Agenda and minutes

To elect the Chairman of the Melksham Area Board for the forthcoming year.

Nominations were sought for a Chairman for the forthcoming year. On the nomination of Councillor Mike Sankey seconded by Councillor Jack Oatley, it was,

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Jonathon Seed as Chairman of the Melksham Area Board for the forthcoming year.

To elect the Vice-Chairman of Melksham Area Board for the forthcoming year.

Nominations were sought for a Vice-Chairman for the forthcoming year. On the nomination of Councillor Jonathon Seed seconded by Councillor Phil Alford, it was,

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Mike Sankey as Vice-Chairman of the Melksham Area Board for the forthcoming year.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Bridie Hanraads (Community Conversations Team), Inspector Andy Lemon and Sergeant Gemma Rutter (Wiltshire Police).

Cllr Nick Holder joined the meeting at 19.12pm.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2024 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 6 March 2024.

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

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest.

To receive the following briefing notes through the Chairman:

·       Highways Matters Responses – 6 December 2023

·       Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council

The Chairman made the following announcements as per the agenda pack:

·         Highways Matters Responses – 6 December 2023

·         Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council

The Chairman thanked The Riverside Centre for hosting the meeting as well as providing tea and cake, which had been very well received.

Cllr Jon Hubbard stated that The Riverside Centre AGM was set to take place on 20 June 2024, with anyone who uses the hall welcome to attend and help to plan the future of the facilities. Cllr Hubbard also thanked the Area Board for the new acoustic soundboards and sound system which had been added to the hall following a successfully awarded grant application to the Area Board.

To receive updates from any of the following partner organisations:

·       Community Conversations Team, Forest Melksham

·       Wiltshire Police

·       BSW Together (Integrated Care System)

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       Community First

·       Town and Parish Councils

Updates were received from the following partners:

·         Wiltshire Police

The Area Board noted written updates attached to the agenda.

·         BSW Together (Integrated Care System)

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

·         Healthwatch Wiltshire

The Area Board noted a written update attached to the agenda. In addition, Mary Winterburn, a volunteer for Healthwatch Wiltshire provided a verbal update, which included but was not limited to:

·         Healthwatch had undergone a change of provider in January 2024.

·         Work had taken place in local colleges to conduct interviews on mental health.

·         Interim and patient assessments had been taking place in hospitals.

·         The following priorities had been identified:

o   1. Pharmacy First

o   2. Living in a rural county

o   3. Virtual home wards

·         Healthwatch had been involved in working with the new carer support GP accreditation with a surgery in Melksham involved working towards a criteria of being a carer friendly surgery.

·         Community First

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

·         Town and Parish Councils

The Area Board noted a written update provided by Melksham Without Parish Council.

Cllr John Glover, Chairman of Melksham Without Parish Council provided the following update:

·         The Parish Council had continued to meet with the Town Council regarding the neighbourhood plan revision, which was not yet public but had taken on board comments from members of the public and statutory organisations.

·         The issue of requiring data relating to passenger usage at bus stops was raised, which would allow the Parish Council to bring their information systems up to where they need to be.

Cllr Jon Hubbard provided an update on behalf of the Town Council, with it noted that a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor had been elected and that the Town Council annual meeting was set to take place in the forthcoming week.

To receive updates relating to Health in Melksham from the following speakers:

·       Health Provision in Melksham

·       Spa Medical Centre – Roland Teare GP

·       Giffords Surgery – Dr Abby Burgess

To receive an update on the new Family Hub Model from Carl Houghton (Spurgeons).

To receive an update from the Melksham Health & Wellbeing Group.

As councillor representative for the priority of Older People; Health and Wellbeing, Cllr Jack Oatley introduced this item as well as the respective speakers.

Emma Higgins (Associate Director – Wiltshire Integrated Care Alliance Programme and Delivery Lead NHS Bath and Northeast Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board) provided a presentation (attached to the minutes) on health provision in Melksham, which covered the following points:

·         An overview of the demographic and GP practices included within the Primary Care Network (PCN) and its respective catchment areas was provided.

·         Details of the PCN estate of Bradford on Avon and Melksham was covered, with it noted that there were three main GP premises and 2 branch sites. It was noted that the estate would need to support the expected demand from the increase in population from housing growth by 2032.

·         The Primary Care Network Workforce currently employs 28 staff recruited through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, with a strong emphasis on personalised care roles which support the living well and frailty teams.

·         Details of the community pharmacies in Melksham were provided, with it noted that the ICB has now began to commission services such as dentistry at a local level.

·         Details were provided as to how the Melksham population was accessing NHS dentistry, with children accessing NHS dental care at a higher proportion than the rest of Wiltshire and Nationally.

·         An overview of the BSW Connect Service was provided, which would go live on 1 July 2024 and would be aimed to support individuals who have needed to use emergency services multiple times over the last five years.

·         It was noted that the Wiltshire average time to discharge from Acute Trusts had reduced, with further work taking place to continue to support this process.

