PAPER A

POLICY COMMISSION MEETING

Meeting	Policy Commission for Safer Communities
Ref	SafPC 15/12/05
Date	Thursday, 15 December 2005 6.00pm – 7.04pm
Place	Committee Room 1, County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight
Purpose of meeting	Formal public meeting
Attendance	Commission Members – Cllrs David Williams (Commissioner); Henry Adams; Vanessa Churchman; Heather Humby; Susan Scoccia; Arthur Taylor; Diana Tuson Cabinet Member – Cllr Barry Abraham Cabinet Secretary – Cllr Alan Wells Officers – Ms Sue Lightfoot; Mr Rob Owen; Miss Louise Biggs; Mr Paul Thistlewood.
Agenda Items
1. Notes of previous meeting	The notes of evidence of the meeting held on 3 November 2005 were agreed.subject to Agenda Item 3 item 8 being amended to read, “The IW Council Bereavement Services were currently ranked within the top 10% in terms of charges nationally due to budget neutrality.” and item 13 to read, “It would cost approximately £15k to update the existing consultant’s report on crematorium externalisation.”
2. Declarations of Interest	Cllr Henry Adams declared a person interest in the Blue Paper on Consumption of Alcohol in Public Places due to his business interest.
3. Consumption of Alcohol in Public Places - (Saf3/05) – Blue Paper	Papers considered: Blue Paper from Cllr Vanessa Churchman, Lead Member, supported by Mr Rob Owen Head of Consumer Protection and Mrs Sue Lightfoot Interim Director of Safer Communities. Action required :- That the following recommendations be made to the Cabinet member for Safer Communities and considered by the Cabinet on 17 January 2006; a) That this Council invites the Safer Communities Partnership to annually review the impact of drinking in public places on the island, and more specifically invites through the Partnership the Island’s Chief Superintendent to identify areas where existing Designated Public Place Orders (DPPOs) should be extended or new DPPOs made. b) That this Council commits to appropriate consultation with all relevant parties in any area of the island where the Chief Superintendent commends the making of a DPPO. c) That this Council commits to fast tracking the procedure for establishing DPPOs with a view to a decision being made by the Regulatory Committee within a period of 6 months from a request being lodged by the Chief Superintendent. d) That this Council acknowledges that alcohol fuelled anti social behaviour and related criminal acts should best be controlled by a raft of measures including further under age test purchasing exercises, followed by appropriate enforcement action when sales are made, robust implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 and an effective Alcohol Strategy managed by the Safer Communities Partnership. It was also recommended that a Police representative be invited to attend the Cabinet meeting when this item is considered.
4. Community Support Officers – Saf2/05	Paper considered :- Report from Cllr Heather Humby As this matter had been the subject of detailed work by the previous administration, as reported to the 14 July 2005 meeting, it was appropriate for the Cabinet to await the views of the Directors Group. Action required :- The enquiry Saf2/05 be removed from the Commission’s work plan.
5. Update on the impact of the proposed amalgamation of the Hampshire Police Authority with other Police Authorities.	The Council’s representative on the Hampshire Police Authority, Cllr Diana Tuson, gave an outline of Government proposals to amalgamate Hampshire Police Authority with either Thames Valley or Dorset and Wiltshire Police Authorities A response had been prepared by the Chairman of the Police Authority voicing concerns as to any amalgamation. This would be submitted by the deadline of 23 December 2005.