Councillor G Griffiths, Chair

Councillors T E Ankers, J D Bratherton, D H D Charlesworth, S Conquest, J Lewis,

M A Martin, S J Mottram and M J Weatherill

 

 

Mrs K Hercules           Community Engagement Manager

Mrs C M Jones           Democratic Services Committee Officer

Mrs B Hurst                Assistant Chief Executive (Community Development and Social Policy)

Mrs S Turner              Local Strategic Partnership Manager 

Mr A Wenham            Chief Executive

 

 

Councillor R Westwood        Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods  

 

Apology:       Councillor D N Bebbington 

 

11        DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

Councillor M J Weatherill declared a personal interest in agenda item 7 (Private Sector Housing Assistance Commitment) on the basis that she was a landlord. 

 

No other Member made any declaration of interest in any item of business on the agenda.

 

12        RECORD OF MEETING

 

 

13        WHIPPING DECLARATIONS

 

In accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Performance and Overview Procedure Rules, Members were invited to declare in respect of items where the whip had been applied.  No such declarations were made.

 

14        BOARD MEETING 27^TH JULY 2006

 

14.1     The Committee had brought forward the date of its meeting to avoid holding a meeting on the day of the Nantwich Show (26^th July) acknowledging that it would be unlikely that Members would have received their Board agenda in sufficient time to make comments.

 

Spare copies of the Board agenda were available at the meeting and Members briefly discussed the items which fell within its remit.

 

           

RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item pursuant to Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act.

 

14.3         Nantwich Swimming Pool

 

A Member enquired into the proposals contained within the report and this was responded to by the Chief Executive.

 

14.4         Re-admittance of Press and Public

 

RESOLVED:  That the press and public be re-admitted to the meeting.

 

AGREED:  That no comments be submitted to the Board in respect of the agenda for the meeting to be held on 27^th July 2006.

 

14.5         Provisional Items

 

Members considered the Board's Forward Plan (Provisional Items) for its meetings to be held in September and October.

 

§              Health Scrutiny Review of Arrangements ( September meeting)

 

The Board would receive a general up-date on proposals for Cheshire at its meeting in September, and the Committee would be able to comment on the report.

 

14.6         Referrals/Responses from the Board

 

It was reported that on this occasion, there were no responses from the Board or Council.

 

15            THE LOCAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP (LSP) AND LOCAL AREA

 

At the previous meeting, the Committee received a presentation on the Local Strategic Partnership and had agreed that a further presentation be made to this meeting, focusing on the Borough Council's involvement in the LSP and the benefits to the Council.

 

In addition, the Committee received a presentation on progress on arrangements for Local Area Agreements (LAA) which came into force in April 2005. 

 

Local Area Agreements

 

The presentation on Local Area Agreements covered the following

 

Background to date       21 pilot LAAs operational from April 2005 (Round 1)

 

Round 2:                     Further 66 LAAs operational from April 2006

 

Round 3:                     Negotiations commencing on remaining 63 areas.

 

Key aims

 

·                    To deliver better outcomes for local people

·                    Improved central/local relations

·                    Enhanced efficiency

·                    Better partnership working

·                    Enhancing community leadership by local authorities

 

LAA Framework

 

Comprised four blocks

 

·       Economic & Enterprise Development

·       Healthier communities and older people

·       Safer and stronger communities

·       Children and young people

 

·                    Outcomes within each block

·                    Enabling Measures

·                    Funding streams

·                    Timetable

·                    Local operation

 

Following the presentation, Members were encouraged to attend either of the Workshops to be held on 9^th and 15^th August. 

 

Local Strategic Partnership

 

There was a brief discussion on an information report which had been issued to Members, under separate cover, by the Partnership Manager. The report outlined the Council's role in partnerships in general and specifically with the LSP. 

           

AGREED:  That a list of Councillors, appointed to the LSP, be provided by the Partnership Manager for Members of the Committee.

 

(Note:  Councillor R Westwood spoke on this item with the permission of the Chair.)

 

16         PRIVATE SECTOR HOUSING ASSISTANCE COMMITMENT

 

The Committee received for information the quarterly report of the Head of Housing which summarised the expenditure on the four main housing renewal grants or assistance up to 31^st March 2006.  This was a re-submission of the document presented to the previous meeting, and had been amended to take account of a number of discrepancies identified by the Committee.

 

17          WORK PROGRAMME

 

 

Members reviewed an up-dated work programme which noted the date when reports were due to be submitted to the Committee.  Following discussion and amendment, the work programme was noted as follows

 

Topic	Committee Date
Violent Crime	6th Sept. 06
The Safer Communities Manager had been unable to report to this meeting but had undertaken to submit a report to the September Meeting.  The Committee requested information which disaggregated "violent crime" into various categories in an attempt to identify trends.

 

 

Children Act 2004	6th Sept. 06
The Children Act 2004 placed a new duty on local authorities in respect of the well-being of children. A briefing report on District Councils' responsibilities under the Act would be submitted to the next meeting which would also take account of the results of the Joint Area Review.
Youth Issues (originally entitled "Youth Nuisance")	18th Oct. 06
AGREED that the topic required broadening to take account of a range of issues associated with young people.   Comment was made that the word "nuisance" was an epithet often used when discussing youth issues and should not, necessarily, be attached to this topic.  Nuisance behaviour and criminal activity was carried out by all age groups and focusing on "youth nuisance" had negative connotations and should be avoided.   The Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership had produced four Action Plans, three of which were theme-based and one which was based on the Grosvenor area.  These examined trends in types of crime and ways in which these trends could be reversed.  A report on the evaluation of these Action Plans could be submitted to the Committee in 6-months time.

 

 

Air Quality Monitoring	4th April 07	Report to be submitted to coincide with information issued to DEFRA.
Wulvern Housing	6th Sept. 06	The annual review would be presented by Andrea Lowman from Wulvern Housing.
Mental Health	18th Oct. 06	Presentation on the ASPIRE Project
Local Area Agreements	7th Feb.07	Full document to be submitted.

 

 

18                DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

6^th September 2006

 

 

 

.............................................Chair