27 11 2003

A MEETING OF THE SERVICES OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

WAS HELD ON 27 NOVEMBER 2003

Councillors Burgess (P), Carr (P), Clinton (P), Francis, Mrs Gravell, Hayward (P),Redrup (P), P Russell (P), Taylor (P), and Train (P)

It was reported that, in accordance with Standing Orders, notice had been received that Councillor Mrs Salter would replace Councillor Francis for the duration of this meeting.

11.	APOLOGIES

An apology for inability to attend the meeting was received on behalf of Councillor Mrs Gravell.

12.	CHAIRMAN'S OPENING REMARKS

The Chairman announced that he was pleased to see that Councillor Carr was now in good health and welcomed him to the meeting.

13.	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

14.	MINUTES

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 October 2003 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

15.	REQUESTS FOR SCRUTINY

The Committee considered the following requests for scrutiny:

(i) Anti-social behaviour, protocols, policies and enforcement

In accordance with Standing Order 5.4.2, three Members had submitted a request for the above issue to be scrutinised.

Councillor Redrup addressed the Committee, referring to the report by the No Ball Games Working Group (item no. 7 on the agenda refers), which recommended that the Council's policy adopted in 1966 be endorsed, whereby signs prohibiting ball games on Council owned land would no longer be provided or replaced, and, as a consequence of the Working Group's investigations, that no further action be taken in respect of the 'no ball games' issue.

Following the demise of that scrutiny due to a limited remit, Councillor Redrup requested that scrutiny be undertaken to consider the existing protocols and policies, and their effectiveness, for dealing with anti-social behaviour and also to investigate action that could be enforced to deal with, and eradicate, anti-social behaviour in the Borough. Councillor Redrup expressed the view that there was a need to be more pro-active regarding approaches to anti-social behaviour.

The Head of Economic Regeneration outlined anti-social behaviour as defined in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and reported on central government guidelines and new measures being introduced in the 2003 Act.

The Committee were in agreement that scrutiny of anti-social behaviour should be undertaken and suggested that the three Members who had comprised the No Ball Games Working Group should constitute a working group to carry out the new investigation.

RESOLVED: That

(a) a Working Group, comprising Councillors Carr, Redrup and Taylor, be established to scrutinise matters relating to anti-social behaviour, protocols, policies and enforcement; and

(b) a report of the working group's findings be submitted to the Committee in due course.

(ii) Contract Procurement – Environmental Services

Consideration was given to a report by the Leisure and Amenities Manager, seeking the views of the Committee on scrutiny of the contract procurement process, in particular relating to environmental services, in view of the resolution of the Community and Environment Board in June 2003 that the evaluation of tender submission for environmental services be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee discussed the procurement process that was being undertaken with regard to environmental services and as part of that process a shortlist of contractors had been invited to give a presentation to an Evaluation Panel on 28 November. Officers gave an indication of the questions to be posed to the contractors and outlined the criteria to be used for evaluating their answers and presentation.

The Committee were satisfied that, with the wide ranging selection of stakeholders and Members that comprised the Evaluation Panel, the community were well represented and therefore it would be unnecessary for the Committee to become involved in the selection process. However, it was suggested that the effectiveness of services provided by the preferred contractor should be monitored within six months of procurement, i.e. in October/November 2004.

The Committee further expressed the view that they would wish to be involved, in due course, in the development of the Council's procurement process.

RESOLVED: That

(a) the contract procurement process for environmental services be noted;

(b) the Leisure and Amenities Manager submits a monitoring report to the Committee in due course on the services provided by the appointed contractor with regard to (a) above; and

(c) it be noted in their work programme that the Committee wishes to be involved in a review of the Council's contract procurement process.

16.	REVIEW OF SCRUTINIES BEING UNDERTAKEN

The Committee considered the progress of the working groups undertaking scrutiny on the following issues:

(i) Allotments

The action/project plan, showing the areas of proposed investigation and action to be taken by the Allotments Working Group had been circulated with the agenda.

Councillor Train emphasised that at present the Working Group were gathering information before deciding on methods of consultation with the allotment holders and the community.

