POLICY COMMISSION MEETING

Meeting	Policy Commission for Safer Communities
Ref	Saf.PC.06/07/06
Date	6 July 2006
Time	17.00hrs
Place	Committee Room 1, County Hall, Newport
Purpose of meeting	Formal public meeting
Attendance	Commission	Cllrs David Williams (Chair); Henry Adams; Heather Humby; Susan Scoccia; Arthur Taylor; Diana Tuson
	Cabinet	Cllrs Barry Abraham
	Secretariat	Cllr Alan Wells
	Officers	Ms Louise Biggs; Mr Rob Owen; Ms Vanda Niemic; Ms April West; Ms Sue Lightfoot
	Other Members
	Stake holders / Experts	Mr Warren Haynes; Mr Jo Inge Svendsen; Mr Phil Horn; Mr Simon Dennis
	Apologies	Cllr Vanessa Churchman
Agenda Items
1. To agree the evidence arising at the meeting held on 1 June 2006 (Paper A)	The notes of the previous meeting were agreed.
2. Declarations of interest	Cllr Adams declared a personal interest as a shop-owner, which is subject to inspection. Cllr Tuson declared a personal interest as a magistrate.
3. To receive evidence on the Corporate Enforcement enquiry (Saf 4.05) Mr Warren Haynes, Environmental Health Manager, Isle of Wight Council (IWC)	1. Environmental Health enforcement covers a wide-range of areas, including pollution (air, light and noise), food standards, health and safety, restaurants and many other areas. 2. The department uses training and promotional events to reduce the need for enforcement. 3. The department has, and is still being, restructured: the food safety, environmental protection and health and safety teams have been combined into two geographical teams and the Environmental Health Officer (EHO) role has changed from a specialist to a generalist one. 4. This has resulted in a more efficient, effective and economic service. Fewer visits are made per business and this has saved the council approximately £4000 in the last financial year. 5. This restructuring has also given the department more flexibility to meet the needs of customers. 6. Staff training has been a barrier to these developments, as Technical Officer training is specific to an area of environmental health as compared to Environmental Health Practitioner (EHP) training which covers a range of activities. 7. An increased training budget has been found through Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) grants and efficiency savings. 8. There would be reservations about an increased generalist role within the council as a whole because of the need for extensive training and ongoing professional development that would be required by law. 9. The DTI Retail Enforcement Pilot may provide a means of securing the outcomes of this enquiry without the need for a corporate enforcement department. i. This Pilot is designed to reduce the burden of inspection for retail business and enhance consumer and worker protection. ii. It will work with a wide range of expertise from across central and local government and includes representatives from Trading standards, Environmental Health, Environment Agency, Cabinet Office, Health and Safety Executive and others. iii. The pilot is trialling new processes that co-ordinate and streamline routine planned inspections.
4. To receive evidence on the Community Restorative Justice enquiry (Saf 2.06) Mr Phil Horne, Referral Order Co-ordinator, Wessex Youth Offending Team (YOT) Mr Jo Inge Svendsen, Senior Probation Officer, IW Probation Team Mr Simon Dennis, Community Support Manager, IWC	1. The Youth Offending Team (YOT) deal with those who are under 18. the Probation Service deal with 18 + offenders. 2. ‘Referral Orders’ commenced on 1^st April 2002 and is the main sentencing option for young offenders and involves the principles of Restoration, Reintegration and Responsibility. 3. Referral orders can be given to young offenders (between 10 -18 years old) where it their first offence and they have pleaded guilty. They last between 3 – 12 months and involve reparation to the victim and a programme to stop re-offending. 4. The young offender is dealt with by a panel, which includes 2 volunteers and one member of the YOT, and a contract is drawn up between the young offender and this panel to agree what the young offender will do in terms of reparation. If the contract is completed the record is ‘spent’. However, the young offender can be referred back to the court for non-compliance. 5. Referral Orders are not a ‘soft’ option. 6. Victims are given the option to be involved with the process. They can help to decide the reparation and tell the young offender how the crime affected them. The victim may also agree to give a written apology. The contracts must be proportional and reasonable and can be varied by the panel. 7. SOVA (Supporting Others through Volunteer Action) carry-out victim and reparation schemes for the YOT. They also deal with reparation under various Orders from other agencies. 8. The community and local authority can play a bigger role in identifying worthwhile projects for young offenders to take part in, which benefit the community. However, it can be difficult to get the community involved. Victims are also encouraged to participate more in the Panel’s work. 9. ‘Community Orders’ can be given to offenders over the age of 18, which involve between 40 – 300 hours of Unpaid Work (UW). The aim is to pay back the community for the damage caused by offending. 10. The first work session must be within 10 working days of the Order and an offender must complete a minimum of 6 hours UW per week. 11. They can only do work which would not otherwise be done e.g. offenders cannot carry out any work that is already the responsibility of contractors. The work must also benefit the community and currently most work is done for charities and voluntary organisations. 12. Probation Service offenders carry out approximately 28,000 hours of UW per year, which is worth more than £140,000 per year. It provides the offender with new skills and work experience. 13. Projects carried out by the Probation Service include Quarr Abbey ground maintenance, painting and decorating and small construction projects, work on the Council’s Civic Pride agenda, CREW week (Crime Reduction & Environment Week). 14. Town and Parish Councils could utilise the services of the YOT and Probation Service for community work. 15. All requests for the use of services from the YOT or Probation Service could be made through Simon Dennis at Safer Communities on 01983 550986. Simon Dennis will produce some guidance on the kind of work which is suitable.
Action	1. To agree a process whereby recommendations from the Policy Commission could be forwarded to Cabinet, before the publication of the final Blue Paper. 2. To produce guidance for elected members and officers on what type of community work is appropriate for YOT and Probation to administer.		Overview and Scrutiny Team Simon Dennis
Recommendations	To recommend to the Cabinet that all requests for the use of services from the YOT or Probation Service could be made through Simon Dennis at Safer Communities on 01983 550986.