Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Cheddington Pavilion, Recreation Ground, LU7 0RG
Contact: Michelle Parker (Community Board Manager)
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Chairman's Introduction and Welcome Cllr Ashley Bond Minutes: Cllr Ashley Bond welcomed the attendees to the Wing and Ivinghoe Community Board.
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Apologies for Absence and Declarations of Interest Minutes: Apologies were received from:
Peter Brazier - BC Councillor (Ivinghoe Ward), Ann-Marie Davies (Hardwick Parish Council), Noreen Shardlow (Watermead Parish Council), Bob Saintey (Pitstone Parish Council), Joanna Rose (Weedon Parish Council), Jane Bayliss (Aston Abbotts Parish Council) Bridget Knight (Slapton, Mentmore and Ivinghoe Parish Council), Sgt David Kuttner (TVP)
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Minutes of the Last Meeting To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2024. Minutes: Approved as a true correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2024. |
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TVP Update and Q & A Session Sgt David Kuttner Minutes: Apologies were received from Thames Valley Police.
If there are any specific questions that attendees want to raise to let Michelle Parker know at Michelle.Parker@buckinghamshire.gov.uk and these will be passed onto TVP Neighbourhood team.
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Nosh Fiaz – Community Impact Bucks Minutes: Nosh Fiaz – Community Impact Bucks (CIB) attended and informed the board of the below.
Presentation attached.
Nosh provided an overview of Community Impact Bucks, in particular how they can help with volunteering. CIB undertook some research in 2021 into volunteering and they discovered some barriers as to why there had been a decline. This was in part due to the increase in volunteering during the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020. Volunteers had started to get volunteer fatigue. Volunteers reported that application forms were long and onerous, and volunteers wanted bite size volunteering opportunities that they could dip into without committing their time over a longer period.
Last month CIB launched Volunteer Bucks, which is a new volunteer platform – it is used as a way for organisations and volunteers to find each other. It’s free to use and there is no limit to the number of posts, it is also Buckinghamshire focussed. From 2020-2024 CIB matched over 2,200 volunteers with volunteering opportunities via the volunteering matching service. Since the launch of the new platform last month, they have already had 87 new volunteers sign up. The platform allows volunteers to filter by role and location or interest. CIB will be looking at volunteering within businesses in the future but for now the focus is on the volunteer sector.
Volunteer Bucks | Volunteer Bucks |
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Scam Awareness Pat Keane – Trading Standards Scam Champion Minutes: Pat Keane from Trading Standards attended and presented on the subject of Scam Awareness.
• Scams make up 42% of crimes involving fraud. • Scammers look like ordinary people often working within organised teams potentially skilled in HR, IT and Law. • 16-34 year olds are the most scammed age group which is due to quick decisions because of time constraints. • Only use reputable businesses or refer to trading standards when looking for a trader - do not use services of door knockers or cold callers. • Social media is often used to scam victims – don’t click on links that pop up on Social Media. • Scammers use pressure techniques and try to isolate people to encourage them to part with their money. • The phone number to report fraud is 159 and will direct you to all bank fraud departments. • Trading Standards provide True Call boxes for free which requires callers from unknown numbers identify themselves. Surrey Social Services noticed a decrease in trips and falls after the installation of True Call boxes as it prevents the phone from even ringing if the call is not recognised therefore preventing the need to get up to answer the phone. • Apple allows you to block unknown numbers and for Android there is an app called True Caller which prevents unknown numbers from connecting. • Trading Standards Scam Marshal Scheme collects scam mail so that it can be potentially utilised as evidence in future investigative and enforcement work. • Email scams are prolific, email addresses are easy to duplicate and copy - do not click on links within emails asking you to verify your identity or payment links. • Be wary of people knocking on your door and if you see anyone acting suspiciously report it to the Police. • Forward suspicious texts to 7726. • Romance scams are two-fold in that they are emotional and financial and it’s difficult for people to realise they’re in a scam because of the emotional attachment. Scammers target people who are isolated and lonely so check in on friends and family regularly and be wary of ‘new’ people in their lives. • Use strong passwords for online accounts and only use passwords once, have different passwords for each account and use two factor identification. • Video camera on external doors can be provided by Trading Standards. • Reputable organisations won’t contact you to sell their products as it is now against the law. • Always think – is it genuine? Take five and don’t be pressured to make snap decisions, talk to family or friends for advice. • Some telephone network providers provide a no caller ID blocker such as BT Call Guardian. • The Online Safety Act is starting to make large organisations accountable and as time goes on there will be more repercussions for organisations not making their customers safe.