RESOLVED: That the Allotments Working Group's action plan and progress being made be noted.

(ii) Food Safety Enforcement Policy

The Working Group were due to meet on 10 December 2003 and in view of the delay in being able to arrange their first meeting to consider how the policy was to be scrutinised, it was agreed that the date by when scrutiny should completed was extended from January to February 2004. The Work Programme would be amended accordingly.

RESOLVED: That the progress of the Food Safety Enforcement Working Group be noted.

17.	TRAVELLERS IN GOSPORT

At their meeting on 13 October 2003, the Committee resolved to investigate the problems arising from travellers' incursions in the Borough. As it had not been possible to arrange a meeting to date the Chairman agreed to include the item on the agenda for this meeting.

Members considered how they wished to scrutinise the issue and the areas of investigation. Background information was tabled relating to illegal trespass incidents in the Borough since 30 April 2002, detailing dates, location and duration of trespass, together with information regarding action taken. Location maps showing the extent of encampments was also provided.

The Committee discussed problems that had arisen relating to vandalism, police intervention, security, the possible use of closed circuit television cameras, legal implications and costs to the Borough.

Although lessons could be learned from past incursions, it was important that consideration was given to ways of preventing future access, effective procedures for removal of travellers and taking appropriate security measures to protect Council owned land.

Whilst there was a local 'intelligence' liaison network operating, Members felt that it would be worthwhile contacting other local authorities for comparative data on dealing with travellers and to explore other measures that could be taken to protect vulnerable potential sites for encampment.

Thanks were extended to officers for attending the meeting and providing information.

RESOLVED: That arrangements be made for a meeting to consider the development of an action plan with timescales to investigate the problems relating to travellers' incursions in the Borough.

18.	CONSIDERATION OF SCRUTINY FINDINGS

No Ball Games

The Committee considered the report of the No Ball Games Working Group, which outlined the background to the request for scrutiny of the subject, the methodology of the investigation and the findings from responses to questionnaires. Whilst it was acknowledged that there were significant problems in some areas, the Working Group concluded that overall there was insufficient evidence to warrant the matter being pursued further.

The Committee considered the recommendations of the Working Group with particular regard to the following recommendations:

(c) that Ward Councillors in the areas identified as having particular problems be invited to monitor significant problems of anti-social behaviour in their areas and report back to the Committee in six months time, if appropriate; and

(d) that Members in those wards, referred to in (c) above, receive a follow-up questionnaire in six months time and a review of the responses be considered by the Committee and reported to the Community and Environment Board.


In view of the decision to set up a working group to investigate anti-social behaviour, Members felt that the recommendations referred to in (c) and (d) of the Working Group's report could be accommodated within scrutiny of those issues.

RESOLVED: That
(a) the report of the No Ball Games Working Group be noted;

(b) recommendations (a) and (b) of the report be approved; and

(c) recommendations (c) and (d) be subsumed within the scrutiny process of anti-social behaviour.

19.	DEVELOPMENT OF A WORK PROGRAMME

The Committee considered the development of a work programme. In the light of decisions made at this meeting, a work programme emerged as follows:

Topic		Detail	Timescale	Action by
Food Safety Policy		To consider the review of the policy	4 months (ie February 2004)	Councillors Hayward, P Russell and Francis
Travellers in Gosport		To investigate the problems arising from incursions in Gosport	On going	All Committee Members
Allotments		To undertake a Borough-wide investigation in respect of allotments	6 months or by the end of the Municipal Year 2003-2004	Councillors Clinton, Mrs Gravell and Train
No Ball Games		completed	Initial report to Committee – 27 November 2003	Councillors Carr, Redrup and Taylor
Contract Procurement		To be involved in a review of contract procurement	To be determined	To be advised



Topic		Detail	Timescale	Action by

Anti-social behaviour		To consider the protocols, policies and enforcement to deal with anti-social behaviour	On going	Councillors Carr, Redrup and Taylor

The meeting commenced at 6.00pm and concluded at 7.10pm






CHAIRMAN