Meeting documents
Area Forum (Birkenhead & Tranmere and Rock Ferry)
Tuesday, 2nd October 2007
Present
Chair
Cllr Jean Stapleton
Ward Councillors
WJ Davies, PL Davies, Brian Kenny, Mrs CM Meaden
Community Representatives
Lenny McCormick , Mike Parkinson, Stephanie Reid (Tranmere Alliance), Hazel Roberts (Together)
Lead Officer
David Ball (Head of Housing and Regeneration)
Area Service Co-ordinator
Andrew Brannan
Street Scene Manager
Gary Cummings
Wirral Primary Care Trust
Tina Long (Primary Care Trust)
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Graham Hewitt
Merseyside Police
Insp. Mick Blease
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
Myles Platt (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service)
Other Partners
Myrtle Lacey (Age Concern Wirral)
Council Officers
Ian Lowrie (Community Safety Team)
Apologies
Cllr Moira McLaughlin
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - Welcome / Introductions / Apologies
- Minute 2 - Area Co-ordinators Report, including: Matters Arising from June 2007
- Minute 3 - Public question time
- Minute 4 - Partner updates: Community Safety, Fire Service, Wirral Primary Care Trust, Older Peoples Parliament & Police
- Minute 5 - Future meetings/presentations: Monday 4th February 2008 – Rock Ferry Community Centre (by Rock Ferry One Stop Shop)
- Minute 6 - Any Other Business
Minute 1 - Welcome / Introductions / Apologies
Minute Text :
The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed forum members and 17 members of the public to the Area Forum meeting in Birkenhead Town Hall. She invited forum members to introduce themselves.
Apologies were received from Councillor M McLaughlin.
Minute 2 - Area Co-ordinators Report, including: Matters Arising from June 2007
Minute Text :
The Area Co-ordinator informed the forum that the minutes of the last meeting held on 5 June 2007 had been incorporated into the Area Co-ordinator’s report. The response to the query on the Ferries Credit Union has been included on page 9 of the report. The report also included local and partner updates, and an update on the Community Initiatives Funding was included on pages 37/49.
The Area Co-ordinator also informed the forum that copies of Tranmere Together's Children and Young Peoples Plan and the Area Forum newsletter were available at the meeting. He also requested that if anyone wished to receive future forum notifications via e-mail (to cut down on paper usage) could they please contact us at engage@wirral.gov.uk
Minute Decision :
Resolved that the Area Co-ordinator be thanked for his report.
Minute 3 - Public question time
Minute Text :
The following written questions had been received from Philip Barton, and were responded to by David Ball:
1. What is the current situation with regard to major redevelopment projects in Birkenhead - specifically the proposed Claughton Road area supermarket and the Europa Boulevard casino and bowling alley?
A. The supermarket has now received planning permission and a start on site is expected in January 2008 following the Christmas period. The Council is in discussions with a developer for the Europa Boulevard sites but for commercial in confidence reasons cannot say more at this time.
2. Is money still available for the quality resurfacing of the Grange Road shopping area? If not, where has this money been spent?
A. I am not aware that money has ever been available for this. There have been discussions about improving this area to complement the new supermarket development and some design work has been looked at following the trip to Warrington Town Centre that was made some time ago. Until we knew the footprint of the food retail store there was no point looking at Grange Road improvements but may be it is now time to do so. However, there is no identified funding for this at present.
3. Is the pedestrianisation of Argyle Street from the Conway Street roundabout to Hamilton Square, as laid out in the draft Tourism Strategy, still planned to happen during the 2009/10 financial year?
A. This idea was part of the pedestrian spine concept linking Woodside to Birkenhead Town Centre. It was only a concept and would need detailed discussions with Engineer’s and the Police etc. Before looking at this further we will need to be clearer on the shape of the Woodside proposals (Neptune and Peel are developing their thinking on this at present in the context of the master plan for the area) and the exact form of the Town Centre Redevelopment being proposed by Warners. This will take some time to do and 2009/10 may be too early to implement a pedestrianised scheme for this area of Birkenhaad even if it is desirable to do so. There is currently no funding identified for this scheme.
David Ball agreed to update the forum on these as progress is made.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that David Ball to update the forum on progress re: Birkenhead redevelopment projects; resurfacing of Grange Road Shopping Centre; and the pedestrianisation of Argyle Street.
