Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Salisbury Area Board and invited the members of the Board to introduce themselves.

Apologies for absence had been received from the following:

• Cheryl Hill – Deputy Leader of Salisbury City Council
• Mike Franklin – Wiltshire Fire and Rescue.

In addition, Councillor Chris Cochrane had submitted apologies for a late arrival as he was attending another meeting.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 March were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In relation to item 8 (Salisbury Vision) the Chairman reported that the feedback from the roundtable discussion had been shared with a number of partner organisations and council departments. 

Also, in relation to item 9 (Residents’ Parking) Councillor John Brady had confirmed with officers that national legislation did not place any obligation on the Council to provide parking spaces for new developments.

Councillors are requested to declare any personal or prejudicial interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

(Note – Later in the meeting, at item 8.2, Councillor Paul Sample declared a personal interest as his company had undertaken work for Explore.  It was noted that this interest was not prejudicial).

The Chairman referred to the following announcements and information set out at pages 17-30 of the agenda:

a.      Waste Sites Consultation

b.      Digital Inclusion – Superfast Broadband Survey

c.      End of Life Care

d.      Community Services Contract

e.      Older People’s Accommodation Strategy

f.        Wessex Community Action – Children and Families Community and Voluntary Sector Forum.

To receive a preliminary design from officers on a traffic scheme for Harnham Road to improve crossing facilities for pedestrians.

The Chairman reported that two options were being prepared by officers for possible implementation at the site in Harnham Road:

• a signalled “puffin” crossing which would cost around £80,000; and
• a pedestrian refuge, which would cost around £20,000

These options would be considered at the next meeting of the Community Area Transport Group, from which a recommendation would be submitted to the next meeting of the Area Board.

Alison Bell, Public Health Lead for NHS Wiltshire, gave a presentation on Child Poverty.

The definition of Child Poverty was where children lived in a household whose income was less than 60 per cent of the median national income.  Living in poverty was proven to have a huge impact on other areas of life, including education, health, being exposed to crime, and future earning potential; thus creating a cycle of poverty.

In three of Salisbury’s wards, over 30% of children were living in child poverty.  A further 8 wards were above the Wiltshire average (11%) for the percentage of children living in poverty.

Wiltshire Council was in the process of consulting on a draft strategy to address Child Poverty.  This would be done through a multi-agency approach and related to services such as debt advice, take-up of free childcare, housing, provision of jobs, and maximising of benefits.  In addition, it was important to maintain public awareness of child poverty, and to highlight the fact that the early years are crucial to ensuring equality of opportunity at school and later in life.

A number of strategic objectives had been identified for Wiltshire, which were set out in the delivery plan.  In addition, local initiatives included:

·         Volunteering and work experience opportunities

·         Setting up work clubs – places to meet and exchanges skills

·         Promote take up of child care opportunities, e.g. taster sessions

·         Encouraging parents to support their child’s education.

The Chairman thanked Alison for the presentation and invited questions and comments:

• In response to a question, Alison confirmed that the Sure Start centres had not lost funding.  Wiltshire Council had fought hard to protect these essential services, and it was hoped that more services could be linked up with Sure Start.

• Alison reported that 2010 data on child poverty was expected shortly, and it was anticipated that they would show a slight increase in the percentage of children living in poverty since 2008, as Indices of Multiple Deprivation had shown a decline across Wiltshire.

• Responding to a question, Stephanie Denovan (Service Director for Schools and Learning) confirmed that the “virtual” school support for children in care was still in operation.  The figures at Key Stage 2 (11 year olds) were improving, and while providing this service to older children was more challenging, tracking and monitoring systems were in place.

To receive a presentation from Alison Glasspool (Assistant Director, Children’s Service – Spurgeons) on the three Children’s Centres in Salisbury, followed by a brief opportunity for questions.

Martie Stanwell gave a presentation on the work of Spurgeons, the charity which currently ran the three children’s centres in Salisbury.

Despite the drop in government funding, Wiltshire was committed to the maintenance of children’s centres to support families with young children to ensure that every child had the best possible start in life.  During 2010, a tendering process had been undertaken to seek agencies and charities to run Wiltshire’s children’s centres in “cluster settings”.  This had resulted in a change in management for the majority of children’s centres. 

In addition to the three children’s centres in Salisbury, Spurgeons also ran a further three children’s centres in the south of Wiltshire, and another three in the north of Wiltshire.  This was out of a total of around 30 across the country.

The vision for the Salisbury children’s centres was to narrow the gap to ensure that all 0-5 year old children could reach their full potential by:

• feeling and being safe
• being ready and able to learn
• identifying their strengths
• participating to make a difference
• feeling good about themselves.

This would be achieved through clear leadership, providing targeting and accessible services through multi-agency partnerships.  It was also key to engage with parents, carers, and children and to build a community of support and expertise.

The Chairman thanked Martie for the presentation.

To receive a presentation from Mary Paisey (Chair of Explore) on work being undertaken in schools to talk with young people about relationships and marriage, followed by a brief opportunity for questions.

Chris Ford, Chief Executive of Explore, gave a presentation on the work of Explore, a charity which sought to give young people opportunities to talk about marriage and relationships.

Chris explained that around 75% of young people said they anticipated being in a long term relationship at some point during their lives.  Around the same number anticipated having children.  However, only 5% had been given the opportunity to discuss relationships and to ask questions about what is it like to be in a relationship.

Explore was a charity which sought to address this imbalance, by taking married couples into schools, and giving young people the chance to question them about their relationship, and to learn from their experience.  This methodology was unique, as it allowed the young people to drive the sessions, having first identified their hopes and fears about relationships.

