Agenda and minutes

1. Forthcoming Gypsy and Traveller Consultation
2. Consultation on Services to Children with Special Educational Needs
3. Results of Flooding Consultation
4. Community Asset Transfer
5. Islam4UK Briefing Note

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Tidworth Area Board and asked all those present to introduce themselves.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

Forthcoming Gypsy and Traveller Consultation

An 8 week consultation on the issues and general approach to identifying land for new gypsy, traveller and show people sites would begin on Tuesday 6 April until Friday 4 June. All information could be found online at:

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/gypsyandtravellersiteallocationsdpd and in the main council offices and local libraries.

A drop-in event to discuss the issues in more detail would be held on Tuesday 11 May between 4.00pm and 8.00pm at the Corn Exchange in Devizes. An event would also be held in Salisbury on Thursday 13 May.

There was also a display stand on show in the hall which provided members of the public with further details of the consultation.

Consultation on Services to Children with Special Educational Needs

A review of services was being carried out and a consultation in progress; the closing date was 12 noon on Monday 24 May. Any questions should be directed to Tracey Gates, Project Officer, in the first instance tracey.gates@wiltshire.gov.uk 01225 756170.

There would be opportunities to meet officers to discuss the proposals on Monday 29 March, 7.00pm at Devizes School, or on Tuesday 4 May, 7.00pm at Salisbury City Hall.

Cllr Mark Connolly stated that the consultation may lead to the closure of the Special Educational Needs unit at Zouch Primary School. He had received assurances that the Centre was not running at capacity and that none of the students in the Centre would need to travel to other Centres in the County as their needs were not severe. If students in the area were to have severe educational needs that the local schools could not cater for, free transport would be provided to take them to the other Centres around the County.

Flooding Consultation

Wiltshire Council had set up two operational flood working groups to collate information on flooding and drainage issues across the county.

Parish and Town Councils were being invited to assist with the collation of data by providing information about any local flooding issues in their areas. Packs were available for Parish and Town Council representatives to take away from the meeting. Once completed, they should be returned to the Community Area Manager at the next meeting.

A ‘Flood Fair’ would be held at the Olympiad Leisure Centre in Chippenham from 10.00am until 2.00pm on 14 April. Any Parish or Town Council representative wishing to attend should contact Renate Malton on renate.malton@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Community Asset Transfer

Wiltshire Council was supporting the transfer of assets to local communities and a diagram to explain the transfer process was included in the agenda pack.

Any Parish or Town Council or local community that was aware of any possible assets for transfer should contact the Community Area Manager, Val Powley on val.powley@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Islam4UK Briefing Note

A briefing note on the previously proposed Islam4UK march in Wootton Bassett  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

Apologies for absence were received from Steve Dagger (Tidworth Town Council), Mike Holt (Collingbourne Kingston Parish Council) and Alan Butterworth (Tidcombe and Fosbury Parish Meeting).

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

Councillor Chris Williams declared a personal interest in Item 13 on the agenda as he had been involved in the Community Payback bid in his position as Cabinet Member. Councillor Williams would participate in the discussion on this item, and vote.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2010.

Col Tabor enquired whether the recommendation on Item 8 (page 6) of the minutes relating to the de-priming of the A338/A346 corridor had been actioned.  Councillor Charles Howard explained that this matter would also be considered by the Area Boards for Amesbury, Pewsey and Marlborough, and that recommendations would be actioned once all views were obtained.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2010 were agreed a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Maggie Rae, Joint Director of Public Health (NHS Wiltshire and Wiltshire Council), will give a presentation on the findings of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for the Tidworth Community Area followed by discussion and questions.

Please see the links below for a copy of the Wiltshire JSNA, and the JSNA specific to the Tidworth Community Area:

http://wiltshirejsna.org/

http://wiltshirejsna.org/PDF%20Versions%20to%20Download.aspx

Maggie Rae, Joint Director of Public Health, gave a presentation on the findings of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment in the Tidworth Community Area. Maggie explained that Wiltshire Council was the first council in the country to produce such information at a local level.

Some of the main findings of the assessment included the following:

• The local population had a large proportion of young people (particularly males) which reflected the high number of military personnel.
• Tidworth Community Area was among the most deprived areas in the Index of Multiple Deprivation.
• Life expectancy was lower than the Wiltshire average for both males and females, with females also having a longer life expectancy than males.
• The level of teenage pregnancies was higher than the Wiltshire average, with 1 in 16 girls between 15 and 17 becoming pregnant each year.
• Tidworth Community Area ranked 19th out of 20 areas with regards to alcohol related hospital admissions.
• However, Tidworth ranked 1st with regards to everyday alcohol consumption.
• One in four of the children measured were found to be overweight or obese according to their BMI – this ranked Tidworth 17th out of 20 areas.
• An estimated 24.2% of adults smoked, compared to the Wiltshire average of 20.2%.
• Self-reported health was very good, with 79.2% of people thinking they were in ‘good’ or ‘very good’ health. This ranked Tidworth 6th out of 20 areas.
• Tidworth ranked 19th out of 20 areas for domestic violence, with an average of 5.5 incidents per 1,000 people.

