Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Julia Burton, Elizabeth Stacey (Elizabeth Stacey subsequently arrived at the meeting at 9pm) and Mike Colston.  Members noted that in Mike Colston’s absence, Patricia Birchley had been asked to chair the meeting and she thanked everyone for attending.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

There were none.

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on 17 June 2009.

The action notes of the meeting held on 17 June 2009 were confirmed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Alison Derrick, Locality Services Co-ordinator, advised members that the petitions received at the June meeting had been returned to officers at Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) to refer back to the Cabinet Member as a non-key decision. 

With regards to the Prestwood Schools petition, the parish council could purchase a salt bin at a cost of £475, which would then be filled by BCC free of charge.  A possible site on a nearby grass verge had been identified but the verge was maintained by a member of the public, so further investigations would be needed. In addition, whilst there were no immediate plans to introduce 20mph speed limits around schools, the speed limit reminder sign could be borrowed at a cost of £100 for a 2 week period, to remind drivers of the current speed limit.  The sign owned by the Chiltern and South Bucks Area office was currently booked out until November but it might be possible to borrow a sign from another office if demand was high.  It was also suggested that the Lead Petitioner should be asked to contact Great Missenden Parish Council regarding their Speedwatch initiative. 

There will be a 20 minute period for public questions.  Members of the public are encouraged to submit their questions in advance of the meeting to facilitate a full answer on the day of the meeting.  Questions sent in advance will be dealt with first and verbal questions after.  Please contact Alison Derrick on 01494 586635 or aderrick@buckscc.gov.uk to submit your question.

There were no questions.

There are no petitions.

There were none.

Report by Alison Derrick, Locality Services Co-ordinator

Alison Derrick, BCC Locality Services Co-ordinator, presented a report on the non-transportation devolved budgets available to the Forum for 2009-10.

Members were advised that application forms for the Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) budget were available for them to take away at the end of the meeting.  Members then discussed a number of applications that had already been submitted:

• Alison Derrick reported that a bid had been received from Connect for Young People and from Great Missenden Parish Council in connection with the BMX/Skate Park.
• Holmer Green Scouts – A member from Little Missenden Parish Council asked if this application had been received and considered.  Alison Derrick reported that because the scouts’ camping trip was not taking place until Summer 2010 it was not eligible as the grant funding, had to be spent within this current financial year.  Alison was advised that the scouts would have to pay for the camping trip prior to March 2009. On this basis it was agreed that Alison would speak to the Youth Team to query if the application could still be considered.
• Members noted that all successful PAYP bids would be on the basis of the organisation first spending the money and then being reimbursed by BCC.
• AFC Lightning Football Team - A Chiltern District Council member asked if the application from AFC Lightning has been received.  Alison Derrick had no knowledge of this bid being received but agreed to chase this up.
• Holmer Green Youth Club – A member from Little Missenden Parish Council asked for feedback on an application from Holmer Green Youth Club. Again Alison Derrick agreed to chase this up.
• Members were reminded that the closing date for applications for the PAYP funding to be received by the Youth Service was 30^th September and all eligible proposals would be submitted with recommendations from the Youth Service to the Forum, for the final decision on how the £5,000 budget should be allocated.

Alison Derrick reported that no bids had been received yet for the Early Year’s funding. Grants for Early Years were linked to specific national targets and eligible organisations should have been contacted by the Early Years team to advise them that funding was available in their area.

Members asked for clarification of what sort of schemes would be eligible for the Local Priorities Budget.  Alison Derrick explained that this money could be spent on anything that was deemed to be a priority for the two parishes, perhaps something highlighted in the Parish Plans or by a revitalisation group.  All Local Area Forums (LAFs) were going through a Local Community Planning process to bring together all the information currently held by BCC, district council, parishes and community organisations, using the 5 headings of the Sustainable Communities Strategy as a focus. Usually a multi-agency workshop would be held in the area to establish a comprehensive view of the area’s need and to agree the priorities.  As The Missendens LAF had not yet established its priorities, existing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report by Alison Derrick, Locality Services Co-ordinator

Alison Derrick, BCC Locality Services Co-ordinator, invited parishes to submit bids for the transportation delegated budget for 2010/11.  As previously, these would be smaller schemes that were unlikely to be included within the core Transportation budget.  Evidence of community support for the schemes would be an important consideration.  Bids should ideally be submitted to Chris Schwier, BCC Local Area Co-ordinator, by the end of September 2009 to allow for feasibility and costs to be assessed.

