Agenda and minutes

Councillor Carole McCulloch – personal

Councillor Glyn Jenkins – personal

Liam Searle – Neighbourhood Development Officer, Aspley.

In Councillor McCulloch’s absence, the Chair was taken by Councillor Marcia Watson, the Vice-Chair.

None.

Last meeting held 11 May 2016 (for confirmation)

Subject to Councillor Saghir requesting that his apologies be recorded, and to removing a second reference to ‘Apologies for Absence’, the minutes of the meeting held on 11 May 2016 were agreed as a true record and they were signed by the Chair of this meeting.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Rob Gabbitas, Neighbourhood Development Officer, introduced a report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services, inviting the Committee to note the community representative nominations for the municipal year 2016/17, and to welcome new community representatives to the meeting.

In the brief discussion which followed, Jeni Smith confirmed that she represented the Aspley Partnership (not the Aspley and Bell’s Lane Partnership).

RESOLVED to note the accepted community representative nominations to the West Area Committee for the municipal year 2016/17 as listed in Appendix 2 to the report.

Update from Sergeant Gary Bulmer

Sergeant Gary Bulmer, Nottinghamshire Police, provided verbal update on Nottinghamshire Police actions and issues in West Area, highlighting the following points:

(a)  Nottinghamshire Police has worked with other agencies to address crime and anti-social behaviour on Tenbury Drive associated with a specific property. A co-ordinated strategy of assigning officers to individuals, involving social services and Nottingham City Homes colleagues and upping patrols to disperse those visiting the property has calmed the situation;

(b)  a similar approach is being adopted to tackle aggression and anti-social behaviour arising between 2 competing sets of youths congregating on Beckley Road;

(c)  a Criminal Behaviour Order has been issued to a private landlord on Bell’s Lane to address criminal activity at the property;

(d)  targeted work will be put in place to address the emergence of a large group of youths congregating in Bilborough ward;

(e)  action is being taken to tackle incidents of rough sleeping on allotments in Leen Valley ward.

During discussion, the Committee made the following points:

(f)  there was unanimous support for the sensible, co-ordinated and effective approach to dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour on Tenbury Crescent;

(g)  the issue of anti-social behaviour caused by misuse of mini-motorbikes and quad bikes was raised by several community representatives. Sergeant Bulmer agreed that this was an issue, but cautioned that the most effective solution involved reinforcing how dangerous the misuse of these machines were, alongside using intelligence from the community to identify and tackle individuals when the vehicles were not on the road. Pursuing min-motorbikes and quad bikes on the road was not favoured by the Police, as it put citizens and officers at increased risk;

(h)  Sergeant Bulmer also invited the Committee to inform the Police about popular ‘circuits’ used by individuals on mini-motorbikes and quad bikes.

RESOLVED to commend the Police for its approach to addressing crime and anti-social behaviour, and to note the verbal update.

Update from Groundwork

Steve Burch and Jo Phelan of Groundwork Greater Nottingham introduced an updated report, copies of which were circulated at the meeting, informing the Committee of progress on delivering Area Based Grant schemes in West Area, and highlighting the following:

(a)  Employment and Skills outcomes: 3 subcontractors (GGN, EMPLEO and Strelley Community Club) delivered universal work club provision for citizens aged 29 and over. 66 work club sessions were delivered, with 44 people accessing work clubs, both of which met or exceeded targets. 5 jobs and 3 placements had been secured, with 9 volunteer positions and 2 L2 training opportunities delivered;

(b)  Targeted and Diversionary Youth Activity outcomes: 157 young people had accessed 27 diversionary sessions, while 95 targeted sessions had been delivered 47 were considered to be less at risk as a result of interventions. Delivery and access exceeded targets;

(c)  Support for Older People: 38 activities delivered and 58 older people supported through a variety of interventions;

(d)  Community Centres: open hours targets were exceeded in quarter 1;

(e)  Voluntary Support: there was a delay in finalising the Service Level Agreement with Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service, which has in turn delayed delivery ‘on the ground’. The Small steps Big Changes family Mentor Team have recruited 10 volunteer mentors in Aspley.

The Committee welcomed the activity being delivered. During discussion, Mr Mervin Goring from the Nottingham Focus on Wellbeing group thanked the Groundwork representatives for exploring joint working, and expressed the view that there was a significant gap in provision of mental health outreach work.

RESOLVED to note the update from the Lead Organisation. 

Report of the Director of Public Health

Gayle Aughton, Commissioning Manager, introduced a report of the Director of Public Health, updating the Committee on actions being taken to involve councillors and communities in informing the needs assessment, service provision and promotion of the health and wellbeing agenda in their Area.

Ms Aughton explained that a particular priority was to identify barriers to accessing services, and to inform the health and wellbeing agenda at the local level. Ms Aughton also requested that a one-page document, capturing the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, be circulated with the minutes of this meeting.

The Committee welcomed the report and councillors and community representatives undertook to provide detailed comments to Ms Aughton by email.

RESOLVED to note the report and to comment on next steps for health and wellbeing improvements for citizens by separate correspondence.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Rob Gabbitas, Neighbourhood Development Officer, introduced a report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services, outlining the Area Committee priorities agreed following a round of area cluster meetings. The 4 priorities were: Glaisdale Drive Development, Jobs and Training, Health and Community Safety.

Mr Gabbitas advised the Committee that actions for Community Safety will be drawn up following the next West Area Cluster review, and expressed the view that while solid progress has been made Jobs and Training, more work was needed on the Health priority.

The Committee noted the report without substantive discussion.

Report of Nottingham City Homes

Kristian Murden, Tenancy and Estate Manager, introduced a report of the Chief Executive, Nottingham City Homes.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  note the performance information contained in appendices 1 and 2 of the report;

(2)  note the allocation of funds;

(3)  approve the Area Capital Programme funding requests;

(4)  circulate information on the curtailment of the cladding discount scheme to private home owners to those affected.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Rob Gabbitas, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented a report on the Area Capital Fund.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  note the funds available as follows;

(2)  approve the following Area Capital schemes.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

The Committee noted the issues and priorities being addressed by each Neighbourhood Action Team, and details of local activities and future events, without substantive comment.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Rob Gabbitas, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented a report on projects approved under delated authority.

RESOLVED to note the funding decisions approved by the Director of Neighbourhood Services under delegated authority.