Meeting documents
Area Forum (Birkenhead & Tranmere and Rock Ferry)
Tuesday, 3rd June 2008
Present
Chair
Cllr Jean Stapleton
Ward Councillors
PL Davies, Brian Kenny, M McLaughlin
Community Representatives
Peter Exley, Stephanie Reid (Tranmere Alliance), Hazel Roberts (Together)
Lead Officer
David Ball (Head of Housing and Regeneration)
Area Service Co-ordinator
Andy Brannan
Street Scene Manager
Gary Cummings
Wirral Primary Care Trust
Kathy Doran
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Len Richards
Merseyside Police
Sergeant Kevin Jones
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
Sarah Patterson
Council Officers
Ian Lowrie (Community Safety Team), Carol Sharratt (Minute Taker)
Apologies
Cllr Bill Davies, Cllr Chris Meaden, Mike Parkinson, Alan Stennard (Director of Regeneration)
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - Welcome / Introductions / Apologies
- Minute 2 - Area Co-ordinators Report Including: Matters Arising from February 08
- Minute 3 - Public question time
- Minute 4 - Area Forum Partner updates
- Minute 5 - Future meetings/presentations October 2008 Venue to be confirmed
- Minute 6 - Any Other Business
Minute 1 - Welcome / Introductions / Apologies
Minute Text :
The Chair opened the meeting, welcomed the forum members and 10 members of the public to the Area Forum meeting in the Birkenhead Town Hall. She invited forum members to introduce themselves and give a brief update.
Apologies were received from Alan Stennard, Mike Parkinson, Councillors Chris Meaden and Bill Davies
Minute 2 - Area Co-ordinators Report Including: Matters Arising from February 08
Minute Text :
The Area Co-ordinator, Andy Brannan, informed the forum that the minutes of the last meeting held on 4 February 2008 had been incorporated into the Area Co-ordinator’s report (copies of which were available for members of the public at the meeting). The matters arising were included on page 12 of the report, including an update on Grange Road Shopping Centre. He invited David Ball to give a an update on Peel Holdings Development.
David Ball informed the forum that meetings with peel Holdings are being held re: Wirral Waters proposals. Peel Holdings will be carrying out consultations on this development over the Summer, dates to be announced shortly.
The Area Co-ordinator informed the forum that the meeting was to have a different format, with exhibition stands on Reach Out, Wirral Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted, and Get Into Reading for inspection at the end of the meeting instead of presentations, and requested that everyone take time to look at these and ask questions. He also showed the forum an extract from a DVD to promote Area Forum Funding, and informed the forum that this was filmed by school children and is being entered into Wirral's Schools Festival. The Area Forums have funded over £1m to more than 500 groups.
The Chair informed the forum that extract from the DVD gave a flavour of what can be achieved through funding and thanked the Area Co-ordinator for his update.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that the Area Co-ordinator be thanked for his report.
Minute 3 - Public question time
Minute Text :
The following written question had been received and was responded to by David Ball:
Q. What is the latest position re: Byrne Avenue Baths?
A. the baths have been run by the Byrne Avenue Recreational Trust for the last 12 years, and the Trust has responsibility for the addressing issues re: maintenance of the building. The Council has raised issues over the maintenance of the baths and is awaiting a response from the Trust, and will take a report to Cabinet on 12th June 2008.
Q. Peter Exley - Why have the issues re: Byrne Avenue baths been raised?
A. David Ball - The lease taken on by the Trust included responsibility for the maintenance of the building. The Council has concerns over the running of the building and this is an issue that has been going on for sometime.
Q. Member of Public - Why was the facility leased to a trust that did not have the resources to maintain it?
A. David Ball - At the time the Trust took on the lease there were a number of proposals enabling trusts and community organisations to take over and run facilities for the local community. It has been the Trust's responsibility to maintain and run the building, but it seems that they have not raised enough revenue to achieve this.
Q. Hugh Langford - Was this leased to remove financial responsibility from the Council, and were the Trust too keen to take this on and not given enough funding support from the Council?
