Issue - meetings

The Board is asked to review and scrutinise the decision of the Cabinet taken on 26 July 2023 in relation to the item of business relating to ‘Protecting our Coastal and Open Spaces’, following the receipt of a valid call-in request from the pre-requisite number of councillors.

In accordance with the Constitution, the Board must determine whether or not to offer any advice in relation to the decision. If advice is offered, Cabinet will be required to reconsider the decision in light of the advice but is not obliged to follow it.

The Board was asked to review and scrutinise the decision of the Cabinet taken on 26 July 2023 in relation to the ‘Protecting our Coastal and Open Spaces’ item, following the receipt of a valid call-in request from the pre-requisite number of councillors.

The Interim Monitoring officer presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A’ to these Minutes in the Minute Book. In accordance with the Constitution, the Board had to determine whether or not to offer any advice in relation to the decision

The Interim Monitoring Officer explained the grounds that were required for the call in to be accepted by the monitoring officer as valid. The officer cited the three principles within Article 12 of the Council’s constitution that were referenced as the grounds for the call-in to be considered by the Board, namely:

(b) ensure that the decision and the decision-making process are lawful;

(e) have due regard to appropriate national, strategic, local policy and

guidance;

(h) explain what options were considered and give the reasons for the decision;

The lead call-in member explained the reasons for the call in as outlined in the report. Another party to the call-in also addressed the Board. The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regulation then responded to the call-in.

The Portfolio Holder advised that they had been actively working with officers and partners to determine the most appropriate options for Protecting our Coastal and Open Spaces and outlined the process that was followed in reaching the decision and the response to the call-in reasons as follows:

1. The requirements to implement a PSPO were set out in Sections 2-4 in the report. Section 4 of the report showed the legal requirement for behaviour to have a ‘detrimental effect on the area’ in order for a PSPO to be sought. Behaviours that were considered inconvenient from a legal perspective were very different from detrimental. Council and external legal advice was sought throughout the PSPO process, and that advice was followed throughout the decision-making to ensure the Council did not act unlawfully.
2. All the relevant policies and guidance were considered with particular attention to the government's updated guidance from June 2022. The guidance highlighted that PSPOs should not be used to target individuals purely because they were homeless or rough sleeping.
3. Section 19 of the report presented an options appraisal that outlined the available decisions and their justifications for Cabinet to consider.
4. An equality impact assessment was carried out that considered The Public Sector Equality Duty and its obligation under the Human Rights Act. The assessment showed that carrying out some of the PSPOs could infringe on the rights of some of the most vulnerable within society.
5. A potential legal challenge around whether the Council would have been in violation of Section 6 of The Human Rights Act 1998 had been raised.

The Chair then invited the Overview and Scrutiny Board to discuss the items that were raised and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5