Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alyas Ahmed had sent apologies, and Councillor Peter Jones substituted.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 5 September 2011 (SSC3) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 5 September 2011 were approved and signed with one amendment: the amendment of ‘Draft Heritage Strategy’ to ‘Draft Museums Strategy’ (item 151/11).

Matters arising:

·         Item 144/11: updates on power outage actions and Cogges Museum appointments to be circulated to committee members

·         Item 144/11: Councillor Heathcoat informed the committee that the tender providing the Gypsy & Traveller Service for Chelsea had not been successful

·         Item 147/11 (p.5): Councillor Pressel asked for an update about the death certificate reforms; Councillor Heathcoat replied that a number of questions had been raised about the proposals and an appointment was unlikely in the near future – an update will be made when there is news

·         Item 147/11 (p.5): Councillor Heathcoat noted that the family room for the Coroner’s Service at County Hall was now furnished and in use

·         Item 151/11: Councillor Pressel asked for an update about archives; the chairman requested this be raised under agenda item 10 Forward Plan

There were no speakers or petitions.

10.25

The Chief Fire Officer & Head of Strategy and Transformation, on behalf of the Director for Social & Community Services, will give verbal updates on key issues affecting their directorates.

The Director’s update was presented by the Chief Fire Officer & Head of Strategy and Transformation, on behalf of the Director for Social & Community Services, giving verbal updates on key issues affecting their directorates.

Councillor Heathcoat reported that the Fire & Rescue Service had received the Spirit of Fire Award for Brigade of the Year 2011. She thanked the Chief Fire Officer, senior management and all staff for a great achievement. The chairman added his congratulations to everyone for a fantastic service on behalf of the committee, which he asked to be fed back to staff. The Chief Fire Officer noted the Award was a tribute to the team and to elected members who helped by attending open days and supporting fundraising.

The verbal update by the Chief Fire Officer was followed by questions from the Committee members, primarily around the decision by Buckinghamshire to pursue talks with Cambridgeshire rather than Oxfordshire and Berkshire for a joint control centre and the arrangements for an elected Police and Crime Commissioner and Police Crime Panels with representation from local authorities across force areas.

AGREED that both matters will be brought back to the committee in due course, with Councillor Mallon to be invited as chairman of the Oxfordshire Safer Communities Partnership and member of the Thames Valley Police Authority.

The Head of Strategy and Transformation gave a brief update on behalf of the Director for Social & Community Services. Members of the committee were concerned primarily with the libraries consultation which will be the single item on the committee’s next agenda. Councillor Heathcoat assured the committee that papers for that meeting including equality impact assessments would be circulated as soon as possible, at the latest on 2 December.

AGREED that Simon Kearey will circulate the Museum Strategy in due course and respond to a request by the chairman for information about the proportion of large print books.

10.45

Mike Bardsley, acting Head of Adult Learning, will present an update on developments in the service area of Adult Learning. This is an annual update and aims to highlight areas for future scrutiny by the committee.

The committee is asked to note the actions outlined in this report (SSC6).

Mike Bardsley Acting Head of Adult Learning and Vicky Field, Operations Manager (HR) attended to present an annual update on Adult Learning, which had moved from Social & Community Services to Oxfordshire Customer Service within the Environment and Economy Directorate. Councillor Robertson attended as new portfolio holder for the service.

Committee members raised a number of questions, focusing on staff reductions (30% of staff in that cohort of administrators in local centres but 12.5 fte out of 115 fte for the whole service) and the need to address different skills shortages across the county, from basic numeracy and literacy skills to high tech engineering. Councillor Robertson explained that the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) would be working with the Skills Board, on which all local authorities are now represented, to link business needs with skills training.

Councillor Pressel expressed a concern about the proposal to externalise the service as other authorities had failed in attempts to do so. Vicky Field noted that any such change would be subject to detailed work and would be made safely, with plans going back to CCMT for consideration.

AGREED that Mike Bardsley will circulate information about numbers of learners and success rates, covering in-house and external providers; the committee wished to see a clear report come to relevant scrutiny in future, acknowledging the complexity of arrangements for the service.

11.15

Richard Webb, Acting Head of Trading Standards, will present the key findings of the Doorstep Crime Team Annual Report 2010-2011 (SSC7A and SSC7B).

‘Doorstep crime’ has no formal definition but is applied to categorise a type of incident commonly reported to Trading Standards. Such incidents comprise of a range of practices, but commonly involve trade work solicited through cold calling, false claims for inflated fees and intimidation tactics. The victim is often an older person.

