Agenda item

To receive updates from the following partners:

a.    Wiltshire Police

b.    Town and Parish Councils

Updates were received from the following partners:

Wiltshire Police

A presentation was provided by Inspector Scott Anger and Sergeant Kate Isaac which highlighted the work the local policing team had undertaken since their last update. The presentation including the statistics referenced was attached to the Agenda Supplement.

A point was raised by the Board regarding a recent issue with destruction of property in January and the need to ensure the best level of communication possible was achieved.

A further point was raised regarding speeding and where and how this could be tackled, including Automatic SpeedWatch technology.

The Board also discussed the best use of police time, especially regarding non-crime hate incidents and the balance between enforcing the law and ensuring that the police maintain a good relationship with the community.

The Chief Constable was also in attendance, and discussed the rumours regarding police funding, and that although headlines stated an increase in funding, the net result was actually a loss given an increase in costs. £6.8 million of savings needed to be found in order to balance the budgets. Wiltshire received the 3rd least funding in the country whilst being the 2nd smallest force.

The Chief Constable assured that any savings would not mean a reduction in the overall number of police officers or a closure of any police stations where there was a public access point. The current fleet of vehicles would also be scrutinised. The Chief Constable was reluctant to look at staffing cuts but stated that this could be possible.

It was clarified that there were 84 PCSOs in Wiltshire and although recruitment hadn’t been overly successful, the intention was to keep driving it.

Councillors thanked both the Chief Constable and the local policing team for their work and detailed report.

Malmesbury Health and Wellbeing Forum

Kim Power referenced a leaflet handed out prior to the meeting and stated that some of the information was incorrect.

The local Alzheimer’s support group had closed, and AGE UK and Rethink had stopped running their sessions in the local area. It was commented that bigger organisations did not seem to be doing as well as local groups offering similar activities.

An Art drop-in day on 16th April 2025 was referenced, with Older and Vulnerable events proving successful overall.

Riverside Centre

Kim Power stated that Wiltshire Council were withdrawing funding from the Riverside Centre and Kim was yet to receive any reason as to why. The Board stated that there were ongoing discussions between Wiltshire Council and Malmesbury Town Council.

It was clarified that individual councillors from Malmesbury Area Board had discussed this issue with Wiltshire Council Cabinet members, but as it was an ongoing commercial issue it was not appropriate to comment on ongoing talks. It was assured that that concerns had been raised and members were fully aware of public concern.

It was also stated that the best course of action may be to raise this question during Public Participation at both the Health and Wellbeing Board and at Full Council where a verbal/written response can be provided.