MinuteP&FR
Renfrewshire Council · 25 October 2022
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 25 October 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Minute of Meeting Police and Fire & Rescue Scrutiny Sub-Committee Date Time Venue Tuesday, 16 August 2022 15:00 Council Chambers (Renfrewshire), Council Headquarters, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1AN Present: Councillor Robert Innes, Councillor Janis McDonald, Councillor Cathy McEwan, Councillor Marie McGurk, Councillor Iain McMillan Chair Councillor McGurk, Convenver, presided. In Attendance C Dalrymple, Communities & Regulatory Manager (Communities & Housing Services); Euan Gray, Senior Committee Services Officer; D Cunningham, Assistant Democratic Services Officer and D Pole, End User Technician (all Finance & Resources). Also in Attendance D Duncan, Divisional Commander (Police Scotland); M Hill, Group Manager, and Ian Sim, Station Commander) (both Scottish Fire & Rescue Service). Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting. Webcasting of Meeting Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Convener intimated that this meeting of the Sub-committee would be webcast via the Council’s website. Thereafter the Clerk undertook a roll call of members in attendance at the meeting, indicating those in the Council Chamber and those participating remotely.
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1 Consultation on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Draft Strategic Plan 2022-25 The Sub-committee were advised that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Draft Strategic Plan 2022/2025 had been launched previously for public consultation. A paper had previously been presented to the Police and Fire & Rescue Scrutiny Sub-committee on 18 January 2022. At the Police and Fire & Rescue Scrutiny Sub-committee on 7 June 2022 a spotlight on the Strategic Plan was provided by the Area Commander and Group Commander to members. The outcomes contained within the Strategic Plan aligned with the seven strategic priorities set against the Scottish Government Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022. The report detailed the response submitted by Renfrewshire Council and advised that the consultation could be found on the Consultation Hub at – https://firescotland.citizenspace.com/planning-and-performance/draft-strategic-plan- 2022-25/. The response from the Council was submitted within the timescale set by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with the final date for submissions to the consultation being 10 July 2022. DECIDED: (a) That the Consultation on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Draft Strategic Plan 2022/2025 be noted; and (b) That the Council’s consultation response submitted as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be homologated. 2 SFRS - Quarterly Performance Report 1.4.22 - 30.6.22 There was submitted a report, by the Local Senior Officer, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) relative to SFRS performance and local fire and rescue service plan priorities in the Renfrewshire area during period 1 April to 30 June 2022. The report provided updates in relation to Renfrewshire activity, accidental dwelling fires and casualties, unintentional injury and harm, deliberate fire setting, non- domestic fire safety and unwanted fire alarm signals. Accidental Dwelling Fires had decreased by 31% (15 incidents) from Q1 2021/22. Cooking remained the most common source of ignition within Renfrewshire. No firefighting action was required in 35% (12) of the cases, distraction was the cause in 41% (14) with alcohol/drug impairment being the cause in 24% (8) of the cases. The report advised that detection devices were installed in 27 or the 34 incidents and 89% of them had operated and raised the alarm. There was a decrease of 93% from 15 to one dwelling fire casualty for the reporting period. The injuries sustained by the casualty were slight in nature requiring First Aid at the scene.
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Non-fire casualties increased by 3 from this period last year with a total of 28 casualties. Of the 28 casualties 14 were as a result of Road Traffic Collisions (50%). Incidents involving Assisting Other Agencies accounted for 36% (10 incidents) of all the activity within this indicator. Tragically, 3 fatalities were recorded this period from 2 incidents where we were assisting partners and a third incident involving a suicide. The report indicated that Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS) increased by 10% (20 incidents) year on year. Of the UFAS incident recorded 14% (32) were in Hospital premises, Residential Care homes accounted for 11% (25 incidents) with 49% (111 incidents) found to be as a result of human interactions, for example, not isolating the system before testing, cooking, smoking etc. DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted. 3 Police Scotland Performance Report 1.4.22 - 30.6.22 There was submitted a report by the Chief Superintendent, Police Scotland, relative to service performance and activities in the Renfrewshire area during the period 1 April to 30 June 2022. The report summarised the key performance indicators and provided statistics relating to the specific key objectives detailed in Police Scotland’s Policing Priorities 2018-22, comparisons were made against the previous five-year average. The volume of recorded crime and offences had fallen by 1.9% on the five-year average, however had risen by 6.0% on the previous year. Crime categories which increased in recorded volume against the previous five-year average were crimes of violence, sexual crimes, crimes of dishonesty, domestic abuse and common assault. These had risen by 26.5%, 19.5%, 7.2%, 13.1% and 6.4% respectively, compared to the five-year averages. The percentage increase of those categories detailed had been impacted by COVID-19 pandemic when many restrictions were in place which had significantly reduced the number of crimes committed. The report provided, in an infographics format, local updates in relation to Renfrewshire Policing Priorities 2018-22 of drug supply and misuse; violence & antisocial behaviour; dishonesty and road safety. Drug dealing and misuse continued to be a priority area for attention in Renfrewshire as communities advised that they were concerned about the harm caused. However, even with continued focus and proactivity on the issue, there had been a decrease of 19.8% in the number of detected drug supply offences, compared to the previous five-year average. In the reporting period, 26 crimes had been reported to the Crown. There were 265 recorded missing persons incidents, an increase of 143.1% on the previous year. Over 18% of the total number of incidents related to the five most frequent missing persons within Renfrewshire, all of whom were young people aged under 19 years. Around 86% of all missing persons in Renfrewshire belonged in this age category. Young Persons’ Units continued to feature predominantly amongst the most common locations for missing persons incidents (44%). Over 70% of all missing people were traced within 24 hours, with over 48% of all missing people being traced within 12 hours. DECIDED: That the report be noted.
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4 Local Issues Councillor McMillan raised concerns around the increasing use of e-scooters on pavements causing a danger to pedestrians. Councillor McEwan echoed these concerns and advised it would be helpful if the police were able to share statistics on e-scooter use. Councillor McMillan also raised concerns around the volume of traffic at the junction between High Street and Macdowall Street in Johnstone which when combined with the number of cars parked on Mill Brae was becoming increasingly hazardous. The Communities & Regulatory Manager agreed to meet with Councillor McMillan privately to discuss his concerns in greater detail. Councillor Innes highlighted reports that water safety equipment along the River Gryffe in Houston and Bridge of Weir had been the target of repeated vandalism and queried whether it would be possible for action to taken to increase surveillance and safety checks. DECIDED: That the information provided be noted.