Minute 4 - Partner updates: Community Safety, Fire Service, Wirral Primary Care Trust, Older Peoples Parliament & Police
Minute Text :
Police
Inspector Blease informed the forum that he has been in the acting chief inspector role in Wallasey for the last two months, so has been absent from the forum area. He informed the forum that the area commander, Colin Matthews will be leaving for London. Graham Yipp will cover as acting area commander from October until the post is filled. He then gave the forum some information on recorded neighbourhood offences in the forum area (compared between April to September 2006 and April to September 2007). There were:
- 632 less victims of crime - a fall of 22% (this has been a continual fall over the last four years)
- 256 less violence crimes - a fall of 33%
- 14 less robberies - a fall of 35%
- 28 less dwelling burglaries - a fall of 24%
-16 less thefts from motor vehicles - a fall of 12%
- 6 less thefts of motor vehicles - a fall of 10%
- 302 less criminal damage - a fall of 38%
- 478 less anti-social behaviour - a fall of 18%
The criminal damage category included reports made by council tenants for damage caused to their own windows, as they need an incident report number before the Council will replace the windows. To reach 1000 would be a great success.
The target rates for detection set by the Police Authority are 28% for all crime, this has increased from 30.7% to 36.2% over the above period.
People power successes have included the following:
- 100 people attended the first public meeting called to discuss anti-social behaviour in Mersey and Victoria parks, where we have tried to resolve problems - these meetings will continue.
- Zero tolerance signs have been adopted by Bootle
- Operation Marton - this has led to a reduction in alcohol sales
- Lighting has been installed in Mersey park and is to be installed in Victoria park
- Section 30 Orders - allowing groups of 3 or more young people to be taken home - out of the 11 that have been granted in Wirral only two, Borough Road and Mersey/Victoria parks, have shown an improvement
- Licensing authorities are becoming stronger and closing down offending off-licences. The Chief Constable of Cheshire gives confiscated alcohol to charities / groups to use as prizes at Christmas, and this is something that could be done here.
- Think 21 Scheme - the off-licences are on board with this scheme - many 15 year olds can look 18 so need to think that customers look 21 rather than 18.
- Anti-social neighbours - Jean Booth from the anti-social behaviour team attended these meetings
- Payes Police - the Chief Constable donated £5000 to Wirral and some of this funding has been used to get goods for the cricket club
- Consultation process - forms have been delivered to all of the houses around the parks and to the youth forums and this has been successful.
Good news stories
Operation Safespace - took place in all Wirral's parks during Summer 2007. This led to 41 arrests; 5 fixed penalty notices; 179 alcohol confiscations; 263 stop searches / checks; and 6 acceptable behaviour contracts agreed with young people and their parents. Nearly 10,000 young people took part in diversionary events held in the parks.
Street drinkers - there has been fantastic support, particularly from off-licences who have shown street drinkers photos to staff, who have refused to serve them.
Robberies - during August 2007 handbag robberies, particularly from old ladies had increased. CCTV footage from near the Rock Ferry Library was retrieved with a partial outline of the offender. The route from the crime was searched and a cap was found. A PCSO identified a male from the CCTV and the name was checked against the DNA from the cap. One male was arrested and 14 offences have been detected to date.
Inspector Blease was given a round of applause and thanked for his update. The following points / questions were raised:
Q. Why do you think Morrisons asked a pensioner for proof of age?
A. If a retailer is caught selling to minors on three occasions then they can be banned from selling alcohol for 28 days, therefore some large organisations have a policy of always requesting proof of age when selling alcohol.
Q. Philip Barton - What can be done about home delivery of alcohol to minors?
A. We are looking at doing test home purchases to tackle this.
Q. What is being done about off-street drinkers?
A. Need to get the Police involved and arrange for anti-social behaviour orders to be issued.
Q. Philip Barton - people cause anti-social behaviour on private property as they know that the Police can't get to them .
A. They are not beyond anti-social behaviour offences if they are inside a dwelling, it is just more difficult to set up the orders.
Inspector Blease agreed to discuss this in more detail at the end of the meeting.
Q. Mary Petris - Can the alcohol seized be covered by the policy used for disposing of lost property?
A. The sales of lost property take place in auction rooms in Liverpool and the proceeds go to the Police Authority. The auctions will not take perishable goods.
A member of the public thanked the Police for all their help and Inspector Blease said that he will feed this back to his staff.
