OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL MONDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2019 - 2.30 PM

PRESENT: Councillor C Boden (Chairman), Councillor K Owen, Councillor Mrs K Mayor and Councillor S Tierney

APOLOGIES: Councillor M Humphrey (Vice-Chairman), Councillor G Booth, Councillor S Clark, Councillor S Count and Councillor D Hodgson

OFFICERS IN ATTENDANCE: Izzi Hurst (Member Services & Governance Officer), Sam Anthony (Head of HR and OD), Richard Cassidy (Corporate Director), Gary Garford (Corporate Director), Dan Horn (Head of Housing & Neighbourhood Services) and Aarron Locks (Community Safety Manager)

GUESTS: Councillor A Hay, Councillor P Murphy, Councillor D Oliver, Councillor C Seaton and PC David Arnold ( Constabulary)

OSC38/18 PREVIOUS MINUTES.

The minutes of the meeting of 14 January 2019 were confirmed and signed, subject to the following comments;

1. Councillor Boden said in reference to minute OSC33/18 point 2 (page 5 of the agenda pack) he had made an additional comment stating that on average, there had been a £400,000 difference historically between the estimated surplus and the final outturn figure.

OSC39/18 MATTERS ARISING - UPDATE ON PREVIOUS ACTIONS.

Members were provided with an update on the status of actions raised at previous meetings of the Committee.

1. The Contact Centre data will be circulated to members in the near future. 2. Councillor Boden suggested that consideration needs to be given on how complaints in relation to Anglia Revenues Partnership (ARP) are recorded as currently the Council only record the number of complaints that come in directly. Sam Anthony agreed to provide members with data relating to the complaints received by ARP directly as oppose to those received via the Council’s 3Cs process.

OSC40/18 FENLAND COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP.

Councillor Boden agreed to consider this agenda item first to allow PC David Arnold (Cambridgeshire Constabulary) to leave the meeting and return to his duties.

Members considered the Fenland Community Safety Partnership (FCSP) report.

PC David Arnold explained that Inspector Ian Lombardo was due to attend today’s meeting on behalf of Cambridgeshire Constabulary however had been called away on urgent police business and sent his apologies. Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows;

1. Councillor Boden stated that Councillor Mrs Laws had submitted a question in relation to this item. She asked why data on Food Bank had not been included in the statistics reported (page 98 of the Agenda Pack). Dan Horn agreed to investigate why this data was not included and report back to members. 2. Councillor Boden asked for further information on the amber status in relation to scam awareness (page 91 of the Agenda Pack). Councillor Oliver explained that an amber status means the action requires intervention to ensure the target is met. He stated that the work in relation to Cybercrime is relatively new, having only been subject to a strategic assessment at the FCSP meeting in October 2018. The action remained amber as the number of people who had completed the training course had not been confirmed. He confirmed that at the FCSP meeting in January 2019, the Police, Fire Services and the Council all confirmed they had completed the training therefore this action will change to green going forward. 3. Councillor Oliver added that they are now widening the scope of this training and teams within the organisations can complete the training online. He agreed to provide members with the link to the online training course. Councillor Tierney confirmed that he had completed the course and found it very useful. 4. Aarron Locks stated that the online course takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and he is hopeful that the knowledge gained from this will be passed on throughout the community. 5. Councillor Boden asked if the Council informs local businesses of the risks of Cybercrime. PC David Arnold explained that the Police have specially-trained officers and a dedicated Cybercrime department that deals with this crime. He confirmed that Cybercrime affects businesses as well as individuals in the community. 6. Councillor Boden suggested that the Council focuses on making businesses aware of the risks of Cybercrime. Aarron Locks explained that the strategic assessment carried out on Cybercrime focused on individuals in the community and those that are deemed most vulnerable. The Council engaged with the Police during this process and he agreed to feedback this suggestion to the Police and FCSP. 7. Councillor Owen asked which specific age groups are more likely to fall victim to Cybercrime. Aarron Locks explained that the assessment identifies parts of the community most at risk and higher-risk age groups. The most vulnerable members of the community are the older generation however the younger generation are also considered high risk as they are more likely to partake in high risk behaviour online and are the most connected. 8. Councillor Boden asked how widespread a problem Cybercrime is in Fenland. Aarron Locks explained that Cybercrime tends to be under reported and victims may find it hard to report due to embarrassment they may feel. He added that many of these crimes are not recorded, as bank fraud is not necessarily dealt with by the Police and it is believed that a large amount of Cybercrime is unreported. 9. Councillor Oliver agreed and stated that many Banks do not report Cybercrime fraud to the Police if the value falls under a certain monetary threshold therefore it is difficult to quantify the amount of victims of this crime. 10.Councillor Boden said that Cybercrime is becoming increasingly sophisticated and there needs to be more awareness on this. 11.Councillor Boden said that he was disappointed with the Police’s response in relation to the number of female offenders in Fenland (page 98 of the Agenda Pack). He asked how statistically significant this is and whether there are any reasons why Fenland has such a high proportion of female offenders compared to the rest of region. Councillor Oliver confirmed that further research needs to be undertaken in relation to these statistics but unfortunately the Police have not had the resources available to complete this research. He confirmed that the FCSP had agreed that an analysis of female offenders in Fenland will be undertaken as part of the end of year review. 12.Councillor Boden asked if the findings of this analysis are significant, that they be bought back to Overview & Scrutiny Committee. Dan Horn agreed to provide this information to members when it is available. 13.Councillor Tierney stated that the Police have other areas to prioritise over statistical analysis. Councillor Boden agreed but said it would be useful for members to receive further information on the extent of this issue in Fenland. 14.Councillor Boden asked how the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) priorities are managed within Fenland. Dan Horn explained that discussions are ongoing with the PCC in regards to this and place-based action plans will be undertaken to ensure that the district feeds into the countywide priorities set by the PCC. 15.Councillor Boden asked for further information on the effectiveness of the FCSP. Councillor Oliver explained that the partnership works well and all priorities are either completed annually or escalated to the next level. He added that in the future the FCSP is interested in working closely with the PCC. 16.Councillor Tierney stated that whilst the FCSP does undertake positive work, there are issues within the community such as homelessness and street drinking that need to be resolved further. Dan Horn agreed that multiagency issues such as these can be difficult to tackle and the FCSP discussed at length the issue of street drinking at their meeting in January. He explained that the FCSP are considering other solutions to this issue. 17. Councillor Boden explained that the view of the communit