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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Calne Library, The Strand, Calne, SN11 0JU

Contact: Fiona Rae (Democratic Services Officer) 

Items
Note No. Item

5:30 pm

1.

Chairman's Welcome and Introductions

To welcome those present to the meeting.

Minutes:

Cllr Alan Hill welcomed everyone to Calne Area Board and introduced the Councillors and Officers present. Cllr Hill acted as Chairman for the meeting and it was co-Chaired by Rebecca Green, Local Youth Network, as the meeting had a ‘Young People’ theme. It was noted that Rebecca did not exercise a vote. The Chairman thanked Cllr Crisp for her support preparing for the Area Board, despite a stay in hospital, and wished her a swift recovery.

2.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

3.

Minutes

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 6 October 2015.  

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Resolved:

 

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 6 October 2015 subject to the following amendments:

 

That Alison Ingham of Northlands Surgery be referred to as ‘Mrs Alison Ingham’ and that David Evans be not referred to as the Chairman of Cherhill Parish Council but as ‘Cllr David Evans’.

4.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

5:35pm

5.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive the following Chairman’s Announcements:

·       NHS Health Checks

·       Julia’s House

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman drew attention to the written announcements included in the agenda pack and encouraged the public to take advantage of free NHS Health Checks and flu vaccinations. It was noted that Julia’s House Hospice was to open a new care centre in Devizes in 2017 and the Board encouraged local people to help support the charity.

5:45pm

6.

Review of the Unfair Funfair

An opportunity for the LYN to feedback and the Board to discuss the afternoon’s events and activities at the Unfair Funfair.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Rebecca Green from the Local Youth Network and thanked her and officers from Wiltshire Council for their hard work in delivering a very successful ‘Unfair Funfair’. The Fair invited young people to take part in games to explore some of the issues they were facing locally.

 

Rebecca asked the councillors for feedback from the event, key highlights included a game which demonstrated the effect of dyslexia and how it can be frustrating for young people. Councillors also sampled games exploring the effect of drugs on the body and tried their luck at ‘Mince Pie Roulette’.

 

The Area Board noted that young people in Calne had been very engaged in local issues and councillors had been impressed and moved by their suggestions of the ‘Calne Clause’ at the Magna Carta event over the summer.

5:55pm

7.

Partner Updates

To receive updates from the following partners:

 

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Fire and Rescue Services

·       NHS Wiltshire CCG

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       Calne Community Area Partnership

·       Town and Parish Councils

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Written updates were available in the agenda pack from Wiltshire Police, Fire and Rescue Services, NHS Wiltshire CCG and HealthWatch Wiltshire.

 

The Police promoted the surgeries they were holding in the town for the public to come and discuss issues. Current priorities for the Police were speeding, theft and antisocial behaviour. Thanks were given to the LYN for it’s hard work over the summer to reduce anti-social behaviour. The officer explained that he had been involved in the ‘Unfair Funfair’ by stopping young people from participating and moving them on, which was ‘unfair’ and explored their perception of the Police.

 

Cllr Christine Crisp encouraged residents to stay healthy over the winter by taking advantage of checks available from the NHS and stocking up on medication required over the Christmas period. The Councillor also thanked Malcolm for his work for the Calne Community Partnership and advised that the Calne hub would soon be relocated to the library.

 

Key updates from town and parish councils included that: residents were now living in new affordable homes in Hilmarton, Hilmarton and Bremhill would benefit from a new solar park site and 2 hours free parking was now available in Calne thanks to the Town Council and Wiltshire Council working in partnership.

6:15pm

8.

Local Youth Network (LYN)

To receive an update from the Local Youth Network.

 

To determine the following  applications for youth grant funding:

 

·       Launch to Learning- £5,000 for a literacy and digital literacy project;

·       Magna Carta Group- £500 for a project celebrating the Calne clauses from the Magna Carta celebrations.

 

To determine an application to procure positive activities for young people- £1,440 with ‘Go Active’.

 

To note a decision taken between meetings of the Area Board to grant £20 towards the Calne ‘Unfair Funfair’.

 

To consider a funding request for £150 to support a LYN development day.

 

To consider the following delegation:

 

That in respect of urgent matters that may arise, the Community Youth Officer, following consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Area Board, may authorise expenditure to support youth projects from the youth budget of up to £5,000 in total between meetings of an Area Board. The decision and reasons why it was considered urgent will be reported to the next meeting of the Area Board.

