minutes 15-2-05

60. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2005 were agreed.

61. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest at this stage.

62. URGENT BUSINESS – VERFICATION STUDY ACTION PLAN UPDATE

The Chairman agreed to an item of urgent business as there was a need to clarify issues that had recently arisen which affected the Fire and Rescue Service.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services read a statement regarding the Verification Study Action Plan Update report due to be considered by the Select Committee later in the meeting.

The Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection was unavailable as he was attending a meeting of the Hampshire Police Authority. The Chief Fire Officer and his Deputy were also unavailable for personal reasons, as was the Chief Executive Officer. It was believed therefore that it was inappropriate to discuss the report further at this stage. Fire Service operations were unaffected and full cover was being maintained.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE HEAD OF SELECT COMMITTEE AND REVIEW TEAM

The Verification Study Action Plan Update report be considered at the next meeting of the Fire and Public Safety Select Committee.

63. FORWARD PLAN

The Head of Select Committee and Review Team advised Members of the items of relevance which were contained in the Forward Plan for the period February to May 2005.

64. FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNITY WARDENS

Members noted that the Community Wardens Task Group had made a valuable contribution towards the implementation of an Island-wide Community Warden Scheme. Members of the Task Group were congratulated for all their work.

The key points underpinning the proposed hybrid scheme were:

· reducing crime and disorder

· financial support to be provided from within existing budgets

The proposed scheme included 5 Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) and 8 Accredited Community Support Officers (ACSO’s), making a total of 13 officers to cover the Island. It was anticipated that the 5 existing traffic wardens would be seconded from the Police Authority to the PCSO posts whilst retaining responsibility for traffic issues.

There was also a suggestion that the 3 existing dog wardens could be transferred as ACSO’s to the Safer Communities Team, whilst maintaining their existing duties and funding.

Additionally, the 2 Ryde Community Wardens had been invited to transfer to the Safer Communities Team as ACSO’s, thus widening their remit to include an enforcement role. These posts would be jointly funded for one year by Hampshire Constabulary and the Safer Communities Partnership. There was a possibility that other posts involving inspection duties could also be seconded to the Safer Communities Team.

It was envisaged that the proposed scheme would address the fear of crime by providing a visible presence within the community, with surgeries being held locally to raise awareness and make communications more effective. The Geographic Information System mapping would assist with identifying Island ‘hot spots’ and would also provide a monitoring function, to measure the effectiveness of the pilot scheme.

Members were concerned that large rural areas on the Island currently suffered from a lack of policing and existing services must not be lost when seconding currently contracted employees. The Select Committee was keen to learn about the total cost of the proposal following the pilot year, and whether the Portfolio Holder had initiated bids in support of the scheme.

A further paper was currently being prepared on potential costs of providing a Team Leader, Administrative Support and an IT performance management database.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR FIRE, EMERGENCY PLANNING AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

a) To confirm to the Select Committee what bids have been put forward in respect of the Accredited Community Support Officer scheme.

b) To investigate challenging performance measures to evaluate the impact of the scheme, to ensure that it would provide value for money, and to report to the Select Committee meeting in October 2005.

65. CONSUMER PROTECTION – COMPETENCIES OF ENFORCEMENT ROLES

At the Fire and Public Safety Select Committee meeting held on 18 October 2004, Members had requested a report on the core competencies of enforcement roles within the Consumer Protection service.

The Select Committee was informed that the functions within the remit of Consumer Protection were subject to regular inspections by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTi). A priority for the service therefore was to ensure the competency of staff undertaking the necessary functions.

Following the last Food Standards Agency audit, and the subsequent production of an Action Plan, the Council currently had one combined Food Team. Efficiency savings had been achieved by combining food standards with food safety under one officer and one set of documentation; this change had provided better value for stakeholders as well as the Council.

Within Environmental Health, changes were being introduced to further develop a multi-functional enforcement officer role, however this would take time and money and was considered to be a long-term goal. Members were advised that the Council’s Environmental Health function was an exemplar of Best Practice in a number of inter-authority audits.

Members asked whether the directorate had sufficient capacity to meet the demands of the recently imposed licensing responsibilities and if further bids had been made for additional funding. The Head of Consumer Protection confirmed that a fee regime had been set by the Government, sufficient income to fund 2 new posts would be available in 2005/06, but funding was less clear in the following years. It was hoped that this surplus income in 2005/06 would be ‘ring-fenced’.

The Select Committee was reminded that the Council’s internal Health and Safety Advice function had been brought in-house from April 2004 and was now co-located with the Health and Safety Enforcement Team. This change had proved to be of benefit to the Council.

Trading Standards was regulated by the National Performance Framework (NPF), under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTi). The NPF reflected local concerns, but was Government directed. Priorities were shared with the Portfolio Holder and the Select Committee Chairman.

Members were advised by the Council’s LGA Safer Communities Board representative that the LGA perspective was that the Isle of Wight Council was a ‘good authority’ in terms of its Consumer Protection service. One objective, however, was to have a Public Protection Officer covering a wider range of enforcement issues and a training model had already been produced by the Trading Standards Council, which removed many of the boundaries to the separate Environmental Health and Trading Standards functions. With regard to the new licensing responsibilities, the Isle of Wight was one of 6 pilot authorities used for in-depth consultation.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER OR FIRE, EMERGENCY PLANNING AND CONSUMER PROTECTION AND THE HEAD OF CONSUMER PROTECTION

That the Select Committee noted the progress to date and requested that work continued towards developing and reviewing the core competencies to provide increased flexibility, raise standards and improve operational effectiveness.

66. FIRE MODERNISATION AGENDA

The Council’s representative on the LGA Safer Communities Board reported that although some elements of the Modernisation Agenda were in place, some aspects were behind the expected timescale. The CPA inspection was due in April 2005, but it was believed that the Fire Service Staff were very positive about securing some ‘quick wins’. It was envisaged that if the service worked hard over the next 2 months, the Council could avoid intervention.

Nationally, the Fire Brigade Union was very supportive of the Modernisation Agenda and it was felt that Fire Fighters were seen as role models and could achieve a much larger remit than fire fighting alone.

The Select Committee was particularly concerned about press reports, and the media coverage relating to the management of the Fire and Rescue Service. Due to the absence of the Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection and other key officers, it was considered inappropriate to scrutinise the current arrangements and verification report.

Members requested that an special meeting be arranged to discuss the current issues surrounding the Fire Service, before the scheduled meeting on 15 March 2005.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR FIRE, EMERGENCY PLANNING AND CONSUMER PROTECTION AND THE HEAD OF SELECT COMMITTEE AND REVIEW TEAM

a) To arrange a special meeting of the Fire and Public Safety Select Committee to discuss the Verfication Study Action Plan Update report, the Modernisation Agenda and Brigade Management prior to the CPA exercise in April 2005.

b) To invite the Chief Executive Officer, the Head of Human Resources, the Leader of the Council and the Head of Legal and Democratic Services to attend the special meeting of the Select Committee.

67. MEMBERS’ QUESTION TIME

Mr Mazillius asked a question relating to the current situation with the Fire Service and was advised that the Head of Select Committee and Review Team would arrange a special meeting before the next scheduled meeting of the committee in March 2005.

CHAIRMAN