Agenda and minutes

The Democratic Services Officer explained that, as apologies for absence had been received from both the chairman and vice chairman, it would be necessary to elect a chairman for the meeting.

Decision

To elect Cllr Richard Gamble as chairman for the meeting.

The Chairman will provide information about:

a.     An update on how the community campus is progressing in the Devizes area.  

Councillor Gamble then took the chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the councillors and officers.

Councillor Gamble explained that Marie Todd would be acting as Democratic Services Officer for this meeting as Alexa Smith had now moved to a new position within Wiltshire Council.  The Area Board thanked Alexa for all her work on the Devizes Area Board over the last four years and wished her well for the future.

(a)  Devizes Campus Development Team

The Devizes Campus Development Team was undertaking the first public consultation to gauge local residents’ thoughts on a campus for the Devizes area.  The consultation would be running until the end of July.

(b)  Pans Lane, Devizes

It was noted that there had been a number of small fires under the railway bridge at Pans Lane.  It had been proposed that the railway bridge should be infilled to prevent this anti--social behaviour and British Rail was willing to fund the majority of this work with Wiltshire Council funding a small part.  Further information would be available at the September meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Cllr Simon Jacobs – Wiltshire Council

Cllr Laura Mayes – Wiltshire Council

Cllr Judy Rose – Devizes Town Council

Cllr Rick Rowland – Roundway Parish Council

Paula Winchcombe - DCAP

Peter Baxter – DCAP, Clerk to West Lavington and Worton Parish Councils

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 20 May 2013.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 May 2013 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

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

Councillor Liz Bryant declared a non-pecuniary interest in the item relating to the BMX track.

To receive updates from the following partners:

a.     Wiltshire Police (attached)

b.     Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (attached)

c.     Health Services – to include an update on the NHS 111 service (attached)

d.     Young people (attached)

e.     Town and Parish Councils.

(a)  Wiltshire Police

Inspector Matthew Armstrong reported that burglaries tended to increase in the hot weather and encouraged people to ensure they lock all windows and doors.  To avoid vehicle crime is was important not to leave valuables in the car and to ensure doors are locked.

There was a decrease in crime across most categories and, further to the statement made by the chairman at the previous meeting in relation to anti-social behaviour by vehicles in the Station Road car park, there had only been one reported incident in June of this year.

The Police were focussing their efforts on those who cause most harm in the community.

In response to a query from Easterton Parish Council regarding the lack of visibility and contact from the neighbourhood policing team, Inspector Armstrong agreed to raise this with the beat manager for the area.  It was hoped that there would soon be one single co-ordinator for neighbourhood watch issues.

It was also confirmed that the police community support officers (PCSOs) performed a very important and valuable role which was different from police officers.  The PCSOs were involved in community engagement and intelligence gathering among other things. 

(b)  Fire and Rescue Service

Mike Franklin reported that there had been an increase in fires in the area from April.  The majority of the increase was due to low level burning of litter mainly in the Pans Lane area.  Chinese lanterns were also a cause of fires, particularly grass fires in the dry weather and the service could offer advice on how to use these safely.

To avoid grass fires it was also important to extinguish barbeques and cigarettes properly and not to leave glass bottles lying around.

A recent serious fire in Salisbury highlighted the need to install smoke alarms.  Advice can be found on the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service website www.wiltsfire.gov.uk

(c)  Young People

Richard Harris reported that the Youth Advisory Group had met on 25 July.  Thanks was given to all partners who had helped with the skatepark project.  Devizes Town Council was now working with manufacturers and the installation should take about 18 weeks.

Richard Harris said he would soon be moving to a new position in Wiltshire Council and that a successor would be appointed. The Area Board thanked Richard for all his work with young people in the Devizes area and wished him well in his new role.

(d)  Town and Parish Councils

Devizes Town Council, Roundway Parish Council and Bishops Cannings Parish Councils were beginning work on the Neighbourhood Plan and would soon begin consultation.  People were urged to provide feedback and to get involved.

An update and any recommendations arising from the Community Area Transport Group.

The Community Area Transport Group had now been joined by Cllr Philip Whitehead, Portfolio Holder for Highways and Streetscene and by Rob Edwards as a rural parish representative from Potterne.

It was reported that:

·         The cost of some symbolic gates on the Whistley Road in the Potterne area would be shared with the Parish Council in the hope of slowing traffic down.  The gates would also provide and opportunity to mark the otherwise unlabeled hamlet of Whistley.  The cost to the CATG would be about £1.500.

