encampment would take up a substantial amount of Officer time and resources to deal with it.

d.    referred to paragraph 4 of the report and outlined the main changes to the Protocol that were being considered by Lincolnshire County Council.

e.    advised that Lincolnshire County Council had some minor amendments that had not been received yet, and suggested that delegated authority be granted by the Executive to the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council to sign the document once the amendments had been received.

f.     invited members questions and comments

Question:  Referred to paragraph 7 of the report and asked if there was any land outside of the city boundaries that could be used to offer as alternative sites for travellers?

Response: It was difficult to identify land for alternative sites across the County however, officers were working with other authorities to try and achieve this.

RESOLVED that

1.    the proposal to seek a city-wide Injunction Order be supported

2.    the delegation of authority to the Leader and Chief Executive for the signing off of the Joint Protocol dealing with Unauthorised Encampments in Lincolnshire be supported.

The Chair of Policy Scrutiny Committee updated members of the business that had been discussed at the Health Scrutiny meetings held on 13 June, 11 July and 12 September 2018, these were:

·         Children and Young Persons Service.

·         Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership Update

·         Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service for NHS Lincolnshire CCG’s – Thames Ambulance Service Limited.

·         The 2017 Annual Report of the Director of Public Health for Lincolnshire

·         Children and Young Persons at Lincolnshire NHS Trust – Risk to Safety of the Services

·         Review of Clinical Commissioning Group – Arrangements to Support Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership

·         Future Model of Service Provision of Specialist Health Services to People with a Learning Disability

·         Children and Young Persons at ULHT update

·         United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust – Update on Care Quality Commission Inspection

·         East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust Update

·         Non-Emergency Patient Transport for Lincolnshire – Thames Ambulance Service Limited

·         Renal Dialysis Services in Lincolnshire

·         Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transportation Partnership – Acute Service Review Consultation Plan

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Democratic Services Officer:

a.    presented the report ‘Policy Scrutiny Work Programme 2018-19 and Executive Work Programme Update’.

b.    presented the Executive Work Programme December 2018 – December 2019.

c.    requested councillors to submit what items they wished to scrutinise from the Executive Work Programme and policies of interest.

d.    invited members questions and comments.

Members made no further comments or suggestions regarding the Policy Scrutiny work programme.

RESOLVED that:

1.    the work Policy Scrutiny work programme be noted.

2.    the Executive work programme be noted.