Agenda and minutes

Members stood in silent respect for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels on 22 March 2016.

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any matters on the agenda and, if so, to formally declare that interest.

Councillor Connolly declared a personal interest in respect of any matters relating to staffing as his partner is employed by the Local Authority Trading Company, Persona.

Councillors Daly and James declared personal interests in respect of Minute OSC.841, Anti Social Behaviour – Progress Update and Revised Statement of Policy and Procedure, as practising Solicitors.

Councillor Briggs declared a personal interest in respect of Minute OSC.841, Anti Social Behaviour – Progress Update and Revised Statement of Policy and Procedure, as a serving Magistrate.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the last meeting held on 11 February 2016

It was agreed:

That the Minutes of the meeting, held on 11^th February 2015, be agreed as a correct record.

A period of 30 minutes has been set aside for members of the public to ask questions on matters considered at the last meeting and set out in the minutes or on the agenda for tonight’s meeting.

The Chair, Councillor Gartside, invited questions from members of the public present at the meeting and the following issues were raised:

·         Nicolas Jones expressed concerns in relation to the dangers of parking bays being sited inside cycle lanes. David Fowler, Assistant Director of Localities, explained that further dialogue on this issue was ongoing with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the cycling community.

·         Councillor Pickstone highlighted that TfGM guidance stated that cycle lanes should not be within parking bays. With regard to the consultation process Councillor Pickstone stated that the questions were narrow and did address the issue of congestion on Bury New Road. The Leader of the Council explained that the issue of cycle lanes was raised at the Cabinet meeting and was subject to further discussion. The Leader highlighted that Bury New Road was not the designated cycle route into Manchester and stated that the consultation questionnaire included many open questions with the opportunity to raise issues of potential congestion.

·         In response to a question from Oliver Kersch concerning the effects of the construction works, the Assistant Director of Localities explained that the Road would not be closed and that consultations would be undertaken with residents and businesses.

·         Councillor Black highlighted the fact that improving traffic flow was a key aim of the scheme.

·         In response to a written question from Mr S Taylor, the Leader outlined issues relating to access to the Aldi supermarket and explained that the Council had requested that TfGM undertake an assessment on the impact of the proposed scheme on air quality. An undertaking was given to provide a full written response to Mr Taylor.

Following the receipt of a Notice of Call-in, within the required deadline, from Councillors I Gartside and J Daly calling in the decision of the Cabinet set out in Minute CA.747 of the meeting held on 2 March 2016, the matter will be considered in accordance with the reasons set out on the Notice of Call-In.

In considering the matter, the options available to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are as follows:

1. The Scrutiny Committee decides not to offer any comments on the Notice. In this situation the decision of the Cabinet will stand.
2. The Scrutiny Committee decides to offer comments or objections, which will be referred back to the Cabinet at the meeting arranged for 13 April 2016.
3. The Scrutiny Committee may refer the Notice, without comment, to the Council. The matter will then be considered by the Council on 6 April 2016 (a standard item appears on all Council summons to consider referrals from Scrutiny Commissions). Any comments or objections from Council will be referred back to the Cabinet at the earliest opportunity, in accordance with the Council Constitution.

The Cabinet will be required to consider any objections and comments but will not be bound by them unless..."it is contrary to the Policy Framework or contrary to or not wholly consistent with the Budget" (Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules - Paragraph 16(g) of the Council Constitution).

The Scrutiny Committee considered a called-in decision of the Cabinet meeting held on 2 March 2016 in accordance with the Council Constitution.

The Cabinet had made the following decision in relation to the Prestwich High Street Regeneration Scheme:

1.  That officers be instructed to undertake detailed designs and obtain tenders in respect of delivering Proposal One, as detailed in the report submitted, subject to the following amendments and within the approved budget:

    i.    Clifton Road to remain open in both directions. The situation will be monitored for a period of 12 calendar months from completion of the scheme as to its effect on traffic flows, congestion and safety.

  ii.    The on street (adopted) parking bays to be reduced in length and additional street trees to be included to improve the aesthetic appearance. Parking bays to be subject to restrictions of 60 minutes with no return with 1 hour.

 iii.    Officers to work with Transport for Greater Manchester to ensure traffic light sequencing is maximised to reduce congestion.

