Agenda and minutes

Members are requested to advise the Democratic Services Officer of any  apologies for this meeting.

Councillor Guest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 January are attached.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2024 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Government guidance expected Members of Scrutiny Committees not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.

Government guidance expected Members of Scrutiny Committees not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.

Resolved: There were no declarations.

Please find attached, a link to the Council’s Forward Plan, which details the forthcoming Key and Non-Key decisions that are due to be taken by the Cabinet, a Member of the Cabinet (Portfolio Holder) or a Designated Officer relating to the service areas of this Committee, at this time: Forward Plan of Key/Non-Key Decisions

The Committee considered the Council’s Forward Plan of forthcoming key and non-key decisions to be taken by the Cabinet, an Individual Portfolio Holder or delegated officers, in relation to the Directorate.

Resolved: The Committee notes the forthcoming decisions, with no items being requested to be placed on a future agenda of the Committee.

Report of Director – Environment is attached.

The Committee considered a report of the Director – Environment, Paul Barton, presented by the Assistant Director - Infrastructure and Regulatory Services, Julie Middlehurst, which detailed the performance and priorities of the teams within the Community Safety and Partnerships service, namely the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors, Prevention Hub, and Community Resilience Team.

Some of the key areas included in the Committee’s discussion were:

·           a shortage of housing;

·           stalking;

·           suicide prevention; and

·           working with General Practitioners (GPs) to identify domestic abuse.

The Service Manager – Public Health / Infrastructure and Regulatory Services, Sarah Owen, informed the Committee that the Council had a duty to comply with the domestic abuse legislation in place to protect any resident who was at risk of domestic abuse. There were provisions across the Borough and in Greater Manchester (GM) to ensure a person at risk was moved to sustainable long term accommodation, with investments from Community Safety Partnerships to support accommodation across the borough to ensure safe accommodation was always available.

The Service Manager advised Members that stalking was currently one of the highest risk crimes and firmly fitted within the Criminal Justice System, with all reported cases of stalking taken very seriously.

The Service Manager informed Members that daily reports were received from the Police, in relation to statistics of people in the Borough who had made attempts on their own life.

The team within the prevention hub would then use this data to make contact with these people, to identify the best service/s that would provide targeted support and assistance. .

The Service Manager advised the Committee of the targeted work throughout Wigan that focused upon the areas where suicide attempts were high. This assisted with identifying effective ways of targeting specific areas, around canals for example, by using notice boards and advertisements for mental health crisis lines and suicide help lines (such as The Samaritans).

The Service Manager informed the Committee of the partnership arrangements in place with Mental Health Services and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL). The team had two dedicated full time Domestic Abuse Specialists based in hospital settings throughout the Borough, to cover the hospital footprint and work closely with the Council’s partners to identify vulnerable residents who would visit the hospital settings as a result of domestic abuse injuries.

The Business Manager - Domestic Abuse and Prevention Hub, Keiran Davies, advised Members of the partnership that the Council had with GPs throughout the Borough, and importance of providing a safe space for conversations within GP practices, ensuring any resident who was identified to be at risk of domestic abuse was flagged back to GP’s and the Practitioner notified to then be able to have a conversation regarding the resident’s safety. GP surgeries across Wigan were now proactively creating domestic abuse boards for patients to see the information as they waited for their appointments. Health Centres had also been provided with domestic abuse posters with contact number ‘rip off strips’, to raise awareness of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Report of Assistant Director - Planning and Regeneration is attached.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Assistant Director – Planning and Regeneration, David Proctor, presented by the Service Manager – Development Management and Building Control, Gareth Jones, which detailed the role of Section 106 Obligations in the planning process, a summary of the Section 106 Infrastructure Levies currently being employed within Lowton, Golborne and Standish and a background to the Council’s annual Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS).

Some of the key areas included in the Committee’s discussion were:

·         members involvement in Section 106;

·         section 106 time scales;

·         unspent monies; and

·         inflation.

The Service Manager advised Members that there were a variety of ways they could be involved in the process of Section 106. Weekly Planning Application lists were circulated weekly to all Members to review, identify and call in an application to Wigan Council’s Planning Committee.

Here Members were able to make a representation and identify infrastructure that would benefit a specific application and suggest an assessment of Section 106 contributions to be reviewed before the planning application is approved.

The Assistant Director informed Members of the Major Projects section on the Wigan Council website, here Members would have access to detail of future major works taking place throughout the Borough.

The Assistant Director advised the Committee that the team that developers often seek pre application advice from Councillors, giving Members a chance to input their ideas and recommendations into what infrastructure would benefit the community.

The Service Manager informed the Committee that the Planning Policy Team had been working on the Local Development Plan and encouraged all Members to contribute to those policies that would be included within the Local Plan.

The Service Manager advised Members of the critical time scales relating to Levy Pots. All monies were now committed through small scale programmes which were secure and protected in the roll outs throughout the borough.

The programme relating to large scale infrastructure were rolled out by the Councils Major Projects Team who were in the process of designing and would communicate out to Local Councillors in the near future.

The Assistant Director informed Members that the team had monthly meetings to ensure all unspent monies were tracked and ensure all funds were committed to future projects.

Some large scale projects had much longer timeframes to spend the funds allocated due to the many phases that made up the project and were set out within the legal agreements.

The Assistant Director advised the Committee that not every development is able to produce Section 106 contributions, for example if a planning application had open space within the plans, the developer would not be obliged to contribute.

The Assistant Director informed the Committee that every capital project had a risk element relating to the lifetime of the project and inflation.

Larger scale projects, due to costing, had a significant cost risk relating to inflation, however, all risks were built into the cost plan.

The Service Manager advised Members that Section 106 was not restricted through ward boundaries. Section 106  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Resolved: The best thanks of this Committee are extended to the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Officers for the excellent services rendered by them during the past Municipal Year.