·         A request for some pedestrian crossings in West Lavington and Littleton Panell had been investigated by officers.  The CATG has agreed in principle that a zebra crossing could be provided to be paid for by Dauntsey’s School and four informal crossings the cost of which would be shared by the CATG and the Parish Council which would amount to about £5,000 for each party.  There had since been some need to claridy what this would deliver so further discussions may be necessary.

·         It had also been agreed that some H bars would be painted in West Lavington to deter parking in unsuitable places following a recent incident where the air ambulance had to be called because the normal ambulance could not get to the victim.

·         A petition had been presented at the last meeting regarding the pedestrian crossing on the Bath Road, Devizes where a fatal accident had occurred earlier in the year.  The coroner’s report was still awaited.  In addition, however, there had been some suggestion that the crossing does not actually serve the needs of the area since Browfort closed so the CATG has asked the Town Council to review the pedestrian needs along this whole stretch of road.

·         The Town Council was also being asked to consider proposals for cycle parking in various locations put forward by Cycle Devizes who had produced a very useful map and display.

·         Cllr Peter Evans had agreed to undertake some local consultation about options to deter the use of Rotherstone as a rat run.

·         The outcome of the speed limit reviews on the C20 Black Dog to Seend road via Worton and the C8 Horton Road to Alton Barnes were still awaited and would be reported at the September meeting.

·         A coach park in the West Central Car Park still looks some way off and the cost looks like being high so officers have been asked to look at the possibility of providing space for tourist coaches on New Park Street.

·         A review of the town bus services was about to get underway and would be funded by the Area Board using Section 106 money but the review itself would be managed by DCAP.  The Area Board thanked DCAP and, in particular, Kate Freeman, for all the work that had been put into this.

·         The Air Quality Steering Group meets next week so there will also be a report on that at the September meeting.

Decision

To accept and approve the CATG report.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Dr Martin Foley will talk about how the new Clinical Commissioning Groups will impact upon health provision both nationally and locally.

The Area Board received a presentation from Dr Martin Foley from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).  The following issues were discussed:

What is the CCG?

•      The CCG commissions services for Wiltshire.

•      Commissioning is the process of specifying, securing and the monitoring of services to meet people’s needs at a strategic level.

•      The CCG is clinically led

•      Seven GPs sit on the governing body

•      Membership comprises 57 practices

•      There are three locality groups

•      The aims of the CCG are:

•      To prepare strategic plans

•      To address growing needs

•      To Improve health and wellbeing

•      To ensure sustainability

•      To communicate effectively

Key Priorities

The following issues are key priorities for the CCG:

•      Staying healthy and preventing ill health

•      Unplanned care and frail elderly

•      Long term conditions (Including dementia)

•      Community services and integrated care

•      Planned care

•      Mental health

•      End of life care

Roles

Dr Foley outlined the various roles on the CCG:

Lay Member – Patient and Public Involvement

•      Brings specific expertise and experience about involvement, as well as their knowledge as a member of the local community, to the work of the governing body.

•      Helps ensure that, in all aspects of the CCG’s business the public voice of the local population is heard and that opportunities are created and protected for patient and public empowerment in the work of the CCG

Lay Member – Audit

•      Brings specific expertise and experience to the finance and governance work of the governing body

•      Focus will be strategic and impartial, providing an external view of the work of the CCG that is removed from the day to day running of the organisation

•      Oversees key elements of governance including, audit, remuneration and managing conflicts of interest

•      Chairs the audit committee

Role of Secondary Care Doctor

•      Shares responsibilities with other members for all aspects of the CCG governing body business

•      Brings a broader view on health and care issues to underpin the work of the CCG

•      Brings an understanding of patient care in the secondary care setting

Role of Registered Nurse Member

•      Shares response

•      Shares responsibilities with other members for all aspects of the CCG governing body business

•      Ensures CCG has strategic focus on high quality care and patient safety

•      Ensures CCG is promoting excellence in professional practice and leading quality improvement across pathways and organisations boundaries

How to be Involved

There will be opportunities to get involved in the following:

–     Patient/Involvement group

–     Stakeholder events

–     Consultations

–     Through local practice’s patient participation group

–     Complete the feedback form

•      It was noted that there were problems with patients not turning up for their appointments.  On average this happens between 120 and 145 times per month.

