Agenda and minutes

Apologies as noted above.

To receive any declaration of interest by any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

No declaration of interest received.

To submit, for confirmation, the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September, 2013.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 September, 2013 were confirmed, subject to the amendment at Item 6 that the representatives from the organisations be invited to attend the meeting in March 2014 and not March 2013.

To submit an update report by Senior Partnership Manager.

Submitted – an update report by Mr. Trystan Pritchard, Senior Partnerships Manager on the partnership structures and financial arrangements including grant allocation.  The report also provided the progress to date on the initial draft development of a Single Integrated Plan for Anglesey and Gwynedd.

Members considered that the Managers of the Children & Young Peoples Service and the Health and Wellbeing Service should be requested to give indepth presentations to this Committee in the future.

RESOLVED to note the report.

ACTION : That a special meeting be convened in February to discuss the final version of the Single Integrated Plan for Anglesey and Gwynedd.

To submit a report in relation to the above.

Submitted – the Annual Community Safety Partnership update.

The Scrutiny Officer stated that the Community Safety Partnership is required to formally report to this Committee, on an annual basis, to provide an overview of activities undertaken.  This ensures that the Partnership meets its obligations under Sections 19 and 20 of the Police & Criminal Justice Act 2006. 

Mr. Trystan Pritchard, Senior Partnerships Manger apologised on behalf of Ms. Catherine Roberts, Senior Community Safety Officer?? was unable to attend this meeting due to illness.  Mr. Pritchard stated that local authorities have a statutory duty to work in partnership with the Police, Health Service, Probation and Fire & Rescue Service to address the local community safety agenda.  He introduced Temporary Chief Inspector Simon Barrasford (North Wales Police) who has responsibility for the County of Anglesey and Mr. Geraint Hughes (Fire & Rescue) who are the key partners within the scheme. 

Members referred to the ensuring crime figures for Anglesey and Gwynedd with Anglesey having 434 fewer recorded crimes in the last year, which is a 23% reduction in the crime figures. Temporary Chief Inspector Simon Barrasford stated that he was satisfied that the crime figures are accurate and said that partnership working with different organisations has contributed to the reduction in the crime figures on Anglesey.

Mr. Trystan Pritchard further reported that during the past 18 months, the Partnership has been subjected to a significant amount of restructuring, both on a regional and local basis.  All the grant funds received by the CSP have been subjected to changes.  The supporting resources have been reduced, and some regional restructuring processes are still to be completed.  A list of the main activities were noted within the report.

Following a question and answer session it was RESOLVED to note the report.

ACTION : That a press release be published that this Committee welcome the reduced crime figures on Anglesey.

To submit a report in relation to the above.

Submitted – a report by the Head of Housing Services in relation to the progress with the implementation of Communities First Programme in Anglesey.  A DVD prepared by the volunteers of the CF Programme was shown to the Committee.

It was noted that on the 1^st February, 2013 the existing staff from the former Communities First Partnerships were transferred to Môn Communities First Ltd.  Môn Communities First Ltd., is managed by a Board of Directors which includes the Portfolio Holder for Housing & Social Services and Officers as observers.  As a company limited by guarantee and a charity, the organisation has the ability to secure additional external funding to support the delivery of Communities First services in the area which the Authority as a public body may not have been eligible to apply for.   

Members of the Committee raised the following issues :-

·        Disappointment expressed that no representation from the Môn Communities First Ltd., was able to attend this Committee;

·        Concerns expressed that the minutes of the Board of the Môn Communities First Ltd., was not a public document.  The Head of Housing Services responded that she and the Portfolio Holder for Housing & Social Services receive the minutes.  She noted that following legal advice the Môn Communities First Ltd., are not legally bound to publish their minutes.

·        Members noted their disappointment that poverty was the only benchmark WG used to identify Communities First areas.

RESOLVED to note the report.

ACTION : To receive an Annual Report on the Communities First programme on Anglesey.

To submit a report in relation to the above.

The Chair welcomed Ms. Dawn Docx, Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Mr. Richard Fairhead to the meeting to give a presentation on the Consultation Document on the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.  The end of the consultation period is 9^th December, 2013.

Ms. Docx stated that the main objectives of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is :-

·        To help to keep people and communities safe by preventing deaths and injuries from accidental fires in living accommodation;

·        To ensure that North Wales gets the best possible level of service within financial constraints, use a variety of management solutions to optimise fire and rescue cover in the area.

·        To implement a 3 year financial plan for 2014/15 to 2016/17 that funds the current level of service, but that aims to limit the cost of doing so to the equivalent of an extra £1 per year per head of population.

In addition to reducing the budget by a further £800k, plans are in place for this year :-

·        Deliver a Community Safety/Risk Reduction Strategy;

·        Continuously monitor the incidence and causes of dwelling fires;

·        Involve partner organisations in learning lessons from dwelling fires to reduce the likelihood of recurrence;

·        Examine the factors that may contribute to making some people more vulnerable to fires than others, cross-referenced where appropriate to the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010;

·        Review the Service’s current arrangements with partner organisations for the delivery of home fire safety checks and referrals of particularly vulnerable people;

·        Monitor the Service’s adherence to the commitments made through the new Dwelling Fires Response Charter.

Following a question and answer session it was RESOLVED to note the report.

·        ACTION : To support the implementation of a 3 year financial plan for 2014/15 to 2016/17 that funds the current level of service, but that aims to limit the cost of doing so to the equivalent of an extra £1 per year per head of population.

To receive any announcements by the Chair or Vice-Chair.

The Vice-Chair questioned if an update was to be submitted to this Committee in respect of the Transformation Boards.  The Scrutiny Officer responded that Officers from the Transformation Team are expected to attend the Committee in March, 2014 to report on the work undertaken by the Transformation Boards since September 2013.

To submit a report by the Scrutiny Officer.

Submitted – a draft Work Programme by the Scrutiny Officer.

It was noted that a special meeting is to be held in February 2014 to discuss the following items :-

Single Integrated Plan

Partnership Agreement with Cyngor Gwynedd

North Wales Partnership Agreement – Galw Gofal Call-Centre

RESOLVED to accept the report.