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Meeting Details

Safer & Stronger Renfrewshire Thematic Board
24 Nov 2016 - 10:00 to 12:00
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Committee Members
Membership
Councillors Williams and Perrie (Renfrewshire Council); S Miller (Engage Renfrewshire); S Cruikshank (Forum for Empowering Communities); W Kennedy (North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority); R Kennedy (Police Scotland); J Farrell (Procurator Fiscal’s Office); B Grant (Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce); D Leese and F Mackay (Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership); S MacDougall, O Reid, I Beattie, F Carlin, D Mair and A Conboy (All Renfrewshire Council); L King (Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration); M Gallagher (Scottish Fire and Rescue); C Prentice (Victim Support Renfrewshire); and A Cumberford (West College Scotland).
Chair
Councillor Williams.
Councillor T Williams, Chair, presided.
Present
Councillor Williams (Renfrewshire Council); S Miller (Engage Renfrewshire); K Philips (Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership); and S MacDougall and O Reid (both Renfrewshire Council).
In Attendance
M Gallacher (Police Scotland); J Divers (Scottish Fire and Rescue Service); J Allan and R Anderson (Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership); D McAllion, T Irvine, Y Farquhar, C Grainger and C MacDonald (all Renfrewshire Council).
Standard Items
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.
Further Information
This is a meeting which is open to members of the public. 

A copy of the agenda and reports for this meeting will be available for inspection prior to the meeting at the Customer Service Centre, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley and online at www.renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx

For further information, please either email
democratic-services@renfrewshire.gov.uk or telephone 0141 618 7112.
Items Of Business
Apologies
Apologies from members.
Councillor Perrie, F Carlin, D Mair and A Conboy (all Renfrewshire Council); R Kennedy (Police Scotland); S Cruikshank (Forum for Empowering Communities); L King (Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration); M Gallagher (Scottish Fire and Rescue); and A Dick (West College Scotland).
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.
Minute of Meeting held on 31 August 2016.
1
There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Safer & Stronger Renfrewshire Thematic Board held on 31 August 2016.

DECISION:   That the Minute be approved.
Report by director of Finance & Resources, Renfrewshire Council.
2
The Rolling Action Log was submitted for approval. 

DECIDED:   

(a) That action S&S.16.05.16(10) be removed from the Action Log as it was now complete; and

(b) That the Rolling Action Log be approved.
Report by Director of Community Resources, Renfrewshire Council.
3
There was submitted a report by the Director of Community Resources relative to the remedial action on the Year 3 Progress for the Safer & Stronger Thematic Board Local Outcome Improvement Plan.

The report advised that at the meeting of the Community Planning Partnership Board in September 2016 the progress made by each Thematic Board in the three years since the Renfrewshire Community Plan 2013-23 was scrutinised and it was agreed that a further report be submitted to the December meeting which included details of
improvement actions to mitigate the key challenges which had been identified. A
number of  measures were highlighted as not achieving target and the report provided detail on the progress and remedial actions on the indicators which were not achieving target.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.
COMMUNITY COHESION
Presentation by Data Analytics and Research Manager, Chief Executive's Service, Renfrewshire Council.
4
The Data Analytics & Research Manager, Chief Executive’s Service, Renfrewshire
Council, gave a presentation relative to an overview of the Scottish Index of Multiple
Deprivation (SIMD).

The presentation gave a brief overview of the application; drew attention to the Data
Zones within the application; highlighted the overall deprivation within Renfrewshire; and outlined the next steps.

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.
Presentation by Police Scotland
4(b)

A presentation was given by Police Scotland relative to the Grey Space Community Tension Monitoring Group which was set up to enhance community cohesion within Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.

The presentation gave a brief overview of the project; detailed the membership of the group; outlined the agreed purpose and ongoing activity;  summarised the practical measures that were being taken; and outlined the next steps.

DECIDED:   That the presentation be noted.

FOR DISCUSSION
Report by Director of Community Resources, Renfrewshire Council.
5
There was submitted a report by the Director of Community Resources which outlined  the application process for “Purple Flag” status and the key points from the self-assessment exercise which was undertaken on 25/26 August 2016. 

It was noted that the while the application was to be made by Paisley First, the Council, through Community Resources and other key partners provided support for achieving Purple Flag status with the appointment of the Purple Flag Coordinator.  Aberdeen and Dunfermline were the only other cities in Scotland that had been awarded Purple Flag status.  The purple flag boundary was detailed on the map attached as Appendix 1 with the draft application for submission attached as Appendix 2. 

The report advised that the submission documents and application had been submitted to Paisley First and the assessment would be undertaken on Friday 9 December 2016. 

DECIDED:   That the Purple Flag submission to the Association of the Town and City Management and subsequent assessment would be undertaken on Friday 9 December 2016 be noted. 
Report by Director of Community Resources, Renfrewshire Council.
6

There was submitted a report by the Director of Community Resources relative to the policy to support third party applications to the private rented housing panel.

The report intimated that at the Renfrewshire Council Housing and Community Safety Policy Board on 17 May 2016 progress on developing criteria and a policy for Renfrewshire Council to make third party applications to the Private Rented Housing Panel was noted and it was agreed that a finalised policy and criteria would be developed and brought back for approval. The policy was taken to the Renfrewshire Council Housing and Community Safety Policy Board on 10 November 2016. The policy was attached as Appendix 1 to provide an update to the Safer and Stronger Thematic Board.