The next steps were to run a series of workshops and Health Fairs to continue to engage people in health issues and raise general awareness. The Health Fair for Tidworth Community Area would take place on Wednesday 14 April from 3.00pm until 6.00pm at Tidworth Leisure Centre and local residents were encouraged to attend.

Following Maggie’s presentation, the following comments were made:

• Ambulance response times in the area were perceived to be very poor.
• Fire and Air Ambulance response times were better and the Ambulance response times needed to catch up.
• Doctors’ surgeries were not open in evenings or weekends which made it difficult for working people to access them. This was believed to be one reason why men were less likely to visit a doctor with symptoms.
• A national scheme was being rolled out to provide full health checks for people aged between 40 and 74 years.
• An assessment of the Great Western Ambulance Service was due to be carried out.
• Meetings were taking place with the Ambulance Trust to identify temporary ambulance points to assist with response times.

Cllr Connolly thanked Maggie for the informative presentation and requested that, after the next assessment is carried out, the results were brought to the Area Boards sooner.

The Chairman also thanked Maggie for the presentation and recommended that the issues be taken back to Parish and Town Councils for further consideration.

To receive a presentation from Kevin Sweeney / David Whewell regarding the new formula for allocating Youth Worker Staffing resources around Wiltshire, with specific reference to how this will affect the Tidworth Community Area.

Kevin Sweeney, Operations Manager for Youth Development Services, gave an update on the review of youth resources allocations.

Funding for services for 13 to 19 year olds had been inconsistent in the past and efforts were now being concentrated on allocating resources to areas fairly, based on various deciding factors.

These factors included four main consideration points that determined how funding would be allocated, as follows:

• Entitlement – accounting for 25% of the funding
• Population – accounting for 50% of the funding
• Deprivation – accounting for 10% of the funding
• Rural isolation – accounting for 10% of the funding
• Central reserves – 5% held as a contingency

In the Tidworth Community Area, an additional 14 hours worth of youth work per week had been allocated which was great news. Local determination would decide how these additional hours would be spent.

In the discussion that ensued, the following points were raised:

• Consideration should be given to allocating budgets to young people. However, a Government target to allocate 25% of budgets to young people by 2017 meant that this was something that was already underway.
• Social deprivation was prevalent in the area and one parish council, Collingbourne Ducis, was already allocating 2.5% of its budget to youth work.
• More funding was desired to bring in outlying, particularly rural, areas.

Cllr Connolly announced that Wiltshire Council had allocated an additional £100,000 in its budget to distribute to the Area Boards to commission work on youth services. This was in addition to the usual levels of grant funding and worked out at £5,000 per Area Board.

Update from Kevin Sweeney

Kevin Sweeney gave a brief update on the Youth Project.

Previous meetings that had been held to look at rural needs had unfortunately been unsuccessful. However, these were now being revisited and assessments of rural young peoples needs were currently being carried out.

One of the main focuses of the assessments was to ask the young people what they want to see happen in their areas. This would link into the provision of the additional 14 hours per week that were now available.

Anybody with ideas or wanting further information should contact Kevin or Val Powley.

Finally Kevin thanked team member Wendy Higginson for her hard work covering the vacant post within the team, which had now been advertised.

To receive a presentation from Jim Griffey of Wiltshire Constabulary in relation to the work of the Police’s Protective Services Department.

Jim Griffey, Detective Sergeant at Wiltshire Police, gave an overview of Police Protective Services, which formed a major part of the Wiltshire Police service but was a relatively unknown department.

Departments covered by Protective services included:

• Major Crime
• Special Branch
• Economic Crime
• Public Order
• Civil Contingencies
• Critical Incidents
• Organised Crime
• Public Protection
• Forensic Department
• Operations (road policing, dog section, firearms).

Strong partnership working and information sharing with partners was key to the success of the Department.

The Chairman thanked Jim for his presentation and for raising awareness of the Protective Services.

An update from the Community Area Manager regarding issues raised.

Val Powley provided a brief update on issues raised.

Since the issues system had been introduced, a total of 29 issues had been received. This was relatively low in comparison to other areas and people were encouraged to use the online facility to raise any issues they may have.

Issues raised should be as specific as possible to ensure that a satisfactory resolution could be achieved.

To receive an update from Tidworth Community Area Partnership (TCAP) and information on the work of the thematic Groups.

Col Tabor gave an update from the Community Area Partnership and raised the following points:

• The next meeting of the Partnership was being held on Friday 19 March at 10.00am.
• Initial finance was now in place to employ a Co-ordinator and it was hoped that the person would be in post within the next four weeks.
• Work was continuing on the Garrison Theatre project, which would provide a 700-750 seated theatre for military and community use.
• A ‘Blue Light Day’ was proposed for Friday 27 August and people were encouraged to get involved. More information was available from David Marks.
• The Garrison clean-up last May resulted in 20 tons of rubbish being collected. This year it would take place on Thursday 22 April.
• A potential area had been identified in Tidworth for allotments and talks would continue on this at the upcoming partnership meetings.

