Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Anna Hindle replaced County Councillor Yousuf Motala for this meeting.

There were no apologies.

The committee considered a report which set out its Chair and Deputy Chair, membership, and Terms of Reference for the 2023-24 municipal year.

Resolved: That the following be noted:

i.  The appointment of County Councillor G Mirfin as Chair and County Councillor J Shedwick as Deputy Chair of the Community, Cultural, and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee for the 2023-24 municipal year;

ii.  The membership of the committee, following the county council's Annual Meeting held 25 May 2023; and

iii.  The Community, Cultural, and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee Terms of Reference.

Members are asked to consider any pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the agenda.

None.

To be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 April 2023 be confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Peter Buckley, Cabinet Member for Community and Cultural Services, Clare Platt, Head of Service Equity, Welfare and Partnerships, and Alison Wilkins, Senior Health Practitioner (Stronger and Safer Communities) to the meeting.

The committee considered a report that provided an overview of the work undertaken by the Community Safety Working Group and detailed the recommendations of the working group.

In considering the report, the committee thanked the members of the working group for their contributions to the final report and the list of recommendations and thanked the nominated councillor representatives who served on each of the districts Community Safety Partnerships for the work they had done and continue to do.

The committee proposed an amendment to the list of recommendations, which was to change recommendation ii (part e), so that the meeting of all county council representatives that sat on the local Community Safety Partnerships would take place on a 4 monthly basis, instead of the proposed 6 monthly basis.

Resolved: That the following recommendations be endorsed by the Community, Cultural and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee and presented to the next meeting of the Lancashire Community Safety Partnership Board:

i.  That the amendments and updates made to the draft Community Safety Agreement 2022 – 25 be agreed subject to the following:

a.  The addition of the following wording to be included in the agreement – 'We are looking at several ways to improve communication and links with elected members on community safety issues'. 

b.  Consideration to be given to multiple diagrams to be included in the agreement to explain which partners are involved in each of the 6 key issues.

Resolved: That the following recommendations be endorsed by the Community, Cultural and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee and shared with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Cultural Services, subject to a minor amendment on recommendation ii (part e) that be amended to state meetings are held once every 4 months, not 6 months:  

ii.  Officers to work with elected members to improve communication and links on community safety issues including:

a.  Delivering a Bite Size Briefing to describe the work on Community Safety and the context within which that work sits for all county councillors. Updates to include all key community safety issues affecting local communities as outlined in the Community Safety Agreement.

b.  Consideration to be given to an annual meeting to take place to coincide with the review of the Community Safety Agreement which involves councillors, wider stakeholders, and community groups.

c.  Officers to meet with county councillors nominated to sit on local CSP's separately to help frame how they can be best supported in their role and to provide them with a better understanding of the community safety landscape, work that is already underway, and how we operate in partnership.

d.  Officers who attend meetings of the CSP's, to be allocated to provide ongoing support for nominated councillors, with a briefing to be provided ahead of each CSP meeting to ensure that any relevant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Alan Vincent, Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property (Deputy Leader), and John Morrisey, Director of Organisational Development and Change to the meeting.

The report provided an update to the committee on the development of the county council's Change Plan; and to set out the next steps for the committee to consider. It was noted that the implementation of the county council's Change Plan would begin from October 2023, and it was suggested that a further report on the progress of the recommendations be reported to the committee in 6 months' time.

Resolved: That the following recommendations be shared with the Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property (Deputy Leader):

  i.  A further update to be provided to the committee on Change and Improvement: LCC Change Plan in 6 months' time.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Alan Vincent, Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property (Deputy Leader), Mike Kirby, Director of Strategy and Performance, and Mel Ormesher, Head of Service Asset Management to the meeting.

The report provided an overview of the county council's property assets, use, occupancy, and the disposal process.

A presentation was also provided to the committee, a copy of which is attached to the minutes at Appendix 'A'.

Comments and queries were raised by the committee as follows:

·  The committee requested that the current map data provided for each of the Service areas, presenting the location of assets, also be provided in a table / grid form and, broken down by districts.

·  Following consideration of Table B: Property Assets Running Costs in the report, further clarity was sought of the running costs of the buildings, and it was suggested that a briefing note be circulated to the committee outlining the following:

o  The costs to be broken down further for buildings that were owned by the county council (freehold) and those that were leased and included property holding responsibilities.

o  A performance table detailing the grades of costs for assets, for example different highlights for very expensive buildings to inexpensive buildings.

o  The breakdown of assets by cost per meter squared and information explaining what the total condition cost meant, and where possible, data to be provided on the age of the buildings and the impact that had on cost.

o  Further clarity on what each of the PI, P2 P3 and P4 categories meant, including a link to the Asset Management Strategy. 

·  The committee was concerned about the presence of asbestos in buildings, and it noted that buildings constructed prior to the 1990s would need to undergo an asbestos management survey. The committee was informed, though, that asbestos was generally safe provided it was left alone.

·  The committee requested that information on Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and what the situation was for Lancashire Schools and other county council owned buildings be provided.

·  Before developing a plan to reduce emissions as part of the council's carbon reduction, the council was working with LASER to conduct a baseline carbon assessment to understand the 'in house' activities. The committee requested more information about the cost of working with LASER to conduct a base line carbon assessment and asked that consideration be given to whether it would be more cost-effective to bring this in house.

·  The County Council's Network had been approached to explore whether they were aware of any research/benchmarking data relating to property holding costs. It was noted that to date, a response was still awaited.  It was therefore suggested that a further request could be made.

·  The methods for the disposal of county council assets were discussed, and members requested information to be provided on the types of properties that the county council had disposed of. Additionally, it had been requested that the data be separated by district, or geographical information, as well as by category.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor David Westley, Chair of the Warm and Welcome Public Spaces Task Group to the meeting.

The report provided an overview of the work undertaken by the Warm and Welcome Public Spaces Task Group at its final meeting held on 30 March 2023.

The committee thanked all the officers and members of the Warm and Welcome Public Spaces task group for the work they had done.

It was noted that the funding originally allocated by Full Council had been spent and more funding would be needed if the scheme was to begin again.

The committee also suggested at looking at practical ways to improve the scheme such as providing warm blankets which could then be used on a regular basis.  The committee was informed that it would be a decision of Full Council if additional funding could be provided, and it was noted that there was a Notice of Motion to be presented at the next Full Council meeting on 12 October 2023 in regard to the Warm and Welcome Places Grants Scheme.

Resolved: That the report on the Warm and Welcome Public Spaces, be noted.

The committee considered the work programme for the 2023/24 municipal year, including the responses to the previous committee's recommendations from the relevant Cabinet Members.

Resolved: That the Community, Cultural and Corporate Services Scrutiny work programme for 2023/24, including the progress relating to the committee's recommendations, be noted.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the minutes, the chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Wherever possible, the chief executive should be given advance warning of any member's intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no Urgent Business.

The next meeting of the Community, Cultural and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee will be held on Thursday 9 November 2023 at 10.30 am in Committee Room B – The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Community, Cultural, and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee will be held on Thursday 9 November 2023 at 10.30am at County Hall, Preston.