Present at the meeting:
- Councillor Mrs M J Whiteside (Chairman)
- Councillor Mrs A M L Bland
- Councillor R M Bleakley
- Councillor B Bowen
- Councillor S Dawber
- Councillor J Ellis
- Councillor J Moodie
- Councillor Mrs J Prescott
- Councillor Mrs A Turnock
Cabinet Portfolio Holder
- Councillor K Anderson – Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods
Officers in attendance
- Gillian Bishop – Interim Executive Director Environmental Services
- Gary Finch – Principal Officer – Overview and Scrutiny
- Alison Henderson – Solicitor
- Janet Lumley – Democratic Services Officer
Officers presenting reports
- Neil Fearnley – Service Director - Neighbourhoods
- Siân Jay – Policy Manager-Equality, Diversity and Cohesion
- Joanne Makin – Service Manager-Neighbourhood Teams
27 Apologies for absence: Councillors B J Fagan, J N Grundy, R Brierley, H L Cadman, J Eccles-Churton and Mrs E Smethurst.
28 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2009 were approved as a correct record, subject to the deletion of the phrase ‘older women’ in minute number 22 and the replacement with the words ‘older persons’.
29 Whipping Declarations: Government guidance expected Members of the Select Committee not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.
There were no declarations made.
30 Domestic Abuse Strategy: The Committee considered a report of the Interim Executive Director of Environmental Services, Gillian Bishop, setting out the latest draft of the Domestic Abuse Strategy. Apologies were made for the delay with this report, but this had been caused by the absence of a member of staff.
In the past reaction to domestic violence issues had tended to be re-active but the intention of this strategy was to become more pro-active identifying early interventions that would ultimately save costs, resources and personal hardship. It was expected that the final strategy would be completed and brought to the meeting of this Committee in March 2010. The strategy set out 5 aims and the actions that supported these. Funding would come from a review of existing budgets to reinvest in early intervention measures. In addition at least £160,000 would be made available from the Performance Reward Grant and if more became free this figure would be raised.
Members felt very positive about the content of the strategy and stated that it was important that it was owned by all partners in the Local Strategic Partnership. The Scrutiny Committee had a key role to play in making sure all targets were met.
Members discussed the strategy and raised questions which included the following salient points:-
- whether producing leaflets and booklets was the best use of money as it was thought that more victims of abuse would respond to posters in shop windows and other public places than would keep and read literature which came through the door;
- whether sufficient money was available to enable delivery of all the provisions in the strategy which were labelled ‘costs to be confirmed,’ and if not was there a priority list;
- bearing in mind that this was not the first strategy that has been brought to the Committee, where was it felt that the previous had been successful and where had it failed;
- could members be provided with actual dates relating to short, medium and long term objectives in the strategy;
- the strategy contained a lot of acronyms and had no glossary of terms which made it very difficult to understand;
Officers agreed that areas of the strategy were complicated for lay people to understand and undertook to bear this in mind when formulating the final strategy. It was explained that the strategy was a working document whereas any publicity consisted of the executive summary only.
The Service Director-Neighbourhoods, explained that the new strategy represented a change of emphasis and because of this true comparisons were difficult. He would however, provide a resume of outcomes from the previous strategy. People were now more aware of problems in their areas and the ability to report findings was now far better than before.
It was felt that the publicity in place at present served a purpose but it was also agreed to look into developing posters to put in public places in an attempt to get the message over to as many victims as possible.
Resolved: The Committee
- thanks the officers for the report;
- accepts the commissioning plan and strategic work streams identified in the report;
- requests that the final strategy is written in plain English and contains a glossary of terms; and
- requests an update of the Domestic Abuse Strategy be brought to the next meeting of the Committee on 15 March 2010.
31 Departmental Service Plan – Second Quarter: The Committee considered a report of the Interim Executive Director – Environmental Services, introduced by Neil Fearnley, informing Members of the progress made against objectives set out in the departmental plan for the period July 2009 – September 2009. The original report had peviously been withdrawn ( minute 15 refers) to enable it to be presented in a more appropriate format. Information was now broken down into targets, performance against targets and comments on that performance. The summary of departmental performance indicated that of 16 performance indicators that were available for measuring, nine were better than target, six were on target and only one was worse than target.
