POLICY COMMISSION MEETING

 

 

Meeting

Policy Commission for Safer Communities

 

Ref

Saf.PC.01/02/07

Date   

1 February 2007

Time

18.00hrs

Place

Committee Room 1, County Hall, Newport

Purpose of meeting

Formal public meeting

 

Attendance   

Commission

Cllrs David Williams (Chair); Vanessa Churchman; Diana Tuson; Susan Scoccia; Henry Adams; Mike Cunningham

Cabinet

Cllr Barry Abraham

Secretariat

Cllrs David Pugh; Alan Wells

Officers

Miss April West; Mr Stuart Love

Other Members

 

Stake holders / Experts

 

Apologies

Cllrs Heather Humby; Andy Sutton

Agenda Items

 

1.      To agree the evidence arising at the meeting held on 02/11/06 (Paper A) 

The notes of the previous meeting were agreed.

 

2.      Declarations of interest

 

 Cllr Mike Cunningham declared a personal, non prejudicial interest as Chair of the Licensing Committee.

 

 

3.      To receive a verbal update on the Community Restorative Justice enquiry (Saf 2.06) from Cllr Susan Scoccia, the lead member.

 

 

1.      Cllr Scoccia gave a summary of the evidence which had been gathered to date.

2.      A visit had taken place to Chard and Ilminster, where a panel has been set up using funding from the Home Office for a pilot.  The panel is made up of trained volunteers and referrals are sent through from the Police where there has been an admission of guilt and the offence meets the necessary criteria.

3.      There had been success with the Housing Association, who were also now part of the panel.  Residents nearing eviction due to their behaviour were given the opportunity to go before the panel and sign up to a behaviour contract.  This had seen a high degree of success.  Also, by working with offenders at an early stage this saved time and costs in Court.

4.      The age group dealt with in Chard and Ilminster is 18 plus.  The re-offending rates there are low.

5.      The next step in the enquiry is to identify the further work being done by the Isle of Wight Council and to arrange a visit to other areas of best practice, such as North Liverpool.

 

 

Action

1. Finalise visits to other authorities.

 

 

2. Meet with IWC officers working on Community Restorative Justice.

Overview and Scrutiny Team

 

Overview & Scrutiny Team

4.   To discuss the     next items for the Commission Work Plan
  1. The next priority for the Commission would be the enquiry into Neighbourhood Approaches to Road Safety.  As Cllr Arthur Taylor had left the Commission Cllr Mike Cunningham would be the lead member for this enquiry.
  2. Some work had already begun and a workshop with experts was being planned for March to move this issue forward.
  3. Road safety had come out as a high priority in the recent Residents’ Survey, and this was also reflected in the One Island consultation.
  4. The Environmental Crime enquiry would be the next priority for the Commission, to begin after the Community Restorative Justice enquiry had been finalised.
  5. Cllr Vanessa Churchman is the lead member on this enquiry and she had already had a preliminary discussion with Mr Stuart Love.

 

5.   To have a question and answer session with the Leader of the Council regarding his position as National Vice President of the Local Government Association Safer Communities Board

1.      The Leader of the Council was unable to attend the meeting for this item due to illness.