Agenda, decisions and minutes

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest. 

Purpose: To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2016.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 November 2016 had been circulated with the agenda.

Matters Arising

Page 9, last paragraph: The Chairman referred to his request for details on the funding and costs of the installation of an average speed camera system along the A548 Sealand Road and said the response he received had not answered his question.  He asked whether the data collected from ‘average’ speed cameras could be sold to government departments to generate income.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Police & Crime Commissioner for North Wales, Mr Arfon Jones, has been invited to attend the meeting to give a short presentation and to respond to Members’ questions.

(a)       That the presentation be received;

(b)       That the Police & Crime Commissioner, and the Chief Executive of the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner, be thanked for their attendance and contribution to the meeting; and

(c)        That the Commissioner’s offer for the North Wales Police cyber-crime specialist to attend a future meeting be accepted.

The Chief Executive welcomed and introduced Mr. Arfon Jones, Police & Crime Commissioner for North Wales, and Mr. Stephen Hughes, Chief Executive of the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner, to the Committee.  He invited the Police and Crime Commissioner to give a short presentation on the role, impact and operation of the Police and Crime Commissioner and how his office and the Police and Crime Plan work in partnership for Flintshire.  The Chief Executive explained that the answers to the questions which had been submitted in advance of the meeting to the Commissioner had been circulated to Members prior to the meeting. 

The Police and Crime Commissioner thanked Members for their invitation and gave an overview of his role, powers, and responsibilities as Commissioner for North Wales.  He outlined his priorities and key tasks and commented on the need to work closely with partners to secure long term solutions to crime and disorder.  The Commissioner referred to the many different types of organisations he worked with to ensure improved services to the people of North Wales. He advised that his role specifically involved working in partnership with the four Public Service Boards to deliver an effective response to crime and disorder.  His primary concern was to ensure that the community safety outcomes the Public Service Boards aimed to achieve supported the priorities of the police and crime plan.  The Commissioner also explained that he attended the Safer Communities Board, Regional Leadership Board and the Local Criminal Justice Board.

The Commissioner reported on his vision for the future and the outcomes he sought to achieve which were ensuring that public priorities were acted upon, victims were consulted and the most vulnerable individuals were not overlooked.  He cited modern-day slavery and cyber-crime as examples of some of the main challenges facing the North Wales Police Service in the future

The Chairman thanked the Commissioner for his presentation and invited Members to raise additional questions. 

During discussion the Commissioner responded to the questions and concerns raised around the work being undertaken to engage and work with young people to reduce anti-social behaviour, the diminishing presence of police offices on local streets, unlawful encampment in local areas, and passport control in North Wales as a result of Britain leaving the European Union

In response to the question concerning the number of police offices employed per head of population in each Council area, the Commissioner explained that in addition to a formula, a professional view on the number of police officers employed in an area was taken.  He said that whilst there was less crime reported in rural areas a minimum level of policing had to be maintained.  The Chief Executive commented on centralised operations which were not reported in the data.  Mr. Hughes explained that more police officers were based within central operations than locally and referred to the investigation work undertaken into cyber-crime as an example.   Responding to the further concerns raised by Councillor Robin Guest on fraud and cyber-crime the Commissioner suggested  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

That the Quarter 2 Performance report be received and approved.

The Chief Executive introduced the report to present the monitoring of progress for the second quarter of the Improvement Plan 2016/17 priorities ‘Modern and Efficient Council’ and ‘Safe Communities’ relevant to the Committee. He advised that good progress had been achieved in the second quarter and the risks were being successfully managed with one major risk identified, as detailed in the report.

Councillor Robin Guest referred to the performance indicator on page 35 concerning achieving a waiting time of less than 20 days from referral to treatment, and sought clarification on the figures provided.  Officers provided and explanation and it was agreed that the Community Public Protection Manager be asked to provide further detail to Councillor Guest following the meeting. 

RESOLVED:

That the Quarter 2 Performance report be received and approved.

(a)       That the Committee receives the revenue budget Monitoring 2016/17 (Month 7) monitoring report; and

(b)        That the Committee confirms that on this occasion there is nothing which it wishes to bring to the attention of the Cabinet.

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The Chief Executive invited the Corporate Finance Manager to present the report.  The Corporate Finance Manager explained the purpose of the report being to provide the latest revenue budget monitoring position for 2016/17 for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account.  The position was based on actual income and expenditure as at Month 7, and projected forward to year-end.  He advised that the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2016/17 (Month 7) report would be presented to the next meeting of Cabinet to be held on 13 December 2016 and was appended to the report. 

The Corporate Finance Manager reported on the projected year end position for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account as detailed in appendices 1 and 2 to the report.  The Chief Executive reported on the areas of risk.  Referring to the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) the Chief Executive advised that the Council was currently reviewing its policy of accounting for MRP in conjunction with its Treasury Management Advisors which could result in a change to the amount in-year which may have a positive effect on the outturn position.  He also commented on Out of County Placements and the risk due to volatility in demand and the impacts on service costs which could not be predicted with any certainty.

Councillor Robin Guest expressed his appreciation for the timely way that budget reports and information was being regularly provided to the Committee.  He referred to the Council’s liabilities concerning historic child abuse settlements and asked if information on the cost of the settlements and the impact on the Council budget could be provided.  It was agreed that the Chief Officer (Governance)  would provide details on the cost liabilities to the Committee.  In response to a concern expressed by Councillor Guest that not all efficiencies were being achieved across the Council, the Chief Executive explained that most targets had been met and work was currently being carried out to identify if any further efficiencies could be made in-year to assist in managing the operating deficit.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee receives the revenue budget Monitoring 2016/17 (Month 7) monitoring report; and

(b)        That the Committee confirms that on this occasion there is nothing which it wishes to bring to the attention of the Cabinet.

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(a)       That the Forward Work Programme as submitted be approved with amendments; and

(b)       That the Democratic Services Manager in consultation with the Chair be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings should this be necessary.

The Democratic Services Manager advised that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 12 January 2017.

The Forward Work Programme was considered and the following actions agreed:

·         That the meetings of the Committee to consider the budget which were scheduled to be held on 19 December 2016 and 27 January 2017 be cancelled; and

·         That all Members be invited to attend the meeting of the Committee to be held on 20 January 2017 to consider the Capital Budget. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme as submitted be approved with amendments; and

(b)       That the Democratic Services Manager in consultation with the Chair be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings should this be necessary.

There was one member of the press in attendance.