Agenda item

Councillor Sue Burke Portfolio Holder for Reducing Inequality:

a.    presented a report to Performance Scrutiny Committee covering the following main areas:

-       Welfare and Benefits Advice

-       Welfare Reform and Cost of Living Support

-       Housing Benefit/Council Tax Support

-       Discretionary Rate Relief Policy

-       Financial Inclusion

-       Safeguarding

-       Skills and Training

-       Allocations, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping

-       Asylum Seekers and Refugees

-       Neighbourhood Working

-       Equality and Diversity

-       Public Protection and Anti-Social Behaviour Team (PPASB)

-       CCTV Service

-       Lincoln Community Lottery

-       Lincoln Social Responsibility Charter

b.    invited members comments and questions.

The committee discussed the report in detail and asked the following questions, it was agreed that answers would be provided from the relevant officers following the meeting:

·         How much did it cost to operate the Sincil Bank Community Hub in total?

·         How much did it cost to operate the Sincil Bank Community Hub per visitor?

·         How many of the visitors to the Sincil Bank Community Hub were unique? e.g. was it the same few people visiting regularly or a range of different people.

·         Did the visitor numbers reported include people who visited partners at the Sincil Bank Community Hub or just Council staff?

·         Was there data available to compare the footfall in the City over the weekend of the 9 and 10 December 2023 compared to the Christmas Market weekend in 2022?

·         What area of Hartsholme Park was covered by CCTV cameras and did the cameras operate via WIFI?

·         The number of evidence disks provided by CCTV to the Police had increased. Had this resulted in an increase in successful police prosecutions?

·         Why had dog fouling been removed from the enforcement list?

Members of the committee asked the following questions and received relevant responses:

Question: According to the data why was the amount of formal enforcement action taken low?

Response: This figure was not an indication of low quality or low rates of enforcement. The Corporate Enforcement Policy was to apply a tiered approach to enforcement and the majority of people engaged at an early stage. Formal enforcement action was taken in a small proportion of cases once all other action had failed.

Question: Why did the Council not enforce fly tipping?

Response: Officers investigated every report of fly tipping, however, it was difficult to find enough evidence to prosecute.

Comment:In future could more background information and context be provided within the report on fly tipping to explain the reasons for the low enforcement rate.

Question: How would the new law regarding XL Bull dogs be enforced?

Response: The Police were the primary enforcers of the Dangerous Dog Act. Data was currently being gathered so that we were aware of where the dogs were being kept. The Council could only take action if an offence occurred in a public space.

Question: Was Lincoln Embracing All Nations (LEAN) only available for residents of Sincil Bank?

Response: LEAN was a city-wide service and supported groups outside of the Sincil Bank area. 

Question: Could Councillors be briefed on the National Asylum Dispersal Scheme and the proposed site at RAF Scampton? Could this include the impact that the site would have on the City and the mitigation measures that would be put in place?

Response: This was a Home Office initiative and they had published some information fact sheets on their website. The City of Lincoln Council was engaging in conversations with the Home Office.

Question: Why had there been an increase in PPASB service requests from 3,205 in 2017/18 to 4,049 in 2022/23?

Response:  An exact cause could not be pin pointed, however, officers felt that it was due to a number of reasons such as reduced tolerance of neighbours post covid and people being less respectful of their communities.

Question: Had the work at Hermit Street commenced?

Response: Yes, the work had started and was due to be completed by September 2024.

Question: Was the feasibility study to develop the area of land under Pelham Bridge on track to be submitted by November 2023?

Response: Yes, it was still on track.

Question: During a Member Development training session it was advised that noxious fumes would be added to PPASB enforcement, had this been implemented yet? If so, had any complaints been received?

Response: This had not been implemented yet however the team had been taking complaints for a number of years. It would be added to the system shortly so that data could be gathered and reported.

Question: Previously the PPASB Officers had specific roles and expertise within the team. Were these Officers being trained so that they could respond to any of the team’s functions?

Response: Yes, a management of change process had facilitated all Technical Officers to work to the same job description.  Training had been ongoing for some time and this would be continued in order to upskill the team.

Question: The data provided in the PPASB satisfaction surveys showed a 100% satisfaction rate. However, there was a low response rate to the surveys. In future could some context be provided in the report?

Response: We would work with the policy team to include some context to this measure in future.

Question: Why had there not been an increase in incidents recorded even though the CCTV service coverage had been extended?
Response: The majority of incidents recorded continued to relate to the city centre. In other areas of the City the cameras acted as more of a deterrent.

Question: What were your views on the withdrawal of the PCSO’s in the City?
Response: PCSOs fulfil an important role in the city and their numbers had not been reduced by as many as feared. However, the loss of the Police ASB officer has had more of a significant impact. It was an important role within the City and we did not want to lose the officer from the PPASB team.  Both the Council and the Police had put procedures in place to plug the gap but this would not be as effective as having an ASB police officer embedded within the team.

RESOLVED that the annual report be noted.