Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Westbury Area Board.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Simon Todd (Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service).

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2021 were presented for consideration and it was;

Resolved

To approve the minutes as a correct record.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive the following announcements through the Chair:

·       Changes to Wiltshire’s Taxi Tariffs

·       Update on Leisure Centres Transferring to Wiltshire Council

·       Area Board Communication with Hills Waste

The chairman gave the following updates:

·       Changes to Wiltshire’s Taxi Tariffs

The Chairman drew attention to a briefing note attached to the agenda which provided an update regarding the proposed changes to the Taxi Tariff Schedule for Hackney Carriages in Wiltshire. The note included information that was shared with the Licensing Committee at its meeting on 13 September 2021. Approval had already been provided for the proposals to be implemented, which will take place on 4 January 2022 subject to the proposals being advertised and undergoing standard consultation processes.

·       Update on Leisure Centres Transferring to Wiltshire Council

The Chairman drew attention to the leisure insourcing project, which would see 10 leisure centres currently managed by Places Leisure move over to Wiltshire Council. This transfer would include Westbury Swimming Pool and further information, and a frequently asked questions section can be found on a webpage via the included link in the report.

• Area Board Communication with Hills Waste

The Chairman updated that recently members of the Area Board attended a meeting of the Liaison Committee of Hills Waste Solutions. The Area Board asked for a more comprehensive communication strategy and will be working with Hills, The Environment Agency and Wiltshire Council Public Health Officers to draw up this strategy which will aim to provide timely information and updates for local residents relating to Hills Waste Solutions activities.

To receive any updates from partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

·       POPCAN

·       Town and Parish Councils Nominated Representatives

Some written updates have been received and are included in this agenda.

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

The Area Board received a verbal update from Inspector Al Lumley. An overview was provided of the performance over the last 12 months to August 2021, which included the following points:

·       Inspector Lumley drew attention to comparative data tables, included in the agenda pack, which illustrated how Westbury compared to the rest of the Police force.

·       It was noted that there were no irregularities for Westbury and that crime types taking place in Westbury were similar to that experienced by the rest of the force.

·       Stop and Search data was provided, and this aligned with what had happened in the last quarter across the rest of the force.

An overview of the local priorities for Westbury was provided, which included the following areas:

·       Officer Verification Checks – Following the tragic events of the Sarah Everard murder in London, there has been a loss of confidence in the Police force. Wiltshire Police have been working hard to rebuild this confidence and have set up a process whereby a member of the public can ask for the officer to verify their business is genuine and lawful. This is completed through the Police radio on loudspeaker in order to offer reassurance.

·       Drug Dealer Conviction – Following an investigation, Wiltshire Police have secured a custodial conviction for a prolific Warminster and Westbury drug dealer. The sentence will be for 32 month and teams are focused to ensure that the individual’s void is not filled by his peer group.

·       Op Sceptre – Plans have been put in place for the annual Op Sceptre, which focuses on knife crime reduction within communities. This involves amnesty bins placed in key locations as well as multi-agency enforcement against those believed to be carrying or distributing weapons. It was noted that the nearest knife amnesty bin is located in Trowbridge.

·       Theft from Vehicle Series – Towards the end of October there was a spate of thefts from vehicles overnight in the Edington and Bratton area and along the B3908. It appeared that the criminals used this route to commit a spate of crimes from Trowbridge to Devizes. Some of the property has since been recovered and enquiries continue to locate and prosecute suspects. Importance was placed on keeping valuables out of sight and keep vehicles secure and alarmed.

·       Community Engagement – Work has been done to increase community engagement opportunities, to ensure that the Police are available to as many people as possible. This included being interviewed on Warminster Community Radio as well as reinvigorating a number of pre-Covid drop-in locations.

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The Area Board noted a written update attached to the agenda.

·       BaNES, Swindon & Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (BSW CCG)

The Area Board noted written updates attached to the agenda.

·       Town and Parish Councils Nominated Representatives

Councillor Matt Dean updated on behalf of Westbury Town Council that the Christmas lights switch on would now be taking place on Saturday 3 December, with a 2pm  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive information regarding the Wiltshire Youth Council.

Youth Voice Lead Worker, Joe Sutton, and Youth Voice Support Worker, Cameron Strawson provided the Area Board with a presentation regarding the Wiltshire Youth Council. The presentation covered the following:

·       An overview of what the Wiltshire Youth Council is was provided, with it being a group of young people aged 11-18 that have been elected by peers to represent their school or community. These representatives would have a full Youth Council meeting once a month to focus on issues important to young people. Other roles include conducting youth inspections and working with Area Boards and Local Youth Networks regarding decision making.

·       Potential benefits of the Youth Council were listed as exposing young people to democracy and inspiring and empowering them to stand up for their beliefs, whilst creating a culture of participation in schools and at Wiltshire Council.

·       An explanation of the elections process was provided, with voting to be carried out electronically on Snap Survey. Additionally, community seats would be available for those that live in Wiltshire but do not attend schools locally.

·       A timeline of key dates was provided, with schools submitting their list of candidates to the Child and Youth Voice Team on 17 December 2021, voting opening and closing from 31 January 2022 to 4 February 2022, with the new Youth Councillors and Deputies announced on 7 February 2022.

·       Once successfully elected, a conference has been planned where Youth Councillors and Deputies will be able to stand for the Shadow Youth Cabinet, or as a member of Youth Parliament in internal elections.

Following the presentation there was time for the following questions and points to be raised:

• It was clarified that both Matravers School, Westbury and Kingdown School, Warminster had now signed up.
• Samantha Shore from 4Youth raised that if the Wiltshire Youth Council needed access to individuals who didn’t go to school in Westbury then she would be happy to provide support. The importance of involving those who don’t have a school catchment in Wiltshire was acknowledged, including those from Dorset.