Philip Barton - Home delivery - looking at doing test home purchases to tackle this
Community Safety
Ian Lowrie - community safety affects everyone in Wirral. There are eight talking cameras in Wirral, and some of these are in the town centre. All of the funding for these was received from the Government. It has taken a long time to set these up but they are now all in operation and have been very effective.
Stealth software - an American company produced this, it goes onto computers and enables a stolen computer to be tracked back to wherever it is being used. Eleven schools have been targeted for this to be placed on computers that are loaned to pupils to help with their homework. This offers improved safety for the pupils and can save council tax money.
Parking wardens do keep an watch on vehicles with goods left on display. Details are passed to headquarters who carry out a check on the vehicle and send out a leaflet to the owners of the vehicle to be more vigilant. Most thefts from vehicles are opportunist and at Christmas shopping time people need to be aware of this.
From Monday this week the anti-social behaviour team (who will be visible in their distinctive red jackets) will be involved in initiatives to give young people more positive things to do, thanks to a partnership with the Police and other agencies.
Ian Lowrie was thanked for his update, and no questions were raised on this.
Fire and Rescue Service
Myles Platt gave the forum the following statistics relating to the local fire station at Birkenhead:
- 420 home fire safety checks carried out per month. If anyone knows of any vulnerable people that may need this service please urge them to contact us.
- accidental dwelling fires average at about 2 per month per 10,000 head of population. This is directly related to the home fire safety checks.
- vehicles fires are down to 0.6 per month per 10,000 head of population. This has been a major success over the last 2/3 years and has fallen from 1/2 a night to 1/2 a month.
- anti-social behaviour, we are now only called out to small fires about seven times per month. This is due to work carried out in partnership with the anti-social behaviour team.
- 300 electric blankets have been replaced and a further 300 tested on Merseyside thanks to a joint venture (the winter warm campaign for older people using electric blankets) with the Fire Support Network - a registered charity affiliated to the Fire Service.
Future Plans
Strategies are being put in place to tackle potential risks. Last years grass fire strategy was not needed due to the rain. We have put together a robust bonfire reduction strategy to reduce nuisance bonfires, in partnership with the Anti-social Behaviour Team and the Probation Service. The Fire Service will supply the vehicles and equipment and will go and clear any hazards over the bonfire period. If anyone spots any hazards please report these to the Birkenhead Fire Station (0151 650 0422).
Myles Platt was thanked for his update and the following points / questions were raised:
Mary Petris
1. Are you doing yourself out of a job with all these prevention strategies?
A. We are now more involved in working with partners to prevent things from happening rather than waiting for them to happen.
2. How do you approach young people about stopping them throwing things at vehicles?
A. We work with our partners (Road Safety Team, Police, Outreach workers) to try and get the message out to young people.
3. How is the garden coming along?
A. We have about 50 young people spending 2/3 nights per week at the market garden. It is very rewarding and gives young people a sense of responsibility / respect.
Wirral Primary Care Trust (PCT)
Tina Long informed the forum that this is her first time at this meeting and that she is fairly new to Wirral. There are three key things that the Trust are involved in:
Small Grants Programme
There will be grants of up to £5,000 available to community and voluntary groups to be made available through the area forums. This will be advertised in October and the forms will be available form the Community Engagement Team at Wallasey Town Hall (0151 691 8650 / engage@wirral.gov.uk). The closing date for applications will be 14 November 2007.
Involvement Strategy
This is now being developed and we are keen to have more active involvement with local people. Please let us have your views, comments and stories on your health services. Leaflets to complete and return with comments were available at the meeting or can be obtained by telephone (0800 085 1547) or e-mail (haveyoursay@wirralpct.nhs.uk).
Commissioning Strategy
We are looking from now to five years ahead. Most of the money for the PCTs is used to commission services from the Wirral Hospital Trust. We are looking at where demand is likely to be over the next five years. Wirral has an ageing population and this will increase significantly over the next ten years and we will need to look at what services may be required as a result of this. Another area we will be looking at is health inequalities - to address gaps in health and to try and prevent people becoming ill. If anyone has any views on this please send them in via leaflet mentioned above.
Tina Long was thanked for her update and the following points / questions were raised:
1. Why are a number of GPs and surgeries breaking away from the National Health Service?
A. The PCTs have responsibility to commission services, many of which are provided through GPs and hospitals. The public would like us, where possible, to provide services more locally than in the past. The scheme is about a group of GPs in Birkenhead providing a more local service.