The Chairman thanked Col Tabor for his update and echoed the encouragement for people to attend the Partnership meeting on Friday.

To receive any updates.

Updates from Wiltshire Police, NHS Wiltshire and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service had been received and circulated prior to the meeting.

Mike Franklin of Wiltshire Fire and Rescue made a few additional points:

• In response to concerns with ambulance response times, he announced that 36% of the Fire Service’s activity was spent on co-responding.
• There was a programme of education taking place with young people this autumn to raise awareness of road safety.
• Empty buildings and the associated build-up of rubbish was a serious fire hazard and could potentially attract arsonists. Any potential risk areas should be reported to the Fire Service as soon as possible.
• The Strategic Plan was now available and copies could be obtained either online at www.wiltshirefire.gov.uk or by contacting Linda Smith on 01380 723601 or Manor House, Potterne, Devizes, SN10 5PP.

Col Tabor gave a brief Military update and reminded people of the three casualties in Afghanistan in the last three weeks and asked that thought was given to them, their colleagues and families.

Jo Howes announced that a new NHS Out of Hours Single Provider had been identified for each area, and that in the Tidworth Community Area it would be the same provider as previously. However, people could now also see a Practitioner at Amesbury as well as Savernake if they chose to. The out of hours telephone number was 0300 111 5717 and leaflets were available.

A couple of issues from the floor were raised, including the state of the roads and the time taken to repair pot-holes. Andrew Kerr, Chief Executive and Cllr Jane Scott, Leader of the Council, both explained that the repairing of Wiltshire’s roads was a big priority for the Council and that an additional £1.65 million had been allocated for roads maintenance.

In response to concern from a member of the public, Cllr Jane Scott announced that the allocated budget for road maintenance would not be reduced and re-allocated to other service areas.

To determine any applications for Community Area Grants, and to determine the use of any leftover unallocated funding from the 2009/10 budget.

Grant application packs for the Community Area Grants Scheme are available from the Community Area Manager or electronically by clicking on this link.

Consideration was given to one application for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme.

Army Welfare Service Eco Bike Scheme

The application was for £700 towards an Eco Bike Scheme project.  However there was only £213 remaining in the budget for 2009/10.

Val Powley advised that the Members had the option to award the full amount of £700, consisting of £213 from the 2009/10 budget, and the balance of £487 being allocated from the 2010/11 budget.  Although the 2010/11 budget had been agreed by Council on 23 February 2010, this would not be available until 1 April.  As such the full £700 could be awarded after 1 April, with the £213 being carried over in the meantime.

Decision

The Eco Bike Scheme was awarded the full amount requested of £700, which would be awarded after 1 April 2010.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and would improve young people’s involvement in positive activities including initiatives to encourage sustainable transport.

Decision

The Area Board agreed to carry-over the remaining funds of £213 from the 2009/10 Community Area Grant budget to the 2010/11 budget.

To consider whether the Board wishes to support the following bids for funding from the Performance Reward Grant Scheme:

1. LPSA Funding Bid:  Community Payback
2. Skilled for Health

Consideration was given to two applications for funding from the Local Performance Reward Grant Scheme.

a)    Community Payback - £73,000

An application for funding from the Community Payback scheme had been brought to the Area Board for support.

The Chairman asked for a show of hands from members of the public to gauge the general response. The majority of members of the public were in support.

Decision

The Area Board agreed that the bid for funding from the Community Payback scheme should be supported.

Val Powley announced that leaflets were available that provided further information on the scheme and the types of organisations that could benefit.

b)    Skilled for Health - £25,000

An application for funding from the Skilled for Health project had been brought to the Area Board for support.

Plain Action had already supported this project and there was a high level of general support from the floor.

Cllr Connolly stated that he was in support of this bid, provided that the benefits of the project were also available to civilian members of the public.

Decision

The Area Board agreed that the bid for funding from the Skilled for Health project should be supported.

To note the attached Forward Plan listing possible future agenda items.

The next meeting of the Tidworth Area Board will be on Monday 17 May 2010, 7pm at the Wellington Academy.

The next meeting of the Tidworth Area Board would be held on Monday 17 May, 7.00pm at the Wellington Academy.

Future meeting dates and venues were as follows:

Mon 19 July 2010, 7.00pm, Collingbourne Kingston Village Hall

Mon 20 Sept 2010, 7.00pm, Castle Primary School, Ludgershall

Mon 15 Nov 2010, 7.00pm, Phoenix Hall, Netheravon

Mon 17 Jan 2011, 7.00pm, Tidworth Community Centre

Mon 21 March 2011, 7.00pm, venue to be confirmed

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting of the Area Board and for their contributions, and encouraged people to complete and return the feedback forms.