Agenda and minutes

Venue: Birkenhead Town Hall

Contact: Lyndzay Roberts 0151 691 8262 

Items
No. Item

22.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from:

 

Councillor A Davies

Councillor S Foulkes

 

23.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 95 KB

The Committee be requested to approve the accuracy of minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2016.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2016 be agreed as a correct record.

24.

MEMBERS' CODE OF CONDUCT- DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members are asked to consider whether they have any disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests in connection with any item(s) on the agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

 

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

25.

Chairs Announcements

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting and indicated that the evening’s meeting was an opportunity for feedback on some of the excellent work carried out last year in Birkenhead. 

 

He welcomed the Feeding Birkenhead Food Hubs and thanked them for the lovely surplus food buffet they had provided prior to the meeting.

 

He also thanked Mark from Fareshare for his attendance and commended their excellent work in providing much of the food to the food hubs. He highlighted some of the great work the food hubs did and stressed the importance Fareshare was as a partner for our food hubs and encouraged Members to contact Fareshare for more details of their work and to become a member.

 

26.

Celebration of Birkenhead in Bloom

Minutes:

The Committee considered a presentation from Mr K Rooney from Big Local on the successful In Bloom projects in 2016.

 

Mr Rooney indicated that the project bought people together as it was perceived that the environment wasn’t a priority during austerity.

 

16 areas were challenged with the support of the Birkenhead Constituency to; make their environment a nicer place to live in; share resources, promote ideas and get things done and submit their area to the nationally recognised North-West in Bloom.

 

He commented that bringing people together achieved an excellent platform for partnership working and volunteering in communities; made business sense; involved local schools and made retail areas more inviting for economic growth. The difference made had turned ‘grotspots’ into ‘hotspots’

 

Ms M Davies from Magenta Living commented that they had been proud to assist local residents and the Council with the ‘in bloom’ project and praised all those involved for their hard work and achievements. Magenta Living had provided hanging baskets; assisted with community clean ups and provided memorial benches for those residents that had sadly passed away to ensure they were remembered within the community.

 

She paid tribute to a former resident ‘Arthur’ who was known as a street champion who had died suddenly. Arthur had worked on the project and liaised with the RHS judge. A commemorative bench was to be installed in June 2017 in his memory.

 

It was evident that the area had significantly improved and there was now a feeling that it was a safer, nicer environment to live; there was also a significant reduction in graffiti and fly tipping.

 

The Committee heard further details of the excellent work undertaken from the residents of Oxton, Woodchurch Road and Livingston Street who were in attendance.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That all funders, residents and partners be thanked for all their hard work and be congratulated on their achievements and awards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27.

Community Action Days

Minutes:

The Birkenhead Constituency Manager gave a presentation on the Community Action Days undertaken in Birkenhead.

 

Ms Burrell indicated that the team had been involved in 21 community action days which allowed those residents without access to a vehicle to discard of their household items and volunteers also removed flying tipping. An estimated 100 tonnes of fly tipping and household items had been removed; with 77 skips provided for the community action days.

 

The Action Days were supported by representatives of the Police and Fire Service, Magenta Living and LHT, the Council, Waste and Recycling Authority, Biffa, Ward Councillors and Probation Service.

 

Residents from the Noctorum Estate addressed the Committee highlighting the work they had undertaken with the help of local children and the Council and they commented that the young people were now maintaining their area and taking pride in the work they had achieved.

 

 

 

28.

Celebration of Food Hub and Christmas Hampers Project

Minutes:

The Committee considered presentations from Mr K Rooney from Beechwood Big Local Food Hubs updating on the Christmas Hamper Project and Ms Barnish, (St James), Ms Wilkes, (Neo Café) and Mr Thomas from Beechwood Community Trust updating on the projects undertaken in their food hubs.

 

Mr Rooney indicated that 3000 Christmas hampers had been distributed to individuals and families throughout Wirral by Beechwood JMC, Neo Café, Gautby Road Community Centre, Seacome Community Association and BeeWirral.

 

He explained that all hampers contained healthy recipes and staple foods, Christmas treats and hygiene products. A booklet containing useful contact of support was also circulated to residents.

 

Mr Steve Garner from LHT updated the Committee on the social impact assessment undertaken which evidenced a great illustration of partnership work.

 

Ms Banish highlighted the excellent work undertaken at the St James Food Hub which included providing meals, school meals, and meals to those of no fixed abode and family cooking schools with food provided by Fareshare.

 

Training was also provided for adult with learning difficulties to teach and advise them on independent living skills.

 

She highlighted that centre also undertook work beyond food provision and had recently held a Warm Homes event.

 

She thanked both the Committee and Magenta Living for their continued support.

