To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Brown, Mohammed, Paolucci and P. Williams.

Members are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary, personal or personal and prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests relating to items on this agenda and/or indicate if S106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.   

There were no declarations of interest received.

To determine whether there are any additional items of business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chair decides should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business received

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd May 2023

To follow

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd May 2023 be approved as a correct record.

To determine any items on the agenda, if any, where the public are to be excluded from the meeting.

There were no items for exclusion of press and public.

To note the minutes of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Scrutiny Committees

Resolved that the minutes of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Police, Fire and Crime Panel Minutes 12th June 2023 be noted.

Resolved that the minutes of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Minutes 12th March 2023 be noted.

Resolved that the minutes of the Greater Manchester Joint Health Scrutiny Committee Minutes 8th March 2023 be noted.

To consider a progress report of the Assistant Director of Information, Customers and Communities (Interim) on Rochdale’s Safer Community Partnership, including domestic abuse and community safety in general

Report to follow

The Committee received a report of the Director of Neighbourhoods which sought to update on the Rochdale’s Safer Communities Partnership, its statutory responsibilities, key duties as well as to inform of the associated work streams, including any identified challenges and risks.

The Assistant Director Information, Customers and Communities and the Chief Superintendent Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Co-Chair of the Partnership accompanied by the Portfolio Holder for Equity, Safety and Reform were in attendance to present the information and to address the questions and comments of the Committee.

The Chair of the Committee welcomed the presenters and noted that a progress report on the position of the Rochdale’s Safer Communities Partnership and its strategy and work had been requested by the Committee several times during Municipal Year 2022/23.

The presenters informed that it was a statutory requirement for local areas to have a safer communities partnership and highlighted its key statutory functions, the meeting schedule, membership, accountability and assurance mechanisms through this scrutiny committee and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Police Fire and Crime Panel.

The presenters continued outlining the five main priority work areas of the partnership (i.e.: Domestic Abuse Partnership, Reducing Reoffending Group, Reducing Crime and Anti-social Behaviour Group, Substance Misuse Priority Group),  and informed that, the Community Safety plan had expired last year and a partnership strategic assessment needed to be undertaken to inform the development of the new plan. However, this process had been delayed due to limited data analyst capacity within the partnership resources. This issue was being addressed through deployment of additional resources.

The presenters informed that to address the lack of a new Community Safety Plan, a workshop had been held on 24^th July 2023 where partners discussed the development of a 12 month interim plan based on current data.

The presenters provided an update on the data sharing protocol and on each of the work streams of the Partnership.

They informed that, albeit there was effective partnership work taking place to meet the aims and priorities of the Partnership, unlike other local statutory boards, Rochdale’s Safer Communities Partnership did not have any dedicated staff members to coordinate policy and strategy development. Capacity was an issue through the budget challenge process.

The Co-Chair of the Partnership and representative of GMP informed that an effective delivery model was in place but the board was not as functional as it might be, it was under resourced and it needed optimising. It was necessary to bring data together across the partnership organisations and to develop an effective understanding of data across the system and a good model for prevention through assessment and analysis and this required resources to run the board effectively. The GMP representative continued informing that, from a policing perspective, GMP committed through the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and deployed policing resources and brought the example of the Prevention Enforcement team which was a partnership team located within the Policy and included strategic housing, trading standards, fraud prevention; this was a very effective  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

To consider the Quarter one Performance Update – Neighbourhoods

The Committee gave consideration to a progress report of the Director of Neighbourhoods which sought to inform of the achievements of the targets outlined in the Neighbourhoods Directorate Plan 2023/24.

The Interim Director of Place was in attendance to present the information and to address the comments and questions of the Committee.

The Senior Officer informed that the17 main actions were on target. Four actions areas were shown as amber but their sub actions were on target.

Members sought clarification on a number of matters such as:

-       Review implementation sustainability tool;

-       Establish governance framework community wealth;

-       Requirements gathering and procurement exercise to identify preferred solution;

-       Retrieve adequate statistical data from statutory partners to facilitate the undertaking of a statutory Strategic Needs Assessment;

-       Grass maintenance;

-       Corporate complaints;

-       Businesses and single use plastic;

-       20 MPH rollout.

The Senior Officer would seek clarification from the relevant Heads of Service and update the Committee on those areas.

Resolved that the information outlined in the report and appendices be noted. 

To consider the Quarter one Performance Update – Economy

The Committee considered a progress report of the Director of Economy which sought to inform of the achievements of the targets outlined in the Economy Directorate Plan 2023-24.

The Interim Head of Planning and the Managing Director Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) were in attendance to present the report and to address the questions and comments of the Committee.

The Interim Head of Planning reported that, for quarter one, all actions were on track. The Officer added that work on Local Plan was ongoing due to its interdependencies with progress on Places for Everyone.

The RDA Managing Director informed that the plan was presented with a new format to mirror the Economy Directorate’s plan and provided an overview of quarter one performance.

Resolved that the information outlined in the report be noted.

For information and to determine any further required scrutiny to be included within the work programme.

The Committee received a report of the Head of Governance which provided an update on progress against the motions agreed by full Council within the current Municipal Year and their outcomes.

The Interim Monitoring Officer was in attendance to present the report and to respond to the questions and comments of the Committee.

The Senior Officer informed that the format of the report (i.e. in the appendix) was being reviewed and it would be helpful to receive comments from the Committee. Motions that had been agreed on 19th July, for which there was no update as yet and various Council’s departments were working to identify some options to enable the Council to carry out the resolutions.

The Senior Officer proceeded to inform that, with regards to motion - Recognise Care Experienced as a Protected Characteristic, a letter to the Secretary of State was being drafted and a conversation had taken place within the Corporate Leadership Team about job roles for young people in care. In reference to motion - Closure of Local Train Ticket Office, there was a strong GM wide approach. The period for consultation had been extended and representations would be made at local level and through GM and consideration for opportunities for legal challenges.

The Chair commented that it was valuable to receive this reported and noted that, where the table said “Letter sent”, there was no icon to indicate that a document had been attached to the report to inform of the action completed. The Chair also suggested that, it would be helpful to state “no progress” instead of leaving a box blank.

Resolved that the content of the Motion Tracker be noted.

To consider key decisions notice outlining key decisions to be taken at future meetings of the Cabinet or of the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Locality Board

The Committee considered the 28 days’ notice, this is the document which listed key items due to be presented to Cabinet and/or Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Locality Board for their decision in the next few months.

The Chair requested additional information with regards to item – Application to the Swimming Pool Support Fund – Phase 1.

Resolved that the content of the 28 days’ notice be noted.

For information / discussion

The Committee gave consideration to the draft Work Programme for 2023/24. The Senior Governance and Committee Officer updated the Members on the outcome of the first meeting of the Housing Task and Finish Group.

The Chair asked the Committee to give some consideration to the type of reports and contents they would like to receive from Your Trust, also considering that the organisation reported quarterly to the Health, Schools and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Resolved that the information be noted.