Agenda item

To note the attached Partner updates and receive any further information partners wish to share:

1. Wiltshire Police
2. Wiltshire Fire and Rescue
3. Healthwatch Wiltshire
4. Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
5. Jubilee Centre
6. Transition Marlborough
7. Town / Parish Councils

Note: Speakers are reminded that they each have a 3-minute slot, unless they have previously discussed alternative arrangements with the Community Engagement Manager.

The Chairman noted that written updates from the following partners were available in the agenda pack:

- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue (pgs. 53-59)

- BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (pgs. 61-63)

- Healthwatch Wiltshire (pg. 65)

- Kennet and Avon Medical Partnership – KAMP (Agenda Supplement 1)

Verbal updates were available from the following partners:

Police

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Swindon and Wiltshire, Philip Wilkinson, provided the Area Board with an update on his crime plan. He reminded attendees that he had undertaken a wide consultation on his plan and hoped it would help to improve the delivery of services and better align the police’s priorities to those of residents. He then went on to provide further information about the reforms that he had bought into place including:

-       Implementing supervisor training to improve standards and address concerns about police culture. Experience had taught him that good supervisors could identify potentially problematic behaviour before it became serious.

-       Appointing Cllr John Derryman, from South Newton Parish Council, to collate data from community speed watch teams and identify hotspots.

-       Doubling the size of the rural crime team and equipping them with night vision goggles and drones.

-       Tripling the size if the team dealing with violence against women and girls.

Alluding to a recent inspection, the PCC stated that he expected that Wiltshire Police would be shown to require improvement. However, he reassured the Area Board that there were some excellent police officers in Wiltshire, and he was confident that his reforms would lead to better outcomes. Metrics were being put in place to measure performance so that the Chief Constable and he could be held to account.

During the discussion points included:

- Wiltshire would have 1164 officers by the end of 2022, up from 928 18 months ago.

- A member of the public thanked the PCC for the improved levels of cooperation with community speed watch teams. The Chairman also noted that she had noticed an improved level of service.

- Cllr Sheppard requested that police speeding patrols went out early in villages to enforce limits.

- In response to a question from the public about the perception that the police did not take minor crimes seriously enough, the PCC explained that a threat assessment process was in place, and he was working to improve the visibility of officers.

- The PCC was opening mobile stations to increase the visible police presence around the county. It was noted that Marlborough Police Station was open and that the front desk was open many days until 5pm.

- Wiltshire had a specialist anti-drug team in place and the PCC was coordinating anti-drug operations across the South West of England.

KAMP

Suzy Deering, Communications Officer for KAMP, and Dr Richard Hook explained that they had 17,500 patients registered across Marlborough and Pewsey. KAMP was based at two sites and provided around 2,500 GP appointments per month. Alluding to pressures facing GPs, the communications officer provided further information about the measures being taken to mitigate waiting times, such as recruiting an extra paramedic to help with urgent cases, expanding the number of receptionists and providing additional training to the reception team about signposting patients. During the discussion, the Area Board noted the pressures facing GP surgeries and praised the measures being put in place to improve services, including by giving positive feedback about KAMPs new phone system.

Jubilee Centre

Sally Wolfenden from the Jubilee Centre spoke about the important work being done by the centre in providing emotional support and socialisation for vulnerable people. She explained that the number of people being helped by the centre had not returned to pre-Covid levels and expressed concern about the latent demand created by the pandemic, saying that they would welcome referrals from local organisations such as KAMP. Sally expressed frustration about the level of information required to join Wiltshire Council’s open framework for day-opportunity providers. However, she was keen to stress that the Chairman could not have been more helpful in providing guidance through the process.