In relation to the perception of anti-social behaviour (NI17),it was pointed out that there were significant discrepancies between data from the PLACE survey, the GMP survey and the PACT survey results and the intention was to find which of the three data bases held the most reliable results. Government Office North West, via the Home Office, had allocated funding to be used to improve the problem of anti social behaviour as the PLACE survey had given the impression that Wigan was not doing as well as it should be. The Service Manager, Neighbourhood Teams, Joanne Makin, explained that a lot of the discrepancy arose because people’s perceptions were very different. A lot depended on how the question was asked and by whom. A new piece of work was underway at present and the results would be brought back to the Committee in November 2010.
A question was raised as to why the Plan made reference to building resistance to violent extremism and the Policy Manager for Equality, Diversity and Cohesion explained that this was a Government measure targeted at Islamic extremism. A representative from Manchester University had spoken at a recent Members’ training session and a Government spokesman had addressed a meeting of the Building Stronger Communities Partnership Board. There would be a further meeting to assess how Wigan should move forward.
Members also expressed their wish that the post of Head of Sustainable Communites be filled as quickly as possible
Resolved: The Committee accepts the report.
31 Equality Scheme Update: The Committee considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive introduced by the Policy Manager for Equality, Diversity and Cohesion, Sian Jay, together with a presentation which gave an overview of the preparations and identified early priorities for the Council’s new Equality Scheme which was to be published in April 2010. The report was at the consultation stage and it was intended that when the strategy was finalised it would provide a single reference point which encompassed all the priorities from the many documents that currently existed. The Corporate Plan sets four values:-
- setting high standards;
- being open and honest;
- focusing on performance; and
- leading by example.
It was important to communicate properly with all those that the Council needed to engage with and to find those who were not accessing the services available.
The strategy would go to Cabinet in April 2010 and this Committee would continue to monitor its progress.
Resolved: The Committee accepts the progress of the Equality Scheme for 2010-2013, together with the early priorities for action identified by managers across all Council functions.
33 Anti Social Behaviour Policy and Procedure Update: The Committee considered a report of the Interim Executive Director of Environmental Services, detailing positive progress in dealing with anti-social behaviour since the policy and procedure were introduced. The officers explained that they undertake 10% random sampling of members of the public who have asked for the assistance of the Neighbourhood Team, in the form of a customer satisfaction survey, to ascertain whether they were happy with the help they received. Members were asked whether they felt that they should be random sampled in this way, so that their opinion of the service delivery could be considered. A major problem with this was that residents very rarely contacted Ward Councillors again after their problem had been dealt with and therefore, the Councillor would have little information to give.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- thanks the officers for their informative report and
- requests the Officers look into ways in which Members could give meaningful feedback which could be incorporated into the satisfaction survey.
34 Township Newsletter Update: Members were given an update on the production of a Township Newsletter which explained which Wards had now received copies and which were still outstanding. It was the intention that all Wards would have received the first newsletter by the end of March 2010.
Resolved: The Committee accepts the production update as presented.
35 Minutes of the Alcohol and Substance Misuse Scrutiny Select Committee: The Committee considered the minutes of the Alcohol and Substance Misuse Scrutiny Select Committee held on 9 December 2009.
Resolved: The Committee notes the minutes of the Alcohol and Substance Misuse Scrutiny Select Committee.
Alcohol and Substance Misuse Scrutiny Select Committee
9 December 2009
Present at meeting:
- Councillor Mrs J Prescott (Chairman)
- Councillor R M Bleakley
- Councillor Mrs B Bourne
- Councillor N A Bradbury
- Councillor R Brierley
- Councillor Dr C M Cottam
- Councillor J Eccles-Churton
Officers in attendance
- Sue Elliott – Head of Service – Strategy & Commissioning
- Siobhan Heaton – Lead Commissioner (Substance Misuse)
- David Skinley – Administrative Assistant
- Michael Williamson – Committee Services Officer
Officers presenting reports
- Sharon Bond – Service Manager – Youth Offending
- Sheila Martland – Service Manager – Youth Service
- Sarah Owen – Operational Manager – Early Intervention and Prevention
35.1 Apologies for absence: Councillors E N Houlton and P A Tushingham.
35.2 Role of Youth Offending Team (YOT) in tackling Alcohol and Substance Misuse: The Select Committee received a presentation by the Service Manager – Youth Offending, Sharon Bond and the Operational Manager – Early Intervention and Prevention, Sarah Owen, on the role of the YOT in tackling alcohol related issues.
The presentation gave a detailed account of the techniques and approaches that were currently deployed with regard to prevention, intervention and assessment. Much of the prevention, intervention and assessment work that the YOT conducted involved liaising and engaging with other departments and partners at various stages.
