Agenda and minutes

To sign and confirm the minutes of the last meeting, held on 27^th March 2019.

The minutes of the last meeting, held on 20^th March 2019, were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 

Guests:

Mr Marc Jones, Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner

Chief Inspector James Trafford

Boston Police Inspector Andy Morrice

To report progress on outstanding actions from the minutes of the last meeting, for information only.

The Head of Place and Space updated the Committee on actions recorded in the minutes of the last meeting as follows:

1.    Letters of thanks had been sent to the members of the public who had served on BTAC’s Events Working Group in recognition of their hard work and achievements. 

2.    Liaison was ongoing with respect to CCTV signage at Burgess Pitt play area in order to deter littering.

3.    Street names were being added to the ‘before and after’ photographs illustrating the work of the BTAC Operatives. 

To receive apologies for absence.

There were apologies for absence from Councillors Yvonne Stevens and Nigel Welton.

To receive declarations of interests in respect of any item on the agenda.

Councillor Stephen Woodliffe declared that he was the Council’s representative on the Police and Crime Commission.

To answer any written questions received from members of the public no later than 5 p.m. two clear working days prior to the meeting – for this meeting the deadline is 5 p.m. on Wednesday 17^th April 2019.

Mrs Pam Kenny put the following question:

“What negotiations has the Council or BTAC had about turning off some of the streetlighting within the town areas of Boston?”                  

The Head of Place and Space gave the following answer:

“The Borough Council only has around 60 Footway Lights within the BTAC area, none of these lights have been turned off therefore no negotiations have taken place, all other Street Lights within the BTAC area are the responsibility of Lincolnshire County Council.”

As a supplementary question, Mrs Kenny asked if the Committee had concerns about public perception regarding safety, as it acted as a parish council for the town.

The Head of Place and Space responded that the Committee was not a parish council; it was a Committee of the Council and none of the Council’s Street Lights had been switched off.

To allow members of the public to address the Committee.

Mr Paul Kenny addressed the Committee to query the response to four other questions submitted by members of the public, which had been rejected in accordance with the Constitution on the grounds that they did not relate to matters for which the Committee had responsibility. 

The Chairman pointed out that the public speaking time was not for raising or discussing Public Questions.

Police & Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire, Mr Marc Jones, will be in attendance accompanied by Superintendant Di Coulson of Lincolnshire Police

The Chairman welcomed Mr Marc Jones, Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Chief Inspector James Trafford and Boston Police Inspector, Andy Morrice.

As a reminder, the Committee read out the minute regarding the reason for the original invitation to the Commissioner to attend a BTAC meeting:

“Due to grave concerns in respect of serious issues of safety within the town centre in the evening, coupled with the potential future cuts to policing within the County, Lincolnshire Crime Commissioner Mr Marc Jones be requested to attend a meeting of the committee to identify how such potential future cuts to policing would further impact on Boston.”

The Commissioner began by giving a Powerpoint presentation, which covered:

·         The role of a PCC and how it fitted into policing

·         The Police and Crime Plan 2017-2021

·         The ‘tools’ used by the police: All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), Drones, 4x4s, Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) and Body Worn Videos (BWVs)

·         Road Safety, including information on the Road Safety Summit, statistics, Community Speedwatch, the Safer Roads Team and Neighbourhood Policing

·         An explanation of the complex nature of policing, with information and case studies on modern slavery, the challenges of change in demand, sex offences and domestic abuse

·         Reducing re-offending

·         Challenges faced by the police, including assaults on officers and weather conditions

·         Public engagement, partnership working, cross-border working and university engagement

·         Statistics from the Lincolnshire Crime and Policing Survey for Boston and South Holland

·         Financial challenges

The Commissioner stressed that the PCC represented the public to the police and not the other way around and that, although candidates stood for election under a political banner, they became apolitical as soon as they took up the PCC role.

The Commissioner responded to questions and comments as follows.

During discussion of the Community Speedwatch scheme, Members were advised of the different ways to engage with the scheme, such as using reactive signs and/or collecting data and using hand signs in teams.  There had only been one incident in the parish area engaging with the scheme and the police would attend to provide back-up if necessary.  Where parishes were reluctant to engage with the scheme to tackle speeding issues in the local community in case of reprisals, they could consider engaging in the scheme through each other’s parishes if they wished; participation was definitely to be encouraged. 

It was noted that the new process of using Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) saved officers considerable time by not having to return to the office to complete paperwork and the process became faster with use.

Mental health issues amongst members of the public were a significant problem for the police, with officers having to spend significant amounts of time accompanying people in Accident and Emergency.  The Commissioner sat on the Health and Wellbeing Boards and the Mental Health Board for Lincolnshire to ensure the police were represented.  There was a mental health force in the control room now to triage patients rather than necessitating police attendance or attention at A&E; it had diverted 250 people away  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114.