A member for Great Missenden Parish advised that they would like a new pedestrian crossing outside the Co-op in Prestwood, which would cost £31,000 – the whole of the transportation delegated budget for the Forum. Again members questioned if the budget could be split in half, across the two parishes.  Alison Derrick advised that the Forum could agree to split the budget.  A member commented that there could be a drawback if one parish had a large scheme and the other parish did not have a particular need.  Also it was pointed out that there may be schemes in one geographical area which would benefit both parishes.  It was suggested that the two parishes could liaise and present a joint suggestion to the Forum. 

Alison Derrick also pointed out that match funding could help and had been used by other LAFs to make the budget stretch further.  For example, the crossing scheme in Prestwood would have been a priority for Transportation if more money had been available in the core budget. Therefore if the costs could be split three ways, i.e. contributions from the core budget, delegated budget and the parish council, then the scheme might be able to go ahead.

The clerk for Great Missenden Parish Council reported that the parishes set their budgets just before Christmas and asked if the deadline for submissions could be extended.  Alison Derrick thought this might be possible and realistically the final bids would be presented to the January 2010 meeting of the Forum for final decisions to be made.  Both parish councils would be meeting in September and it was suggested that they might then liaise on how best to split the budget and make submissions accordingly.  Following the meeting a new deadline for submission of bids to Chris Schwier of 30^th November 2009 was agreed. If bids could be made earlier this would be most helpful.

To consider membership of The Missendens Local Area Forum (LAF) and to discuss how the LAF wishes to receive information presentations from officers at future meetings.

Members were asked for their views on receiving officer presentations at future meetings of the Forum.  Members felt that officer presentations were very useful.  The Chairman suggested that one presentation per meeting would be practical.  Planning and Enforcement and Waste were suggested as possible topics.  Alison Derrick advised that Chiltern District Council might not be able to commit officers to attend the Forum meetings.  

A presentation by Karen Adamson, Adult Social Care, Buckinghamshire County Council.

The Chairman welcomed Karen Adamson, Community Development Worker for BCC Adult Social Care to the meeting.  Karen Adamson explained that she had been attending various LAF meetings to raise awareness of Adult Social Care services.  Members received a presentation and the following points were noted:

• Adult Social Care (ASC) encompassed services for older people, people with physical disabilities, people with learning disabilities and people with mental health issues.  Adult Social Care were trying to promote independence at home and support vulnerable people in their own communities.
• ASC drop-in surgeries had been held in various venues, including Missenden Library and Somerfield locally.  These had been very successful.  88 surgeries were held across the county in 2008-09.  People attending the surgeries received advice on how to be assessed for care, signposting to other agencies who could offer support and a free fire prevention check. Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) often attended the surgeries to provide crime prevention advice too.
• ASC were operating an ‘In Touch’ telephone support service. Every three months vulnerable people would receive a phone call from ASC to check how they were managing.  This helped to decrease isolation and enabled any problems to be identified.
• Karen and a colleague from the Primary Care Trust had been training Community Link volunteers.  She has also trained PCSOs so that they could support vulnerable adults in accessing ASC services.
• Other schemes such as Contact the Elderly groups and the Simply Walk programme had also been successful.  Three couples had married since meeting via Simply Walk.

Karen Adamson then introduced her colleague, Paul Jones, who would be acting as a local ASC link for the Missendens area.  Paul worked for the Homecare service, offering assistance in the home, mainly to the over 65s.  Paul would act as a first point contact if people locally had concerns about anyone and wanted some advice.  He asked the parish councils to advise him of any voluntary organisations that might be able to assist BCC with service delivery.  It was important that services were made more accessible. 

ASC are seeking people who are willing to put themselves forward as Community Links for the area. These volunteers would receive training about what Adult Social Care can and cannot provide and who to contact within the service. Information about what the Primary Care Trust provides is also part of the training.

Contact details:

-          Karen Adamson                kadamson@buckscc.gov.uk  01296 383847

-          Paul Jones                        pajones@buckscc.gov.uk 01296 387737

A member commented that she volunteered for Age Concern and ASC referred clients to them for advice on benefits etc, which worked very well.  The clerk for Great Missenden Parish Council offered to put an article in The Link, the parish magazine to highlight the services offered by ASC.   

Proposed Dates of Future meetings

All meetings to commence at 7.30pm

Wednesday 28 October 2009

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Wednesday 7 April 2010

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Wednesday 20 October 2010

All meetings to commence at 7.30pm

Wednesday 28 October 2009

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Wednesday 7 April 2010

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Wednesday 20 October 2010