Young people who had been identified or referred to the YOT underwent ASSET assessments on an individual basis, to establish the scale, length and type of intervention required. Once assessed, those individuals would be given a plan and undergo a personalised combination of interventions which aimed to modify their behaviour. There was also a provision for parents to be offered support at a level that was appropriate.
The Operational Manager – Early Intervention and Prevention advised the Select Committee that Operation Stay Safe was an example of preventative work being conducted by the YOT in close partnership with the police and other agencies. The aim of Operation Stay Safe was to reduce the risk of significant harm to others and to reduce the risk of offending. The scheme, which had recently been adopted in Wigan, was being piloted until March 2011 and was being funded by the Department of Children Schools and Families.
A large amount of offences currently being committed by young people were alcohol related and accordingly this was a significant issue for the YOT. There had been an increase in violent offences involving young women where alcohol was a feature. The most common age of those assessed who had issues relating to alcohol was 15 years to 16 years which corresponded with the peak age of young people who committed offences.
Members asked a number of questions, which included the following salient points:-
- Could some of the data included in the presentation in relation to the gender split between young males and females who had issues with alcohol use be clarified?
- Had the relatively low prices of certain alcoholic drinks in some shops and supermarkets caused a massive increase in the numbers of young people who had issues with alcohol use?
- Had a survey been done to establish which wards had the most problems with regard to alcohol misuse in young people?
- Could further information regarding drug use in young people be brought to the Select Committee at a future meeting?
- Was further information available regarding the family interventions which took place where drugs or alcohol were an issue?
- What problems were currently faced by the Youth Service?
- What was being done to keep Councillors informed of the work of the YOT?
- Had the Operation Stay Safe team been carrying and using drug torches to detect signs of illegal drug taking?
- What action could be taken to deter large groups of young people from congregating in public places to consume alcohol?
- What statistics were available about young people who had been dealt with by the Operation Stay Safe team in Wigan?
The Service Manager – Youth Offending agreed to investigate the gender split between males and females further. Any new information would be fed back to the Select Committee at a future meeting. The Select Committee was also advised that low priced alcohol had caused a large increase in the numbers of young people who had issues with alcohol use.
It was confirmed that levels of alcohol misuse in young people within specific wards had been investigated at an earlier date and on that occasion, Wigan South Ward was found to have the worst statistics in this regard. However, it was important to note that such problems existed in all wards within the Borough.
The Service Manager – Youth Offending agreed to make information about drug use in young people available to the Select Committee at a future meeting in order for it to be considered by Members. The Select Committee was also advised that the particular types of family interventions mentioned in the presentation were introduced in October 2009. Therefore, it was agreed that any feedback to be given to the Select Committee regarding the success of these measures be presented at a later date.
It was stated that the Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Team (YPDAT) was significantly under resourced to cope fully with the demands of the Wigan Borough. The YPDAT had relatively small and few resources in comparison to other Local Authorities. The insecure nature of its source of funding i.e. through grants, made it difficult to set long term budgets. In addition, this had led to a higher number of temporary contracts than was desirable. The Head of Service – Strategy and Commissioning suggested that Officers gathered more information on this topic in order that it may be presented to the Select Committee in February 2010.
The Operational Manager – Early Intervention and Prevention stated that she and other officers regularly attended meetings such as the Area Management Group (AMG) and the Partners and Communities Together (PACT) officers group, to advise of current initiatives being undertaken. Councillor Mrs J Prescott commented that the positive and pro-active work being conducted by the Youth Service ought to be better publicised than it currently was, in order to reassure members of the public, and to further convey the Service’s messages and promote its image. The Service Manager – Youth Offending agreed to continue to work on this issue.
The Operational Manager – Early Intervention and Prevention advised that there had been some concerns in the past, over health risks associated with using drug torches. In rare cases they had been reported to have caused harm to people’s eyes. However she was unaware of the latest guidelines.
The Select Committee was also advised that Designated Public Place Orders (DPPOs) ban the consumption of alcohol within a specified area. Consequently DPPOs helped to deter or prevent large groups of young people from congregating in public places to consume alcohol. It was suggested that a report entitled Draft Designated Public Place Orders Policy and Procedure which was presented at the Building Stronger Communities Scrutiny Committee on 21 September 2009 may be of use to Members of the Select Committee wishing to gain a deeper understanding of DPPOs.
The Operational Manager – Early Intervention and Prevention agreed to feedback any relevant information that was requested regarding Operation Stay Safe in consultation with the Committee Services Officer.
