Cabinet 30 January 2019

Chairman:  Councillor R Waltham MBE
Venue:  Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Scunthorpe
Time:     2:30 pm
E-Mail Address:   richard.mell@northlincs.gov.uk


AGENDA

  1.  Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and Personal or Personal and Prejudicial interests.
  2. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 26 November, 2018
  3. North Lincolnshire’s Annual Education Report 2018 – Report of the Director: Learning, Skills and Culture.
  4. Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) – Report of the Director:   Governance and Partnerships
  5. Any other items which the Chairman decides are urgent by reason of special  circumstances which must be specified.

MINUTES

PRESENT: –  Councillor Waltham MBE (chairman) in the Chair.

Councillors Hannigan (vice-chairman), J Davison, Ogg, Poole, Reed and Rose.

Councillors Ali, Armiger, Briggs, Clark, Collinson, Ellerby, L Foster, Godfrey, Mumby-Croft, O’Sullivan, Swift and Wells also attended the meeting.

Denise Hyde, Simon Green, Becky McIntyre, Helen Manderson, Peter Thorpe, Penny Spring, Adam Lovell and Richard Mell attended the meeting.

The meeting was held at the Civic Centre, Scunthorpe.

1329   DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS AND PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS – There were no declarations of interest declared by members at the meeting.

1330   MINUTES – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 26 November 2018 having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the chairman.

1331   (16)    NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE’S ANNUAL EDUCATION REPORT 2018 – The Director: Learning, Skills and Culture submitted a report presenting the Annual Education Report 2018, which was attached as an appendix.

The council had a statutory duty to ensure area-wide standards and educational excellence. In line with the council’s role as an enabler and facilitator of sector-led improvement, the council had set the ambition of attaining top-quartile outcomes for children and young people by all measures.  By 2020, North Lincolnshire would be amongst the best local authority areas in England for:

  • attendance and inclusion
  • the quality of provision
  • learning outcomes.

The council had continued to prioritise improving education outcomes for all children and young people. The Annual Education Report for 2018 provided a position statement on the quality of education in North Lincolnshire and celebrated the many achievements within the sector that contributed towards children’s and young people’s outcomes. The report concluded with areas of further focus for the next 12 months.

The Annual Education Report for 2018 had already been approved for publication by the Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Learning and Leisure. (minute 17 refers).

Resolved – (a) That the North Lincolnshire Annual Education Report for 2018 be noted, and (b) that the Cabinet thanks all those in the local education environment for the work and support they put in to enhance the lives of all young people.

1332   (17)    REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT 2000 (RIPA) – The Director: Governance and Partnerships submitted a report seeking approval of the council’s 2019 RIPA policy, and updated members on RIPA activity.

RIPA created a regulatory framework to govern the way public authorities handled and conducted covert investigation.  This included covert surveillance directed at a person(s), the use of a “covert human intelligence source” (CHIS), which involved the establishing of a relationship for the covert purpose of obtaining information and access to communications data such as telephone subscriber details and itemised phone logs. RIPA also provided for a system of authorisation so as to secure the lawfulness of surveillance activities and ensure that they were consistent with obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998. The value of RIPA was in the obtaining of evidence to support criminal prosecutions and was primarily used in trading standards cases. The correct use of RIPA also protected the Council from civil liability.

The report explained that the Statutory Codes of Practice issued pursuant to RIPA, provided that elected members must set the RIPA Policy, and that updates must be provided on the Council’s use of RIPA. Consequently, between the period of 1st February 2018 to 7th December 2018, three RIPA authorisations were granted in relation to trading standards matters. The RIPA authorisations enabled officers to investigate the online sales of counterfeit clothing, footwear and accessories. There were currently two prosecution case files pending based upon the evidence obtained from these RIPA operations. In accordance with the legislation and the RIPA Policy, all applications were authorised internally and also by the Magistrates.

The Council’s proposed RIPA Policy 2019 was attached to the report at Appendix 1 for consideration and approval, and the Director in her report identified and explained amendments made.

RIPA formed part of the Counter Fraud Strategy which was approved by the Audit Committee as surveillance may be necessary to investigate potential fraud in certain cases.

Resolved – (a) That the 2019 RIPA Policy be approved, and (b) that the content of the update report be noted.