Agenda item

To receive updates from the following partners:

·         Wiltshire Police

·         Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·         Schools Update

·         Health Services

·         Town and Parish Councils

Written updates were available in the agenda pack from Healthwatch Wiltshire and the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

In addition to the written updates, the following verbal updates were given by partners present:

·         Wiltshire Police

Sgt Rob Milne responded to a question from the Chair regarding drug dealing in Devizes and whether county lines, which had been in the press a lot of late, was an issue in Devizes.

Sgt Milne stated that the issue of county lines caused a lot of confusion. County lines drug dealing was far more organised than normal drug dealing and generally involved much higher levels of violence. It was often assumed that as there were drug users in a community that there must be an issue with county lines. However, the current intelligence in Devizes was that this was not the case. There were vulnerable people and drug users in Devizes who may be susceptible to ‘cuckooing’, (where dealers from county lines gangs may set up in their property), however, there was no evidence to support that this was happening currently. There were hot spots in Devizes that the police were aware of and there were often warrants and operations undertaken that did not get publicised.

In response to a question from the Board it was stated that people who had served their prison sentence had paid their debt to society and therefore were entitled to move back to the area.

Cllr Cuthbert thanked the police for their work in schools, as it was positive that children could be confident of the police and not afraid of them.

Sgt Milne stated that due to a slight raise in the police precept there was

a new community coordinator, who had better oversight and that education and outreach was now working more effectively.

The Board mentioned an evening that had been held at Potterne Youth Club with the police firearms team, around 20 young people had been in attendance and the event was a success, raising the awareness of the dangers of weapons.

In response to a question from the audience regarding a group of youths hanging around a car park near Stanford Court and being noisy, it was stated that the police do try to minimise anti-social behaviour by patrolling. There had to be a balance, young people had to go somewhere and teenagers had been doing this sort of thing for years. However, if their behaviour tipped over into true anti-social behaviour or criminal activity then the police would act. The Chair stated that this was a Wiltshire Council car park and that actions had previously been taken by the council to try to minimise problems. He offered to try to find out more to see if any actions could be taken.

The Chair thanked Sgt Milne for his report and hard work.

·         Health Services

The Chairman read a written statement from the CCG updating on the urgent care centre in Devizes.

The design and build contractor had been appointed and design work was underway. The outline business case was at an advanced stage and was expected to be submitted for a decision in summer 2019, and if approved they were targeting spring 2020 for the completion of the full business case. Looking ahead, if the project proceeded through these decision stages along this timeline,  it was estimated that construction could be complete in late 2021.

The Chairman stated that he would like further information and requested the Democratic Services Officer try to obtain an update for the next Area Board.

·         Schools Update

Sarah Lowkis, Headteacher, Lavington School gave an update. A new multi academy trust consisting of 5 primary schools and Lavington School went live on 1 April 2019. Lavington School were working with Devizes School on the satellite sixth form. It was hoped that by working together all age groups of education will improve across rural Wiltshire. One of the pupils was to take part in a cross channel swim, raising funds for a pupil at the school with Leukaemia.

Phil Bevan, Headteacher, Devizes School gave an update the sixth form collaboration with Lavington School had received ministerial approval, so there would now be a 6th form over 2 sites for about 200 pupils, which they were looking to increase to 300 pupils. This was fantastic news and the schools were very pleased. The school had received a good outcome on their Ofsted report.

Cllr Whitehead advised the meeting of a new, better version of the HomeRun app. The purpose of the app was to encourage parents to share cars on the school run, reducing congestion and pollution. It was reported that in some areas the app had reduced school run traffic by 14%. Parents were encouraged to download and use the app.

The Chairman stated that hoping to organise a careers fair for year 13 pupils in late September or early October. They were looking at around 15-20 local employers (public and private sector) taking part and were trying to build links between town and plain.

·         Town and Parish Councils

Simon Fisher, Devizes Town Council clerk gave an update to the meeting. Focus groups were being held regarding the Market Place and future of Devizes, everyone wanted Devizes to prosper. The plans for would be back from designers very soon and these would then go out to consultation. After the consultation DTC would formulate a plan, and were working towards implementation in June, for a year trial at which time they would came back to Wiltshire Council to advise whether more or less parking spaces were needed in the Market Place.

Regarding neighbourhood planning DTC had met with the strategic planning team at Wiltshire Council. They would be meeting with the  parishes and villages as well to discuss matters early. Parishes were encouraged to get in touch so that they could attend the meeting about the neighbourhood plan.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their contributions.