Agenda item

Su Thorpe, Leader of Salisbury City Council, updated the meeting on the work of the City Council:

·         The Christmas Lights switch on had been extremely successful, with over 12,000 people attending.  There had been a great atmosphere and plans for next year’s event were already underway.

·         A major, free event was being planned for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on Monday 4 June at Hudson’s Field, which would culminate in a beacon being lit on Old Sarum.

·         The Olympic Torch would be coming to Salisbury on 11 July, and more details would be coming soon.

·         Other events planned for 2012 included St Georges Day, Armed Forces Day and Remembrance Day.

·         In relation to the proposed large scale events in Salisbury during 2012, it was requested that the Area Board would lobby for Park and Ride to be available on those days and for parking in the vicinity of Hudson’s Field to be prohibited for the events planned at that location.

In relation to the comment regarding parking for large scale events in Salisbury, the Chairman commented that this was being taken into consideration, and that Park and Ride would be used to shuttle people to and from the location.

David Law, of Laverstock and Ford Parish Council, referred to the St Mark’s and St Andrew’s churches’ combined nativity service at the Community Farm.  A good number of families had attended and it had been a very enjoyable event for all.  David also reported that the new Primary School in Old Sarum would be opening on 23 January.

Inspector Andy Noble gave a presentation on the impact of the government’s spending review on Wiltshire Police:

·         There would be no reduction in numbers of Front Line Police personnel, including Community Support Officers.  Similarly, the changes would also not affect local policing and community arrangements, with no changes to the boundaries of each sector.

·         The new policing model sought to rationalise resources, by setting up four policing hubs at Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Salisbury and a Specialist Operations hub at Devizes.  In addition, there would be 3 custody suites at Melksham, Salisbury and Swindon.

·         This new model would increase force-wide capability and efficiency; for example, harmonised shift patterns would allow easier transfer of support from other hubs when required.

·         The required savings of £14 million over three years were all being made from back office and administration. 

·         Use of technology was also supporting the increased efficiency, as officers could complete paperwork remotely, and tracking devices allowed accurate location of all resources for a more strategic approach to allocating tasks to officers on the road.

·         Further savings were being achieved by working more closely with partner agencies.  Consideration was being given to co-locating some services within the planned Wiltshire Council campuses.  A pilot was already underway in Chippenham, and was also planned for the Salisbury campus.

In response to questions, Inspector Noble reported that it was proposed to station Neighbourhood Officers in the campuses, and possible also response officer.  There was also scope for co-locating other services, such as vehicle maintenance moving to the same site as Council workshops.

It was acknowledged that the reduction in back office staff was a risk, but this was being mitigated by working closely with partner agencies.

Inspector Noble also confirmed that there was a handover system in place for the switchover between the Wiltshire Police Authority and the new Police Commissioner.