Agenda and minutes

To consider the minutes of the previous meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on 15 September 2021 and to approve them as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on 15 September 2021 be approved as a true record.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or press.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items that required the exclusion of members of the public or press.

To be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board in its role as the Council’s Statutory Crime and Disorder Committee, as defined by the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations 2009.

For this item the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board sat in its role as the Council’s Statutory Crime and Disorder Committee, as defined by the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations 2009.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Community Safety and Finance and the Head of Community Safety attended the meeting to present the Safer Rotherham Partnership (SRP) Annual Report 2020/21. The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Community Safety advised that the report and the attached annual report of the SRP provided an opportunity for the Council to scrutinise the activity of the SRP during the period March 2020 and April 2021.

In introducing the report, the Cabinet Member advised that the picture of crime and disorder in the timeframe covered by the report had been significantly impacted by the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was noted that during this period some crime issues had decreased significantly as a result of lockdowns and the forced closures of local businesses, in particular in the retail, hospitality and night-time economy sectors, but that conversely new and emerging risks and issues had become apparent during the pandemic.

The Cabinet Member advised that throughout 2020/21 the partnership had continued to address previously agreed key areas for joint working that impacted on Rotherham’s communities, retaining its focus on protecting vulnerable children and adults and addressing community safety concerns in local neighbourhoods, including anti-social behaviour and hate crime, domestic abuse and sexual offences and serious organised crime. It was noted that the SRP’s response to the challenges created by the pandemic had been focussed on those areas of criminality adversely affected by it, and that this had then been reflected in the subsequent allocation of resources and services across the SRP.

The Cabinet Member advised that for 2020/21 the SRP had utilised £118,000 of funding that had been allocated to it by the Office of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner. This funding had then been used to deliver eight key projects that supported the SRP’s agreed priorities for action of Protecting Vulnerable Children, Protecting Vulnerable Adults, Building Confident and Cohesive Communities, Domestic Abuse and Serious and Organised Crime.

The Head of Community Safety noted that during 2020/21 that there had been here a particular emphasis by the partnership on activity focused on domestic abuse, tackling hate crime, safeguarding from extremism, modern slavery and mental health. The full Safer Rotherham Partnership Annual Report was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

Members noted the reduction in the number of recorded incidents of knife crime and asked whether this reduction would be sustainable now that society had reopened after the end of pandemic related restrictions. The Head of Community Safety advised that that after a small recent rise in the number of knife crime incidents the number of incidents recorded had now stabilised. The Head of Community Safety advised that the new Violence Reduction Programme would seek to address the challenges around knife crime and would work to ensure that the continued reduction  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

The Chair advised that due to unavoidable and unforeseen circumstances that the Strategic Director – Finance and Customer Services and the Head of Corporate Finance were unable to attend the meeting to present the report.

The report (that had been requested by members at the June 2021 meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (Minute No8)) set out the Councils administration of Covid-19 business support grants that it has been required to administer since 11 March 2020 Budget announcement that Government would provide financial support packages to businesses impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. The report set out the timeframes, criteria and performance against these schemes as well as setting out the Councils approach. The report clarifies the final position on each of the schemes as well as providing details of any funding returned to Government unspent.

The Chair advised that due to the thoroughness and comprehensive nature of the report, that in consultation with the Vice-Chair, it was proposed that the report should be noted and that if members had any outstanding questions then these should be emailed directly to the Head of Corporate Finance.

Resolved: -

1.    That the report be noted.

2.    That the Strategic Director – Finance and Customer Services, the Assistant Director - Financial Services, the Head of Corporate Finance and all staff who had been involved in the administration of business support grants, be thanked and commended for their work in supporting businesses across the Borough during the pandemic.

To consider the Board’s Work Programme.

The Board considered its Work Programme.

Resolved: - That the Work Programme be approved.

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Select Commission on work undertaken and planned for the future.

The Work Programmes for the three Select Commissions had been included in the agenda pack for information.

The Vice-Chair of the Improving Lives Select Commission provided a verbal update on the work of that Select Commission.

To review and identify items for pre-decision scrutiny from the Forward Plan of Key Decisions covering the period 1 October - 31 December 2021.

The Board considered the Forward Plan of Key Decisions 1 November 2021 to 31 January 2022.

Resolved: - That the Forward Plan be noted.

To consider any issues referred for call-in from recent Cabinet meetings.

There were no call-in issues.

To determine any item which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held on 17 November 2021 at 11am at Rotherham Town Hall.

Resolved: - That the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held at 11am on Wednesday 17 November 2021 at Rotherham Town Hall.