Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Malmesbury Area Board. The Area Board partook in a minute’s silence in respect of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II as well as providing their best wishes to his Majesty King Charles III.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were provided from Inspector James Brain (Wiltshire Police), Sergeant Jamie Ball (Wiltshire Police), Station Manager Dean Hoskins (Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service), Jay Williams (Kinship and Fostering Manager), Tony Moore, Michael Bromley Gardner, Ellen Blacker and Nick Hare.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2022.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2022 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 7 June 2022.

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

There were no declarations of disclosable interest.

The Chairman will provide information about:

·       Annual Canvass

·       Update on behalf of the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living

·       Quarterly video update from Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       Strategic Engagement and Partnerships Briefing Note

·       Building Bridges

The Chairman and Members of the Area Board made the following announcements, which were contained in the agenda pack.

·       Annual Canvass

·       Update on behalf of the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living 

·       Quarterly video update from Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       Strategic Engagement  and Partnerships Briefing Note

·       Building Bridges - www.buildingbridgessw.org.uk

The Area Board placed on record their gratitude towards Alexa Davies, Community Engagement Manager, who had left her post as part of the Engagement Team restructure. Following this, the Area Board welcomed and introduced Andrew Jack as the new Strategic Engagement Partnerships Manager for the Malmesbury Area, who provided an overview of his role inrelation to the Area Board.

The Area Board also welcomed Helean Hughes, Director of Education and Skills, to the Area Board who had been allocated as a member of the extended leadership team to attend meetings. Helean noted that her role would be to capture the local agenda and feedback to the extended leadership team any work and consequently inform future provision for identified themes.

To receive updates from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board

·       Cartmell Community Mini Bus

·       Health and Wellbeing Update

a)    Riverside Community Centre

b)    Malmesbury Area Health and Wellbeing Forum

c)     Health & Wellbeing Champion

·       Town and Parish Councils

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

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

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

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

·       Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board

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

·       Cartmell Community Minibus

Kim Power provided an update to the Area Board, which covered that the Cartmell Community Bus Mini bus was available for use by community groups and charities. Additionally, the group had successfully applied for a £60,000 lottery grant and have ordered a new bus, which will be available towards the end of the year.

·       Riverside Community Centre

Kim Power provided an update on behalf of the Riverside Community Centre, which covered that the Community Centre had hosted a wide variety of activities over spring and summer including Tai Chi. Recently, the Centre had opened up during the Malmesbury Carnival to provide a space for people to get changed, use the toilets and have a cup of tea.

·       Malmesbury Area Health and Wellbeing Forum

Kim Power, Chair of the Malmesbury Area Health and Wellbeing Forum, provided an update to the Area Board, which covered the following points:

·       The Forum last met on 26 July and included a group of over 50 partners in order to discuss and suggest themes that could be worked on within a partnership in order to provide benefit to the local area.

·       A big issue that has arisen since Covid is elderly and vulnerable people coming back into community life. To support this issue, the Forum has worked closely with Celebrating Age Wiltshire, who have provided a variety of events to help the elderly to re-establish relationships.

·       A creating conversations group is being ran at the library, with an aim of targeting those who are lonely and find it difficult to physically travel to places to meet people.

·       The next meeting of the Forum will be in mid-October with options being considered to support those who are finding the current economic situation difficult.

·       Health & Wellbeing Champion

Julie Dart, Health and Wellbeing Champion provided an update to the Area Board, which covered the following points:

• Julie has a monthly meeting through Wiltshire Council with other people in her role across the county in order to standardise and share information.
• Quarterly meetings have taken place with the health Centre, with positive ideas coming out of the latest meeting in April.
• The Malmesbury Public Living Room is now up and running, which offers a different mode of protected public space for people to come together. People have attended for varying reasons, with some attendees being one off and others more regular. The Public Living Room will also be a warm space in winter.
• Julie is set to start an autumn programme to meet lunch clubs as well as different parishes.
• Julie Dart is a volunteer with the organisation Care Home Volunteers who go into  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

To receive a presentation about fostering in Wiltshire.

The Area Board received a presentation on Fostering in Wiltshire from Andrew Jack, Strategic Engagement Partnerships Manager. The presentation provided  information about the fostering service, an overview of the current numbers of children in care, common fostering myths and what makes a good foster carer. The presentation also included a short video of someone who lived in care, to explain the positive impact that fostering had had on her life. The presentation ended with a call to action to get involved in or support fostering via social media.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the following points were made:

·       Cllr Berry noted that it was clear from the video the level of value that there is to be delivered as a result of fostering. In addition, the financial benefits of fostering were cited, with it also stated that this is an opportunity to help shape a more wholesome individual for society.

