Agenda item

To receive any updates from partners – Parish and Town Councils, Police, Fire and Rescue Service, CAYPIG, BA13+Community Area Partnership, NHS and Westbury Group Practice on the progress of the PCC.

Partner updates were received from;

Wiltshire Police

Lindsey Winter, Sector Inspector for the Westbury area expressed her disappointment at the performance figures for Westbury and the surrounding villages that showed a 5% increase on figures for the same reporting period last year.  She reported that a huge amount of work has been undertaken by Police, Youth Services and Wiltshire Council. There had been a successful application to the Magistrates Court for an Anti-social Behaviour Order and a number of Anti-social behavioural contracts have been agreed.  This work has resulted in 44 less incidents of anti-social behaviour in the community compared with this time last year.

Wiltshire Police continue to strive to make this the safest county and there is reduction across the Westbury area in violent crime.  In total there have been 35 fewer victims of assaults.

101 is the new non-emergency phone number for Wiltshire Police.

http://www.wiltshire.police.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3290:101-launched-in-wiltshire&catid=43:news&Itemid=50

The roll out of this new non-emergency number is part of a national programme to make it easier for you to contact your local police. 101 will be used for non-emergencies such as:

·       contacting local officers

·       getting crime prevention advice

·       making us aware of policing issues in your local area

·       making an appointment with a police officer

·       for any other non-emergency

She went on to explain that there was a new operating model for response units. All response teams would now work out from 4 hubs Trowbridge, Chippenham, Devizes and Salisbury with a newly devised shift pattern which will provide officers in the right place, at the right time and can provide the appropriate cover for the night time economy. Police, Fire and Rescue, PCT and Wiltshire Council as partners, are working together to reduce crime.

A question was raised regarding the number of crimes in relation to the percentage of detections.  Lindsey explained that there were a number of stages to go through to get detections, and this remains a challenge. She would explain the process with a presentation at the next Area Board in December.

Cllr Cuthbert-Murray thanked Lindsey for the improved visibility of officers in the Westbury area.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue

http://www.wiltsfire.gov.uk/

Mike Franklin reported that there had been 2 accidental fires in the last two months, the lowest number of fires in the last two years.  The Fire and Rescue Service are proactively engaged in Home Fire checks and working closely with Wiltshire Council on the Warm and Well Scheme.

Mike stressed that people with open fires should have their chimneys swept every 3 to 6 months.

Mike agreed to provide a written report for the next meeting, which the Chairman explained would be easier for people to understand.

CAYPIG

Sally Willox and members of the CAYPIG updated the Board on young people’s issues in the Westbury community area. The main issues the CAYPIG group are currently engaged in are Multi-media room development, 13-19 Youth Strategy/Youth Services proposals and Youth Shelter project.

The group are turning a redundant room in the centre into a multi-media room, which will then benefit the community, specifically young people but also other groups.  This project is a needs led idea from young people, with a core group of 20 young people leading it.  A DVD film produced by young people showing how the grant was spent will be shown at the December Area Board.

From May to August 2011 young people took  part in consultations in relation to children’s and young people’s services across Wiltshire, as part of a review and development of a new strategy to ensure that services in place are meeting their needs, are adequate, accessible, affordable and effective.

This is a time of change in Youth Work for Wiltshire but it is being embraced positively in Westbury, whilst at the same time ensuring a high quality youth development service continues to function and be offered toy young people.

Young people have requested improvements in youth shelters across Westbury for some time now and lots of research has been conducted over the past 2 years, looking at locations, designs, funding and so on. Over the past few months a small working group has been developing this project, which will involve upgrading the existing Penleigh Park shelter, in the same location and moving that one to a different location. This will then enable young people to have areas that they can meet, reducing the need to move them on from locations that they are not meant to be, such as parks for the under 12s. Young people are very excited about this project and are appreciative of all the support with it. The project is due to start in October 2011 and has been given the go ahead.

BA13+Community Area Partnership (BA13+CAP)

Reverend Jonathan Burke informed the board that the CAP had provided responses to both the Core Strategy and Youth Strategy consultation documents.  Work was ongoing with the Restorative Justice project, and a number of small grants had been awarded.

PCC Update

Building has finally started.  The build will take 42 weeks and the completion date earmarked is the 5 August 2012, this will be followed by the ‘snagging’ process and the installation of IT with a view to be up and running by the end of August 2012.

Cllr Cuthbert-Murray expressed his delight at start of the building process and asked whether the MIU unit would be brought back to Westbury. It was explained that that decision was not part of the PCC remit to make however the new PCC would have the facilities.

Cabinet Update

Keith Humphries, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing gave a brief update on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting that was held to discuss the senior management restructure.

Cabinet considered feedback submitted during the consultation period, before agreeing the new model which deletes the post of chief executive and reduces the number of corporate directors from four to three making year-on-year savings of £500,000.

The implementation of this decision and its implications for particular individuals will be considered separately by the Senior Officer’s Employment Sub-Committee and the Officer Appointments Committee. It is anticipated that the new leadership team will be in place in November.  

The cabinet also agreed to recommend the Council to agree that the Service Director Human Resources will be designated the head of paid service.  Other necessary changes to the constitution will be considered by Council on 8 November.