Agenda and minutes

            The Chair advised that on behalf of the Board he would write to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to request to seek clarification on the continuation of the hovercraft service currently provided in Halton from the New Brighton area. 

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 14^th June 2016 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

            The Board was advised that no public questions had been received.

            The Board considered a copy of the Annual Report from the Chair of the Safer Board, 2015/16. The Board met five times during the year and the report set out the work carried out and the recommendations throughout the Municipal Year April 2015 to March 2016.

            RESOLVED: That the Annual Report be noted.

            On behalf of North West Ambulance Service, Mr Maddock attended the meeting to provide information on a scheme which aimed to identify and engage with frequent service callers. It was noted that there had been a substantial increase in demand for the ambulance service and this model was developed to help address that demand.

            Mr Maddock advised that within the model there were individual teams for each area which consisted of a specialist paramedic. The specialist paramedic role was to contact these frequent callers and implement an intervention method. It was reported that, due to the success of the scheme, Central Government had increased funding and the some CCG’s had also funded an additional post. As a result the number of staff employed within the scheme had increased from five to ten.

            Arising from the discussion, Members asked Mr Maddock if the recent launch of two Urgent Care Centres in Halton had assisted the ambulance service with regard to demand on the service. In response Mr Maddock advised that these two Urgent Care Centres provided an excellent service and had helped reduce demand for Accident and Emergency services.

            On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked Mr Maddock for his presentation.

            RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, which provided an update on the work of the Halton Community Alcohol Partnership (HCAP). Community Alcohol Partnerships encouraged the collaboration of local agencies, communities and businesses to reduce alcohol consumption in young people and alcohol related anti social behaviour. In Halton the CAP had made good progress in reducing underage drinking, with admissions for those under 18 falling significantly over recent years. 

            Members were advised that as a result of intelligence received from Police, Halton Council and Young Addaction about alcohol consumption and anti social behaviour, Murdishaw was selected as an area within Halton in which to pilot a Community Alcohol Partnership.  A HCAP workshop had been held in May 2016 and actions were agreed to quickly achieve the HCAP objectives for Murdishaw.  These ideas had now been incorporated into the HCAP action plan and actions to date included:

·         Reducing proxy purchasing;

·         Raising awareness of alcohol related harms;

·         Diversionary activities; and

·         Success measures.

RESOLVED: That the report be received.

            The Board considered a presentation from the following representatives of Halton Registered Social Landlords (RSL) which provided information on their work, in partnership with the Police and the Council, to deal with Anti-social behaviour involving their tenants:

Halton Housing Trust - Mr Harvey;

Liverpool Housing Trust – Ms Hodgson; and

Riverside Housing Association – Ms Frazer and Ms Tracey.

            Members were advised on recent property closure orders, possession orders, support for tenants, examples of anti-social behaviour and the consequences for tenants including enforcement action and examples of joint working with the Police and the Community Safety Team including Operation Treacle.           

            On behalf of the Board the Chair thanked the RSL’s for their informative presentations.

            RESOLVED: That the presentations be noted.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Community and Resources which outlined a list of areas that had been identified for scrutiny. It was proposed to visit a number of areas to improve awareness and provide a direct on-site means of scrutiny with the potential to offer feedback to the various agencies. The topic areas identified were:-

·         Police Custody Suite;

·         Stay Safe;

·         Police Dog Operations;

·         Creamfields;

·         Match Day Operations – Select Security Stadium; and

·         Night Time Economy.

            It was proposed that these visits would be Officer-lead and would be for one to two hours in duration. Details on arrangements for the visits were outlined to Members. A summary report on observations would be presented to a future meeting of the Board.

            The Board discussed their recent visit to the Creamfields event and residents’ complaints regarding noise from the event. In response the Chair of the Regulatory Committee advised that a report detailing feedback from all agencies involved in the event would be considered at the November meeting of the Committee and Members of the Board were invited to attend.

            RESOLVED: That the Board agree to participate in site visits as detailed in the report.