A. Councillor McLaughlin - the Trust were very keen to take on this facility. The council have been supporting the Trust with a grant of £20,000 per year since 1992. There was a clear understanding that the Trust had responsibility for running and maintenance. David Ball - When the asset was transferred it was fit for purpose. The trust has not raised enough revenue to run and maintain the facility to the standards required for safety and the Council is trying to support the Trust, but it is the Trust's responsibility.
Peter Exley added that believed that the building was going to be closed so was taken over by the Trust to keep it open. Hazel Roberts confirmed this.
Q. Peter Exley - Is it normal for a lease to include maintenance responsibilities?
A. David Ball - the lease was a full repairing lease. Councillor McLaughlin - funding has been obtained to do some of the urgent work, but the Council cannot afford to take on financial responsibility for this.
Q. Hugh Langford - there are not enough facilities in the Together area for young people, and it is the Council's responsibility to ensure facilities are provided.
A. Councillor Davies - the building was in a poor state of repair, but the Trust wanted to lease this as they felt they could make a success of this, and felt that they could do this better than the Council. The Council gave a yearly contribution of £20,000 towards this. It is a Victorian building that needs lots of maintenance, and the Trust is struggling to make this safe. The Council has raised issues re: safety as they would with any building. Councillor McLaughlin - the Council are concerned about groups that use the facility and agree that it is important that groups that use this are supported.
David Ball agreed to report back on this following Cabinet meeting on 12th June 2008.
Q. Peter Exley - are there any plans for the re: making the Sustainable Communities Act law? (Council's have an opportunity to sign up to this, to support local facilities and services, in October).
A. David Ball - agreed to look into this and to prepare report for next meeting.
Q. Jim Cadwallader - Has the Community Empowerment Bill been passed and could further information be given on this?
A. Councillor Davies - the aim of this is to give more powers to local communities. A White Paper has been promised for the Summer, where Hazel Blears will set out ideas on how would like to see power passed to local communities. This will enable communities to take more responsibility for the environment in which they live. This builds on the legislation enabling local communities to raise petitions to look at issues. A more informed discussion will be held on this once the White Paper is published.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
(i) David Ball to report back on Byrne Avenue Baths following Council's Cabinet meeting in June 2008.
(ii) David Ball to prepare report on the Sustainable Communities Act for next Area Co-ordinators report.
Minute 4 - Area Forum Partner updates
Minute Text :
Merseyside Police
Sergeant Kevin Jones informed the forum that Inspector Mick Blease has returned to Well Lane, but is on holiday at the moment, and gave the following updates:
Hot Spot locations
- Town Centre, drinkers have moved to Borough Road.
- Parks and Open Spaces, alcohol was seized from young people at field to the rear of Rock Ferry High School.
- Anti-Social Behaviour, hotspots are Bedford Road to New Chester Road, Victoria and Mersey Parks.
Police Surgeries - there are more surgeries in all three areas (Birkenhead, Tranmere and Rock Ferry) and details of these are available on the Police website.
Customer Service Legislation - this is a programme to check if people are happy with the service they have received. An independent company has been employed to speak to 600 people every month that have been affected by crime to see how the Police have performed, there has been a positive result on this. Our aim is to give a good service and deliver what people want, and request that you let us know how we are doing.
Community Safety
Ian Lowrie informed the forum of the following:
- the Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy is to be published soon, and will include performance indicators and targets achieved as a the result of our last three year Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Strategy, summarised below:
- 61% reduction of burglaries in peoples homes
- 63% reduction in theft of motor vehicles
- 49% reduction in theft of goods from vehicles
- 33% reduction in personal robberies
- 44% reduction in damage caused by vandals to peoples homes
- 51% reduction in arson
- 47% reduction in assaults where injury has been caused.
- Car Crime, we were invited to a conference in Warwick on car crime due to our reduction rates in vehicle crime. This was a high level conference with attendees from as far as Australia and America. We were able to prove how effective working together is to reduce crime and promote Tranmere (Together area) as a good example and to put Wirral on the map.
- Hate Crime, we have organised a conference for next Tuesday to address issues.
Q. Jim Cadwallader - is this conference open to the public and mechanisms should already be in place to tackle this?
A. It is by invitation, as numbers have to be limited due to size of the venue, but representatives from agencies and the community will be attending. We need to hold conference such as this to look to the future. The Chair added that Ian and his team have developed a model of good practice which has been recognised nationally and they should be congratulated on their work.