It was estimated that 50% of all 16 year olds suffered that trauma of relationship breakdown in their families.  Explore was based on the belief that society could flourish when marriage / relationships were stable.

The Chairman thanked Chris for the presentation.

In response to a question, Chris confirmed that Explore focused on marriage. Schools were able to bring in other agencies, if they wanted to explore other forms of relationship.

The Chairman introduced Lucy Murray-Brown (Campus and Operational Delivery Programme) who gave a presentation on proposals to develop a Community Campus in Salisbury.

Lucy explained that a community campus was defined as “a building, or buildings, in a community area that will provide the services that the local community needs in an accessible location”.  This could include services currently provided by the Council, and possible co-location with partner agencies and voluntary organisations.  The benefits of providing services from a single location included:

• Continued improvements in services
• Ease of access for customers
• Potential innovative management and operational arrangements
• Opportunity for capital investment in existing buildings to develop newer, more sustainable buildings
• Financial savings achieved through shared overheads (e.g. reception and accommodation)
• Reduction of long-term financial, environmental and operational pressure on operating aging, low quality buildings
• Rationalisation of buildings leading to around 40% savings in operational expenditure, and 40% reductions in carbon emissions.

In February 2011, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet agreed the principle of campuses, and decided to develop campus proposals in a number of areas as part of the Preliminary Management Project.  If supported by the Area Board, the Salisbury campus would become the ninth pilot scheme.

In Salisbury, work had already been on-going to relocate a number of services including the Learning Disability Day Service currently based at Sarum, and the Youth Service currently based at Grosvenor House.  A number of options had been considered and sites had been evaluated for suitability for these and other services which required relocation.  For a number of reasons, which were set out in the report, it was recommended that Five Rivers Leisure Centre would be the preferred option for the Salisbury Community Campus.  This would involve an overall investment of around £8.5 million, £3.9 million of which would fund enhancement of facilities and maintenance backlog within the Leisure Centre.

It was proposed that “Shadow Community Operation Boards” (COBs) be established as steering groups for each individual campus project.  These would consist of representatives of service users and other stakeholders, with representation determined by the Area Board Members.  The Shadow COB would report to, and make recommendations to the Area Board.  Full draft terms of reference were set out on pages 35-38 of the agenda.  A priority for the Salisbury Shadow COB would be to run a wide-ranging and comprehensive consultation to identify the services that the Salisbury community required to be provided from the campus.

The indicative timeline for the project in Salisbury would require the Shadow COB to run the consultation and develop a detailed proposal from June 2011 onwards.  Following Cabinet approval of the proposal, planning and construction would take place from autumn 2011, and it was hoped that the facility would open in autumn/winter 2012.

Further information was available at the back of the meeting room, and also on the Council’s website (www.wiltshire.gov.uk).

The Chairman thanked Lucy for the presentation, and invited questions and comments:

• In relation to the relatively short timescale for undertaking the consultation and designing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive updates from the Salisbury City Council representative and the Laverstock and Ford Parish Council representative, in addition to other partner agencies.

The Chairman referred to the written update from the police which had been tabled, and invited questions for Inspector David McMullin who was in attendance.  There were no questions.

Su Thorpe, Leader of Salisbury City Council, gave an update on behalf of the City Council:

• The refurbishment of the Guildhall had now been completed, on time and around £30K under budget, and the City Council had now moved into its new offices.  The first events (including weddings) were now underway, and the Area Board was invited to consider the Guildhall as a venue for a future meeting.  (ACTION: JAMES HAZLEWOOD)
• The City Council’s Mayor Making would be taking place on 21/22 May.  As a reminder, there would be a number of road closures, and so people were advised to avoid driving into the city on those days.
• Following a successful funding application, the extension at Bemerton Neighbourhood Centre would now be going ahead, and work would be starting in the near future.
• The City Council had held its first parish meeting, as required as it was constituted as a parish council.  About 100 people had attended which compared well with other similar sized parish councils.

• The Queen Elizabeth Gardens play area was now open and being well used.  This project had been slightly late due to issues with the equipment.
• Plans were underway for Armed Forces Day on 26 June.
• More information on the city council’s activities was available on its website: www.salisburycitycouncil.gov.uk

There was no update from Laverstock and Ford Parish Council.

To receive an update from the Community Area Partnership.

Marianna Dodd (Salisbury Community Area Manager) will report on the progress of the issues recently raised by local people.

Detailed information on the progress of individual issues is available on the council’s website.  Go to www.wiltshire.gov.uk/areaboards and click on “Track your community issues”.

Marianna Dodd, Salisbury Community Area Manager, referred to the written update which had been tabled, commenting that 80 issues had been received to date.  Of these, 66 had been closed, and 12 were in progress, with 1 new request.  Detailed information on the issues could be viewed on the council’s website www.wiltshire.gov.uk/salisburyareaboard via the “Issue Tracking” link.

Marianna gave a detailed update on Issue 694, which referred to the need for provision of fully accessible toilets with changing facilities that meet the needs of disabled people and their carers as well as tourists.  It was noted that a personal care room with adult changing facilities would be in place at 61 Wyndham Road from 9 July 2011, Mondays-Fridays between 8.30am and 4.30pm.  In addition, subject to the approval for the Campus proposal, it was planned to provide full personal care facilities as part of the campus development.

To consider community grants with the opportunity for questions from the public.

Those present were invited to give their views on the meeting via the electronic voting handsets.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and noted that the next meeting of the Salisbury Area Board would be held on Thursday 14 July 2011, 7pm at Salisbury Methodist Church.