Agenda and minutes

            It was noted that no public questions had been received.

            The Board considered the minutes of the Executive Board and the Executive Board Sub-Committee relating to the Safer Halton Policy and Performance Board.

In relation to the Waste Management Minute No. EXB012 it was reported that a letter had been sent to Warrington Borough Council confirming Halton’s intention to work with Merseyside and no response had been received to date.

The Board will receive a presentation from the Principal Emergency Planning Officer on the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 outlining the responsibilities and expectations for local responders during an emergency. 

            The Board received a presentation from the Principal Emergency Planning Officer which gave a brief overview of the Civil Contingencies Act and outlined:

• the aim of the act;
• local responders (Category 1 and 2);
• duties of responders;
• risk assessment;
• emergency planning; and
• business continuity management.

The Board was informed of the Cheshire, Halton and Warrington Local Resilience Forum and the Community Risk Register.  It was reported that Halton had emergency plans to deal with potential risks for example, Pandemic Flu, Silver Jubilee Bridge and localised events such as Creamfields.

It was noted that training programmes were in place and multi agency exercises were performed in order to ensure correct procedures would be carried out. The Board was advised that Halton was leading the way with business continuity management and had piloted initiative schemes with the Chamber of Commerce and Business Link.  Various activities had also been carried out with the voluntary sectors.

Discussions arose regarding the success of previous exercises, the need to review off-site plans and which agency would take the lead during incidents.  Members congratulated and thanked the emergency planning team for their performance and achievements during incidents in the past.  On behalf of the Board the Chairman thanked the Principal Emergency Planning Officer for her presentation.

RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

            Members were advised of the functions undertaken within the Environmental and Regulatory Services Department. It was reported that the new department was created on 1 April 2006 with the purpose of co-ordinating a number of key services.  The new structure of the department was circulated with the agenda, illustrating which services fell under each Divisional Manager.  Also distributed was an in-depth brief by division of what each department did.

            Discussions arose around the need to change people’s attitudes and approach to recycling, the current vacant posts in certain departments and savings that could be made to the budget.  It was agreed that a detailed report and update on service delivery and quality would be brought back to a future meeting.

A suggestion was made that a change of job title be made for Jimmy Unsworth from “Head of Service – Waste Management” to “Head of Service - Waste Management and Recyclables”. The Operational Director - Environmental and Regulatory Services agreed that this would be considered. 

            RESOLVED: That

(1)       the report be noted; and

(2)       a detailed report and update on service delivery and quality be submitted to a future meeting of the Board.

The Board will receive a talk from the Head of Halton Youth Service outlining the roles taken to prevent anti-social behaviour in the Borough.

            The Board received a presentation from David Williams, Head of Youth Service, which outlined the role the youth service had in relation to anti-social behaviour. 

            It was reported that 80 percent of youth crime was committed by only two percent of young people, that anti-social behaviour was not a new phenomena and that even the Greek philosopher Plato commented on it in ancient Greece.

            It had been identified that young people need more places to go and things to do.  It was noted that the youth service would get involved in more activities with young people in partnership with sports development, arts and culture, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and the voluntary youth sector, which would prevent some anti-social behaviour.

            It was reported that engagement along with prevention, enforcement and rehabilitation were all elements of an anti-social behaviour policy which was being written by officers from the appropriate departments and organisations.  The engagement and participation elements could be carried out by the youth service with young people.

            The youth service had organised events and celebrations and had engaged young people in more activities recently.  In addition there were education programmes, youth centres and projects for young people to become involved in.

            Members noted that there was an Anti-Social Behaviour Working Party to be held 27 September 2006 and requested that copies of notes from that meeting be circulated to the Board.

            On behalf of the Board the Chairman thanked Mr D. Williams for his presentation.

            RESOLVED: That;

(1)               the presentation be noted; and

(2)               copies of notes from the Anti-Social Behaviour Working Party be circulated to members.

The Board will receive a presentation from the Community Fire Safety Manager – Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service providing an update on the latest community fire safety initiatives in and around Halton giving ideas for future improvement of partnership working.

            It was reported that this item would be deferred to future meeting.

            The Board received a report which provided details of the impact of vandalism on schools and a summary of both the schools and council’s responsibility in relation to responding to incidents of vandalism.

