Agenda and minutes

The following subsitutions were made:

Councillor Spooner for Councillor Whitehouse

Councillor L Swindlehurst for Councillor Hoptroff

Councillor Malyon for Councillor Jones

Councillor Beswick for Councillor Hughes

Councillor Holmes for Councillor Durose

·         Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

·         Other Interests

RESOLVED:

That the minutes from the previous meeting held on 18 September 2023, be approved.

RESOLVED:

That the report of the Chairman of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel from the meeting held on 10 October 2023 be noted.

There were none.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Work Programme be approved subject to an item being added for Support Staffordshire to attend a meeting;

2)    For timescales to be attached to the Information Digest reports.

(At least two clear days notice required, in writing, to the Proper Officer in accordance with Procedure Rule 15).

None had been received.

The report set out the detail of a draft Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy and an associated Action Plan for the District using the methods outlined in the report.

It was recommended that Cultural Strategy Steering Group was created to assist the Arts, Culture and Heritage Officer to create a Cultural Strategy and Action Plan for the District.

RESOLVED:

1)    The Panel recommended that Cabinet established a Cultural Strategy Steering Group to advise on the development of a Cultural Strategy and Cultural Action Plan for the District following the approach outlined in the report.

The Community Overview & Scrutiny Panel agreed to review the current provision of Automated External Defibrillators across the District and to consider what, if any, support could be provided by the District Council.

The Panel was asked to provide feedback to the Portfolio Holder on the following proposal:

“That the Council agrees to enter into a contract to manage Community Public Access Defibrilators across the district at an annual cost of up to £23,000 for the next two years to allow other funding approaches and options to be further considered”.

Officers and members were thanked for their contribution towards the work undertaken by the Defibrillator Working Group.

Discussion took place around the price of life, long waiting times for ambulances, lack of reliability of the debrillators and the benefits of a standardised approach to the maintainenance of defibrillators to the community. Consideration was also given to the Council’s liability and the costs associated with the AEDdonate maintenance plan.

RESOLVED:

1)    The Panel supported the Cabinet Delegated Decision to enter into a contract to manage Community Public Access Defibrilators across the district at an annual cost of up to £23,000 for the next two years to allow other funding approaches and options to be further considered;

2)    For AEDdonate to attend a future meeting of the Panel.

The Panel received a presentation on the Council’s Community Leadership Scheme which covered the following topics:-

·       An overview of the scheme

·       Locality analysis

The Scheme would support councillors by identifying community issues or concerns and addressing those concerns through influencing service delivery and/or facilitating community self help.

Enhancement of this scheme was a committed priority action in the Council’s new Corporate Plan.

Members welcomed the scheme and the case management system which was currently being piloted by a number of councillors. Members dicussed the security of the system on personal devices, analysis of ward data, liaison with parish.town councils and the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the scheme.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the presentation be noted;

2)    For members to send any additional comments, ideas and suggestions to the Head of Democratic Services.