•      If the town population grew then it was the responsibility of the GPs to extend and employ more doctors as required.

•      It was noted that some patients had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Public health facilitates and promotes healthy behaviours, environments and practices to ensure our populations stay healthy. We also manage infectious diseases and ensure health resilience. Our presentation and short film will hopefully demonstrate the important role Public Health plays in helping to ensure people in Wiltshire live long and healthy lives. Deborah Haynes, Associate Director of Public Health – Health Protection.   

The Area Board received a presentation from Deborah Haynes, Associate Director of Public Health, and viewed  a short DVD about the service.  Public health facilitates and promotes healthy behaviours, environments and practices to ensure populations remain healthy.  The team also manages infectious diseases and ensures health resilience. 

The following issues were discussed:

·         The Public Health team moved from the NHS to Wiltshire Council on 1 April 2013.

·         Public Health aims to increase life expectancy and to encourage people to lead healthy lives.

·         The team works closely with colleagues such as the CCG and NHS England.

·         They also undertake various initiatives such as that undertaken during the recent measles epidemic.

In response to a question Deborah explained that Public Health was represented on the Air Quality Steering Group and that the team was aware of the issues although at the current time evidence was only available at community level.  It was noted that although cardio vascular disease was higher in Devizes than some other parts of Wiltshire it was still low compared to national figures and figures for the South West.  The three main reasons for cardio vascular disease were smoking, poor diet and age.  It was acknowledged that air quality improvement was important. 

Access to healthcare was also raised and it was confirmed that part of the work that Public Health was carrying out regarding inequalities included consideration of equal access to services and transport difficulties.

Action: Mandy Bradley to bring a report on air quality to the next Devizes Area Board meeting.

Councillors will be asked to consider three applications made to the Community Area Grants Scheme, as follows:

a.        Parochial Church Council of Devizes St John and St Mary – seeking £5,000 towards a new kitchen for the parish rooms

b.        Bromham Parish Council – seeking £5,000 for a BMX bike track

c.         Wiltshire Heritage Museum – seeking £5,000 towards prehistoric Wiltshire galleries.

All of these applications meet the criteria and are recommended for consideration for approval.

The Area Board considered three applications for community area grant funding.  Some concern was expressed about the funding of the BMX track application as the Parish Council was not providing any funding towards it themselves.

Decision

(1)  To award £5.000 to St John and St Mary Church towards the refurbishment of the kitchens in their parish rooms.

Reason for Decision: The Parish Rooms are primarily used by a range of voluntary and community groups and the grant will help to enhance the facilities.

(2)  To award £5,000 to Wiltshire Museum towards the Wiltshire Museum Prehistoric Wiltshire Galleries.

Reason for Decision: The project aims to increase visitor numbers, engage local residents and provide learning and outreach opportunities for school age children.

(3)  To award £5,000 to Bromham Parish Council towards the creation of a BMX track.

Reason for Decision: The project will fulfil a local need for recreational activities for young people and will be available at no cost for the whole community to use.

To introduce their work plan for the forthcoming year and to seek Devizes Area Board’s approval of awarding core funding to Devizes Community Area Partnership, covering the financial year 2013/14.

The Area Board considered the Devizes Community Area Partnership (DCAP) work plan for the forthcoming year and its request for core funding for the 2013/14 financial year.

DCAP their plans for the year which included a conference on 29 October, a countryside day, the Devizes means business campaign and plans to create a children and young people’s group.

In response to a question regarding the transport review it was explained that focus groups had met, volunteers had ridden on the buses and spoken to passengers and national consultants had also been involved.  It was hoped that the outcome would be a more efficient and sustainable bus service for the town.

Decision

(1)  To make a grant to the Devizes Community Area Partnership (DCAP) for £8,000 for 2013/14.

(2)  To make a grant to DCAP of £9,154.60 from local Section 106 funds to carry out the town bus service review.

(3)   To agree that the two grants be transferred as one BACS paymen as soon as practicable and that the Area Board and the Partnership sign an amended standard Community Area Partnership Agreement to reflect these decisions.

Reason for Decision: To enable DCAP to carry out its work in the community and to cover its core costs.

It was noted that future meetings of the Devizes Area Board would take place on the following dates:

Monday 23 September 2013 – 6.30pm – Devizes School

Monday 25 November 2013 – 6.30pm – Devizes Sports Club

Monday 27 January 2014 – 6.30pm – Lavington School, The Spring, Market Lavington