            The Board was advised that any minor damages were dealt with by the caretaker, site manager or key holder and the school would cover the cost for it, therefore schools were advised to take out an all risk insurance policy.  For major incidents like arson or flooding that affect the functions of the school, an emergency team would be sent to assess the severity of the damage and support the school in order for it to reopen. 

            It was reported that there were a number of working groups in place to tackle vandalism, which met regularly to discuss various issues.  In addition it was noted that in conjunction with the Risk Management Department there was a Capital Works Programme Fund of £120,000 that invited schools to bid on an annual basis for funds to make their property more safe and secure.  Detailed in the report was a table of expenditure that illustrated which schools had benefited from the funds for 2006/2007. 

            The Board was informed of seminars that had taken place to inform site managers and caretakers of activities they could do to keep their schools more secure and how to minimise vandalism.  Cheshire Fire Service had agreed to visit all schools before the end of 2006 to educate pupils of the impact and detrimental affects arson had on schools.

            RESOLVED: That schools be encouraged to allow their Site Manager / Caretaker to attend seminars on school security and fire precautions.

            The Board was presented with the Annual Report, which detailed the activities of the Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods Policy and Performance Board (PPB) during 2005/06.

            RESOLVED: That the Annual Report be noted.

            The Board received a report which sought Member’s support for the operation of the Warrington Borough Council Trading Standards Approved Motor Trading Scheme in Halton. 

            It was advised that an agreement in principle with Warrington Trading Standards had been reached and that their scheme could be extended to allow Halton businesses to join.  It was noted that Halton would expect to support the scheme to the extent of:

• the production and distribution of flyers to potential members (cost of postage and printing of approximately 100 flyers);
• promotion of the scheme during officers’ routine visits (negligible additional time required); and
• liaising with Warrington prior to their annual inspection of members (probably one hour of officer time per member).

Members discussed idea of more and more traders joining the scheme and the benefit Halton traders would receive without the associated costs to Halton of operating such a scheme itself.

      RESOLVED: That;

(1)               the report be noted; and

(2)               the Executive Board be requested to agree the operation of the Warrington Borough Council Trading Standards Approved Motor Trading Scheme in Halton.

The Board received a report which outlined the need for a Local Area Agreement (LAA) to be negotiated with Central Government by April 2007.  A LAA was a three year protocol which set out the priorities for a local area, as represented by the lead local authority and other key partners through the Local Strategic Partnership. The Board was updated on the progress made to date in this respect.

The idea was that LAA’s would join up, focus and simplify the administration of neighbourhood renewal activity which would enable utilisation of external funding streams. It was reported that if 20 funding streams were to be joined monies saved may be re-invested in future services.

In addition it was reported that the agreement identified a number of enabling measures that the Council would like Government to consider to remove barriers to Halton’s progress. 

Concerns were raised regarding the funding streams being rolled into one and the issue of accountability.

RESOLVED: That

(1)               the report and the outline of the process be noted; and

(2)               comments by Members to the Executive Board on the draft Agreement be provided prior to its approval and submission to Government by the end of September 2006.

            The Board received a report, which outlined the topics and issues discussed at the meetings of Working Parties set up by the Safer Halton PPB.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Board was informed of the new process for reporting on performance monitoring. The first quarterly monitoring reports had been published in August to enable Members to review performance within service areas at the earliest possible opportunity.

The performance considerations were detailed in the report and highlighted the key findings in the quarterly monitoring reports for the following services:

• Highways and transportation;
• Environmental and Regulatory Services;
• Culture and Leisure Services; and
• Health and Partnerships.

The Board raised concerns regarding the new process for reporting on performance monitoring, as it felt it was unable to undertake its scrutiny function efficiently and effectively without receiving paper copies of the full monitoring reports. In addition it was felt that the performance monitoring item should be first on the agenda in order for lead officers to be present to be accountable, if necessary.

In response it was noted that paper copies would be distributed from the Policy Unit once they had been uploaded on to the intranet.

RESOLVED: That

(1)                the service performance and progress towards achieving objectives and targets be received; and

(2)               in future, paper copies of the performance monitoring reports be distributed to Board Members.