Agenda item

To receive the following announcements through the Chairman (written briefing notes are available in the full agenda pack, or online):

·         Banning of Sky Lanterns and Balloon releases on Wilshire Council land

·         Wiltshire Council: Focusing on the Future

·         Localised Labour Market Intelligence

·         Animal Licensing

·         Homerun App

·         Update on London Road/Windsor Drive works

The Chairman made the following announcements:

·         Suspension of Sunday Parking Charges

The Chairman announced that Sunday parking charges would be suspended from the following Sunday.

·         Banning of Sky Lanterns and Balloon releases on Wiltshire Council Land

The Chairman drew the meetings attention to the written update in the agenda pack and summarised the main points. Wiltshire Council had passed a ban on the release of balloons and sky lanterns on its land, following a report on the environmental and wildlife impact.

·         Wiltshire Council: Focusing on the Future

The Chairman advised the meeting there was a written update in the agenda pack and invited Cllr Whitehead to speak. Cllr Whitehead stated that he was leading this forum. There would be a series of public meetings to detail the Council’s aims for the coming year. The Devizes meeting would be held on 26 November at 5.30pm at the Devizes Hub and Library.

·         Localised Labour Market Intelligence

The Chairman advised there was a written update in the agenda pack summarising work undertaken by the Employment and Skills service regarding labour market intelligence, which was broken down by parliamentary constituencies. More details could be found on the Work Wiltshire website. At the Chairman’s invitation Cllr Gamble stated that the documents were well worth looking at. Regarding the data for Devizes he felt that the figures looked less positive than was probably the case, possibly due to the way the figures were analysed. Cllr Gamble had initiated a dialogue with officers to discuss this issue.

·         Animal Licensing

Cllr Peter Evans, who sits on the Licensing Committee, advised the meeting that there was a written update in the agenda pack regarding new animal licensing laws in Wiltshire. These were mainly aimed at dog and cat breeders.

·         HomeRun App

Cllr Whitehead stated that the HomeRun App had been trialled in schools across Wiltshire. One of the main aims of the smartphone app was to help parents to car share. The trial had been successful with some areas showing a 14% drop in traffic for the school run. The app was now being opened to schools across Wiltshire. Cllr Whitehead had also asked his digitisation and ICT team to look into car sharing generally with the aim of seeing if this type of app could be expanded to all Wiltshire residents in the hope that congestion and pollution could be reduced.

·         Update on London Road/Windsor Drive works

Cllr Whitehead updated the meeting, stating that the works were now complete and the junction was operational. Generally the junction seemed to be working well. Highways teams would be monitoring the traffic flow and timings of lights, as minor adjustments to the timings may be required over time as people got used to the junction. Cllr Laura Mayes thanked Cllr Whitehead for all his hard work on this project and for dealing with a lot of the complaints regarding the disruption caused. Cllr Whitehead apologised that the works overran and for any effects this had on residents and businesses. He would investigate what could have been done better. Cllr Whitehead felt that unrealistic expectations had been set and that contingency time should have been built into the project planning to cope with any unexpected situations.

·         Electoral Review

The Chairman explained that the Local Government Boundary Commission of England were minded to recommend that Wiltshire Council should have 98 Councillors in the future. At the previous full Council meeting, Wiltshire Council had approved a draft submission on a pattern of divisions. There would be a consultation regarding this in February. Whilst Devizes would still have 7 divisions, it was likely that the boundaries of these divisions would change. The meeting was encouraged to look at the LGBCfE website for further details and to comment when the consultation was open.

·         Special Schools Update

The Chairman invited Cllr Laura Mayes as Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills to speak on this issue. Cllr Mayes stated that Wiltshire Council needed to expand the provision of school places for children with Special Education Needs and or Disabilities (SEND). A paper detailing the proposals was to be discussed at the Cabinet meeting on 27 November 2018. The proposals included investing around £20m in two new centres of excellence in the county which would be purpose-built and amply equipped. The new and extended campuses were proposed for Rowdeford, near Devizes, and Exeter House, Salisbury. The SEND schools in Trowbridge and Chippenham would be closing in 2023 when the new schools were operational. All pupils and staff from Trowbridge and Chippenham would come together at Rowdeford. The new schools would also work with mainstream schools to help them with pupils with SEND.

·         Cllr Anna Cuthbert

The Chairman announced that at the Full Council meeting on 16 October 2018, it was agreed to give Cllr Anna Cuthbert an extended leave of absence until the end of February 2019, due to ill health. Cllr Mayes would cover responsibilities for Rowde parish, Cllr Seed would cover Bromham and Cllr Gamble would cover Potterne. These members were also exercising planning call-in responsibilities for those parishes.

·         Graeme Morrison, Community Engagement Manager (CEM)

The Chairman announced that the Devizes CEM, Graeme Morrison, was changing roles and therefore would no longer be the CEM for Devizes. The Chairman thanked Mr Morrison for all his hard work and extended the Boards appreciation. The Chairman also welcomed Richard Rodgers who was currently the CEM for Corsham, as he would be covering the Devizes area.