Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

The Committee agreed that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the maps developed in relation to Recommendation 1 of the Drug Related Deaths Scrutiny Review, ‘That services, led by Emily Davis and Jon Clegg, work together to map the location of death, place of residence, and location of non-fatal overdoses and related organised crime in order to identify where to target joint resources and to share the intelligence as appropriate, reporting back to Committee in six months on progress’, on the grounds that they would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

To update the Committee on the progress made in relation to the recommendations made by the Drug Related Deaths Scrutiny Review.

(This item contains commercially sensitive information which will be presented verbally at the meeting and is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

(The press and public were excluded prior to the consideration of the verbal update provided regarding Recommendation 1 as defined in Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

Detective Chief Inspector Jon Clegg, Lancashire Constabulary presented the update report on the recommendations of the Drug Related Deaths Scrutiny Review. He provided a detailed update on the work carried out in relation to Recommendation 1 of the review, ‘That services, led by Emily Davis and Jon Clegg, work together to map the location of death, place of residence, and location of non-fatal overdoses and related organised crime in order to identify where to target joint resources and to share the intelligence as appropriate, reporting back to Committee in six months on progress’. It was noted that this mapping had been carried out and that further work was required to really understand the data and utilise resources accordingly.

The Committee discussed in detail the update provided and considered that communication about the ongoing work to address substance misuse, support the community and target related anti-social behaviour with the public was poor resulting in many people believing that nothing was happening to address their concerns. Detective Chief Superintendent Sue Clarke, Lancashire Constabulary accepted that communication could be improved and agreed to highlight the concerns of the Committee regarding visibility to the Constabulary.

Members also considered the concerns around County Lines, linked child sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation in relation to the supply of illegal substances and the preventative work ongoing through projects such as Young Adder. In response to a question, Ms Judith Mills, Consultant in Public Health highlighted the work ongoing in schools to increase resilience and enable young people to make better choices.

It was noted that an update had been provided against all the recommendations of the review and Members considered that all recommendations were still ongoing and required a further review of progress in approximately six months time.

The Committee agreed to add a further update to its workplan on the Drug Related Deaths Scrutiny Review Panel recommendations in approximately six months.

To update the Committee on the ADDER programme including interim evaluation and to outline the proposed future strategy.

Ms Judith Mills, Consultant in Public Health introduced the report and set out the new approach being taken to service provision to people with multiple disadvantages in Blackpool. She highlighted that previously accessing of services amongst this group of people had been poor due to the fact that they had been set up without any input of the people they were supposed to help. Many people felt as though they had been let down by services and therefore did not trust those providing them. The new approach to services would ensure that people were listened to and were created with input from those people that had accessed support previously and current service users.

Inspector Dave Callan, Lancashire Constabulary provided an overview of the work of the Lancashire Violence Reduction Network, System Change and Trauma Informed Approach. He advised that significant investment had been made in targeting drug related crime, with over 80 arrests and almost £300k in drugs seized since the introduction of the team approximately 16 months ago. He advised that the Constabulary and partners were taking a refreshing approach to working with offenders and victims to ensure it was trauma informed and that officers were having a positive impact by having a greater understand of the people they were dealing with and the trauma that had already affected their lives.

Members noted the comments made in the previous item relating to communication with members of the public and raised concerns that the public could not see and understand the benefits of the softer, trauma informed approach taken to individuals who had potentially been arrested due to being exploited. In response, Insp. Callan advised that arrests were made when appropriate and it was the support being put in place following arrest that could have a positive impact on a life. Using the Lived Experience Team to engage with and support vulnerable people who had been exploited by criminals was integral to their recovery. It was agreed that it was important to ensure that the public had realistic expectations of what the Police would do and that work was required to increase understanding and tolerance. It was also agreed that the perception of the public was important and Councillors were encouraged to ensure that residents continued to report all issues to the Police to ensure an accurate picture.

The use of cannabis by young people was discussed in detail, with concern raised that smoking cannabis was very visible and that it could often be smelled around the town centre, on the promenade and even in residential neighbourhoods. In response Detective Chief Superintendent Sue Clarke, Lancashire Constabulary advised that there was a balance to be achieved with ensuring that young people were not brought into the criminal justice system without due cause due to the long lasting impact on their lives. She added that investment had been made to educate young people on the dangers of cannabis use and understand the reasons behind why they were using it. It was noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.