The Doorstep Crime Team Leader produces an annual report containing a summary of the work of the team and some trend analysis on the incidents.

The committee is invited to comment.

Richard Webb, Acting Head of Trading Standards, presented the key findings of the Doorstep Crime Team Annual Report 2010-2011. Councillor Pressel congratulated Martin Woodley on his MBE. She was reassured by Richard Webb that the Police were contributing to the success of the service in a number of important ways. The committee discussed the concern about how victims could be encouraged to come forward and that information should be targeted also at neighbours and relatives of vulnerable people.

It was AGREED that it would be useful for members to have a brief article they could pass on to local newsletters for publication or mention at Neighbourhood Action Groups. Richard Webb will provide a draft for members, including the phone number for the service.

11.35

Nigel Wilson, Area Manager and Operations and Resilience Manager Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, presents the Fire & Rescue – Response Standards Performance Report 2010/11(SSC8).

Since April 2005 Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service has had local Response Standards for attending emergency incidents in the county. Cabinet approved these standards on 22 June 2006. The Chief Fire Officer is required to report annually on the Fire & Rescue Service’s performance against these standards and bring forward any recommendations, as appropriate, for future improvements. This report fulfils that requirement.

Committee members are invited to provide observations for consideration at the delegated decision meeting scheduled for the afternoon of the 7th November

Nigel Wilson, Area Manager and Operations and Resilience Manager Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, presented the Fire & Rescue – Response Standards Performance Report 2010/11. Replying to members’ questions, he explained that this report did not include response rates by the service in neighbouring counties or by neighbouring services in Oxfordshire. He will circulate information about particular traffic hotspots that could affect response rates, such as Bicester Village at weekends.

12.05

Mat Carlile, Area Manager and Business & Improvement Manager Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, will present the Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) Oxfordshire Fire And Rescue Authority - Action Plan 2012-13 (SSC9).

The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Fire and Rescue National Framework to which Fire Authorities must have regard when discharging their functions. The 2008-11 Framework requires each Fire and Rescue Authority to produce a publicly available IRMP. The report proposes a number of projects to be included within the Fire Authority’s IRMP for the fiscal year 2012-13.

The proposals in the report were agreed in their entirety by the Delegated Cabinet Member for Safer and Stronger Communities, Councillor Judith Heathcoat, on 17th October 2011.

The agreed proposals will be adopted in the final version of the IRMP Action Plan 2012-13 subject to further consultation, scrutiny & cabinet approval. The committee is therefore invited to comment on the Action Plan.

Mat Carlile, Area Manager and Business & Improvement Manager Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, presented the Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) Oxfordshire Fire And Rescue Authority - Action Plan 2012-13. Following consultation starting on 14 November, the plan will go back to Cabinet and scrutiny if required in February 2012.

The Chief Fire Officer reassured the committee that the service’s forward planning was taking into account housing and employment developments across the county. He confirmed that comments made by scrutiny would be considered as part of the consultation, but welcomed further comments.

Councillor Pressel highlighted a focus on the most vulnerable and road safety as important; she queried issues around child pedestrian casualities, ‘boy racers’ and enforcement by the Police, as well as arson in particular. The Chief Fire Officer noted work and achievements in these areas to date. AGREED that he will send an electronic update concerning child pedestrian casualties and arson reduction; it was noted that the Road Safety Strategy which was discussed at the last scrutiny meeting was currently out for consultation.

Councillor Sanders expressed concerns regarding school road safety and questioned whether zig-zag markings that could be enforced should be compulsory. Councillor Heathcoat noted that everyone was aware of these issues, which required the co-operation of schools, and suggested ensuring local Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) undertook spot checks. The chairman mentioned work the school where he served as governor had undertaken, with children in high visibility vests ‘ticketing’ parents who parked where they should not.

12.35

A draft Work Plan for the committee was circulated. The chairman brought to the committee’s attention that potential items for discussions included annual reports and statutory updates. He was looking to see if agendas could be themed by grouping related items together, inviting the relevant portfolio holder for a focused discussion.

AGREED that members should contact the committee officer with suggestions for future items. Items mentioned at the meeting included Adult Learning and issues around community cohesion and equalities. The chairman explained that he had asked for the remit of the committee to be clarified and whether some work streams such as Adult Learning might be covered more appropriately by a different committee.

12.45

Close of meeting 1pm

Date of next meetings

December 12 – Single agenda item: Libraries consultation

December 15 – Budget proposals