Tranmere Alliance
Stephanie Reid informed the forum of the following events / services offered by the alliance:
- Tranmere Show, to be held on 29 June 2008 at Victoria Park
- reach out service, information was available on this at the meeting
- Wirral mediation service, offering mediation to local people with neighbour disputes and giving free advice on welfare benefits and debts etc.
- supporting young advisors
Together
Hazel Roberts informed the forum of the following:
- Together board meeting to take place next week
- Together have appointed a new Community Engagement Manager
- Trampoline club is going very well
Peter Exley informed the forum of the following:
- Summer Green Fair is taking place on 5 July 2008 at Prenton High School for Girls
- there are no places for people to have a game of pool in the Rock Ferry area due to the closure of public houses
Streetscene
Gary Cummings informed the forum that an information wheel on recycling has been produced, copies were available at the meeting.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
Sarah Patterson informed the forum that an update had been included on page 21 of the Area Co-ordinators report and added that the Service is working with Wirral Anti-Social Behaviour team in the Milner area of Birkenhead, and that 2000 home fire safety checks per month are carried out in Wirral. Sarah also informed the forum that the service will attend community events such as the Tranmere Show.
NHS Trust
Len Richards informed the forum that a report on the trust was available at the meeting, and provided the following information:
- this is the end of the first year as a trust, we have been working closely with the Primary Care Trust on developing services and have had the following successes:
- designated as a Urology Cancer Centre
- piloting green light laser for prostate cancer
- reduction in waiting times for outpatients (2/5 weeks) and surgery (10 weeks)
- reduction in waiting list from over a year to six weeks for audiology services, due to increased capacity and provision of more services.
The trust is accountable to the community and needs people to join the trust, membership forms were available at the meeting.
Hugh Langford informed the forum that he is a public governor for the Tranmere area and that there are three public governors covering the forum area. The governors are an important part of the trust and they have to stand for re-election. The last time he stood no one stood against him, and Tranmere has the lowest membership (just over 60) so would urge anyone interested to join as there are no costs involved and it does not require enormous commitment.
Q. Peter Exley - when did the trust start, as did express an interest in becoming a governor but didn't hear anything more on this, the only communication he has had since then was handed out by the Primary Care Trust?
A. We were building up to becoming a trust 18 months prior to August last year, and will check if your details are included on the membership list.
Q. Jim Cadwallader - who oversees the contracts when applying for a post in the PCT/Hospital?
A. This is carried out by the Human Resources department.
Wirral Primary Care Trust
Kathy Doran informed the forum of the following:
- the PCT work closely with the hospital, but have responsibility of buying in health care. About 1/3rd of the funding is spent on the hospital and the rest is spent on community services, other hospitals, GPs, dentists etc.
- we had a fantastic response to our consultation with over 8,000 responses on services required, and 2,500 people wanting to get involved. London covers 7million and only received 5,000 responses.
- a report on the comments received will be taken to the board meeting next week, and details of the results will be included in a wrap around in the Wirral Globe, as are celebrating 60 years of the NHS.
Q. Hazel Roberts - can you make sure that people in the Rock Ferry and Tranmere area get this information , as many do not get the Globe delivered.
A. This will also be put in the Wirral News.
The Chair thanked the partners for their updates.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
(i) Sergeant Kevin Jones, Ian Lowrie, Stephanie Reid, Hazel Roberts, Peter Exley, Gary Cummings, Sarah Patterson, Len Richards and Kathy Doran be thanked for their updates
(ii) Len Richards to check if Peter Exley is on the NHS Trust's membership list
Minute 5 - Future meetings/presentations October 2008 Venue to be confirmed
Minute Text :
The next meeting will be held at Rock Ferry Community Centre, date and presentations to be confirmed.
Minute 6 - Any Other Business
Minute Text :
There was no further business and the official meeting closed at 8.15pm. The Chair requested that everyone take time to visit the exhibition stands before leaving and thanked them for attending the meeting.
(Minutes Published: 15 October 2008)