Trading Standards - Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk) |
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Buckinghamshire Council Update Jenny McAteer – Service Director Minutes: Jenny McAteer – Service Director delivered the Buckinghamshire Council Update. Information attached.
The following questions were posed to Jenny: Q: It is important to keep dementia carers well, so they can care for their loved ones. Carers seemed to be neglected and are not receiving enough respite.
A: Jenny McAteer said that there is support from Buckinghamshire Council and carers have a right to have an assessment. Jenny said there is a new partnership board to address some of the issues raised and she is happy to take forward any feedback.
Q: There is issues with the PCT in this area with there being cross borders and GP’s etc. are in another Local Authority area.
A: Jenny McAteer will feedback this information to the partnership board.
Q: The duration of Buckinghamshire Council consultations seems to be very quick, and Parishes are not given enough time to respond and often miss parish magazine deadlines.
A: Jenny McAteer said there is a central approach to how consultations are dealt with. All the consultations are on the BC website and on the BC Facebook and Twitter pages.
Action: Jenny will take that information back to the central team.
Q: Road closures and the lack of communication within the Council and other highways delivery partners where a road is closed by the Council and then a contractor closes a road on the diversion, making it difficult to get around the County and HS2 road closures aren’t on the Check Before You travel platform. The issue seems to be with a lack of communication between contractors. Residents were promised no road closures and specifically B4010 has been closed more times in the last 2 years than in the last 10 years, residents and business owners aren’t informed of road closures and business are being affected. Notifications are an issue, so often they come out just after the parish magazine is published and often end before the next issue. And many residents are digitally isolated and don’t have access to the internet. Cublington Parish use a WhatsApp community group to get information out to residents and this seems to work well.
A: Michelle said that HS2 can close roads without informing BC.
Action: Jenny McAteer will feed this back to the Highways department. |
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Community Board Overview Michelle Parker Minutes:
Michelle Parker informed the Community Board of the current activity within the Community Board and the current funding available.
Presentation attached with further detail.
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Community Matters - Q & A Session Cllr Diana Blamires Minutes: Cllr Diana Blamires led this Q & A Session.
Community Board Boundary Review – following a meeting with Cabinet Member Arif Hussain it, has been confirmed that Wing and Ivinghoe will remain within a rural Community Board.
For Wing and Ivinghoe there is a current budget of £49,520 and so far, only £1,500 has been spent – Michelle Parker and Cllr Diana Blamires encouraged application submissions. The Board also have a grant funder finder and Michelle Parker can check other funding streams.
Queries were raised around the funding criteria and process, with some feeling that is in onerous particular for small projects. Michelle Parker reassured attendees that she is there to assist applicants through the process, but the Community Boards are scrutinised on what the money is spent on which is why detailed information is required on applications.
Clarity was sought in regards contributory funding. Michelle Parker confirmed that it is ideally 50% but in-kind costs will be considered.
Cllr Diana Blamires informed that warm boxes are provided by Buckinghamshire Council and libraries have a stock of these. Parishes to let individuals in need aware of the availability. |
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Thank you and Close of Meeting Cllr Ashley Bond Minutes: Cllr Ashley Bond thanked everyone for attending the meeting and for their contribution.
Cllr Ashley Bond informed that the Proud of Bucks Awards was on Wednesday 11 December at Hardwick Village Hall at 6.30pm. |