Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 18^th September 2007, having been printed and circulated, were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

            It was confirmed that no public questions had been received.

            The Chairman agreed that this item be moved to the start of the agenda.         

The Board considered a report regarding the second quarter monitoring reports for the Highways, Transportation and Logistics, Environmental and Regulatory Services, Health Partnerships and Culture and Leisure.

Members raised concerns in relation to various issues within the reports and further information was required in respect of the following:

·        Performance Indicators not yet fully developed – page 32.

·        What were the police doing in relation to the target for domestic burglaries and the increase in thefts from vehicles?

·        Were there any reasons why the participation in drug treatments programmes was set so low?

In response it was noted that a written answer from the relevant officers would be forwarded to all Members of the Board. 

RESOLVED: That

(1)               the quarterly monitoring reports be received; and

(2)               a written response to the points noted above be circulated to the Board Members.

            The Board received a presentation from Kate Fisher and Jan Dryhurst of the Halton’s Youth Inclusion Support Panel (YISP).  It was reported that the service supported young people aged 8 – 17 who were at risk of offending or anti-social behaviour.  The service was voluntary and consent was required.  Members were informed that the referrals (from professionals only) took part in 12 week intervention with a review after 6 weeks.  It was also reported that the support panel operated in line with the five Every Child Matters outcomes.

The Board was advised of the outcomes, which were the prevention of further offending and anti-social behaviour, reduction of the “risk” factors assessment scores, re-integration of children back into full time education, access to relevant services and the reduction in number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in Halton.

            The presentation also provided performance details and a breakdown of ten months of statistics as follows:

• gender;
• ethnicity;
• age;
• source of referral;
• status of need;
• areas of the borough;
• re-offending rate; and
• quarterly onset scores.

The Chairman thanked Ms Fisher and Ms Dryhurst for an informative presentation.

Members queried how long it took for the first interaction with the child.  In response it was noted that telephone contact would be made within 7 working days from the referral in order to arrange a visit. The Board commended the YISP for the progress made so far.

Members noted that funding would run out in March 2008.  It was decided that a letter be sent to the Strategic Director - Children and Young People requesting future funding after 2008.

RESOLVED: That

(1)               the presentation be received; and

(2)               a letter be written to the Strategic Director – Children and Young People seeking future funding for the YISP from March 2008.

            Members received a presentation from Alex Waller, Phil Kilgore and Pete Howard from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, which provided an overview of progress made during the year and the overall aims of the service.

The presentation outlined the following:

• youth activities such as Kooldown, Respect, the Princes Trust and Fire Cadets;
• bonfire initiative;
• Arson Committed Together (ACT) initiative that visited schools in order to educate children;
• statistics of various types of fires in the Borough; 
• Halton Safer Homes Group;
• prevention schemes for road deaths and injury;
• Megadrive scheme – educated children in all aspects of road safety; and
• anti-social behaviour attacks against fire fighters in the past year.

Members held a wide ranging discussion and raised concerns that there may be down grading of vehicles or reduction of vehicles in the future.  In response it was noted that a Target Response Unit, which was staffed by retained fire fighters, was in place as an additional vehicle to tackle small fires alone, therefore there would not be a reduction of vehicles from Halton at this time. 

Furthermore it was noted that there was no future funding for the ACT initiative which was a very beneficial project that visited schools in order to educate thousands of children of the dangers of arson, hoax calls and other dangerous fire related issues.  The Fire Service was looking for part funding with education and any other source available for the next financial year. 

The Chairman suggested that all members of the Board should try to attend the Megadrive presentation and that an invitation should be sent to Members by the Environment Directorate’s Road Safety Team at the appropriate time.

The Board commended the work carried out by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and were in support of all schemes and initiatives. 

RESOLVED: That

(1)               the presentation be received; and

(2)               the Board support and seek to source additional funding to contribute towards the ACT initiative in the new financial year.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director – Environment advising Members of a report that had been submitted to the Executive Board in June 2007 which detailed the new legislation for obtaining a Gating Order to be used when erecting alley gates on public highways.  In addition, it proposed a policy and procedure to be adopted for all future requests for alley gates.

The report outlined the benefits and the potential implications of erecting alley gates, the financial long term implications of maintenance of gates, the financial cost of the legal gating order process and the social inclusion implications and crime and disorder.

Members raised concerns in relation to the high cost of advertising in the local press and queried whether it could be determined that the Council’s publication “Inside Halton” could technically be considered a newspaper to advertise the gating orders in one large block to avoid paying the large advertising fees. Members felt that housing associations should fund schemes on their land and suggested that consideration be given to using other materials that would prolong the life of gates and reduce maintenance costs as long as such methods were cost effective.

Members felt that in order to determine their effectiveness a “before” and “after” review of gating schemes should be undertaken in line with recommendation (2) below.

RESOLVED: That

(1)               the potential benefits and other implications of alley gating schemes be noted;

(2)               the proposal that a multidisciplinary team monitor these implications over the next three years and review each scheme and the gating order procedure as necessary prior to the expiry of that period be noted; and

(3)               alley gating schemes be kept under review so that their effectiveness can be monitored, and the ability to utilise less expensive methods of advertising Gating Orders be explored and implemented where legal procedures permit.