·         An update was provided on Learning Disability and Autism, with work being completed across Melksham including screening practitioner work to ensure that individuals are receiving physical care.

·         Melksham has a higher compliance rate than the Wiltshire average for Severe Mental Illness Annual Health Checks (SMI AHC.

·         It was noted that a new service named NHS 111-2 had gone live and would provide a pathway for urgent and emergency mental health care.

·         An overview of the Melksham and Bradford on Avon Collaborative was provided, which had been set up in early 2023 as a “Pathfinder” test and learn site to provide insights for future collaboratives.

·         Objectives for the Collaborative were outlined as well as how some of these had been achieved, in particular a piece of work which involved a group of people who experienced significant falls.

·         The next steps for the Collaborative were outlined as well as reflections on the work so far.

After the presentations, there was time for the following questions to be received:

·         A question was asked regarding how the NHS planned to deliver services in the community and what plans there were for Melksham Hospital and the surrounding land. A response was provided that currently the NHS is working through a strategic and then  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

Part I – Looking Back

To receive the Area Board End of Year Report as well as to report on progress made in addressing the Area Board priorities selected for 2023/24:

o   Children and young people – Cllr Jon Hubbard

o   Community safety and transport – Cllr Mike Sankey

o   Economy, environment, and deprivation – Cllr Phil Alford

o   Older people; health and wellbeing – Cllr Jack Oatley

o   Culture and sport – Cllr Jonathon Seed

Part II – Looking Forward

·       To receive a summary of JSNA Survey Results.

·       To highlight potential priorities for the Area Board to consider for 2024/25.

·       To appoint Members as Lead representatives to Outside Bodies, the Melksham Health & Wellbeing Group and LHFIG (listed on Appendix A) and to note the Terms of Reference as set out in Appendix B.

Part I – Looking Back

The Area Board received a presentation from Caroline LeQuesne, Area Board Delivery Officer on the Area Board End of Year Report. Caroline thanked the Area Board Members and partners as without them it wouldn’t have been possible to conduct the work which had been done. The presentation included the following points and an overview of the activities completed in relation to the previous Area Board priorities:

·         Children and Young People – Cllr Jon Hubbard

o   Activities included detached youth work, a survey, positive activities for those with special needs, a skate park event and a self-harm support programme.

o   Cllr Hubbard noted that there had been continued work for young people with mental health needs with significant referrals made to agencies.

·         Culture and Sport – Cllr Jonathon Seed

o   Activities included a heritage walk, the Explore Wiltshire Heritage App, display cabinets and the recording of Great Hinton’s heritage.

o   Cllr Seed also drew reference to the unprecedented success of the Rugby, Football and Cricket clubs who had all been able to climb their respective leagues with investment into their facilities.

·         Older people; health and wellbeing – Cllr Jack Oatley

o   Activities included the establishment of a clear understanding of the NHS estate, activities for carers and young carers, falls prevention and an Age UK monthly drop-in support session.

·         Community safety and transport – Cllr Mike Sankey

o   Activities included the work of the LHFIG group which had been involved in 13 projects and the special Highways Matters Area Board event.

·         Economy, environment, and deprivation – Cllr Phil Alford

o   Activities included cookery classes and cooking equipment as well as providing vouchers for additional food and other essential items.

Part II – Looking Forward

Richard Rogers, Strategic Engagement Partnerships Manager (SEPM) provided a summary of the Community Survey/CAJSNA Data:

·         There had been 229 responses to the survey (8.9% of the population), with the demographic of the respondents split across all age groups.

·         The following 5 priorities were identified by respondents:

Health:

o   Almost 50% of respondents had chosen this as their first choice.

o   The top 5 health issues in order were mental health support, support for “living longer better”, support for keeping physically active, care for those living with dementia, tackling levels of obesity.

o   CAJSNA data was provided to support this, including that Melksham had the highest level of adult diabetes in Wiltshire and the lowest percentage of people in Wiltshire who said that their health was good or very good.

Environment:

o   Almost 11% of respondents chose this as their first choice.

o   The top 5 environment issues in order were improving the quality of landscapes, supporting public transport services, addressing flooding, tackling fly tipping, support for increase in biodiversity.

Cost of living

o   Almost 11% of respondents chose this as their first choice.

o   The top 5 cost of living issues in order were supporting households on low incomes, support for children living in low-income families, support for housing/rent affordability, fuel poverty  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

To note the minutes and consider any recommendations arising from the last LHFIG meeting held on 7 May 2024, as set out below and in the attached report.

Recommendations:

To add the following Issues to the Priority Schemes List with funding (where indicated) Refer to APPENDIX 2

·       Melksham Town / Melksham without / Semington village - Allocate the sum of £4000.00 for the formal advertisement and implementation of parking controls (Waiting restrictions) at various agreed sites.  3rd Party contribution of 25% (£1,000) to be agreed with town / parish councils.

·       Keevil Kerbing works. – Allocate sum of £10,010.00 with 25% contribution (£2502.50) from Keevil Parish council.

To discuss the LHFIG Local Contributions Review.

