Agenda and draft minutes

1.      The Clerk invited nominations for Chair.  Mr Pugh nominated Mr Barrington-King, seconded by Mr Hills.  No other nominations were made.

RESOLVED that Mr Barrington-King be elected Chair.

1.      The Chair thanked the Committee and outlined his hopes for the work of the Committee, emphasising the need to find positive ideas and recognising the good work already being undertaken by partner agencies.  He referenced the timetable, which involved completing the full review process by October 2019.

2.      Mr Cook declared an interest in the work of the review in that he was a member of the Canterbury City Council Community Safety Partnership and had a family connection that was involved in drug misuse.

3.      Members supported the Chair’s comments regarding the importance of the Committee’s work and the need to balance delivering at pace with ensuring necessary due diligence to allow for accurate research and the development of reasonable recommendations.

4.      Gaetano Romagnuolo (Overview and Scrutiny Research Officer) confirmed the planned timetable for the review, highlighting the evidence gathering schedule which included multiple sessions on 10, 11, 12 and 17 of June 2019.

5.      In considering the provisional witness list included in the agenda papers, Members discussed other potential witnesses and sources of information to help inform the review.  The Committee supported exploring evidence gathering from the following groups:

·    Serving prisoners

·    Borough / District Council Community Safety units

·    Commissioned Youth Services

·    External youth work practitioners (e.g. from other Local Authorities)

·    British Transport Police

It was noted that Officers would investigate the suggested evidence sources and progress them where feasible.

RESOLVED that;

·    The Terms of Reference and general approach, the timetable for the review and the sources of evidence (those included in the report and the additions suggested in the meeting) be agreed; and

·    The Committee acknowledge the good work already being undertaken by partner organisations to tackle knife crime, that that the review would consider ways in which KCC could contribute to achieving positive outcomes.