PAPER A

POLICY COMMISSION MEETING

Meeting	Policy Commission for Safer Communities
Ref	Saf.PC.06/07/0608/08/066
Date	6 July8 August 2006
Time	178.00hrs
Place	Committee Room 1, County Hall, Newport
Purpose of meeting	Formal public meeting
Attendance	Commission	Cllrs David Williams (Chair); Vanessa Churchman; Henry Adams; Heather Humby; Susan Scoccia; Arthur Taylor; Diana Tuson
	Cabinet	Cllrs Barry Abraham; Andy Sutton
	Secretariat	Cllr Alan WellsDavid Pugh
	Officers	Miss Vanda Niemiec; Ms Louise Biggs; Mr Rob Owen; Ms Vanda Niemic; Ms April West; Ms Sue Lightfoot
	Other Members	Cllr Mike Cunningham
	Stake holders / Experts	Helen Miles; Mr Warren Haynes; Mr Jo Inge Svendsen; Mr Phil Horn; Mr Simon DennisJohn King; Mike Cleary; Richard Stone; Andrew Pegram
	Apologies	Cllr Vanessa ChurchmanDiana Tuson
Agenda Items
1. To agree the evidence arising at the meeting held on 6/7/06 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. There were no declarations of interest.
3. To receive evidence on the Corporate Enforcement enquiry (Saf 4.05) a) Paper B Mr Warren Haynes, Environmental Health ManagerMrs Helen Miles, Environment & Economic Well-Being Team Leader , Legal Services, 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. 1. The department uses training and promotional events to reduce the need for enforcement. 1. 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. 1. 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. 1. This restructuring has also given the department more flexibility to meet the needs of customers. 1. 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. 1. An increased training budget has been found through Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) grants and efficiency savings. 1. 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. 1. 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. i. 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. i. The pilot is trialling new processes that co-ordinate and streamline routine planned inspections. 1. Enforcement Officers need to be suitably qualified and experienced in their field of work, to be credible witnesses, when cases proceed to court. 2. Legislation changes continually and officers need to keep abreast of all developments. 3. The Prosecutors Forum, set up by Legal Services, is a well attended forum for all those involved in enforcement activities, to share best practice and develop practical skills. 4. Most visits are reactionary, where there has been a breach, therefore it is difficult to plan to combine visits with other officers. 5. A central database could be used to log all enforcement activity. This would give officers access to relevant information including when visits had been made, or were planned. 6. Prosecution packs are in use, to ensure a standard format is used when instructing the Legal Department. 7. Central interview facilities would support a corporate approach to enforcement and ensure consistency and improve the quality of evidence, ensuring that interviews are carried out in line with strict guidelines. However, it may not always be practical for those involved to travel to a specific office.

3b) Paper C Mr John King and Mr Mike Cleary representing UNISON	8. Staff are keen to improve the service to the public. 9. The training for enforcement officers is extensive and time consuming. 10. Within Environmental Health officers already work across disciplines and to further extend their expertise would dilute their knowledge and could result in a decline in the service provided. 11. If officers are required to take on other disciplines, the result could be seen as ‘jack of all trades, master of none’.
3c) Paper D Mr Richard Stone, Trading Standards Manager, Isle of Wight Council (IWC)	12. Purpose of the report is to give an overview of Trading Standards work. 13. The primary purpose of officers is to educate and aid compliance, not inspect. 14. Officers are pro-active in their approach to enforcement and there are several initiatives in place. 15. Trading Standards promote partnership working with the Police, voluntary sector and colleagues in other departments.
3d) Sue Lightfoot Acting Director of Safer Communities	16. There is currently no strategic council overview in respect of enforcement and there could be some benefits in some service areas being brought together. There is currently a review of 4 areas of enforcement being carried out: a. Environmental Crime Enforcement b. Premises Based Enforcement c. De-criminalising of Parking d. Planning/Building Control Enforcement 17. There is an accommodation review currently underway in respect of co-locating staff from Safer Communities and related service areas.
1.3e) 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 Additional Contributions from Cllr Andy Sutton, Leader of IW Council Mr Andrew Pegram, Development Control Manager, IW Council Mr Rob Owen, Head of Consumer Protection, IW Council 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. 1.‘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. 1. 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. 18. The Council’s Environmental Health section is proactive in improving the services they provide to the public. For example, inspections are now carried out by the IW Council on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, thereby reducing the number of inspections. 19. The IW Council has been innovative in their approach to enforcement compared with other LA’s and has volunteered for the DTI Retail Enforcement Pilot. 20. Benefits could be realised by locating officers involved in enforcement activity together, in particular in respect of the administrative tasks. It is agreed that officers should retain their specialist areas of knowledge whilst working in a more corporate environment. 21. There is a need for Planning and Building Control to work more closely together. Andrew Pegram explained that where the NHBC (National House Builders Co-operation) were involved, the Council lose control over the building. Building Control inspectors also work from a different set of plans to that used by Planning officers, so it isn’t always obvious that there may be a breach. Planning have recruited a Commencement Officer to check new builds, but resources limit the amount that can be checked. It is agreed that working practices could be improved in some areas. 22. Nationally, local authorities find it difficult to recruit enforcement officers. The extensive training involved could deter suitable applicants. Cllr Sutton is currently working with the DTI to develop more suitable qualifications that are based around a core element, with additional disciplines for specialist areas being available to ‘add on’. These will be available by distance learning, to enable officers to continue studying whilst employed. 23. The IW Council is keen to ‘grow its own’ and officers in Planning, Environmental Health and Trading Standards support the recruitment of trainee’s. 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. Referral Orders are not a ‘soft’ option. 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. 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. 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. ‘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. 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. 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. 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. 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). Town and Parish Councils could utilise the services of the YOT and Probation Service for community work. 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. 1. To produce guidance for elected members and officers on what type of community work is appropriate for YOT and Probation to administer. 1. Contact Fareham Borough Council for evidence. 2. Organise workshop to discuss corporate enforcement. 3. Agree delayed completion of Blue Paper to allow for further evidence to be obtained.	Overview and Scrutiny TeamRob Owen Overview and Scrutiny Team Rob Owen, Cllr David Williams, 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.