Further information on the LHFIG process can be found here.

Cllr Mike Sankey introduced the minutes and recommendations from the LHFIG meeting held on 7 May 2024. After which, it was;

Resolved:

The minutes of the Local Highways and Footway Improvement Group

meeting held on 7 May 2024 were agreed as a correct record as well as approving the following spending recommendations within:

To add the following Issues to the Priority Schemes List with funding (where indicated) Refer to APPENDIX 2

·         Melksham Town / Melksham without / Semington village - Allocate the sum of £4000.00 for the formal advertisement and implementation of parking controls (Waiting restrictions) at various agreed sites. 3rd Party contribution of 25% (£1,000) to be agreed with town / parish councils.

·         Keevil Kerbing works. – Allocate sum of £10,010.00 with 25% contribution (£2502.50) from Keevil Parish council.

A discussion then took place regarding the TRO referenced within the recommendations, to which the advertising arrangements for which were discussed and how discussions for how this could be improved were taking place in the background. It was noted that there would be a public consultation for the traffic order via Wiltshire Council and during this period the Town Council and Members of the public could submit any questions and comments.

A motion was raised by Cllr Jon Hubbard that TROs affecting Melksham residents should be advertised within the Melksham Evening News, which was seconded by Cllr Mike Sankey. An amendment was made to the substantive motion that this motion be brough back to the next meeting of the Area Board for timing reasons. Both the substantive and amended motions were carried.

A further discussion then took place regarding LHFIG Funding Contributions and the Chairman noted that it was agreed at the last meeting of the Area Board, that clarity would be sought around LHFIG Funding Contributions. Since this meeting, Officers had gone away and have sourced minutes from the LHFIG meeting, which took place on 4 August 2022, which stated that:

Each Council should be committed to part-fund each project: financial contributions will normally be expected at a rate of 50% for the larger Councils (Melksham Town and Melksham Without) and 25% for the other smaller Councils.

Cllr Alford stated that the word “normally” was key to the contributions as this would allow smaller parishes to come forward and suggest alternative funding models as otherwise there would be an expectation for small parishes with few electors and tiny precepts to fund expensive projects.

Cllr Hubbard stated that Melksham North was one of the most deprived electoral wards in Wiltshire and that Melksham Town was one of the most deprived towns in Wiltshire with one of the lowest levels of disposable incomes. It was suggested that with the current contributions, deprived areas would be expected to subsidise work in the most affluent areas.

The Chairman proposed the following motion that Each Council should be committed to part-fund each project: financial contributions will normally be expected at a rate of 50% for the larger Councils (Melksham Town and Melksham Without) and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

To note the remaining budgets and to consider any applications for funding, as detailed in the attached report and summarised below:

Remaining Budgets:

Community Area Grants:

Older & Vulnerable Grants:

Further information on the Area Board Grant system can be found here.

The Chairman provided the Area Board with an update about how he and Cllr Hubbard had visited previous grant recipient Saxon Group of the Riding for the Disabled Association to see the work that they do and how they had spent the money awarded by the Area Board.

The Chairman informed the Area Board of the opening balances for grant funding. The Area Board considered the following applications for funding:

Community Area Grants:

Melksham and District Historical Association - £1,000 towards Melksham Historical Association Display Cabinets.

Decision

Melksham and District Historical Association was awarded £1,000 towards Melksham Historical Association Display Cabinets.

Moved – Cllr Jon Hubbard

Seconded – Cllr Mike Sankey

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

Great Hinton Heritage Group – £484.52 towards Great Hinton Heritage Group Display Materials.

Decision

Great Hinton Heritage Group was awarded £484.52 towards Great Hinton Heritage Group Display Materials.

Moved – Cllr Jonathon Seed

Seconded – Cllr Jon Hubbard

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

Bowerhill Baby and Toddler Group - £500 towards Bowerhill Baby and Toddler group Outdoor Active.

Decision

Bowerhill Baby and Toddler Group was awarded £500 towards Bowerhill Baby and Toddler group Outdoor Active.

Moved – Cllr Nick Holder

Seconded – Cllr Jack Oatley

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

Great Hinton Indoor Bowls Club - £500 towards Great Hinton Indoor Bowls Club.

Decision

Great Hinton Indoor Bowls Club was awarded £500 towards Great Hinton Indoor Bowls Club.

Moved – Cllr Jonathon Seed

Seconded – Cllr Jon Hubbard

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

Older & Vulnerable Grants:

Avon Bowls Club - £333.99 towards Avon Bowls Club Access Ramp.

Decision

Avon Bowls Club was awarded £333.99 towards Avon Bowls Club Access Ramp.

Moved – Cllr Jack Oatley

Seconded – Cllr Phil Alford

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

Our Time Project – £3,000 towards Melksham Movement and Theatre Workshops for Elders.

Decision

The Area Board agreed to defer discussion of the Our Time Project application as per the applicant’s wish.

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 of the Melksham Area Board as 4 September 2024.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 4 September 2024.