Agenda and minutes

The Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Councillors Furse and Hartley had sent their apologies to the Panel.

Councillors Sandry and Laming were their substitutes respectively.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Susan Charles had asked the Panel for an update on the issue of provision of disabled parking spaces outside Keynsham Leisure Centre.

The Chairman said that he, on behalf of the Panel, would address the Cabinet on 11^th February.

Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Economic & Community Development Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel will meet on at 11am on January 20 at The Guildhall in Bath.

Chief Superintendent Caroline Peters, Area Commander for Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire will speak at the meeting, which will also be webcast.

The impact of the new police operating model, including the proposed changes to police stations in the Bath and North East Somerset area, will be discussed.

The meeting will be held in a ‘Question Time’ format, with the public able to submit questions about the new operating model in advance, or at the meeting itself. Please send questions to the Democratic Services Officer no later than 3pm Thursday January 15, 2015.

The Chairman informed the meeting that this was an opportunity for Avon and Somerset Police to talk to us, and answer questions, on the impact of the New Operating Model on Bath & North East Somerset, including the proposed changes to police stations in the Bath and North East Somerset area.

The Chairman introduced Chief Superintendent Caroline Peters, from Avon and Somerset Police, and asked her to give a brief introduction on the new Operating Model.  The Chairman informed the meeting that Caroline Peters would answer questions that had been submitted in advance of the meeting and then, time permitting, answer questions made on the day.

The Chairman also said that he would be accepting questions only, and not statements.  If Councillors and public would want to make their statements then they could do that on Avon and Somerset Police website.

Caroline Peters took the Panel through the report, as printed in the agenda, explaining its background and proposals for the New Operating Model.  Caroline Peters also introduced Chief Inspector Norman Pascal (Local Policing Area Commander) and Rebecca Harris (Continuous Improvement Officer).

Questions:

Councillor Manda Rigby:

‘What are the plans to protect the current presence of front line officers, including PCSOs, in the City centre when the Manvers street facility closes? Specifically, how can we be convinced that time spent commuting to and from Keynsham custody centre will not take police presence off the streets, and what facilities will there be for police based in the centre?’

Caroline Peters:

‘Closure of Bath Police Station put some angst within the community and the Council. To give that re- assurance – for me it is absolutely important that there is police presence in Bath and that would be maintained.  The issue for me and the challenge will be where to house them.  We have two more Police Officers and we will have that presence and know what is going on within city centre and make community contacts.  We will equally have those walkers with the same energy to walk around and positively engage with people.  We will have people for the night time economy, whether it is a shoplifter or for anti-social behaviour.  So, there will be police presence in the city and they will be there for longer period of time.  The main issue is where we will house Police Officers.  We are looking proactively where the best to put the neighbourhood teams and response teams is, so we can have quick response team not just to city centre but also to outline areas.  We don’t want to be too far away from the city centre, but it comes down to cost.  We cannot justify to house officers in huge building.  We are actively talking to the Council about One-Stop-Shop at Manvers Street and we are looking what options are there, in particular for enquiry officers.  We are very keen to maintain 8am-8pm opening hours for our enquiry office. We have until January 2016 to house the rest of the teams’.

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.