Information from the Private Rented Housing Panel indicated that there were twelve Repairing Standard applications by tenants within Renfrewshire during 2013/14 (latest published data). To date, there have been three applications made by Community Resources to the Private Rented Housing Panel on behalf of private tenants using the proposed criteria; these cases were in progress with several other potential applications under consideration.  It was noted that the onus still remained on the tenant to refer their application to the Private Rented Housing Panel and Renfrewshire Council would only become involved when the necessary criteria was met.  

It was intimated that there was a possibility that the policy might have implications for services providing support to vulnerable residents that were private tenants. In instances where it was felt a tenant could make a referral this can be passed on to Renfrewshire Council (Community Resources) for review and action as appropriate.

There was therefore a role for Community Planning Partners to ensure that their officers were aware that where problems were identified with tenants and their property, a third party referral could be made on behalf of the tenant by Renfrewshire Council in appropriate circumstances.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be noted that the policy on third party referrals to the Private Rented Housing Panel had been approved by the Renfrewshire Council Housing and Community Safety Policy Board and the benefits that this could bring to ensuring private rented accommodation was safe and maintained to an appropriate condition.

(b) That the role and opportunity for partners providing support to vulnerable residents to increase awareness of the opportunity that private rented sector tenants had to raise concerns with the PRHP directly be noted; and

(c) That it be noted that Renfrewshire Council now had a policy to do this on a third party basis where certain criteria was met. 

LIFE CHOICES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Report by Head of Child Care and Criminal Justice, Renfrewshire Council.
7
There was submitted a report by the Head of Child Care and Criminal Justice updating the members on the annual Child Protection Committee Conference, Gender Based Violence and PI Children Looked After Away from Home.
 
The report advised that the annual Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee conference was held in Johnstone Town Hall on 8 September 2016.  It was heavily oversubscribed and attracted 233 delegates from across all agencies. There was a strong field of speakers and the event was positively evaluated by participants. At the conference there was a video link with David Mandel from Ending Violence. This was a precursor to training for staff who worked directly with domestic abuse and coercive control.
 
The report also gave an update on gender based violence and the four day gender based violence training programme which was delivered to 39 members of staff from across the partnership at the beginning of October.  The Gender Based Violence Steering group had been keen to offer staff working in this field training that supported the development of their skills by using the Safe and Together Model suite of tools. The immediate evaluation from staff was very positive and further evaluation would be taken forward to understand the impact of the training.

It was noted that Renfrewshire Council, in partnership with CELCIS, had been implementing tests of change in permanency planning for children which would contribute incrementally to a long term reduction in accommodated placements as arrangements for the most appropriate long-term placements which include kinship care, adoption and permanent return home were made consistently for children. There had been significant reductions in the number of older children being accommodated, and services such as intensive family support, the Whole Systems Team and Functional Family Therapy support older children and teenagers to remain at home. It was anticipated that further reductions would be achieved as the impact of early intervention and preventative work was realised but it was recognised that such programmes achieved results over many years.

DECIDED:   That the report be noted.
Presentation by Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership.
8
A presentation was given by the Care Group Occupational Therapist for Mental Health, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and the ADP Planning & Development Officer.

A brief overview of the Mental Health Art and Film Festival was detailed and some of the activities and programme were highlighted.  The ADP Planning & Development Officer gave a verbal update relative to the RecoveryFest 2016 which aimed to celebrate, showcase and promote the role of arts, culture and music in supporting and sustaining recovery from addiction.  She highlighted some of the events that took place and outlined the next steps.

Discussion centered around the synergy between the Grey Space programme, the SIMD data, the ADP and the Mental Health Strategy Group and it was agreed to investigate the possibility of forming a short-life working group to be led by the Head of Public Protection with a view to better facilitating the links in these areas of work.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be agreed to investigate the possibility of forming a short-life working group to look at the synergy between synergy between the Grey Space programme, the SIMD data, the ADP and the Mental Health Strategy Group, to be led by the Head of Public Protection, with a view to better facilitating the links in these areas of work.

(b) That the presentation be noted.
FOR NOTING
Report by Director of Community Resources, Renfrewshire Council.
9
There was submitted a report by the Director of Community Resources which provided a summary of progress on the Community Safety Partnership Tackling Poverty Initiatives.

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress with the four workstreams impacting on the Safer and Stronger action plan within the Tackling Poverty Action Plan be noted; and

(b) That it be noted that a future report would be submitted to the Safer and Stronger Thematic Board outlining the evaluation of each of the work streams upon completion of the programme. 
Report by Director of Community Resources, Renfrewshire Council.
10
There was submitted a report by the Director of Community Resources, Renfrewshire Council which provided an update for the Safer & Stronger Renfrewshire Thematic Board on recent activities carried out in relation to community safety and public protection.

DECIDED:  That the progress update report be noted.
Report by Director of Community Resources, Renfrewshire Council.
11
There was submitted a report by the Director of Community Resources, Renfrewshire Council which provided an update on the Strategic Police Priorities and Annual Review of Policing 2016/17.

The report indicated that the Scottish Government had now published its seven strategic priorities for Police Scotland and a copy was attached as an appendix.  It was also noted that the Scottish Police Authority had just advised Renfrewshire Council of the intention to bring forward the 2016/17 Annual Review of Policing and a response would be required by mid-February 2017.

DECIDED:

(a) That the content of the Strategic Police Priorities as laid before the Scottish Parliament in October 2016 be noted; and

(b) That the request for contributions to the Annual Review of Policing 2016/17 would be brought forward with a response due by mid-February 2017.

Additional Meeting Documents

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Visitor Information is not yet available for this meeting