Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 24 August 2021 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

No declarations of interest were received.

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

a.    presented a proposal regarding the review of an existing Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) which prevented access to the St Peters Passage in the City Centre area of Lincoln.

b.    advised that the proposal was in consultation with the public and relevant partners prior to consideration by Executive.

c.     gave the background to the report and advised that the implementation of the PSPO permitting access to St Peters Passage by way gating either end of the passage was agreed at Executive in April 2018.

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

e.    referred to paragraph 6 of the report and detailed the consultation that had taken place with both the public and partner agencies and gave an overview of the 9 responses received.

f.      referred to the draft order at Appendix D of the report and proposed that the PSPO be continued in its current form for a further 3 years.

g.    advised that Officers would continue to work collaboratively with partners to actively manage ASB across the city centre.

h.    invited committee’s questions and comments.

Question: Asked if there had been any displacement to St Peters at Arches Passage.

Response: There had not been any evidence of displacement. The St Peters Passage was used by on street cohorts, whereas the passage at St Peters at Arches was mostly linked to the night time economy. Officers were working with the Police to address this.

Question: Referred to the consultation response relating to the broken locks on the gates and commented that the issues had recommenced straight away once access was available to the passage and had stopped when the locks had been repaired. This suggested that this was evidence to show that there was still a need for the passage to be gated.

Response: Officers agreed that the evidence suggested that the passageway should continue to be gated.

Question: Asked if the gating of the passage affected the fire escapes to businesses nearby.

Response: Consultation had taken place with both the Fire and Rescue Service and local businesses. Officers would double check that there were no active fire escapes in the passage.

Question: Asked if the passage would revert back to public access once the PSPO ended.

Response: The passage would become public access once the PSPO ended, unless the redevelopment of the area took place in the mean time, which would resolve the issue.

RESOLVED that the proposal to continue the PSPO permitting the gating of St Peters Passage for a further period of 3 years be supported and referred to Executive for consideration.

The Chair of Policy Scrutiny Committee updated members of the business that had been discussed at the Health Scrutiny meeting held on 21 July 2021.

Councillor G Hewson referred to a press report which stated that there was an 18 year difference in life expectancy between residents of Park Ward and people living in other areas of the City. He expressed his concern and asked why there was a gap in life expectancy and what was being done to tackle this issue.

The committee discussed in detail the issues raised and the options available for scrutiny. It was suggested that Simon Walters, Director of Communities and Environment be asked to provide some data on the life expectancy across all areas of the City and provide information on what work was being done to address this issue.

RESOLVED that Simon Walters, Director of Communities and Environment be requested to provide a report on Health Inequalities for a future Policy Scrutiny Committee.

The Democratic Services Officer:

a.    presented the report ‘Policy Scrutiny Work Programme 2021 -22 and Executive Work Programme Update’.

b.    presented the Executive Work Programme September 2021 – August 2022.

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.

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item(s) of business because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be a disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100I and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Caroline Bird, Community Services Manager:

a)    updated Policy Scrutiny Committee on the operation of the CCTV service

b)    invited members’ comments and questions.

Members discussed the content of the report in further detail.

RESOLVED that the proposal be supported and referred to Executive for consideration.