Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies for absence were received from:

·         Inspector Pete Sparrow

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 12 July 2018.

Mr Rodgers noted that under Item 11 - Waste and Recycling, a question had been asked and answered, which had not been included in the minutes, which related to a high proportion of waste going out of county, to Slough for incineration.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

There were none.

The Chairman handed over to Cllr Clewer, who gave an update on the Boundary Review.

The Boundary Review would set the number of Councillors we should have and where the boundaries should be. It is likely that Wiltshire Council would remain at 98 Councillors, which meant that the Area Boards could continue unchanged.

The Council now had to decide on the boundaries to provide for equal representation and produce a framework of where we think the boundaries should be. Parishes should consider making recommendations, if they had strong feelings of who they wish to be in a division with.

The Council submits its preferred preferences and the boundary commission makes the decision.

Have a look at it and talk to your local member, submit any suggestions into the consultation which runs until 5^th November 2018.

Cllr Britton noted that it was a victory that it seems likely we shall be able maintain the 98 Councillors.

·       Fire & Rescue Service

·       Wiltshire Council Updates

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       Current consultations - Keep up with the latest consultations here: http://wiltshire.objective.co.uk/portal

The Board noted the following written reports attached to the agenda:

·         Fire & Rescue – circulated at the meeting and attached to the minutes

·         Wiltshire Council updates

·         Healthwatch Wiltshire

Tom Bray, Community Engagement Manager gave an update.

The Board had been working with the voluntary supported Youth Clubs across the area to find ways of providing additional support to plug some of the gaps in service that had cropped up. The Board wished to allocate some of the youth funding budget to support these clubs where possible with a paid worker, as it was felt that without support some of the clubs would be unable to continue.

Tom explained that this initiative was in the early stages of development and further work would take place to establish the way forward, before coming back to the Board for consideration.

The Board welcomed any comments, suggestions or proposals to be fed back to Tom outside of the meeting. Tom, urged input as he was anxious that the issue was addressed to enable the local initiatives and clubs to be sustained.

Question:

Cllr Devine asked if Whiteparish was struggling for a youth worker, did that mean money was available in the pot? Answer: Tom noted that a small amount of funding was available, approximately £1100, we can use this to get it off the ground. The key aim was to keep Whiteparish going, and help get West Dean re-started.

a) Parish Councils and Community groups

b) Community Policing – local issues and priorities

In attendance:

Inspector Pete Sparrow and PC Matt Holland and the Police and Crime Commissioner will also be in attendance.

Parish Councils and Community groups:

Questions:

·         With regards to the Area Board security camera used to detect fly tipping, how often is it used, and had anyone been prosecuted over the last 6 months. Did the Board have any statistics, and who sets it up?

Answer: The camera was in constant use in a particular hotspot, 2 arrests had been made quite recently and were being pursued. One small problem was that a court order must be acquired before the camera could be positioned in a new location. There were similar hotspots in many areas, across southern Wiltshire. The Board was keen to see the camera in constant use.

·         With regards to flytipping, in Alderbury, we had a couple of large heaps left, and one resident went through and found 3 pieces of evidence, which was then taken away by a Police Officer. We were later told that the person identified in the evidence, could not be traced as they had moved.

·         Was there an update on the absence of salt this winter and having it delivered rather than parishes having to collect supplies in cars?

Answer: Salt would be available from the Highpost and we are working on getting salt bins filled up. A letter would be sent out to parishes shortly informing them of the new system.

Community Policing Team

A written update was circulated at the meeting and attached to the minutes.

Inspector John Hutchings and Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson were in attendance.

There had been a series of attempted burglaries in the South of late, a suspect had been identified and an arrest made, we hope to be in a position to give a proper update at the next Area Board.

Visibility remained a key focus, it was paramount that Officers were out in the communities where possible. Where there were community events if you contact us we will do our best to have an Officer attend where possible.

This time of year, we see an increase in the level of hare coursing in the rural areas. This was something the force was trying to get a grip of, across the whole of the county.

We have 40 Special Constables on the books at present, with the South of the county being the busiest area for our Specials’ activity. These Officers have put in 2329 hrs which equated to £22k saved as a result of that volunteer activity.

Community Speedwatch was regularly supported by Police

Questions:

·         Alderbury – We still have not seen our PCSO since he first came. When we had Tina she would try and attend a Parish Council meeting, or she would often just pop in, she was seen to be around. We have not seen our current PCSO.

Answer: You have got one, he is there and he does work on your patch.

·         Winterslow – We invited the new PCSO to come to our Parish Council meeting, but he did not attend.

Answer: Unfortunately attending  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

As requested we have arranged for Linda Prosser, Interim Chief Officer of the CCG to come and explain what the CCG does and how it relates to GPs and the NHS and other service providers and organisations in healthcare

The Chairman explained that for the past four months, the Board had tried to organise a speaker from the CCG to attend, to explain were they fit in the overall provision of healthcare.

Linda Prosser, Interim Chief Officer for CCG gave a presentation. A copy of the slides are attached to the minutes.

The CCG was formed so that the GPs that first see you when you are unwell can direct you to a service. They are also the ones who hold the money.

We have a governing body with representation from 3 groups – North East Wiltshire, Sarum & West Wiltshire.

We are here to make sure we get the best health care outcomes for our money.

With £600 million in allocated funds for the entire populations healthcare.

We spend a lot of time trying to create alternatives for people which can be less costly.

We choose how best to spend our money, with half of the money going to hospitals, primary care getting 14% of the budget, and community nurses and podiatry receiving only 7%, which equates to £40 million.

We want to invest more in helping people take care of themselves were possible.