• It was acknowledged that it would be positive for the Wiltshire Youth Council to build connections to local Area Boards, with the local area Youth Councillor potentially attending Area Board meetings in the future.

To receive an update from the Westbury Health and Wellbeing Group.

Graeme Morrison, Community Engagement Manager and Councillor Gordon King provided an update on the Westbury Health and Wellbeing Group. The update covered the following:

• The Group recently heard a presentation from Sarah Cardy, CEO of AGE UK Wiltshire, which included an overview of services and plans for the future.
• There is hope of holding an extraordinary meeting on 2 December 2021, with the managers of local care homes and domiciliary care providers in the area to discuss winter readiness. There is however an awareness that Covid cases are rising in Westbury, with there being 74 cases as of 25 November. There is hope that colleagues from Wiltshire Council Adult Care will attend.
• A new Prevention and Wellbeing team has been set up within Wiltshire Council, that will work with individuals similarly to the previous Local Area Coordination team. This team will cover the whole of the county and will help those with mental health concerns. A member of the team will be allocated specifically to cover Westbury and Warminster, with the team hoping to be at full strength in the new year.
• An update was provided on the Digital Literacy project that was funded by the Area Board, with the first session set to take place Thursday 2 December, having identified suitable people in the local area, who were mostly older or not online or didn’t know how to use devices. AbilityNet would be providing the training for free, with the majority of the sessions taking place at the Westbury Community Project. The project has acquired technology from the Wiltshire Digital Drive as well as data sticks for those who don’t have WIFI access at home.

To consider the notes and actions log of the previous meeting of the Community Area Transport Group held on 5 November 2021.

Councillor Suzanne Wickham introduced the minutes and recommendations from the CATG meeting held on 5 November 2021.

Resolved:

The minutes of the Community Area Transport Group meeting held on 5 November 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

To receive an update regarding 4Youth.

Samantha Shore provided the Area Board with a presentation regarding 4Youth. The update covered the following:

TeenTalk - Counselling and Mental Health Support for young people in and around Westbury

• TeenTalk offers person centred 1-2-1 counselling for young people over a course of 6-8 one-hour sessions. The sessions are free at point of access, with individuals either self-referring or referrals coming from parents or professionals. Sessions are delivered from the East Room Practice Rooms, Church Street.
• Since 2019, TeenTalk has had 13 referrals from the BA13 postcode area, with 143 referrals in total from, Westbury, Melksham, Chippenham and Trowbridge.
• Effectiveness of the service is measured by the YP-CORE outcome measures, with a score of 11 or above on the CORE-10 indicating clinically significant distress. In the last 12 months the average opening score for young people using the service has been 18.66, with the figure reducing to 11.34 following the completion of short-term intervention.

Detached Youth Work

• Detached youth work teams started working in Westbury on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in 2021 and have since ran 68 sessions, worked with 162 young people and have made a total of 1218 contacts.
• Positive reviews have been received from young people within the local area.
• The detached youth work has produced positive impacts, such as building relationships and trust with young people, in order for them to open up about their worries, achievements and for any advice. Work has been done with all the young people involved to tackle the littering around parks as well as work to build up positive relationships within the wider community.
• In the future, it has been acknowledged that work in the Westbury Area will be dependent of securing local funding. There is an ambition to open a drop in “help and advice café” for older young people. The projected cost of delivering services in the Westbury area for 2022 is £22,000 and £10,000 is needed from the local area to supplement the other grant funding work is in progress to achieve.

Following the presentation there was time for the following questions and points to be raised:

• It was clarified that the detached youth workers had visited Dilton Marsh, with some younger people tending to head to Dilton during better weather.
• It was noted that in regard to the projected costs, it would be worth contacting Jon Hubbard to query whether the total cost of £22,000 included counselling.
• It was raised that 4Youth would like to recruit some more people locally and therefore to raise awareness in local Parish magazines.
• It was acknowledged that Matravers School recently held an emotional wellbeing workshop, in which 168 pupils signed up. Therefore suggesting that there is a demand for mental health support and that it would be positive for 4Youth to potentially get involved with Matravers School.
• It was suggested that 4Youth business cards be passed onto Graeme Morrison, Community Engagement Manager, as well as placing in Westbury Library.

To consider the following Community Area Grant applications for funding:

1.     Westbury Youth FC - £4,000 towards Redland Lane improvements.

2.     Dilton Marsh and Brokerswood PCC - £5,000 towards Holy Trinity Church projector and screen with sound system upgrade.

3.     Edington Parish Council - £925 towards Defibrillator for the western side of Edington.

4.     Westbury and District Cricket Club - £5,000 towards Westbury and District Cricket Club grounds maintenance project.

The Area Board considered the following applications for funding:

Community Area Grants:

1. Westbury Youth FC - £4,000 towards Redland Lane improvements.

Resolved:

Westbury Youth FC was awarded £4,000 towards Redland Lane improvements.

2. Dilton Marsh and Brokerswood PCC - £5,000 towards Holy Trinity Church projector and screen with sound system upgrade.

Resolved:

The Area Board decided to defer deciding on the application until further details could be clarified by the applicant.

3. Edington Parish Council - £925 towards Defibrillator for the western side of Edington.

Resolved:

Edington Parish Council was awarded £925 towards Defibrillator for the western side of Edington.

4. Westbury and District Cricket Club - £5,000 towards Westbury and District Cricket Club grounds maintenance project.

Resolved:

Westbury and District Cricket Club was awarded £5,000 towards Westbury and District Cricket Club grounds maintenance project.

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

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will be on 17 February 2022.

The date of the next meeting is Thursday 17 February at 7.00pm.