Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Richard Britton welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·       Jason Moncrieff – Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 7 December 2017.

The Chairman invited comments regarding the minutes of the last meeting, the following point was raised:

Brian Edgeley of Firsdown PC noted that in minute no. 37 Community Wide reports, under questions to the police, the response of Inspector Sparrow states ‘that protocol was followed’. However, it was not followed, as there was a system set up by Wiltshire Police where Parishes nominate a person to whom they could relay information to during incidents. ‘In addition, I did not ask about the resources available to the Police, and do not recall Inspector Sparrow mention that he did not have the resources.’

Sergeant John Hubbard noted that Inspector Sparrow had been referring to the firearms protocol when he said that protocol had been followed, and not the protocol for liaising with nominated representatives. He apologised if there had been a breakdown in communication during that incident.

The Chairman noted that the minute had been recorded correctly, as the comments recorded had been made.

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 7^th December 2017, were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

In relation to Item 8 – Youth Funding, Cllr Clewer noted for transparency that his daughter attended the youth sessions provided, and so did not vote during this item.

The Chairman noted that there had been several enquiries regarding General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This would come into force in May 2018. The Council was hoping to produce guidance notes for Parish Councils to assist them, however could not do any more than that as Town and Parish Councils were independent bodies.

·         Fire & Rescue Service

·         Healthwatch Wiltshire

·         CCG

·         Wiltshire Council Updates:

o   Real Change Wiltshire 

o   Clean up Wiltshire

o   Work Wiltshire

o   Public Spaces Protection Orders

o   Supporting those with SEND into employment

·         Current consultations

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations.htm

The Board noted the written updates attached to the agenda and received  verbal updates.

Fire & Rescue Service – in addition to the written update in the pack, Darren Masini was in attendance to update on two points:

·       Since the small villages around here lie outside our target response time our focus is more on preventative measures, safe and well checks, please make contact with us and access that free service from us.

·       On call staff – they have other jobs, recruitment of those staff is very difficult, as their employers often do not want to release them for cover. New pay structure will be salary based, for the hours they are prepared to give up to the service. This is a better option than the pay as you go system.

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

·       Wiltshire Council Updates:

o   Real Change Wiltshire

o   Clean Up Wiltshire

o   Work Wiltshire

o   Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO)

o   Supporting those with SEND into employment

·       Current Consultations, webpage link:

 http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations.htm

Great British Spring Clean

The Community Engagement Manager, Tom Bray, had emailed clerks about this initiative for 2018. He urged them to feedback so he could register the events. A supply of refuse bags was being purchased centrally, he hoped to be able to access some to distribute.

·       Question: If there were not enough of the printed bags, would Wiltshire Council collect the usual black sacks if we buy them? Answer – Tom would enquire and feedback.

WW1 Commemorative Tree Planting

The council was on target to meet its objective to plant 10,000 trees.

a) Parish Councils and Community groups

b) Community Policing – local issues and priorities

c) Area Board Themes

a)    Parish Councils and Community groups

Catherine Purves – Pitton and Farley

In November, there was a Joint Society of Local Council Clerks event, held in Trowbridge. This was felt to have been very successful. Another was planned for June, with Area Board Chairmen and CEMs to be invited also.

b)    Community Policing – local issues and priorities

In addition to the written report in the agenda, PC Matt Holland & Sergeant John Hutchings noted the following:

Inspector Sparrow’s report had included information around drug networks in Salisbury, where drug networks from larger cities come in to smaller ones to try and take over. We have had success in sending some of these offenders to prison.

We are a Community Policing Team, covering an urban and rural area, sometimes there was the need to move our staff around. As we continue with the high visibility Pulse Patrol initiative it would also come out in to the rural areas as well as the City.

There had been a spike in van thefts, with tradesmen’s tools being targeted from two vans in Alderbury and more in the Salisbury area. The frequency of these incidents would suggest that one or two offenders were responsible for this. CCTV footage was available for one of those incidents which would be followed up. Spread the word to tradesmen you know to secure their tools.