2. There are concerns that this is the private sector coming in through the back door, that some GPs / surgeries are using cheaper drugs and are opting out of NHS and going private.
A. The PCT is doing this in an open and transparent way, and the scheme is about GPs coming together to look at how they can provide quicker and more local services. No decision has been made on who will provide these services. Tina agreed to provide a briefing on this for the forum.
3. Philip Barton - Social Services direct payments are receiving huge cuts. The PCT are refusing to pay its part of the costs to give financial support for people within their homes. The care package for a double leg amputee who is elderly and has no relatives has been cut from 22 to 6 hours per week, what plans do the PCT have to help? Philip gave another example of a situation where homecare was not provided. This is a general issue that the PCT needs to address.
A. The PCT is committed to providing such support and have a duty to ensure that continuing health care is delivered. Tina agreed to discuss this further at the end of the meeting.
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WHT)
Graham Hewitt informed the forum that the WHT is pleased to have a regular slot on the forum and is keen to engage with Wirral people at the forums. Information on the WHT was made available at the meeting. The Trust are impressed with the enthusiasm of the governors that have been appointed.
Topical areas affecting the Trust:
Beating bugs - Clatterbridge has never had the blood-born MRSA infection. Overall infection rates are some of the lowest in the north west.
Access to services - no patients wait for more than 11 weeks for an outpatient appointment when referred by their GP. Most patients will wait no longer than 17 weeks for an operation, except for orthopaedics where the waiting time is 20 weeks. Cancer referrals are carried out within two weeks, well within the national guidance.
Improving our facilities - £3.1m has been invested in a digital x-ray machine which has been in place for one month, now there is no longer a need to move resources around Wirral and has speeded up reviewing and reporting times.
Ronald MacDonald initiative - more babies are travelling from across Cheshire to this baby unit. £750,000 has been invested to ensure accommodation is available for parents to look after their babies.
Your views - a discharge questionnaire to find out patients views on our service was introduced in December 2006. The results from these were made available at the meeting.
Graham Hewitt was thanked for his update and the following points / questions were raised:
1. There is no such place as Arrowe Park Hospital any more.
A. We have changed the name of the trust, but the hospital will always be known as Arrowe Park.
2. Councillor Bill Davies - what is your claim for success re: MRSA?
A. Many people may carry round blood-born infections which remain dormant, therefore MRSA is out in the community. We work very hard to ensure that this is not allowed to be transferred to a transmitting infection. This is more difficult in busy A&E units.
3. Mary Petris - nurses are often seen going home from hospitals in their uniforms, why aren't they cleaned at the hospitals as this may stop the spread of bugs?
A. There is no recorded case anywhere in the world of someone catching a bug from a uniform. The hospital used to have big changing rooms and a laundry, but now only those in intensive care / A&E change at the hospital.
Older Peoples Parliament (OPP)
Lenny McCormick - the OPP has been running for nine months, there were 40 members at the start and the membership has increased to 50. We meet four times a year at Wallasey Town Hall Chambers, and report back every quarter. We have six sub committees, and each of these work on projects such as disability. One issue we successfully resolved was securing an increase of eight additional disabled parking spaces at the hospital that are monitored every hour and illegal cars are issued with penalty notices.
We still need more members so if anyone would like to join us please contact Jamie Anderson at Age Concern or Tracey Smith at Wallasey Town Hall.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
i. Inspector Blease, Ian Lowrie, Myles Platt, Tina Long, Graham Hewitt and Lenny McCormick be thanked for their updates
ii Tina Long to provide a briefing on future of GPs / surgeries within the NHS
Minute 5 - Future meetings/presentations: Monday 4th February 2008 – Rock Ferry Community Centre (by Rock Ferry One Stop Shop)
Minute Text :
The next meeting will be held at the Rock Ferry Community library, Old Chester Road on Monday 4th February 2008 at 7pm.
Councillor Bill Davies suggested that Tourism could give a presentation on the Capital of Culture and what impact this will have on Wirral.
Mike Parkinson suggested an update on Birkenhead Park, as there is some interesting information on what has happened at the park and its success rates.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that a presentation about the Capital of Culture and an update on Birkenhead Park be arranged for the next forum meeting.
Minute 6 - Any Other Business
Minute Text :
As there was no further business the Chair thanked everyone for attending the meeting and closed it at 8.20pm.
(Minutes Published: 13 December 2007)