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Jordan, Joe and Beth from the Local Youth Network (LYN) introduced applications for funding to the Area Board and recommendations from the LYN.

 

The Chairman commented that the £5,000 requested to support the application from Launch to Learning was a significant amount however it would reach those young people really in need. Other members commented that they were fully in support of the Magna Carta application and had been impressed by the work of the young people in this group. Members spoke in support of the application to procure services from ‘Go Active’ as this group provided a variety of different activities for young people.

 

The Area Board considered a proposed resolution delegating authority to the Community Youth Officer to allow them to determine funding in between meetings of an Area Board in respect of urgent matters.

 

Resolved:

 

To grant Launch to Learning £5,000 for a literacy and digital literacy project;

 

To grant the Magna Carta group £500 for a project celebrating the Calne clauses from the Magna Carta celebrations subject to the conditions outlined in the report;

 

To grant £1,440 to procure positive activities for young people with ‘Go Active’;

 

To note a decision taken between meetings of the Area Board to grant £20 towards the Calne ‘Unfair Funfair’;

 

To grant £150 funding to support a LYN development day.

 

That in respect of urgent matters that may arise, the Community Youth Officer, following consultation with the Chairman and Vice- Chairman of the Area Board, may authorise expenditure to support youth projects from the youth budget of up to £5,000 in total between meetings of an Area Board. The decision and reasons why it was considered urgent will be reported to the next meeting of the Area Board.

 

 

6:35pm

9.

Positive Tickets

Review and presentation of awards by the Chairman, Inspector Ben Huggins and Rebecca Green.

 

The Board will discuss the Positive Tickets initiative, with a view to developing the Calne model into one that may be rolled out across the County.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Jane Vaughan, Community Engagement Manager, explained the ‘Positive Tickets’ initiative, which involved the Police recognising young people who had acted in a positive way in the commnity. The scheme had been piloted in Calne and had been a great success however officers had developed some recommendations to improve the scheme for the future. It was suggested that  a panel be developed to monitor the scheme and discuss how to improve referrals for positive tickets and ways to reward young people who regularly volunteered. Feedback from the pilot had been extremely positive as many of the young people receiving awards had never received a commendation before. The Area Board thanked officers and the Police for their input into the scheme and wished to continue supporting Positive Tickets for future years, it was noted that there was still funding left over to support the project for another year.

 

Resolved:

 

To support the continuance of the ‘Positive Tickets’ scheme for another year.

6:50pm

10.

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)

A presentation from Blair Keltie (CSE Service Manager, Wiltshire Council) on the reality of CSE in Wiltshire and what the community can do to help tackle it.

Minutes:

Rebecca Green welcomed Blair Keltie (CSE Service Manager) to present on the profile of child sexual exploitation in Wiltshire; the LYN were already considering this topic and were aware of ‘Nathalie’s Project’ in Calne and looked forward to working in closer partnership with Wiltshire Council on the issue.

 

The officer explained the different types of child sexual exploitation and examples of this happening in Wiltshire. Signs that CSE may be happening were, for example: missing children, young people using drugs or alcohol and general change in behaviour in young people. Parents were also reminded to be vigilant over monitoring the sites their children used online. It was explained that there was a specialist team available to support victims of CSE and the Council worked closely with Police to identify cases.

 

During a question and answer session the meeting was advised that details of how to report CSE were available online, from Childline or from the Council or Police. It was confirmed that the Police were arresting those suspected of CSE and local authorities also worked to assess parenting capacity for those parents who may neglect their children and leave them vulnerable to exploitation. Cllr Hill made the point that the full title Child Sexual Exploitation should be used rather than the abbreviation, CSE, to ensure the term retained it’s impact. All those present agreed that the internet was a threat to the safety of children and young people as it was a means to circulate information about vulnerable children or indecent images.

 

The Board thanked Blair for the informative presentation.

7:05pm

11.

Local Apprenticeships

Jo Stoddart from Wiltshire Learning will explain how your businesses can be supported to take on apprenticeships in a variety of roles.

Minutes:

Jo Stoddart, Wiltshire Learning, updated the Board on apprenticeship opportunities for young people available across the county. The Council offered a variety of apprenticeships in various business roles such as youth work and customer services and could also advise on placements with other employers in a variety of other roles. Apprenticeships were funded and could offer a variety of different qualifications as well as on-the-job training. Young people were benefitting from apprenticeships as an alternative to university, and opportunity to gain a qualification and help secure long-term employment.

