Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel held on 24 January 2024.

RESOVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2024 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Chairman welcomed Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner, to the meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest from members in accordance with Standing Orders and the Council’s Code of Conduct and disclosures of advice or directions received from Group Leaders or Political Groups, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged.

There were no deputations made at this meeting.

The Panel will receive an update from the Police and Crime Commissioner on local police matters.

The Panel received an update from Donna Jones, the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner, on local police matters.

The Police and Crime Commissioner provided members with a verbal update on recent changes over the past 3-6 months which covered a variety of topics.

·         January 2024 saw the launch of the return of the local bobby. There was a high demand from the public for this service, especially in light of recent issues with the 101 service. 99 new bobbies have been recruited and there will be a dedicated bobby for each area. The purpose of them is not for crimes to be reported to, but for them to feed information to other areas of the force and provide updates to residents.

·         Driving Up Visibility of the Police. 10 new Police Stations have been opened, including Park Gate Police Station.

·         101 Service – much focus has been given to improving the 101 service and it was acknowledged that it was not working efficiently, with residents having an average wait of 40-45 minutes for calls to be answered and a high number of abandoned calls. A new call centre has been opened in Portsmouth and an additional 240 people are working within the contact management team. This has significantly improved the 101 call response time with the average wait time now between 2-3 minutes for callers.

·         Shoplifting – Focus has been directed to shoplifting with a zero tolerance on shoplifting. Policing is to receive a significant capital investment to enable them to invest in new digital technology to assist in catching shoplifters. The new technology with be linked to passport and driving licence photos to be able to identify more shoplifters.

·         Anti-Social Behaviour – A new ASB fund was launched which received 41 bids across Hampshire within a 3 week period. 3 of these bids were submitted from Fareham. Donna will shortly be sending out letters to all Council Leaders and Chief Executives regarding ASB hotspot funding. This should enable 2 Community ASB Worker posts to be funded to tackle hotspot areas.

·         Prison Spaces – there is currently an issue with overcrowding in prisons which is leading to some offenders with a 12 month or less sentence being released 60 days earlier. This could result in offenders being released into domestic properties rather than bail hostels due to a lack of space. This will continue to be monitored and addressed.

·         Crime Statistics – Members were given an overview of crime stats for Fareham and the wider Hampshire area. No significant changes in statistics were reported.

Members asked a number of questions following the verbal update with the largest focus on the new Facial Recognition technology. The Police and Crime Commissioner explained the two types of facial recognition, one being live facial recognition and the other retrospective facial recognition. A pilot for this is currently being undertaken in Southampton. Members acknowledged the benefit of this technology and recognised that it could be used against more criminal activities than shoplifting.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Miss J Burton, Executive Member for Health and Public Protection, addressed the Panel on this item.

RESOLVED that the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel:  

(i)            thanks Donna Jones, the Police and Crime Commissioner, for her very informative update; and

(ii)          notes the content of the update.

To consider any items of business dealt with by the Executive, since the last meeting of the Panel, that fall under the remit of the Health and Public Protection Portfolio.  This will include any decisions taken by individual Members during the same time period.

The Panel considered the items of Business which fall under the remit of the Health and Public Protection Portfolio, including Executive Member decisions and Officer delegated decisions that have taken place since the last meeting of the Panel on 24 January 2024.

There were no comments or questions for clarification in respect of this item.

Councillor Mrs T Ellis enquired whether there has been any feedback given from the petitioners in respect of this decision.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor S D T Woodward, Executive Leader, addressed the Panel on this item and confirmed that following a period of public consultation, this will provide a sense of public feedback on this decision.

The Panel will receive a presentation which will update Members on the introduction of car parking charges at coastal car parks.

The Panel received a presentation by the Policy, Research and Engagement Manager which provided an update for members on the implementation of car parking charges at coastal car parks. (A copy of the presentation is appended to these minutes)

Members asked questions regarding the solar powered meters that have been installed within the Coastal Car parks. They were interested to know how reliable they are and whether there was any loss of income due to any downtime of the machines. The Policy, Research and Engagement Manager confirmed that the machines are very reliable and that any issues with them are quickly resolved.

RESOLVED that the Health and Public ProtectionScrutiny Panel notes the content of the presentation.

To provide an opportunity for Members to consider the scrutiny priorities for the Health and Public Protection Panel.

Members discussed the scrutiny priorities for the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel.

The Director of Neighbourhoods addressed the Panel on this item and suggested that given the new corporate strategy that has been adopted since 2023, the priorities for this portfolio need to be reviewed to ensure that they are still appropriate for this Panel. She suggested putting together a new scrutiny priorities list to be brought to the first meeting of the Panel for the new municipal year. Members agreed this was a sensible approach.

RESOLVED that the scrutiny priorities for the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel were reviewed.