Agenda and draft minutes

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22^nd October 2025 (previously circulated). 

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 22^nd October 2025 were signed by the Chair as a correct record.

There was no Urgent Business.

To receive declarations by Councillors of interests in respect of items on this Agenda. 

Councillors are reminded that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests. (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting). 

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9 and in the interests of clarity and transparency, Councillors should declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, at this point in the meeting. 

In accordance with Part B Section 2 of the Code Of Conduct, Councillors are required to declare the existence and nature of any other interests as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the Code of Conduct. 

There were no Declarations of Interest.

Report of Chief Executive. 

The Chair welcomed the Chief Executive to the meeting.

The Committee was provided with an update on the proposals for Local Government Reorganisation in Lancashire prior to the full Council and Cabinet the meeting the following week when Lancaster City Council’s preference will be agreed.  The full proposals for reorganisation in Lancashire had to be submitted by 28^th November 2025.

Members were reminded that the Government had requested the Councils of Lancashire to work together to produce a single interim plan which was submitted in March 2025. The interim plan for Lancashire outlined high-level options for Local Government Reorganisation, reflecting a lack of consensus among the 15 Councils, and proposed between two and five potential new unitary authorities, while acknowledging the political, economic, and geographical complexities of the county.

The City Council had worked with Chorley, Preston, Ribble Valley, South Ribble and West Lancashire Councils on proposals.

Five options have been developed for local government structures in Lancashire, ranging from two to five unitary councils :-

a)    Two unitary councils with Lancashire split into North and South regions broadly across the River Ribble and M65. This has been developed by Lancashire County Council.

b)     Three unitary councils bringing Chorley together with South Ribble, West Lancs and Preston. In the North a council covering the area of Fylde, Wyre, Blackpool and Lancaster. In the east Blackburn with Darwen together with Hyndburn, Rossendale, Burnley, Pendle and Ribble Valley. This has been developed by Wyre, Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Fylde, and Rossendale.

c)     Four Lancashire which groups Chorley with South Ribble and West Lancs and creates a fourth unitary council of Lancaster, Ribble Valley, and Preston in the North. This is the most widely supported of all options having been developed by six councils; Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancs, Preston, Ribble Valley, and Lancaster.

d)    An alternate four option which has been developed by Blackpool and splits the current districts of Wyre and Ribble Valley and brings Blackpool together with Preston.

e)    A five unitary option, developed by Burnley and Pendle, which creates an additional council in the East of the county, splitting Pendle, Burnley and Rossendale from Ribble Valley, Blackpool and Hyndburn. This also divides districts along the Fylde coast into different authority areas.

The four unitary model that had been worked on by the six Councils took into account economic corridors and provided a model that balanced the output of economies within the County. A four unitary model for Lancashire would create Councils that were large enough to be financially sustainable yet locally responsive, bringing together areas with similar social and economic characteristics so that services can be better tailored to community needs.

Resolved :-

That the Chief Executive be thanked for his presentation and attendance at the meeting.

A presentation to be provided to give an overview of LANPAC’s work. 

The Chair welcomed Al Yusuf? LANPAC Manager, to the meeting.

The Committee was given a presentation of the work of the Lancashire Partnership Against Crime (LANPAC) which was a collaboration between Lancashire Constabulary, Lancashire Businesses and Public Services to work together to reduce crime and disorder across the County.

The aims of LANPAC were :

·       To promote the prevention and reduction of crime and anti-social behaviour in Lancashire.?

·       To support initiatives across the county that lead to increased community safety and a better quality of life for Lancashire’s residents and visitors.?

?Members were advised that police officers could submit a bid for up to £2,500 on behalf of the local community. On average two new initiatives were funded each week, focusing on protecting the vulnerable elderly, preventing burglaries, enhancing public safety and supporting youth. Examples of projects were shown to the Committee.

It was reported that, in partnership with Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner’s office, over 300 video doorbell cameras had been purchased for use across Lancashire. ?The cameras were available immediately and were specifically targeted for individuals who are most in need and vulnerable. ?

?

Resolved :-

That Al Yusuf be thanked for his informative presentation and attendance at the meeting.

Report of Chief Officer – People and Policy. 

Whilst this report is public, the appendix is confidential, and notice is hereby given that the meeting is likely to move into private session if it is necessary to refer to the confidential appendix. 

The Chair welcomed Sergeant Lindsay Brown, Lancashire Constabulary, Kirsty McCreesh, Lancashire Fire and Rescue, the Chief Officer - People and Policy and the Resilience and Community Safety Officer to the meeting.

