Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed members and guests to the meeting which was sitting as the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2017 were received.

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.

You are asked to resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items because it is likely that if members of the press or public were present, there would be disclosure to them of 'exempt information'

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item(s) of business because it was 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.

Chief Superintendent Nikki Mayo, Lincolnshire Police will present the performance overview to the Committee.

Chief Superintendent Nikki Mayo:-

a)    presented the Police Performance Overview for Lincoln which covered the period up to 31 March 2018

b)    explained that they were trying to reduce demand in the control room

c)    highlighted that there were concerns over safety with regards to people walking out of hospital unsupervised as well as that area being a hot spot for call outs from the prison and PHC (Peter Hodgkinson centre) so calls had generally increased

d)    invited members’ comments and questions

Question: Why had there been an increase in demand in the north of Lincoln?

Response: Due to the demand of patients from Hospital/Prison/PHC there was further work being carried out to increase security for the PHC, it was proving to be a huge challenge.

Question: In relation to the statistics that were presented did these only highlight the calls that were answered?

Response: Yes. They only showed when an incident had been created whether it was urgent or would require to be signposted.

Question: Was the reduction in Anti-Social Behaviour queries due to people calling the City of Lincoln Council and other networks?

Response: They were the statistics that were reported to the call centre although staff had tried to direct calls through to 101 and the street intervention team.

Question: In regards to the number of calls where an incident was created, were 101 calls always being answered?

Response: There had been delays. The statistics showed the calls that were answered but there were plans to look into 101 calls to make improvements.

Questions: With regards to 101 calls, if the call was delayed would it eventually be answered?

Response: There would be a delay however it would be answered eventually. A G4S partner was currently managing the control room. There would be a potentially review on freeing up capacity in the control room to allow for more calls to be answered.

Nikki May explained that there were currently issues with the training that drivers were undertaking which lead to blue light calls being timed out and response times were being delayed further as a result.

Question: What response times did forces in other areas have?

Response: It was standard time across the board. Others had 20 minutes response time rather than 15 minutes due to being in a rural area.

Question: Was there any indication of other police stations closing down soon?

Response: Bracebridge Heath station was closing and staff were moving to South Park. Birchwood remained open at the moment.

Question: When would the new Fire/Police station be opening?

Response: Hopefully the end of September. It was originally going to be the beginning of September but some snagging issues caused delays.

Question: Who was the training organiser for Domestic Abuse?

Response: A lady called Sarah within the force would be able to provide more information on training.

Question: Were the figures for common assault without leading to injury part of the statistics?

Response: No, only what was reported.

Nikki Mayo explained that Operation Argentina had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

It was noted at this point in the proceedings that the press and public were permitted to re-join the meeting as there was no further ‘exempt information’ to be discussed, although there were no press/public present in the public gallery this evening.

Francesca Bell, Public Protection, ASB and Licensing Service Manager:

a)    presented to the committee an overview of the current level of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) across the city.

b)    explained that the Lincoln Intervention Team was launched in October 2018 and currently had funding until December 2020. The team was working to reduce on-street Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) by holistically working with individuals to deal with the root cause of their behaviour. The team included an ASB Outreach Officer, Mental Health Nurse Outreach Officer, Addaction Outreach Officer and a Team Coordinator.

c)    highlighted that from 1^st April to 31^st March 2019 the PPASB team received 3181 requests across all of their service areas including Anti-Social Behaviour, noise nuisance, animal related concerns, littering, dog fouling, fly tipping, condition of properties, bins on the streets and many others.

d)    invited members’ comments and questions.

Question: How did the intervention team fit in with the police? What were their powers?

Response: The intervention team all sat within a few feet of each other and powers were shared through evidence gathering with the police.

Question: Was begging considered an offence?

Response: Yes, through old law. Community Protection notices dealt with the issue though which could lead to a criminal behaviour order.

Question: Had the number of begging incidences reduced?

Response: Yes, with the help of partnership working and through the rough sleeper project etc.

Question: How much was the fixed penalty notice for littering?

Response: £75 reduced to £50 if paid early.

Question: If a garden was overgrown and a complaint was made, could enforcement action be taken?

Response: Yes, however there were a number of steps to go through e.g. warning letter etc.

Question: Did injunctions apply to an area under a PSPO?

Response: Yes, anyone in that area would be subjected to it.

Question: Had any City of Lincoln Council staff experienced violent and threatening behaviour?

Response: No incidents had been reported. They had experienced a small amount of aggressive behaviour but it wasn’t severe enough to report.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

Francesca Bell, Public Protection, ASB and Licensing Service Manager, City of Lincoln Council will be in attendance.

This update was covered within agenda item 5.

Sarah Loftus, Chief Executive, Lincoln BIG will be in attendance.

Sarah Loftus, representing, Lincoln Business Improvement Group:

a)    provided a brief introduction about herself and her role as Chief Executive

b)    explained the role of Lincoln BIG in the City of Lincoln which included:

-       being funded by local businesses in the city

-       400K had been raised from the Bid Levy

-       5 key areas were being focused on, one being security and begging

-       the implementation of Ask Angela

-       diverting people from giving to the homeless to giving to charity

-       the relaunch of the Shopwatch scheme which now had 359 members

-       drinks detective scheme – 10 venues had signed up to the scheme

-       supporting Street Pastors

-       the running of the bus scheme and car park scheme for BIG levy payers

c)    invited members’ comments and questions.

Question: How did Ask Angela work?

Response: If an individual felt uneasy around someone they would report it to the bar staff by saying “Ask Angela”. The bar staff would then arrange suitable transport home.

Question: Between 6pm and 8pm seemed to be the most unsafe time to be in town alone. Was something being done to help this?

Response: It had been highlighted however it needed to be reported more.

The Chair thanked members of Lincoln Business Improvement Group for all their good work in partnership with other stakeholders. It was great to see businesses getting together and something positive being done.

RESOLVED that the verbal update be noted with thanks.