 

Ms Wilkes, Neo Café updated the Members on thir activities which included work on the ‘in Bloom’ competition and the introduction of a social supermarket launching in March 2017 with intercepted food from local supermarkets.

 

Ms Wilkes praised the tremendous support received from the Council, Tranmere Rovers Football Club, Community Payback Scheme and DWP.

 

In relation to training opportunities, Neo provided NVQ and work based training and Ms Wilkes reported that a former young volunteer to the centre had now become a paid member of the staff.

 

Mr Thomas from Beechwood commented on the asset transfer and indicated that the Beechwood Community Centre would be undergoing some refurbishment works and a café was to be built providing free school meals and breakfast clubs for children.

 

The Chair thanked all for their presentations and congratulated them on their excellent work which was a big challenge going forward.

RESOLVED:

 

That the presentations from representatives of the Food Hubs be noted and all those involved in the work undertaken at the hubs be thanked for their excellent work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

29.

Anti-Social Behaviour in the Community

Minutes:

The Committee considered a presentation from representatives from Merseyside Police. Inspector G Minnery gave Members an overview of the financial landscape and explained the rationale behind the new business areas which included response & resolution, investigation and local policing.

 

She highlighted what the new business areas meant for Wirral; and indicated that the emergency and priority calls would be responded to by police; investigations would be dealt with by Protecting Vulnerable People Unit and Reactive and Volume Crimes teams; Community Policing & Targeted Policing teams would be based in Wallasey; with teams providing visibility across Wirral; a second Community Policing team would be based at Bebington and Community Police Stations would be based at St James Centre, Rock Ferry One Stop Shop, Moreton Library and Hoylake Community Centre addition there would be an additional location within Birkenhead town centre.

 

In relation the Cumulative Impact Policy, officers had written to the Council’s Licensing Department with a request to them to consider a SCIP for the Birkenhead Town Centre area. This was now out for public consultation. 

 

Ms K Wilkinson, Merseyside Police gave Members a snapshot of anti-social behaviour in Birkenhead North End. She highlighted the joint working with WASBT and reported that three Criminal Behaviour Orders had been applied for at Youth Court; work was also being undertaken in partnership with Magenta Living on 7 families who had been issued final warnings in relation to ASB; officers were working with the Youth Offending Service to provide targeted intervention for young people linked to ASB and diversionary work was also planned; there would be an emphasis on targeting hardened houses affected by ASB and it was noted that funding for diversionary activities for young people had been increased.

 

Ms Wilkinson thanked the Constituency Manager and the Committee for all their support with accessing funding streams.

 

Mr D Murphy, Merseyside Police, indicated that in tackling ASB, officers had been engaging with young people in their known ‘hotspots’ and also working on projects with Youth Services to provide personal social development sessions with the aim of trying to keep young people from entering the care system and further support them in making changes to people’s lives.

 

He reported that patrols were deployed where needed and officers could bid for resources for enforcement if problems arise in particular areas based on intelligence received.

 

Mr Murphy highlighted the Sixth Form College’s theatre production “BORED” demonstrating the effects of Anti-social Behaviour which had been very well recieved.

 

In relation to homelessness, Mr Murphy indicated that plans to open a hub from the Library Church were being looked at; bringing in people off the street giving them a safe place to stay and teaching them life skills etc.

RESOLVED:

 

That the representatives from Merseyside Police be thanked for their informative updates.

 

 

 

30.

Parking Charges - Birkenhead

Minutes:

In response to a question in relation to the proposal to charge for parking in Birkenhead. It was reiterated that there would be an opportunity for comment and a public consultation exercise undertaken. Residents wishing to make their views known could do so on the Council’s Website where details of teh proposals and consultation were posted.

 

This issue was also to be considered at the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Business and would be debated at Budget Council in March 2017 with an opportunity for public to make representations. 

31.

St Paul's School Holiday Provision Project

Minutes:

A representative from St Paul’s asked for the Committee’s help in maximising outputs for their School Holiday Provision Project.

 

It was suggested and agreed that this be discussed by the Food Task and Finish Group.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Constituency Manager be requested to arrange a meeting of the Food Task and Finish Group to explore the St Paul’s School Holiday Provision Project in order to maximise outputs.

32.

Merseyside Policing Structure Changes

Minutes:

In response to a Members request for further information on the changes to the Policing Structure, the Chair indicated that the Area Commander had recently attended a Members briefing updating on policing issues which all Members had been invited to.

 

It was further requested that once details had been agreed, the Area Commander be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to update Members.

 

 

33.

Wirral Youth Zone

Minutes:

Councillor Stapleton updated the Committee on progress in relation to the Wirral Youth Zone which was due to be open in April 2017.