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Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs P M Bryant. |
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To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel held on 18 January 2022. Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel held on 18 January 2022 be confirmed and signed as a correct record. |
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Chairman's Announcements Minutes: The Chairman announced with sadness that as Councillor T M Cartwright, MBE was retiring at the end of his current term of office, this would be the last meeting he would be attending as the Executive Member for Health and Public Protection. On behalf of herself and the Panel, the Chairman thanked Councillor Cartwright for all the help and support he has provided to the Panel over the years and wished him well for the future. |
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Declarations of Interest and Disclosures or Advice or Directions 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. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting. |
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Deputations To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged. Minutes: Deputations were made in respect of item 8 on the agenda by local residents Verity Fair and Christopher Lipsham. |
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To consider any items of business dealt with by the Executive since the last meeting of the Panel, that falls under the remit of the Health and Public Protection Portfolio. This will include any decisions taken by individual Members during the same time period. |
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Renewal of Environmental Health Partnership Agreement PDF 12 KB Minutes: There were no comments or questions for clarification in respect of this item. |
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Minutes: In response to a question from the Panel it was confirmed that the parent and child parking bays that will be provided in the smaller Short Stay car park at Portchester precinct will be located near to the Andy Pandy Centre.
In response to a question from the Panel it was confirmed that parking at Holly Hill Woodland will not change at the moment. |
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Executive Member Update To receive a verbal update from the Executive Member on matters relating to the Health and Public Protection portfolio, e.g the Police and Crime Panel and Local Strategic Health issues. Minutes: The Panel received a verbal update from Councillor T M Cartwright MBE, Executive Member for Health & Public Protection, on local police and strategic health matters.
Police & Crime Panel
Councillor Cartwright reported that the last meeting of the Police and Crime Panel took place on 28 January 2022 where discussion took place regarding the precept for 2022/23 and how the Police and Crime Commissioner will use £12m of the £25.95m increase to fund an additional 600 officers by April 2023. A further £3m will be allocated to Police Estates to ensure that facilities are in place to accommodate the increase in officers. The Police and Crime Commissioner has also made additional funding available to the Youth Offending Team to help to keep young people away from offending. Three off road motorcycles have also been funded to provide the resources to deal with off road crime.
Councillor Cartwright also reported that a Home Office review of the Police and Crime Commissioner role is taking place to refresh the protocols of the role. Vey comprehensive questionnaires are being completed by interested parties to help inform the process of providing clear boundaries between the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable roles.
Councillor Cartwright reported that he recently attended an interesting Youth Offending Conference at Southampton Football Club which explained what Youth Offending is, outlined the factors that can cause young people to offend, highlighted the different techniques that can be used by the police to deal with offenders and explored which strategies are most successful in preventing young people from offending. The conference also highlighted an interesting American study that has been used to analyse the different types of abuse suffered by young people to identify situations where a young person may be at a high risk of offending. This enables police and youth workers to use early intervention strategies to target the most vulnerable young people who may start to offend.
Councillor Cartwright was pleased to report that the Partnership Action Group continues to perform very well and recently received praise from the outgoing Chief Inspector for the area on the excellent service that the Fareham Community Safety Team provides.
Local Strategic Health Matters
Councillor Cartwright reported that unfortunately there has been no improvement in the service provided by Sovereign Health Care and the level of care provided continues to be unacceptable. Members of the Panel in wards that are covered by Sovereign Health Care voiced significant concern about the level of care their residents are receiving and cited many examples where service provided has been well below expectations.
Councillor Cartwright also reported that he attended a meeting of the Portsmouth City Council Health & Overview Scrutiny Committee this week where it was reported that the Ambulance Service is still struggling to maintain service levels at the moment. An update was also given regarding the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and the action that is being taken to tackle it. |
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Motion proposing height barriers at Portchester Precinct Car Park PDF 375 KB To consider a motion presented to Council by Councillor R H Price, JP in respect of the provision of height barriers at the entrances to Portchester precinct car park. Additional documents: Minutes: Deputations were received in respect of this item from local residents Verity Fair and Christopher Lipsham.
The Panel considered a report by the Director of Leisure and Community in relation to the motion presented by Councillor R H Price, JP at the meeting of the Council held on 21 October 2021 requesting that height restriction barriers be installed at the entrances to the car park at Portchester precinct.
At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor R H Price, JP addressed the Panel on this item to present his reasons for submitting the motion.
At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor T M Cartwright MBE, Executive Member for Health & Public Protection addressed the Panel on this item.
In debating this item, the Panel recognised the considerable distress that is caused to residents by illegal encampments and the significant costs that are incurred by the Council in clearing up a site once any occupants have left. However, the Panel also noted that there have only been two incursions at this site in the last ten years. It was also noted that three barriers would not be sufficient to secure the entire car parking area from illegal encampments and that barriers provided to secure an area are often forced open anyway to gain entry to a site. It was further noted that if barriers were provided at this site, it would set a precedent for requests for barriers to be installed at all other district centre car parks within the Borough which would not be affordable for the Council.
On being put to the vote it was agreed by a majority of members that it would not be reasonable, proportionate, cost effective or affordable to install height restriction barriers at Portchester precinct car park.
RESOLVED that, having considered the contents of the report, the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel agrees that:
(a) it would not be reasonable, proportionate, cost effective or affordable to install height restriction barriers; and
(b) the Panel’s recommendation to the Executive is that the barriers are not installed. |
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Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel Priorities To provide an opportunity for Members to consider the scrutiny priorities for the Health and Public Protection Panel. Minutes: Members considered the Scrutiny Priorities for the Panel and agreed the potential timeframes for the following items to be brought forward:
· A review of the impact of coastal parking in Autumn 2022. · A review of the post Covid-19 town centre parking situation in the next few months. · A review of the new arrangements for CCTV & Community Safety in 12 months’ time. · A review of Air Quality improvements within Fareham when the JAQU action plan has been completed. · A review of crematorium progress and performance later in the current municipal year.
The Panel was reminded that if it wished to scrutinise outside agencies such as the NHS, the Police Service or the Fire & Rescue Service, members would need to agree a scoping report to outline topics they wished to scrutinise.
In discussing the Scrutiny Priorities for the Panel, it was noted that in response to instructions received from the Food Standards Agency, the Council will need to prepare a Recovery Action Plan to address the backlog of food safety inspections that has arisen as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Once the Recovery Plan has been prepared, it will be brought to a future meeting of the Panel for scrutiny.
RESOLVED that the scrutiny priorities for the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel were reviewed. |