Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed those in attendance to the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Graham Martin, Chairperson of Sustainable Devizes and Mike Cleaver, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2023 were presented for consideration and it was;

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a true and correct record of the minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2023.

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

There were no declarations of disclosable interest.

To receive the following announcements through the Chairman:

·       Wiltshire Local Plan Review

·       Climate Emergency update - https://youtu.be/LP2FzC7rHSw

The Chairman of the Area Board made the following announcements, which were contained in the agenda pack.

·       Wiltshire Local Plan Review

·       Climate Emergency update - https://youtu.be/LP2FzC7rHSw

To receive updates from any of the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       Community First

·       Update from BSW Together (Integrated Care System)

·       Schools updates

·       Town and Parish Council

·       Sustainable Devizes

·       Opendoors

·       Devizes and District Foodbank

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

The Area Board noted a written updates attached to the agenda. In addition, Inspector Ben Huggins provided a verbal update which covered the following points:

·       An outline of the current Neighbourhood Policing Team was provided.

·       An overview of performance was provided, including Hate Crime and call statistics for Devizes.

·       There had recently been a slight rise in burglary levels, with a good proportion of these taking place in businesses and hospitals, with work being done with these organisations to provide support and prevention advice.

·       Community Speed Enforcement information was provided.

·       As per the report within the agenda supplement, an update was provided regarding the following local priorities:

o   Youth Intervention

o   Safer Public Spaces and town centre PSPO application

o   Increase in police visibility

o   Drug use/supply

After the verbal update, there was time for the following questions and points to be made:

·       Inspector Huggins and his team were thanked for their work during Devizes Carnival. Additionally, thanks were placed for the policing team having a more noticeable presence as well as gratitude towards speed watch.

·       A plea was made to speed up the process of establishing a new speed watch.

·       Reference was made to multi-occupancy spaces and the responsibility of licencing such premises, with it suggested that a management meeting take place to discuss a particular multi-occupancy space within Devizes.

·       Clarity was provided as to how many police officers cover the Devizes area and the wider make up of the units available.

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

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

·       Community First

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

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

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

·       BSW Together (Integrated Care System)

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

To receive an update from Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Catherine Roper and Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Philip Wilkinson.

The Area Board received an update from Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Philip Wilkinson. The update covered the following matters:

·       Work had been done to improve the service provided to residents of Wiltshire, with progress made with residents having reported seeing more officers and Police interaction.

·       The Police operational model had been improved with more officers now on the frontline to improve outreach as well as that two mobile Police stations had been funded.

·       It was highlighted that for high harm violence crimes, Wiltshire had previously been one of the lowest performing forces with a 2% success rate, however this had now risen to 11% with the Chief Constable focused on driving performance.

·       Regarding drugs and County Lines, collaborative work had taken place with all five Police forces across the Southwest, with all five of the forces now within the top ten performing forces nationally for County line disruption.

·       It was outlined that the speed watch teams had been reorganised, with better use of data from SIDs now taking place, with 85 SIDs in 20 parishes, which allows for hotspots to be targeted. It was outlined that in 2021 Wiltshire Police had issued 192 speeding tickets, compared to this year where over 4,400 tickets had already been issued.

·       The rural crime team had now been expanded to be double the size, with a piece of collaborative work with the other Southwest forces set to follow.

·       More work was being done towards victim support, with the force looking to better engage with victims as well as preventative action.

The Area Board received an update from Wiltshire Police Chief Constable, Catherine Roper. The update covered the following matters:

·       The responsibility of the Chief Constable was to deliver against the PCC plan, with Wiltshire Police placed into special measures “engage” in summer 2022.

·       As part of being placed into “engage”, it was highlighted that Wiltshire Police had an insufficient strategic framework, they weren’t investigating to an effective standard and were not providing effective support for victims.

·       As part of the work to rectify these issues, business as usual work was separated from the response to “engage”, as though the Police were busy, they had not driven things in the right way, with a need to get the fundamentals right and improve public trust, visibility and transparency.

·       Business as usual prioritised to support to the PCC, working towards safer public spaces as well as violence and burglaries.

·       Organisational priorities are now reviewed regularly as well as each Chief Officer having a performance improvement plan which is publicly available.

·       To improve transparency the Chief also produces an open letter to the PCC to provide an update of what work has been completed.

·       A recruitment campaign recently took place and uplift figures were met.

·       Regarding “engage”, work has been completed to improve the processes in place as well as a review of the operating model to ensure that there is a focus on frontline workers, with employee feedback driving change.

·       An improved audit and inspection  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

To receive a report from Jane Murray following the conclusion of the Safer Streets Project.

The Area Board received a report from Jane Murray following the conclusion of the Safer Streets Project. The following points were covered during the item:

·       The Safer Streets project was a Home Office initiative which Wiltshire had place a bid towards part of a multi-agency project, with the main themes identified as being violence against women and girls, early intervention and anti-social behaviour.

·       Devizes had been chosen for the project due to information from the Police and local voices.

·       The work looked to identify objectives, consider what had already been done as well as what was known about the community, who’s voices needed to be heard and how to hear them.

·       An overview of interventions and progress was provided, including but not limited to:

o   Installation of additional CCTV cameras

o   Bystander intervention training and community mediation workshops

o   Parent mentors and parenting support

o   Diversionary activities such as a pop-up youth café.

