Agenda and minutes

The apologies of Councillor Fitzhenry and Councillor Whitbread were noted. 

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2017 and to deal with any matters arising.

RESOLVED that the minutes for the meeting held on 19 October, 2017 be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Panel considered the report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance, regarding examples of good practice and barriers to safe disposal of drug related litter.

Charlotte Matthews, Public Health Consultant; Jackie Hall, Integrated Commissioning Unit; Councillor Shields, Cabinet Member for Health and Community Safety; DCI Ben Chivers, Hampshire Constabulary; Collin McAllister, Integrated Commissioning Unit; Carl Nightingale, Southampton Needle Exchange; Nigel Brunsdon, Injecting Advice were present and with the consent of the chair addressed the Panel.

Following discussions with invited representatives the Panel concluded that:

·  Whilst recognising that drug related litter is an issue in Southampton the quantity of drug related litter observed compares favourably with many other cities. 

·  Southampton is dealing with drug related litter more effectively than many other cities.  Credit to the street cleansing teams for their proactive and reactive services.

·  The Needle Exchange provides a good service.

·  To minimise drug litter and the risk of harm, a logical approach is to make it as easy as possible for users to do the right thing with their used needles.  This includes installing public sharps bins near to locations where drug related litter is a consistent problem.

·  It was recommended that an appropriate public sharps bin is installed near to the Needle Exchange as soon as possible for a trial period.  The impact should be monitored and outcomes discussed at the 18 January 2018 meeting of the Panel.

·  That the potential for safe injecting facilities to reduce drug related litter, and address other drug related issues, be considered at the next meeting.

RESOLVED

  (i)  That the comments from Injecting Advice, outlining findings from a visit to services in the city and the effectiveness of Southampton’s approach to reducing drug related litter, and from Southampton Needle Exchange providing unique insight into the challenges of dependent drug use and drug related litter be noted and used as evidence in the review.

  (ii)  That the presentation received from Injecting Advice outlining findings from a visit to services in the city, as well as the paper developed by Public Health and Southampton City Council summarising the findings from a review of research evidence relating to what works to minimise drug related litter, and the referenced 2005 report from DeFRA ‘Tracking drug related litter’ were also used as evidence in the review.