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Meeting Details

Police and Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Sub-Committee
7 Jun 2022 - 15:00 to 16:00
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests
  • Webcast

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Membership Section
Membership

Councillor J Hood; Councillor M MacLaren; Councillor I McMillan;

Councillor M McGurk (Convener) and Councillor R Innes (Depute Convener).

Standard Items
Hybrid Meeting
Please note that this meeting is scheduled to be held in the Council Chambers.  However, it is a hybrid meeting and arrangements have been made for members to join the meeting remotely should they wish.
Members of the Press and Public
Members of the press and public wishing to attend the meeting should report to the customer service centre where they will be met and directed to the meeting.
Webcasting of Meeting
This meeting will be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site – at the start of the meeting the Convener will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being filmed.  To find the webcast please navigate to

Items Of Business
Apologies
Apologies from members.
No apologies were intimated.
Declarations of Interest
Members are asked to declare an interest in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest.
There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.
Presentation by Police Scotland.
2
B Anderson, Chief Inspector, provided information to the Sub-committee on the Modernised Contact and Engagement Programme for engagement with Mental Health Practitioners.  He advised that the Mental Health Pathway was a collaborative project between National Health Service (NHS) 24, the Scottish Ambulance Service and Police Scotland to deliver ‘the right care at the right time’, which enabled callers to be directed to receive the most appropriate support from Mental Health practitioners. 

The Chief Inspector advised that this Pathway was divided into two phases. Phase 1 was the collaborative arrangement to allow direct referral of calls to Police Scotland from someone in mental health crisis to NHS24, this had already existed for 3 years and worked very successfully.  Phase 2 was the introduction of trained mental health nurses from NHS24 into Police Scotland Contact and Control Division (C3) to jointly deal with triage incidents involving mental health to assist in identifying the most appropriate support option.  Five Mental Health Nurses now worked in this area, to determine whether their clinical experience and knowledge could offer better support.  This service was provided in the west of Scotland and would be evaluated before being rolled out to the rest of Scotland.  A number of benefits such as improved outcomes and earlier access to the right care for those in mental health crisis and reductions in the number of unnecessary Police and/or Scottish Ambulance deployments had already been identified.

DECIDED: That the information provided be noted.
 
Report by Director of Communities and Housing Services.
3
There was submitted a report by the Director of Communities & Housing Services relative to the publication of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Scotland (HMICS) Scrutiny Plan to deliver a planned inspection programme for 2022–25. 

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, (HMICS) had a statutory role to report on the state, effectiveness and efficiency of both Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority. HMICS had first issued a consultation on their forward workplan 2014-17 in November 2013. Since then, each HMICS Annual Scrutiny Plan had included an appropriate focus on issues that were relevant and had been highlighted by the Council. The 3-year plan for 2022–25 would supersede the previous one and regular reviews would follow. 

Previously, HMICS had highlighted some of the areas they wished to focus on, however this year, as was the case in recent years, they did not provide a draft report but offered the opportunity for consultees to raise issues or concerns that they would like included in the inspection programme.

From a Renfrewshire perspective, local relationships with Police Scotland and with the Scottish Police Authority were excellent and it was anticipated that the areas highlighted in the recently published Scrutiny Plan would further strengthen Police Scotland’s working and effectiveness across Scotland. 

The HMICS purpose, values, framework and approach were outlined as part of the Scrutiny Plan. Within the plan there were four types of review: Strategic Reviews, Collaborative Reviews, Thematic Reviews and Audit and Assurance Reviews.  The reviews had several phases divided across the three-year programme and details of which reviews would be progressed in each year were provided.

DECIDED: That the publication and content of the HMICS Scrutiny Plan 
2022-25 be noted. 
 
Report by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
4
There was submitted a report, by the Local Senior Officer, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) relative to SFRS performance and local fire and rescue service plan priorities in the Renfrewshire area during period 1 January to 31 March 2022.

The report provided updates in relation to Renfrewshire activity, accidental dwelling fires and casualties, unintentional injury and harm, deliberate fire setting, non-domestic fire safety and unwanted fire alarm signals.

Non-fire casualties remained static from this period last year with a total of 17 casualties.  Of the 17 casualties nine were as a result of Road Traffic Collisions (53%).  Incidents involving Assisting Other Agencies accounted for 41% (seven incidents) of all the activity within this indicator.  Tragically, two fatalities were recorded this period. The first incident was effecting entry for multi-agency partners, the second was a recovery operation from a river in Renfrewshire. The report identified a decrease of 9% (three incidents) in Accidental Dwelling Fires and detailed factors which contributed to these. An increase in deliberate fire setting of 3% (four) incidents was reported compared to Q4 last year.  The report also provided information on Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS) which had shown an increase of 40% (75 incidents) year on year, a breakdown of the number of incidents and where these occurred was also provided.

DECIDED:  That the contents of the report be noted.
 
Presentation by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
5
The Sub-committee were advised that the Draft Scottish Fire and Rescue Strategic Plan (The Plan) 2022/2025 was now available for public consultation.
The Plan identified the service mission as a confident, modern, efficient, outward looking, learning organisation, which would continue to evolve, adapt, grow and transition into whatever was required to secure the safety and wellbeing of communities. In addition to responding to more traditional emergencies, they would further strengthen the work to prevent fires and other accidents occurring. The service would continue to reflect the changing needs of different localities and communities across Scotland. The Plan identified that they work with partners to protect the most vulnerable members of society, help address inequalities within our communities; respond when people are in need and respond to the growing climate emergency. They would support the safety of Scottish businesses in order that they may continue to grow and deliver a sustainable and inclusive economy for Scotland. 

DECIDED: That the information provided on the consultation of the Draft Scottish Fire and Rescue Strategic Plan 2022/2025 be noted.
 
Verbal Report by Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
6
Councillor J Hood sought clarification from Police Scotland about a recent incident in the Johnstone area.  The Chief Inspector was able to provide assurance that Police Scotland were treating this as an isolated incident and advised that essential work on the case was ongoing at the location but that the scene of crime would be cleared soon.

Councillor R Innes sought assurance from Police Scotland that the level of policing in the Linwood area was sufficient.  The Chief Inspector advised that the level was sufficient and if required more Police could be deployed if necessary at short notice.

DECIDED: That the information provided be noted.
 

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending Apology
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Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
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Visitors

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Webcast



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