·       It was requested that the fostering information be provided to Parish Councils so they could share within their newsletter.

·       It was also suggested that messages be shared on local Malmesbury Facebook groups, which would have a large number of members.

·       Feedback was provided to the corporate team that it could be useful for the Council in their communications to look at the top 5 things that are important to be delivered as fostering would likely be one of these areas.

To have a discussion about warm spaces within the Malmesbury area community.

The Chairman introduced the item, which would have the purpose partly to gather information for colleagues connected professionally to Wiltshire Council, to prepare for the winter period.

Helean Hughes, Director of Education and Skills, provided the following update on preparation plans from a Wiltshire Council perspective. The update covered the following points:

• The Council is currently waiting for further guidance from central government.
• The Council has identified the following workstreams in response to the cost of living: 1) Staffing, to ensure that staff can deliver and provide the plans in place; 2) Residents, with a consideration of the pressures that they will be under; 3) Businesses including schools and early years settings.
• It was stated that like during Covid, there is set to be a Household Support Grant, which continued to pay families during the school holidays as well as  the provision of free school meals. Another allocation of this grant is set to be allocated, with a less prescriptive criteria.
• From a department perspective, a newsletter is sent out each Friday to schools which can provide advice on how schools can manage their bills and also make families aware of the benefits that are available to them.

Andrew Jack, Strategic Engagement Partnerships Manager, provide further information on preparation plans. The update covered the following points:

·       Work is being done to collect details of food providers in order to make sure community foodbanks, community fridges and lunch clubs are provided for and that they can cope with increased demand in winter. An example was cited of in Salisbury where a network has been created to share information regarding available resources in an effective and easy fashion.

·       The concept of warm spaces is being investigated, with it being anticipated that some people may not being able to turn on their heating during the day. The work includes looking to identify community venues that would be able to open for people to go during the day, however it has been recognised that other factors such as refreshments may have to be provided to attract people.

The discussion was then opened up to include attendees of the Area Board. During the discussion points that were raised included, but were not limited to:

·       It was suggested that Parish Councils get in touch with Primary Schools in their local area and speak to the respective head teacher in order to connect the educational part of the community. Details would be able to be provided by Wiltshire Council.

·       Wiltshire Council has a list of those that are clinically vulnerable that were supported through Covid and it is likely that a connection will be made to them by the health Centre. Part of the issue will however be those who are not in this group but may find themselves in trouble due to their household income.

·       Regarding the Area Board Health and Wellbeing Grant fund, it was stated that village halls, parishes and businesses should investigate placing an application to offset some of the cost of their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Area Board will be asked to consider the recommendations from the 12 July 2022 Malmesbury Local Highway and Footway Improvement Group (LHFIG) meeting outlined in the report.

Cllr Elizabeth Threlfall introduced the minutes and recommendations from the LHFIG meeting held on 12 July 2022. It was noted that it had been an exciting quarter for the LHFIG, with a lot of projects coming to their completion points. It was stated that the LHFIG is attempting to complete priority one graded schemes and then elevate any other issues that arise. It was stresses that LHFIG meetings are open to the public with residents welcome to join the discussion.

Resolved:

The minutes of the Local Highways and Footway Improvement Group meeting held on 12 July 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider the following applications for funding:

Community Area Grants:

·       Ashton Keynes Village Hall - £2,500 towards Ashton Keynes Village Hall improvement of projection facilities.

Older and Vulnerable Adults Funding:

·       Wiltshire Music Centre - £1,500 towards Celebrating Age Wiltshire.

·       Caerbladon CIC - £1,850 towards The Malmesbury Chinwag.

The Area Board considered the following applications for funding:

Community Area Grants:

1.               Ashton Keynes Village Hall - £2,500 towards Ashton Keynes Village Hall improvement of projection facilities.

Resolved:

Ashton Keynes Village Hall was awarded £2,500 towards Ashton Keynes Village Hall improvement of projection facilities.

Older and Vulnerable Adults Funding:

1.               Wiltshire Music Centre - £1,500 towards Celebrating Age Wiltshire.

Resolved:

Wiltshire Music Centre was awarded £1,500 towards Celebrating Age Wiltshire.

2.               Caerbladon CIC - £1,850 towards The Malmesbury Chinwag.

Resolved:

Caerbladon CIC was awarded £1,850 towards The Malmesbury Chinwag.

It was additionally noted that the Area Board would like Caerbladon CIC to return back in the next calendar year in order to feedback how the initiative went.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Malmesbury Area Board will be held on 29 November 2022, 7.00 pm.

The date of the next meeting is 29 November 2022.