We currently have 49 GP practices, where a year ago we had 54. Some smaller practices are starting to join up with others to survive. Joining up practices can save time on administration and business practices, freeing up time of the doctors to see more people. It’s important to bear in mind that GP Practices are privately-owned businesses.

More people are able to access care in their own homes now than ever before, partly because of the technology we now have available to us.

Salisbury A&E was one of the best in the country last year, this year, over the last few months it has been getting harder to meet targets.

Questions included:

·         Where does Healthwatch fit in? Answer: Part of our duty is that we engage the public for an informed opinion. We previously paid Healthwatch to engage the public on our behalf, whereas now, we have started to do some of this work ourselves. We are spread more thinly so we need to find new ways to reach out to harder to reach groups and individuals.

·         It is a surprise that Three Chequers was rated as outstanding, as they are going through a difficult phase at the moment. Winterslow surgery has been closed recently without notice and prescriptions have not been released. This has meant that some people have to travel to Porton to collect half a prescription. When surgeries combine, there is past expertise, which could be shared in the process to improve the transition. Answer: These are independent businesses who we have a contract with. There are some teething problems. We can make some enquiries as to why the pharmacy has been closed.

·         Talking about keeping people in the community, what is the potential with Adult Social Care and CCG working together? Answer: The relationship between CCG  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Cllr Jerry Wickham Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Public Protection. One of Wiltshire Council’s strategic prioirtities is to protect the vulnerable in our communities and one important thread in this is the provison of Adult Social Care. The Council’s approach to tackling the growing challenge of meeting demands on adult social care.

One of Wiltshire Council’s strategic priorities is to protect the vulnerable within the community, and one important thread in providing this is the provision of Adult Social Care. Cllr Jerry Wickham, Cabinet Member for Adult Social care and Public Protection gave a presentation, some of the key points were:

·         In Wiltshire the average life expectancy for a man is 81, down in the south of the county it is 83, for women the average is 84, and in the south it is 88.

·         The important thing is to have a healthy life. The average age to encounter a health problem, for men is 64 and women 67.

·         We have a time bomb, with more and more people moving in to those age categories, this is an issue that WC has to address.

·         £20 billion is given to the NHS over a period of years, whereas local councils got nothing.

·         The pressure is on in terms of how we pay for adult social care. 38p from every £1 collected in council tax will be spent on Adult Social Care,  in Wiltshire we are already spending that.

·         The Council has a business plan, one of our main aims set out in the plan is to protect children and the vulnerable.

·         We are limited in what we can do to squeeze the budgets. A survey stated that in Wiltshire, we were third best at hourly pay for care workers across the country. We struggle to get enough care workers, especially in this part of the County.

·         We are trying to keep as many people as possible at home, as we know that people do better in their own homes.

·         In 2017/18, there were 1,722 individuals in residential and nursing care, with 811 service users receiving a direct payment. 6,811 individuals received a social care service. 557 individuals living in extra care or supported living placements. 9,449 requests for adult social care support of which 5,240 resulted in no further support.

Questions included:

·         Over half of the people that come for services do not need it and waste time, do these people deteriorate quickly and then become costlier to care for? Answer: We cannot afford the gold standard anymore, so if you were a self-funder, you would be signposted off to somewhere you can get your own care. Where there is a need for someone to be assessed they will be.

·         When someone is in a home, and they run out of money, or get down to the last £23.5k, and then there is a short fall due to the room they are in, would they be prevented from using their own money to top up? Answer: There is a new charging policy. If you are in a residential home, then all of your assets are included. There is also a middle bracket of people whose families are topping up.

·         A when it comes to the more critical side of things we have the trust. We work closely with groups, but no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

To consider the notes and any recommendations arising from the last CATG meeting held on 22^nd August.

The Board noted the minutes of the last CATG meeting held on 22 August 2018, and considered the recommendations arising from it.

The Chairman noted that the issue of improvements to highway 10, Milford Mill Road, was a project that had been started to be discussed some years ago. This project would finally be complete in the next three weeks.

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board approved the recommendations of the CATG as detailed in the report.

·       Issue 5541 - £1500, for additional signage in Coombe Bissett (with a £500 contribution from the PC)

·       Issue 6522 - £717, for a SID for Landford & Whiteparish

·       Issue 6523 - £300, for a 20mph roundel and repainting of a white line on the Coombe Bissett to Homington Road

The Chairman noted that there was still over £12,000 remaining, so if any parish had a scheme, he urged them to come forward.

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

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Engagement Manager

The Board considered 3 applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme for 2018/19, as details in the report attached to the agenda.

Winterslow Village Hall applied for £2,100 towards a projection screen.

It was confirmed that the money shown as reserves on the application form was to repay a solar panel loan.

Decision

Winterslow Village Hall was awarded £2100 towards a projector screen.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grants criteria for 2018/19.

Coombe Bissett Parish Council applied for £307.50, to replace the seat on the Homington Triangle.   

It was confirmed that the Parish Council would be paying half of the total project cost.

Decision

Coombe Bissett Parish Council was awarded £307.50 for a replacement seat on Homington Triangle.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grants criteria for 2018/19.

Downton Parish Council applied for £8,000 for an audio and visual hearing loop set up for the new Memorial Hall.

It was confirmed that this was nearly a 10-year project at a cost of approximately £1.2 million. Funding had predominantly come from S106 moneys from the local housing development.

The Chairman noted that this was a worthwhile project, and a good example of providing new facilities to the community. The Board agreed that this project was an exception to the usual £5,000 maximum allocation.

Decision

Downton Parish Council was awarded £8,000 towards audio and visual hearing loop equipment.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grants criteria for 2018/19.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

The next meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board is scheduled for Thursday 29^th November 2018, 7.00pm at Trafalgar School, Downton.