Beauty spot vehicle crime had also reappeared at several of the local spots, Odstock Down, Pennies Grove, Figsbury Rings and Bentley Woods. Officers had been asked to target these areas, and to stop and check people.

There had been four houses broken in to in Whiteparish. Cross border work with Hampshire constabulary was underway, Officers were actively working with CID there to see if we they could tap in to those enquires.

Parish newsletters had not gone out, one would come out next week for February.

People were again urged to sign up for community messaging.

Questions

·       A few years ago, when there were car break ins at the beauty spots, a notice was put up and this had a good effect. Not sure where the notice came from but it did make people take more care. Answer: The notices were probably put up by us, so I will check to see if we can put another one up. The people committing the thefts did often remove the posters. Best not to leave anything in view at all.

·       You previously asked how many people used social media as a point of contact, and it was none. It would be better for the Police to ask for someone in the parish to liaise with in incidents. Answer: We have to try and hit all target areas, Community Messaging was an extension of Neighbourhood Watch. Most people have emails these days.

·       It was sad that the Neighbourhood Tasking Groups were not running any more, they were very useful in the Downton community. Answer:  They did still exist in some areas, under  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

-       A healthy stirfry by Any Body Can Cook

-       The success of our local provision

-       Appointment of new sports provider

The Board had reviewed what had been achieved with the youth provision over the last few years.

Two of the activity providers were in attendance to speak on their work in the area.

Anybody Can (ABC) Cook – Catherine

We were hoping to have some young people at the meeting to demonstrate a cooking session, however they had been unable to attend.

Catherine had been working with four youth groups over past 2 years, teaching young people how to make some simple healthy recipes, linked with themed events.

Sometimes there were quick 20-minute sessions of cooking for multiple groups of children in one session, whilst other sessions were more intense with the whole session being used to prepare one dish. 12 sessions had been held in most of the youth clubs over the 2 years.

In Winterslow there were regularly 18 – 20 children taking part. The sessions cost £11 per child, which included the food which they could take home.

There had been positive feedback from the youth groups and the children.

Some funding last year had enabled the young people to work towards a series of AQA certificates. The practical skills learnt were really useful.

Boom Satsuma – Dr Julian Dziubinski

Julian worked with young people in the youth clubs providing opportunities in musical sessions. Many of the children he encountered had little or no confidence, and often felt left out, but when they came to the youth club, they were free to play any instrument they liked. They all had the opportunity to become a composer during the sessions.

All of the young people had been very positive, they all had had the opportunity to play a variety of instruments and hold a little performance at the end.

Review – Tom Bray

A hard copy of a survey had been circulated to all 4 youth clubs, 3 had responded to us, with good data which supported these sessions.

The Area Board had invested £30,000 of funding into these sessions for two years, and had until last year been working with three providers. GoActive had been lost sadly from the repertoire, however a replacement provider had now been found.

If there had been a paid youth worker for the area, then the funding would have gone to them, but instead we now have a community-led model for that money which has enabled the Area Board to engage with far more young people than before.

Cllr Clewer noted that without a functioning youth group already in an area it would be difficult to run these sessions and we should aim to try to grow the number of existing groups.

The Chairman added that he was very proud of what the Area Board had done for the young people, Tom had put a lot of effort in to make this happen. There were a couple of very good youth officers in our area previously, but their capacity was very limited. Compared with that, having funding devolved to us achieved the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

The Policing Precept consultation which launched on the 2^nd January was looking for the views of Wiltshire residents on the proposed increase of £12 a year.

Currently the average band D household contributes £14.19 per month to local policing, but if residents back the proposal then this would rise to £15.19 per month.

The Chairman noted that the £1 a month increase equated to a 7% increase, which would raise an additional £4.3m. This would give the Commissioner total funding of just over £110m. He gives £107m to the Police and uses the balance to fund his office (about £1m) and commission other services (eg Victim Support). This would still leave a deficit of £1.3m in the Chief Constables budget.

