To receive from Members any declarations of interest and of any political whip in relation to any agenda item.

There were no interests or political whip declared in relation to any agenda item.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and any matters of communication.

There Chairman informed Members that although the BEaR project had been scheduled to be considered by the Committee, in light of the decision not being considered by the Executive it would be rescheduled.

The Chairman also informed the Committee that he had agreed to add a supplementary item to the agenda regards the Minerals and Waste Local Plan due to reasons of special urgency to provide a view in advance of the Executive.

To receive petitions from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 2 of Part A4 of the Constitution.

There were no petitions received from members of the public.

To receive any questions, statements or deputations from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 1 of part A4 of the Constitution.

There were no questions, statements or deputations received from members of the public.

To consider any decision of the Executive referred to this Committee for review in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.10 of Part D2.

There were no decisions of the Executive referred to the Committee under the Call-in Procedures.

To consider any items referred to the Committee at the request of a Member under Procedure Rule 3.1 of Part D2 of the Constitution.

There were no requested items.

To receive a report on incidents of anti-social behaviour in Central Bedfordshire as requested at a previous meeting.

The Head of Community Safety introduced a report in light of a previous request of the Committee to receive information on numbers of incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Central Bedfordshire.  The attention of the Committee was drawn to an expected upward trend in the numbers of incidents and the previous reasons for under-reporting of incidents.  Chief Inspector Tania Coulson also informed the Committee of Bedfordshire Police’s response to ASB.

In light of the report and the further clarification the Committee discussed the following issues in detail:-

·                    The level of activity undertaken by the Police to safeguard vulnerable people.  The Chief Inspector informed the Committee that the level of support provided to residents was based on the individual circumstances of an incident.  It was agreed that providing the right level of support to those deemed most vulnerable was important.

·                    Whether there was a link between deprivation and incidents of ASB.  The Head of Community Safety commented it was possible to draw a connection between deprivation and ASB.

·                    The importance of defining ASB so that people understood what was, and more importantly what was not, recorded as ASB.  The Head of Community Safety confirmed that there was a legal definition of ASB, it was important to manage residents expectations in light of the level of resource that was available to respond to ASB.

·                    The importance of communication between partners in order to understand and respond to incidents of ASB.

In addition the Committee discussed in detail concerns regarding the format of the data provided to the Committee on incidents of ASB.  It was suggested by a Member that the Committee needed to know the population of areas in order understand the context within which the numbers of incidents of ASB had occurred.  It was suggested that resources could incorrectly be focused on those areas where there were more incidents of ASB without properly referring to the quantum of the population.  It was also suggested by a Member that in future the data should provide a breakdown of the nature of incidents of ASB.  This breakdown was particularly important for Town and Parish Councils so that they could consider whether to use their funds to support Police operations in dealing with incidents.  The Head of Community Safety agreed to consider the format of the data in future iterations.

RECOMMENDED that the Committee recognise the data in its current form is open to interpretation and would suggest that in future it includes a quantum of ASB per 1,000 population and if possible a breakdown of types of incidents in relation to each ward.

To receive an update on the development of the Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Strategic Sites and Policies in light of the modifications recommended by the Inspector.

The Team Leader Minerals and Waste introduced a report summarising the comments of the Inspector in relation to the Minerals and Waste Local Plan.  In particular the attention of the Committee was drawn to the comments regards Thorn Turn.

A Member queried why a site for silica sand production had not been identified for reasons of confidentiality.  The Team Leader Minerals and Waste informed the Committee that the confidentiality issue related to the sales from existing sites, which unless aggregated could not be released.

NOTED the Inspector’s report

RECOMMENDED that the Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Strategic Sites and Policies be agreed following the incorporation of the modifications proposed by the Inspector.