Agenda item

To receive any verbal updates from Partners and Community Groups present, including:

·          Youth – LYN

·          Police – Neighbourhood Teams

·          Fire & Rescue

·          Parish Councils

·          Healthwatch Wiltshire

·          Health and Wellbeing Group

Written updates were available in the agenda pack from the following partners:

• Wiltshire Police (pgs. 29 - 35)

• Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue (pgs. 37 - 43)

• BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (pgs. 45 - 47)

• Healthwatch Wiltshire (pg. 49)

• South West Wiltshire Heath and Wellbeing Group (pgs. 51-53)

Verbal updates were also available from the following partners:

Seeds4Success

Charity Director Jaki Farrell gave an overview of the projects that they were running in the local area, including a Health and Wellbeing session on Monday nights in Tisbury and drop-in sessions on alternative Thursdays in Wilton. They also ran targeted sessions, such as helping with the FUEL programme over the summer holidays. Another example was a bridging project to help 15–25-year-olds develop their confidence, personal and practical skills to enhance their readiness for work.

In response to questions about the provision of services in rural areas of the Area Board, such as Steeple Langford, the director spoke about the importance of transport and building local contacts. She also stressed that young people often wanted to spend time with friends that go to the same school.

Wiltshire Police

Inspector Tina Osbourn from Salisbury Community Police Team highlighted that there had been a spike in the number of reports of non-dwelling burglaries targeting items such as bikes and tools. The Vice-Chairman also noted that there had been a spate of burglaries in Broad Chalke. In response the inspector explained that they had increased their visibility in rural areas. They were also working hard to secure Closure Orders to target addresses responsible for anti-social behaviour. Cllr Church thanked the inspector for the increased patrols in the Wilton area. Cllr Jeans mentioned that additional support from the police would be welcomed in Mere to tackle issues related to traffic congestion. The inspector thanked members for their feedback and said she would pass it on to the relevant officers.

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Swindon and Wiltshire

PCC 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:

• Taking a more proactive stance on anti-social behaviour.

• Implementing supervisor training to improve standards and address concerns about police culture.

• Purchasing three mobile speed cameras and restructuring community speed watch teams to better collate data and identify hotspots.

• An intensification of efforts against drug dealers.

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 the chief constable and he had identified a number of reforms and that 50 percent had already been implemented to improve performance.

During the discussion points included:

• A recruitment effort launched in April was hugely oversubscribed. The possibility of implementing a fast-track scheme for people with military service was being investigated.

• Wiltshire was planning to bid for additional funding from the Home Office, including for the Safer Streets project.

• The PCC was looking at the possibility of developing a major police hub based in the south of the county and was looking at a potential four-acre site near High Post on the A345.

• Mobile police stations were being introduced to improve visibility in areas without a permanent station.

• Extra funding was being allocated to help tackle sexual violence including employing more counsellors. 

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue

Station Manager Nic Courtice explained that he was new to the role but looked forward to working in the local area. He reported that the recruitment of on-call staff was an issue for the force, but that efforts were being made to improve the situation. The station manager also stressed the importance of safety around BBQs and swimming during the summer.

South West Wiltshire Health and Wellbeing Group

Cllr Errington reported that their meeting held on 6 June had been well attended and included representation from Tisbury Memory Group. A wide range of topics had been discussed including support for Ukrainian refugees, the cost of living, food banks, hidden deprivation and dementia support. He mentioned that a silent disco for people with dementia would be held at the Nadder Centre the following evening and that the group had expressed support for the older and vulnerable people’s grants to be considered by the Area Board.