Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Mike Colston, Doug Ebdon, Stewart George, Jill Goddard, Alan Goodrum, Sam Knollys, Rita Lally, Ed Macalister-Smith, Patrick Martin, John Warder and Clare Wormald.

Members noted the following substitutes in attendance for the duration of the meeting:

·         Su Cheetham for Jill Goddard

·         David Griffiths for Sam Knollys

·         Clare Blakeway-Phillips for Ed Macalister-Smith

·         Nick Rose for John Warder

Lesley Clarke chaired the meeting as the Chairman was delayed in his arrival.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2009 were agreed as a correct record.

Decisions to be taken:

·         Note progress of LAA at 9 month point and consider any areas of concern raised by members of the Board.

·         Note LAA Refresh.

·         Note BSP Implementation Group decisions on allocation of LAA Pooled Fund.

Jackie Fisk, Policy Officer, told members the following:

·         The CAA Self-evaluation document was now in draft form (see Agenda Item 7).

·         BSPIG had looked at the nine-month performance reports for the LAA (see Agenda Item 6). The LAA Refresh had now been submitted to the Government. NI 141 had been included in the Refresh as an additional indicator. There were therefore now 27 indicators rather than the original 26.

·         Negotiation of NI 115 and NI 175 had both taken the current recession into account.

·         A £2.9m reward grant was available if all targets were reached.

·         Page 40 showed a summary of decisions made by the BSPIG in regard to the LAA Pooled Fund. The BSP Board had previously delegated authority to the BSPIG for this purpose.

·         An e-magazine, Buckinghamshire Together, had been produced. If any member had not received this, they should let Jackie Fisk know.

Alex Pratt OBE told members that an Economic Summit had been held on 10 March, which had been attended by c.150 people. The Summit had been business-focused and had included presentations on the statistics which lay behind the media messages about the recession. Finance South East had also spoken. The Summit was the first of an ongoing programme. The next business-focused event would be held on 15 September 2009, and it was hoped that twice the number of people would attend. Almost all the feedback from the Summit had been very positive, and it had been a good first step. A community-focused BSP event was also planned.

A member referred to the LAA Equality Impact Assessment (page 22 of the papers) and asked for an update re: rural-proofing. Jackie Fisk said that a workshop had been held in 2008. Work was ongoing and the thematic partnerships are conscious of the need for delivery plans to take the Equality Impact Assessment into account.

A member asked about the progress of NI 35 (Preventing Violent Extremism). Jackie Fisk said that previously the target had only been set for the Wycombe area, with targets added at Refresh for Aylesbury. South Bucks and the Chiltern District were not included in the LAA for this indicator but would be reported on in the partnership.

A member asked how issues could be raised regarding the decisions BSPIG had made on the LAA Pooled Fund. Jackie Fisk said that any issues could be raised at BSP Board meetings. BSPIG had agreed to review the funding situation in May 2009 based on the performance in the first year of the LAA. All funding proposals had to be agreed by a thematic partnership before being agreed by BSPIG.

The Chairman said that she had requested that future documents showed a lead name against each item on the LAA Pooled Fund.

A member queried how the agendas were set for the BSP Board. It was agreed that they would discuss this with Sarah Ashmead outside the meeting.

A member said that the BSP Board needed more information about the work of the thematic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

·        Quarter 3 performance (5 mins)

·        Focus on Crime (30 mins)

Paul Tinnion, Thames Valley Police - Presentation on ‘Issues for Buckinghamshire,’ followed by table exercise focusing on BSP response.

Decision to be taken: Note LAA performance at 9 month point, and agree any actions in response to the crime issues.

Sarah Ashmead told members that the Agenda pack contained third quarter data. Some target data was only available annually or bi-annually.

Paul Tinnion (Chief Superintendent and Basic Command Unit Commander for Buckinghamshire) then spoke to members about crime issues for Buckinghamshire (slides attached).  Four commanders (one for each District) reported to Paul Tinnion.