The advantages of apprenticeships for employers included that it reduced staff turnover, created opportunities for the wider team, was not expensive and even helped to train up existing team members with new IT equipment. Information packs for those interested in apprenticeships were available upon request.

 

The Board thanked Jo for her presentation.

7:20pm

12.

Your Local Issues

 Councillors will provide an update on community issues and progress on area board working groups. This will include:

 

·       Highways working group (CATG)

 

To receive an update from the last CATG meeting on local priorities including dropped kerb schemes.

 

To consider the recommendations arising from the last CATG meeting on 10 November 2015.

 

·       Calne campus project

·       Sandpit Road (Section 106) working group

·       Air quality working group

·       Dementia Friends working group

·       Our Place Project

·       Older People’s issues

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Councillors provided an update on community issues and progress on Calne Area Board working groups. 

 

Cllr Christine Crisp updated that currently work on highways was delayed due to Balfour Beatty withdrawing from its contract to complete the works. Questions were raised over when schemes would be completed and the councillor advised they would be done in priority order but that the Highways department was currently very busy. It was confirmed that Speed Indicator Devices were now available for Parish and Town Councils to purchase.

 

Cllr Alan Hill informed the meeting that work was due to start in January 2016 on a crossing adjacent to Beversbrook, an all-weather sports pitch was also due to be installed in the New Year and the move to the new Calne hub was expected in the spring of 2016.

 

Cllr Tony Trotman updated on behalf the S106 working group however no meeting had been held recently and so a substantive update would be provided at the January Area Board.

 

Cllr Glenis Ansell advised on the Air Quality Working Group’s action plans; key priorities included working with schools to develop a walk-to-school bus and to tidy up some ‘unsightly’ spots around the town to encourage walking routes. 

 

Cllr Christine Crisp also spoke on behalf of the Dementia Friends working group, the group now had trained 277 ‘Dementia Friends’ in Calne.

 

Bob Marshall provided an update on the ‘Our Place Project’ to encourage tourism and spending in Calne. It was noted that the Calne Heritage Week had been a great success and would run again in 2016. Cllr Trotman thanked Bob Marshall for his great work as the Chairman of the group, he was soon to be standing down.

 

David Evans, Community Safety Forum, advised that the Good Neighbour funding was to be removed in 2016 and suggested that the current Good Neighbour Coordinator could work well as an Older people’s Champion for Calne.

 

Resolved:

 

To note the updates from Area Board working groups.

 

To endorse the recommendations arising from the CATG meeting on 10 November, including issues to be closed and for roundels to be painted on Woodsage Way.

7:50pm

13.

Community Area Grants

To consider an application to the Community Area Grants Scheme from The John Bentley School- £5,000 for the provision of a Grand Piano.

 

To consider the following delegation:

 

That in respect of urgent matters that may arise, the Community Engagement Manager, following consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Area Board, may authorise expenditure to support community projects from the delegated budget of up to £5,000 in total between meetings of an Area Board. The decision and reasons why it was considered urgent will be reported to the next meeting of the Area Board.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

 

Peter Grant, Deputy Headteacher of John Bentley School spoke in support of the school’s application for funding to support the purchase of a grand piano. The Board heard that music was an area in which the school specialised and it aimed to provide and develop opportunities for students from all socio-economic backgrounds to be involved in music. It was confirmed that the school governors would provide the remaining funding needed to purchase the piano which would be the second one for the school and would be located a separate rehearsal space. Peter Grant welcomed the use of the school as a music venue and the use of the Grand Piano for the community.

 

The Area Board considered the application for funding and also a proposed resolution delegating authority to the Community Engagement Manager to determine funding between meetings of the Area Board in respect of urgent matters.

 

Resolved:

 

To grant The John Bentley School £5,000 for the provision of a Grand Piano.

 

That in respect of urgent matters that may arise, the Community Engagement Manager, following consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Area Board, may authorise expenditure to support community projects from the delegated budget of up to £5,000 in total between meetings of an Area Board. The decision and reasons why it was considered urgent will be reported to the next meeting of the Area Board.

8pm

14.

Urgent items

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

8pm

15.

Close

The next meeting of the Area Board is to be held on 26 January 2016.

Minutes:

The next Area Board meeting would be held on 26 January 2016.