Issue - meetings

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive

The contents of the report are noted.

Councillor Clarke declined to speak on this and subsequent items and left the meeting at this point.

Councillor Palethorpe addressed Cabinet and expressed extreme concern at the rise in domestic violence as described in the report.  He urged Cabinet to consult with the Safer Stronger Northampton Board with a view to partnership working in addressing this serious issue. He suggested that the Audit Committee look at the problem and investigate the resources required to address domestic violence before it got completely out of hand.  Finance was needed to sort out the community safety issues.

Councillor Beardsworth commented on a recent Domestic Violence Workshop at which recognition had been given to the council’s officers for the amount of work going on in this field.

Councillor Mildren addressed Cabinet and was pleased to see that there were only seven red indicators and observed that maybe the bar was being set too low now.  He then commented on some of the good results in the report.  He asked if the council’s target to pay local suppliers within 10 days had been met.

Councillor Hawkins addressed Cabinet and requested that plain English be used to facilitate better communication, especially for the adoption of policies.

As the relevant Portfolio Holder, Councillor B Markham presented the report to Cabinet.  He pointed out that a number of the red indicators were out of the Council’s control, although closer partnership working might help towards better achievements. He reported that training was being undertaken to manage sickness absence in departments where targets were not being met, although a dip in October had been owing to a viral infection affecting many staff.

Councillor PD Varnsverry informed the meeting that the Borough Council was well represented on the SSNB, with himself and the Leader as members and the Director of Environment and Culture as Chair.  Referring to the figures for domestic violence, he suggested that with support, victims were now being encouraged to ignore the stigma and come forward to report incidents so that they could be assisted.

Councillor Beardsworth was not happy at the assertion that the bar had been set too low to make it easier for targets to be met.  She commended the hard work of officers and felt it was appalling imply criticism by devaluing the targets. Councillor Crake added her congratulations to officers for achieving the green indicators.

In response to the query regarding payment to local suppliers, it was noted that NN postcodes were prioritised but in any case, officers passed all invoices for payment as quickly as possible.

The Chief Executive referred to the targets relating to crime and pointed out that a lot of work was carried out countywide.  The Council was still contributing to funding for the Sunflower Centre to assist with the victims of domestic violence.  It was clear that a large element of violent crime was domestic violence and it was also clear that alcohol played a significant part in this.  There was a lot of activity going on between  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14