·         NI 16 (Serious Acquisitive Crime) included burglary, robbery and car crime. To date there had been a 2% reduction in serious acquisitive crime in Buckinghamshire, with the exception of the Chiltern District.

·         Police now attended all crime incidents.

·         Robbery was increasing in the Chiltern and Wycombe Districts, particularly theft of mobile phones. Work with partners needed to be increased to target resources.

·         There had been a rise in the number of vehicle thefts in which the car keys were obtained from the owner’s house, either through the front door letter box or by breaking into the house.

·         There had also been an increase in the number of thefts of landrovers, and in the thefts of number plates.

·         The number of thefts of ‘cash in transit’ had also risen. These crimes were Level 3 crimes, which meant that they were passed to a surveillance unit. Night filling of cash machines was a particular target.

·         Crimes altered as national circumstances changed. For instance, when the prices for lead, aluminium and copper had been high, there had been an increase in the theft of these materials.

·         Since 2006 crime rates had steadily fallen in Buckinghamshire. However there had been a ‘blip ‘in the second half of 2008, when rates had risen. Oxfordshire and Berkshire also showed increases in crime. It was not clear why this rise had occurred. Much cross-border work had been carried out.

·         NI 121 (dealing with local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime by the local council and police) was measured through a number of different surveys. Different surveys showed different results. The Place Survey (conducted by post) showed confidence in the partnership to be 23.1%. The British Crime Survey which had run for 22 years and which was conducted face to face showed confidence at 46%. The local TVP survey (conducted by phone) showed confidence at 60%.

·         Press reports could increase confidence (e.g. by telling the public about a successful prosecution) but could also reduce it (e.g. by increasing the fear of crime). Radio adverts were the cheapest form of advertising and also had the most impact.

·         Challenges for 2009/10 included reducing the number of assaults (not including GBH) by 3% (the number of assaults was currently increasing in Buckinghamshire).

·         A target of 84% for victim satisfaction had been set (victim satisfaction was currently increasing in Buckinghamshire).

·         There was also a target to roll out PVE (preventing violent extremism) across the County.

·         Prisons were now releasing people a lot earlier, and offender management on release was therefore very important.

·         The police worked on intelligence received, so needed to encourage people to come forward and provide information.

A member asked how many people were questioned in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Alex Pratt, OBE, Chair, Bucks Economic and Learning Partnership

Nigel Sims, Interim Head of Planning & Environment, BCC

Presentation on issues, followed by table exercise focusing on BSP response.

Decision to be taken: Note Environment Issues for Buckinghamshire

Alex Pratt OBE spoke to members and told them the following:

·         All the thematic partnerships dealt with issues which affected the environment. Decisions were taken daily which affected the environment.

·         Action to protect the environment could mean disadvantaging the immediate voter or investor.

·         Buckinghamshire had not yet been galvanised into action to protect the environment, even though there were real issues in the South East, such as there being less water available per head than in the Sudan.

·         NI 185 was an example of an LAA target which fitted into the needs of the environment. However the LAA in itself would not save the planet.

·         Anecdotal evidence was damaging, and hard evidence was necessary.

Nigel Sims, Interim Head of Planning and Environment, BCC, then said the following:

·         NI 185 (Co2 reduction from local authority operations) had energy efficiency at its heart, so would reduce costs as well as Co2 emissions.

·         It was critical to back the correct projects from an environmental point of view and to then implement them.

·         There had been a recent shift in focus from waste reduction/recycling to energy efficiency.

·         Space heating was a crucial area.

·         Learning from the implementation of projects could help in steering the NHS.

·         The NI 185 target of a 4% reduction was an ambitious target, and would require between 2000 and 3000 tonnes of CO2 to be saved per year.

·         £1.1 m had come from Salix, a Government-backed fund from the Carbon trust. This funding would not have to be paid back if it continued to be used for the same type of projects.