2.  That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and the interim Executive Director of Resources and Regulation, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to consider all tenders received and to approve the awarding of the contract to undertake the approved scheme within the approved budget.

3.  That officers be instructed to seek opportunities to secure additional match funding and sponsorship specifically in respect to street furniture, signage and planting

A Call-In Notice had been submitted by Councillor Gartside, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Councillor Daly, setting out the reasons for the Call-In of the decision. A summary of the reasons is set out below:

·         Negative impact on traffic flow

·         No previous consultation with the Scrutiny Committee

·         Similar scheme in neighbouring area resulted in detrimental effect on traffic

·         Parking bays dangerously sited inside cycle lanes

·         Dissatisfaction expressed by the public, cyclists and other stakeholder groups

·         Failure to take account of the concerns expressed in the consultation.

The Leader of the Council responded to the issues raised in the Notice of Call-in as follows:

Traffic Flow – The Leader reported that the flow of traffic through the village centre is disrupted by often uncontrolled and erratic vehicular manoeuvres and that the scheme design aims to reduce the number of uncontrolled and unexpected manoeuvres. Furthermore as the scheme progresses to detailed design the Council will continue to work with TfGM to ensure that, where possible, measures such as traffic light sequencing are put in place that will improve traffic flows.

Consultation with Scrutiny Committee -  The Leaderreported that 28 days notice had been given, through the published Forward Plan, regarding the impending decision on the scheme. During this period no request had been made for the report to be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Neighbouring Schemes – It was reported that Officers had looked at a wide range of schemes within the region. The Leader highlighted that the current scheme originated from the Prestwich Masterplan  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC.841

A draft report from the Lead Member for Community Safety is attached.

Councillor Tariq, Lead Member for Community Safety, submitted a report outlining the work undertaken to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the Borough following implementation of the Ant-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, 2014.  

The report included the findings of an independent evaluation of the JET; a multi- agency team established to test integrated working principles and improve information sharing, problem solving and responses to victims and perpetrators of ASB. 

During discussion of this item the Committee largely welcomed the progress made and were particularly keen for the Police to continue to develop local PACT meetings to engage local residents in work to tackle ASB.  Members also commented on the value of township forums as a mechanism to brief wider councillors and the public on work to tackle ASB. 

It was agreed:

That the following recommendations , as set out in the Cabinet report, be supported:

(a)     Progress in relation to the implementation of the new tools and powers, including the role of the Joint Engagement Team, is noted.  This includes the Cost Benefit Analysis undertaken by New Economy.

(b)     Work continues to embed and develop these tools and powers in the Borough.  This to include the further development of a robust partnership performance framework for anti-social behaviour.

(c)      Further consideration is given to the feasibility of Six Town Housing and other social landlords becoming direct agents of the Council for the purposes of issuing Community Protection Notices, in accordance with provisions within the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and the Anti Social Behaviour(Designated Persons) Order, 2015. The Community Safety Manager works with other departments of the Council to explore their potential use of Community Protection Notices.

(d)     The Community Safety Manager works with partners through the Joint Engagement Team (JET) to ensure effective planning for the conversion of Designated Public Protection Orders into Public Space Protection Orders within the next two years (to ensure statutory compliance).

(e)     To develop the Joint Engagement Team to ensure it enhances and supports the future locality working model being developed for Bury. 

To agree the revised ASB statement of policy and procedure (Appendix A).

A progress report, summarising the work of the Group, is attached.

Councillor Southworth, Chair of the Children’s Safeguarding Overview Project Group, submitted a report setting out a summary of the work of the Group during the last year.

It was agreed:

1.   That the work of the Overview Project Group be carried over into the new Municipal Year 2016/17.

2.   That, in order to retain the expertise and knowledge developed throughout the review, where possible the existing membership be retained.

3.   That regular updates be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the work of the Group.

Any other business which by reason of special circumstances the Chair agrees may be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business reported.