With this increase, there was a risk that people would assume that it would produce a higher number of Officers on the ground, however it would not, what it would do is protect the Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

Out of interest, the Chairman then asked for a show of hands in a straw poll to see whether those present were in support of the proposed increase. This indicated approximately 60/40 in favour.

Tom showed Ten Top Tips to help those trying to raise money at a local level.

1. Awareness of concept of strategic philanthropy
   ie. A business aligning its philanthropy to its business strategy
2. Professionalism when approaching business, including good research about the firm’s size, structure and CSR approach.
3. Be aware of the incentives available for firms
   ie. tax breaks, free publicity
4. Unsolicited aimless approaches are not well received, properly targeted approaches to specific firms will improve chances and likelihood of more long-term partnership
5. Think about how the company can make a difference towards the social problem/project at hand.
   ie. cooking club – supermarket
6. Don’t over-promise, stick to agreed, achievable objectives.
7. Firms can offer more than just cash, expertise, resources and publicity might also be available.
8. Employee supported volunteering is an option, more so in larger firms.
   ie. B&Q involved in Blackwater Conservation Group
9. Feedback on how the project went and how money or resources were spent
10. Acknowledge your donors or supporters

The Chairman advised anyone with ideas for future funding ideas, to speak to Tom for advice.

The Board will consider 2 applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme.

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Engagement Manager

The Board considered two applications for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme for 2017/18, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

Applicants present were invited to speak in support of their projects.

Redlynch Parish Play Equipment Project

The total project cost was £23,571, the application was for a small contribution to the overall costs. The facility would cater for a broad age group of 2 – 13yrs.

Cllr McLennan noted his concern that this may be the first of many applications for funding to come to the board for play parks, if Wiltshire Council was moving towards asking parishes to take on the play parks.

Cllr Clewer confirmed that there was no county wide scheme to close all play areas.

The Chairman added that this was a transition phase, where the Board was re asked to help a Parish Council to overcome that transition. In the future parishes would need to plan ahead and accumulate funds in anticipation of future needs.

Decision

Redlynch Parish Council was awarded £4,571 towards the play equipment project.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2017/18.

Coombe Bissett and Homington Cricket Club

Following the theft of the 30-year-old roller, the club needed a replacement to continuing playing cricket. Membership ranged from 18 to 77 years. The club also maintained the recreation ground.

A manual roller was not an option as the land sloped. A storage facility was also required to enable the roller to be insured.

The bid would also cover the installation of a secured floor.

Coombe Bissett PC added that the Cricket Club (CC) was more than a club in its own right, without the CC maintaining the recreational grounds for the community, we would be at a loss.

Tom asked whether the club would consider running a session for the young people, if it was awarded funding? Answer: Yes we would consider this if the staffing allowed.

It was confirmed that the Parish council would consider supporting the project with a funding contribution towards this work or to the youth session to be held in the summer. The matter would be discussed at the next meeting.

Decision

Coombe Bissett and Homington Cricket Club was awarded £3,524.38 towards the purchase of a new roller for the club, with the condition that the PC is approached for funding towards the youth event in the summer.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2017/18.

Update on Wiltshire Council’s response to this menace.

The Board had invested £3,000 in a surveillance camera to target fly tipping. The first deployment had not proved successful in spotting anything; however the second deployment had been successful in recording quite a number of hits of offending vehicle number plates and faces. This was hoped to lead to several prosecution cases, which were being prepared at present. It was hoped that these would go to court in March.

It had taken some time to get there but this was a very positive outcome

Question:

·         This had been very costly, would the Council make an evaluation in the cost of dealing with the fly tipping in relation to opening recycling centres for more hours, making it easier for people to get rid of their waste? Answer: There was no correlation between the opening hours and an increase in fly tipping. The way forward was to go after and prosecute fly tippers if the evidence was available.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 28^th March 7.00pm at Trafalgar School in Downton.