·         The next 2 years would see the installation of insulation in schools, biomass boilers and LED traffic signals.

Alex Pratt then led a session and asked members to write down and discuss what their organisation could do differently regarding environmental issues, as well as what other organisations could do differently.

The results of this exercise are attached.

·        Comprehensive Area Assessment – draft self-evaluation

·        Review of Sustainable Community Strategies

Presentation on results of Consultation and proposals for Sustainable Community Strategies outcomes, followed by table exercise focusing on SCS key outcomes.

Decisions to be taken:

·        Note the draft CAA self-evaluation and obtain views from individual organisations to feed into the next draft.

·        Comment on the outcomes proposals for the family of Sustainable Community Strategies.

·        Comment on the proposal for a common strapline across the family of SCS of "Promoting Prosperity – Tackling Inequalities, in a changing Bucks" and agree a common strapline.

Sarah Ashmead told members that the CAA Self-evaluation document had been included in the Agenda pack. Any comments on the document should be fed back to Sarah Ashmead. The aim of the self-evaluation document was to put Buckinghamshire’s case forward to the Audit Commission.

Review of the Sustainable Community Strategies

Page 87 onwards set out the five agreed themes of the Countywide Sustainable Communities Strategy. The themes were Safe Communities, Sustainable Environment, Thriving Economy, Health and Wellbeing and Cohesive Communities. The BSP and the four Local Strategic Partnerships are developing their community strategies collaboratively, with a view to producing an integrated family of sustainable community strategies.

Each table was allocated one of the five themes and asked to debate whether the outcomes stated in the papers were correct.

The points made are summarised below. In general, members said that more clarity was needed about how the outcomes would be measured.

Safe Communities

·         ‘Reduced Crime’ and ‘Fear of crime’ should be separated as two separate outcomes.

·         ‘People are safer’ – this could be changed to ‘people should feel safer. ‘

·         More evidence regarding prevention was needed.

·         Better information needed on self-help and personal risks.

·         Need to use VCS and other partners better.

·         More information can mean more fear of crime.

·         Use of paid adverts/texts/radio etc. for self-help advice.

Sustainable Environment

·         Needs to be made more relevant – clarify the benefits as an incentive (e.g. saves money/health benefits/saving time)

·         Changing attitudes by legal and fiscal incentives.

·         Managing congestion – this outcome needs to be enhanced. Free-flowing traffic creates lower emissions.

·         Make it easier not to drive – car-sharing/cycle lanes/cheaper and better public transport

·         Turn out the lights!

·         Make it easier to reduce energy use.

Thriving Economy

·         The language needs to reflect the language in the Economic Development Strategy. 

·         The Economic Development Strategy needs to be tested against the District Strategies.

·         Strategic infrastructure requirements should include broadband and transport.

Health and Wellbeing

·         Emphasise mental health issues and linked problems (alcohol, drugs abuse, crime etc.)

·         Reduce homelessness – need to distinguish between different types of homelessness.

·         Links between themes not necessarily securely made.

Cohesive Communities

·         ‘Thriving voluntary sector’ – should be changed to either ‘thriving third sector’ or ‘thriving Voluntary and community sector.’ This should be based on empowerment. Need to engage the VCS more in service delivery.

·         More people to be involved in the VCS too.

A member asked about the timescale for the community strategies and said that transport/access and LTP3 should be included in these strategies.

Sarah Ashmead said that there would be an annual refresh and that the strategies would evolve. They would be published in summer 2009.

Chris Williams said that they would also feed into the local plans and the Local Development Framework.

It was noted that all these strands needed to be joined up and that the Countywide Strategy needed to be aligned with what was happening on the ground.

Sarah Ashmead said that the strategies were being developed as a family.

Members discussed the strapline on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

There was no AOB.

7 July 2009, 2:30pm – 4:30pm, Lane End Conference Centre, Church Road, Lane End, HP14 3HH

7 July 2009 at 2:30pm at Lane End Conference Centre