·       The next steps for the project were outlined, with an evaluation session set to take place with a report to follow, with the learning set to be shared with the Devizes Area Board and Town Council.

After the verbal update, there was time for the following questions and points to be made:

·       Jane Murray was thanked for her efforts and contributions towards the project.

·       Regarding the Bystander Intervention training, it was suggested that though it had not been well taken up, it would be rerun and potentially renamed as the work had been commissioned.

·       It was confirmed that for the next phase funding would be directed from the PCC office, however it was not certain if Devizes would receive any money.

To receive a report from the Strategic Engagement and Partnership Manager (SEPM), Richard Rogers, on local youth unemployment data.

The Area Board received an update from the Strategic Engagement and Partnership Manager (SEPM), Richard Rogers, on local youth unemployment data. The update included the following points:

·       Reference was drawn to the report which had been included within the agenda pack, which featured statistics, information, and recommendations.

·       Factors which contribute to high youth unemployment were outlined.

·       An overview of local data was provided, with cause for concern highlighted, with Devizes having the highest proportion of working age adults and young adults experiencing unemployment in Wiltshire, amongst other local issues identified.

·       To improve local youth unemployment, a recommendation was included within the report.

Decision

Devizes Area Board agreed to create a working group consisting of key stakeholders such as those included in section 4 in order to take forward this work. The group would be led by Cllr Iain Wallis and Cllr Dom Muns given their respective area board priority leads.

The working group would be accountable to Devizes Area Board and would regularly report back at the business meetings including any recommendations for interventions and requests for funding.

To receive any updates from Lead Representatives of the Area Board priorities.

It was noted that there were no verbal updates from Lead Representatives of the Area Board Priorities.

To consider the update and any recommendations arising from the Local Highway and Footway Improvement Group (LHFIG) meeting from 4 July 2023.

Cllr Dominic Muns noted that following the LHFIG meeting held on 4 July 2023, there were no new recommendations to be approved by the Area Board. Cllr Muns outlined that there were currently 28 live projects taking place, including projects for speed restrictions, SIDs and numerous projects on accessibility including dropped kerbs.

Cllr Muns outlined that the LHFIG was a group which looks at infrastructure improvements and that residents could take issues to their local town or parish council which could then be taken to the LHFIG, who have a pot of money which can be allocated towards improving local areas.

To receive any updates and consider any recommendations arising from the Devizes Air Quality and Sustainable Transport Group meeting on 7 September 2023.

The Area Board received an update from Cllr Tamara Reay following the Devizes Air Quality and Sustainable Transport Group meeting on 7 September 2023. The update covered the following points:

·       The Group comprises of representatives from the Town Council as well as other town-based organisations with reps from other Parishes welcome to attend.

·       The next meeting would be on Thursday 9 November 2023.

·       A brief update of the highlights of the last meeting was provided, which included:

o   There is a drive to recruit Woodland Officers.

o   A Wiltshire Connect bus service has launched as well as an app.

o   It has been considered how various initiatives can be joined to improve air quality which has community ownership.

o   The LCWIP consultation has now finished.

o   EV Charging points are now in place at the Station Road Carpark.

To consider the following grant applications:

Community Area Grants:

·       Seend Tennis Club - £5,000 towards resurfacing and renovation work

·       The Patch in Potterne Community Interest Company - £5,000 towards multi-purpose community centre

Youth Grants:

·       Market Lavington Community Hall Management Trust - £2,317 towards seated youth shelter and other external works

·       Bromham Youth Club - £3,031 towards youth club upkeep

·       West Lavington Youth Club - £5,000 towards youth club upkeep

The Area Board considered the following applications for funding:

Community Area Grants:

Seend Tennis Club - £5,000 towards resurfacing and renovation work.

Decision

Devizes Area Board agreed to award £5,000 to Seend Tennis Club for resurfacing and renovation work. It was agreed that an initial payment of £3,000 would be made, followed by a further payment of £2,000, subject to balance.

Moved – Cllr Tamara Reay

Seconded – Cllr Philip Whitehead

The Patch in Potterne Community Interest Company - £5,000 towards multi-purpose community centre.

Decision

Devizes Area Board agreed to defer awarding grant funding to The Patch in Potterne Community Interest Company for a multi-purpose community centre, pending further information to support the application at the November meeting of the Area Board.

Moved – Cllr Philip Whitehead

Seconded – Cllr Tamara Reay

Youth Grants:

Market Lavington Community Hall Management Trust - £2,317 towards seated youth shelter and other external Works.

Decision

Devizes Area Board agreed to award £2,317 to Market Lavington Community Hall Management Trust for seated youth shelter and other external Works.

Moved – Cllr Dominic Muns

Seconded – Cllr Kelvin Nash

Bromham Youth Club - £3,031 towards youth club upkeep.

Decision

Devizes Area Board agreed to award £3,031 to Bromham Youth Club for youth club upkeep.

Moved – Cllr Laura Mayes

Seconded – Cllr Dominic Muns

West Lavington Youth Club - £5,000 towards youth club upkeep.

Decision

Devizes Area Board agreed to award £5,000 to West Lavington Youth Club for youth club upkeep.

Moved – Cllr Dominic Muns

Seconded – Cllr Laura Mayes

Residents are invited to ask questions of their local councillors.

No questions for local Councillors were received.

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

There were no urgent items.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 20 November 2023.

The date of the next meeting is 20 November 2023.