Resolved: The Select Committee:-
- requests that current data regarding gender split amongst young males and females who had issues with alcohol use be investigated further and any new information be fed back to the Select Committee at a future meeting;
- requests that further information regarding drug use in young people be brought to the Select Committee a future meeting;
- requests that further information regarding family interventions which take place where drugs or alcohol are an issue be brought to the Select Committee at a future meeting;
- requests that further details about the level of resources available to the YPDAT and its effect on levels of service provision be brought to the Select Committee in February 2010;
- requests that the Service Manager – Youth Offending continues to explore ways of further publicising the work of the Youth Service;
- requests that the Committee Services Officer contact Ian Harrison, Head of Sustainable Communities – Environmental Services and circulate any further relevant information regarding the DPPOs at a future meeting;
- requests that the Youth Service feedback any further relevant information available on young offenders who had been dealt with by the Operation Stay Safe team in Wigan to the Select Committee at a future meeting; and
- thanks the officers for the presentation.
35.3 Role of the Youth Service in tackling Alcohol and Substance Misuse: The Select Committee received a presentation by the Service Manager – Youth Service, Sheila Martland on the role of the Youth Service in tackling alcohol and substance misuse.
The presentation outlined the key principles of youth work :-
- equality;
- education;
- participation; and
- empowerment.
These principles underpinned the Service’s work in tackling alcohol and substance misuse. A detailed account of the current processes and approaches to tackling alcohol and substance misuse was given. Alcohol was currently a more prevalent problem for the service than substance misuse and was more serious than previously acknowledged. The Select Committee was advised that alcohol misuse in young people was seen as a safeguarding issue. The Service used a combination of pro-active and reactive strategies and continuing to work with partners would be key to any future success in the field. The Service had improved in terms of the measuring and recording of relevant data. A case study was circulated to help to explain the work of the Youth Service. The Service wanted young people to be meaningfully engaged, projects such as the Peer Education Pilot, which encouraged young people to develop messages for other young people, had been used in Shackerley and Hindley.
The challenges identified in the presentation were:-
- to ensure that key messages from departments, partners and agencies were uniform;
- to continue partnership working towards a common goal, while embracing a culture of collective responsibility; and
- to pool sufficient resources to meet the needs and demands of the Service.
Members asked a number of questions, which included the following salient points:-
- Where referrals made to Social Services in cases of alcohol and substance misuse involving very young people?
- What action could be taken against adults who were behaving irresponsibly in a manner which encouraged, allowed or facilitated alcohol or substance misuse in young people?
- Would Youth Service staff benefit from having access to a BlackBerry, or another similar electronic device and would this represent best value for money?
The Operational Manager – Early Intervention and Prevention confirmed that procedures for conducting referrals to Social Services where necessary were already in place, and that referrals had been made before in such cases.
The Service Manager – Youth Offending advised Members that Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and Parenting Orders were examples of punishments for this type of irresponsible behaviour. There was also a scheme of non-negotiable support for parents who required it, as well as a new family intervention project.
The Service Manager – Youth Service stated that this was potentially a very useful proposal which could, as suggested, represent best value for money. Councillor Mrs J Prescott agreed that this proposal warranted further investigation. The Service Manager – Youth Service was asked to identify whether there was a need for this type of equipment and report back to the Select Committee with any findings or recommendations.
Resolved: The Select committee:-
- requests that the Service Manager – Youth Service report back at a future meeting, on whether a need could be identified for a BlackBerry, or other similar electronic device, for people working for the Youth Service; and
- thanks the Service Manager – Youth Service for the presentation.
35.4 Dates of future meetings: Members were advised of the future dates that the Select Committee would be holding meetings on during 2010.
The Service Manager – Youth Service suggested that it would be useful for the Select Committee to visit the Youth Group working on alcohol. The Committee Services Officer was asked to liaise with the Service Manager – Youth Service to try and facilitate this proposal.
Resolved: The Select Committee:-
- approves the proposed future dates of its meetings during 2010; and
- requests that the Committee Services Officer liaise with the Service Manager – Youth Service to try and organise a visit whereby Members of the Select Committee could witness the work of the Youth Group on alcohol.
Chairman
The meeting concluded at 20.20 p.m.
36 Feedback from the Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Councillor Anderson, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, reported that he had been to observe operation ’staysafe’. As part of this initiative youngsters who were engaged in anti social behaviour were picked up by police and taken to a place of safety from where their parents had to collect them. He felt that this operation was very successful and should be used more often.