The Board received a report of the Strategic Director - Environment which set out proposals to relocate Halton’s Fireworks Festival from its current site, adjacent to the Silver Jubilee Bridge, to Heath Park football fields in Runcorn, commencing in November 2008.

            It was noted that a number of years ago, the two fireworks displays in Halton were merged on efficiency grounds. They were originally held in the Runcorn Town Hall grounds and at Spike Island, Widnes. A new venue was chosen on the River Mersey gantry wall, which enabled viewing from both sides of the river.

            Over the past five years there had been a steady increase in the popularity of the event, and it now attracted some 45,000 people who took up vantage points on either side of the river and from various other points, including Weston Road, Pickerings Pasture, Wigg Island and the Catalyst Science Discovery centre.

            The increase in numbers attending had given rise to concerns about traffic congestion, crowd control and health and safety and it was now considered appropriate to review the current arrangements.

             The Board was updated on the main issues, in particular focusing on car parking and crowd safety and on the options available, namely to keep the event as it was, to split the event over two sites or to move the event to an alternative single site.

            It was further noted that having considered the alternatives it was proposed that the Fireworks Festival be transferred to The Heath Park Football Fields site from November 2008, as it was felt that this option was cost effective and would solve most, if not all, of the concerns regarding crowd safety and traffic congestion at the event.   

            Members held a wide ranging discussion. It was noted that the event was extremely successful and should remain at its current location and that work be undertaken to find alternatives to resolve the issues raised in the report, along with trying to attract sponsors to offset the additional costs.

            Furthermore Members discussed likely issues that would arise from having a different site for the festival, such as the impact of the additional traffic crossing the Bridge, remedial works after the event at the football fields and the fact that moving to the Heath Park Football Fields site may only offer a temporary solution, due to the expansion of the Heath Business Park which would mean the loss of car parking spaces. It was also noted that the appeal of the site was significant for the Borough in terms of joining Runcorn and Widnes residents to one event. Members also discussed other options such as limiting the publicity of the event and looking at other forms of funding from investors such as Widnes Waterfront and 3MG.

            The Board agreed that the event should remain on the present site.

            RESOLVED:  That

(1)               the report be received; and

(2)       the comments made by the Board that the Fireworks Festival remain at its current location and that work be undertaken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

The Board was reminded that Standing Order 51 of the Council’s Constitution stated that meetings should not continue beyond 9.00 pm.

           RESOLVED: That Standing Order 51 be waived for ten minutes.

The Board considered a report which provided an overview of the requirement to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) in Iine with Department of Health guidance. The process and subsequent JSNA documentation would be managed jointly by the Local Authority and the PCT and would describe the future health, care and well-being needs of local populations and the strategic direction of service delivery to meet those needs, over 3 – 5 years.

A strong and effective JSNA would:-

• show the health status of the local community;
• define what inequalities existed;
• contain social and healthcare data that was well analysed and presented effectively;
• define improvements and equality for the community;
• send signals to current or potential providers, who could have other relevant information or proposals for meeting needs;
• support better health and well-being outcomes; and
• aid decision-making and stages of the commissioning cycle, especially to use resources to maximise outcomes at minimum cost.

            The process of producing and subsequently utilising the JSNA was a systematic one and was outlined in the report. A three phase process was proposed with Phase 1 – Information Gathering; Phase 2 – Secondary Analysis and JSNA Production; and Phase 3 – Outputs and Commissioning Improvement.

            The guidance from the Department of Health stipulated that the Director of Adult Social Services, Director of Children and Young People Services, Director of Public Health and Director of Commissioning from the PCT had a responsibility for co-ordinating the production of the document. Discussions had already commenced with a range of key stakeholders and the timetable and process for completion was outlined in the report.

In addition, the Department of Health had stressed the importance of the direct links with Elected Members, Local Strategic Partnerships and key people including Local Authority Chief Executives, Environmental Health staff and staff involved in Research and Intelligence.

            Consequently, the Local Strategic Partnership had already received a similar report to own and understand the requirement to produce a JSNA. The Health Specialist Strategic Partnership (SSP) would thereafter be the responsible and accountable group to ensure that the JSNA was produced. As the Health SSP already had key people on its membership, it was suggested that a small working group be tasked with producing a draft JSNA in the timescales identified.

            Regular update reports to the Executive Board, Local Strategic Partnership, PCT Board and Healthy Halton Policy and Performance Board  (PPB) would be produced which appraised individuals and groups of progress. The Healthy Halton PPB would scrutinise the process and ensure that effective community consultation was undertaken. However, a similar report to every PPB would be presented to ensure they were aware of this matter, providing them with an opportunity to be engaged.

            It was noted that some financial costs to cover public consultation may be required and these would be determined at a later date.

            RESOLVED: That the process as outlined in the proposed co-ordination section be supported and a draft Joint Strategic Needs Assessment be received in 2008.