Agenda item

To receive updates from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

·       Healthwatch

·       Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership (MVCAP)

·       Riverside Centre

·       Health & Wellbeing Champion

·       Town and Parish Councils

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

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

·       Police and Crime Commissioner

The Area Board received a verbal update from newly elected Police and Crime commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Philip Wilkinson. The PCC introduced himself to the Area Board and outlined the following:

·       The PCC outlined that he would like to provide a change of approach to the PCC plan and aims to ask people what they think should be provided.

·       Having spoken to the Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police and the Executive Leadership team, the PCC is keen to conduct office on a variety of activities, such as conflict prevention, youth engagement schemes as well as crime prevention and apprehension.

·       The PCC wants to focus on the delivery of a better service, which could include functional crime areas such as rural crime, drugs and county lines, speed enforcement.

·       Regarding speed enforcement, the PCC noted that speedwatch teams do not feel supported and understands frustrations that they might have. There will be a dedicated speedwatch team going forward who will have three officers to support speedwatch teams. Additionally, a moveable camera has been purchased which has the same function as a fixed one and would have connection to the Crown Prosecution Service and would be able to issue summons and fines. It is hoped that the income from this scheme will be self-financing and allow for more cameras to be bought.

·       There is a view to link all speedwatch teams county-wide in an attempt to identify hotspots and to consequently be able to prioritise more effectively against persistent offenders.

Following the verbal update there was time for the following questions and points to be raised:

·       Richard Moody of Oaksey Parish Council raised the point that the speedwatch team in Oaksey have given up due to intimidation and rude gestures. People need to be motivated and reassured to go out and work for the village. – Philip Wilkinson reassured Mr Moody that he is trying his best and that speeding has been one of the first issues that he has addressed. There is the vision to set up a collation centre for the data produced by speedwatch cameras, allowing the police to identify hotspots and therefore to take the newly purchased camera to these locations.

·       Ellen Blacker also reinforced that other counties such as Gloucestershire Police are now using the data provided by speedwatch devices and sought clarity as to when Wiltshire would be doing the same. – The PCC stated that he is trying to address the speed enforcement problem holistically whilst trying to maximise the best use of resources. The use of identifying hotspots for use of the new camera was reinforced.

·       It was stated that the Area Board previously invested significantly in speedwatch cameras. Though it is acknowledged that the evidence produced from these cameras cannot be used in a court of law, they could be used to highlight where the repeat offenders are and at what times. Allowing for an intelligence led approach.

·       It was mentioned that though the Police do visit villages to complete speed checks, not many people see this work. It would therefore be positive for the Police to post on village Facebook pages, in order to reassure and encourage people that things are being done, also acting as a deterrent.

Resolved

The Area Board agreed upon the following proposal for Philip Wilkinson, PCC, to assess the cost of delivering warning letters that would be linked to local speedwatch cameras and to provide a quote for how much this would cost.

The PCC acknowledged that this was a positive concept and that there is currently a team issuing such warning letters to HGVs and writing to the CEOs of companies. The PCC was hopeful of being to pay for the idea without Area Board funding as being part of a complete package he would be offering.

·       BaNES, Swindon & Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (BSW CCG)

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

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

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

·       Health and Wellbeing Champion

The Area Board members placed on record their thanks to Ellen Blacker for her work for the Area Board as the Health and Wellbeing Champion. It was noted that Ellen had put together a large network of activities for people to do as well as other people to do them with. Ellen was also thanked for her work towards helping to coordinate the Covid crisis response for elderly people.

·       Ellen provided the following statistics that since April 2016 she had supported a total of 1,070 clients and had raised £138,000 annual income, which was topped up with £21,000 of one-off grants. 

·       Ellen thanked the community, the councillors as well as Ollie Phipps and Alexa Davies, who were brilliant to work with.

With Ellen leaving, the Area Board has a new Health and Wellbeing Champion volunteer role. The aspiration is for several volunteers to best cover the community area, if there is any interest in finding out more about volunteering to support our older people and carers locally, please contact Alexa Davies, as per the contact details provided below.

There is also a small pot of grant funding available for health and wellbeing projects. The Area Board are especially keen to hear from any befriending projects, so please contact Alexa Davies to find out more about the health and wellbeing funding available.

Alexa Davies (Community Engagement Manager) contact details:

Email: alexa.davies@wiltshire.gov.uk 

Phone: 01249706610