The Committee was given an update on current projects being undertaken by the Lancaster District Community Safety Partnership (CSP), the future developments for 2024/2025 and how the current priorities were being tackled with the joint working by the partners of the CSP.  The current priorities for Lancaster CSP which aligned with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, were domestic abuse, violence, anti-social behaviour, road safety, serious and organised crime and exploitation (Criminal and Sexual).

Members were reminded that at last year’s meeting concern had been raised over the use of E-Scooters and E-bikes. Using new techniques, 24 E-bikes had recently been seized locally with over a thousand in Lancashire being seized.

It was reported that several operations had taken place recently within the Lancaster District tackling anti-social behaviour, street begging and drinking and deliberate fires.  

The Committee went on to discuss the importance of partnership working and how limited resources were utilized in the most productive way possible.

As requested at last year's meeting, Members of the Committee were to be added to the circulation list for the CSP minutes.

Resolved :-

(1)        That the update be noted.

(2)        Sergeant Lindsay Brown, Lancashire Constabulary, Kirsty McCreesh, Lancashire Fire and Rescue, the Chief Officer - People and Policy and the Resilience and Community Safety Officer be thanked for their reporting and attendance at the meeting.

 Report of the Chief Officers - People & Policy and Resources

The Chair welcomed the Technical Manager to the meeting.

The Committee was given an overview of the CCTV provision in Lancaster City Centre and on the cycle track between Lancaster and Morecambe. It was reported that the Council operated a CCTV network comprising of 382 cameras which includes 39 active cameras across the cycle track and Lancaster City Centre. The CCTV system on the cycle track was installed and commissioned using external grant funding secured through a bid to the Office of the Police Crime Commissioner. Members were advised that beyond this period, no ongoing external funding was currently in place. Revenue provision will therefore be required from the Council’s budgets to sustain service continuity or alternative funding would need to be sourced.

With regard to Lancaster City Centre, additional CCTV cameras were installed in key locations to address areas that had been identified as potential hotspots for offences where women and girls were more at risk.

It was reported that analysis of recent performance data showed an overall system uptime of 86.6% therefore to achieve the Council’s 95% target availability, the Cycle Track and City Centre infrastructure needed to be prioritised for improvement to align with the resilience and monitoring standards already established within the City Council.

The Committee discussed the provision of CCTV and its importance.

Resolved :-

(1)   That the Committee note the current performance of the CCTV network and the reliability differential between the City Centre and Cycle Track estates.

(2)   That the Committee note that initial grant funding covered the first three years

of operation, after which sustainable revenue funding will be required.

(3)    That the Committee note that the current CCTV service contract expires in 2026, and operating costs may vary depending on the outcome of re-procurement or extension.

(4) That the Committee endorse continued alignment of the CCTV infrastructure

with the Council’s ICT standards to support long-term reliability and resilience

as well as the development of a Council CCTV Strategy

 (5) That Members note this report does not include Morecambe Town Centre cameras, which would require a similar operational and funding model should

they be integrated into the Council-managed network.

     (6)  That Members note that significant investment will be required going forward to

replace the existing system. A potential revenue or capital bid will be submitted

as part of the forthcoming budget round.

The List of Forthcoming Key Decisions can be viewed here

The Committee discussed the items that were included on the agenda for the December Cabinet meeting.

City Council Commissioned Consultations can be viewed here

There were no consultations to consider.

Report of Chief Officer – Governance. 

The Committee considered the updated Work Programme.

It was reported that a response had not been received to date from the Executive Director of Adult Services on the request for an update on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assessment. It was agreed that officers would write again to request an update.

With regard to the Fit for the Future Workshop, it was reported that this was scheduled for Wednesday 14th January at 5.00pm, prior to the meeting of Budget and Performance Panel, hybrid, in person and on Teams.

The Chair advised that a letter had been prepared to send to Lancashire County Council is response to the reply that had been received from the Cabinet member regarding Flooding in Lancaster. 

The Committee discussed the outstanding work of the Property Asset Working Group and agreed that this should be considered by the Budget and Performance Panel, as this was within it’s Terms of Reference.

Members went on to consider the suggestion to add Community Resilience/ Emergency Planning to the Committee’s Work Programme and agreed to put forward this request to the Chief Executive in accordance with the Council Constitution.

Resolved :-

That the updates above were agreed.

The Chair to advise. 

The Chair advised that he had waived Call-in on the Local Government Reorganisation report that would be considered by Cabinet after the Extraordinary Council meeting to be held in the following week.