Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Gary Hall, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Cathryn Davies, Lacey Green Parish Council and Hilda Stearn, Hughenden Residents’ Association. Councillor Helen Holman and Councillor Debra Panikkar, Ellesborough PC sent their apologies after the meeting.

Note 1:  Item 6, Transitions UK, was covered after items 7,8,9 and 10 due to one of the presenters being delayed.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2021 as an accurate record.

Resolved:  The minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2021 were agreed as an accurate record.

Inspector Stephen Bobbitt and PC Nathan Davey will provide an update on the latest data/statistics on crime in the North West  Chilterns Community Board area.

The Chairman welcomed Inspector Stephen Bobbett and Sergeant Nathan Davey from Thames Valley Police (TVP). Inspector Bobbett explained that he was the Inspector for the Local Policing Area (LPA) for High Wycombe.  However, the High Wycombe LPA was expected to merge with the Chiltern and South Bucks LPA in mid-June and would provide extra resources.  There would be one commander for new the new LPA, Superintendent Emma Burroughs, and the deputy commander would remain as Chief Inspector Gassan Shaladan.  PC Russ Hawkins had moved to the Force Rural Crime team and would still be based in Princes Risborough.  PC Hawkins would be replaced in April by PC Jed Russell.

Sgt Davey provided a presentation, appended to the minutes and should be referred to for information on the data which covered the period 1 November 2021 to 31 January 2022.  Sgt Davey highlighted the following points: 

• A map showing the community board (CB) area.
• A table showing the number of each type of offence with ‘concern for safety’ being the highest at 45 followed by ‘road traffic concerns’ (35). 
• Data on the day of the week offences were carried out and the number per month.
• Tables showed the number of offences broken down by street and location with the highest number recorded in Princes Risborough (300), followed by Downley (49).
• There was also a table which showed the breakdown of the time of day when offences took place (morning, afternoon, evening or night).
• Operation Signature – a fraud prevention advice package.  Victims were contacted and provided with crime prevention support with the aim of reducing the number of repeat victims of crime.

The following key points were raised in discussion:

• Sgt Davey also advised that there would be a new police station situated within the fire station in Princes Risborough where the Neighbourhood Team would be based along with the Chepping Wye Neighbourhood Team.  The teams would have access to the fire station facilities. 
• It was noted that a British Transport Police (BTP) report rated Princes Risborough train station as fifth in Buckinghamshire for the number of crimes committed over a 12 month period. In response to whether there was an issue with crime around the station, Sgt Davey explained that TVP worked closely with BTP; police officers patrolled the area and would investigate if a crime was reported.  However, Inspector Bobbett added that BTP had their own remit and managed incidents that happened on the train/platform side on the station e.g., fare evaders.  TVP did not see much violence in the vicinity of the station.
• In response to a question on which type of crime was the most preventable and how board members could help; Sgt Davey stated that the type of crimes changed regularly, but there was a big push to raise awareness to prevent burglaries in the LPA and advised that it would be helpful to be aware of what the CB felt was a priority as the Neighbourhood Team were happy to respond to requests.  If there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Karen Ironside and Charlie Dixon will present an update on the Aspire project which the Board funded during 2021/22 which mentored young people who have offended or were at risk of offending.

The Chairman welcomed Karen Ironside, Partnership Director, and Charlie Dixon, Senior Project Manager.  Karen explained that Transitions UK worked closely with young people and had a Care Leaver Project and also an extremely successful project, funded by the CB, called Aspire, which worked with young people who were at risk of exploitation and offending.  The project funded work with 18 people; funding for four of the young people was provided by the North West Chilterns CB and funding was also provided by the High Wycombe, South West Chilterns and Aylesbury CBs.  There had been approximately 75 referrals across 10 community boards for 20 spaces.  All the spaces funded by the North West Chilterns CB, plus one, had been filled.  The work was predominantly with under 18s who were no longer in formal education.  Charlie added that the project provided young people the skills to be aware of grooming and exploitation and involved working with the Youth Offending Service, Family Support Services and the Metropolitan police.   The young people, aged between 18-31, were from mixed backgrounds and were undertaking a variety of support e.g., traineeships, re-taking Maths and English qualifications, work experience, volunteering, recruitment skills.   Transitions UK were waiting to hear if their bid to extend the project to support 40 places across the whole of Buckinghamshire had been successful.

The Chairman thanked Karen and Charlie for their work and wished them luck with growing the organisation.

Karen and Charlie thanked Jackie Binning for her support with the project and asked anyone interested in being involved to get in touch or if any businesses wanted to provide support – contact karen.ironside@transitionsuk.org and charlie.dixon@transitionsuk.org  

The Chairman will provide an update on the latest developments.

The Chairman advised that a planning application had been submitted to Buckinghamshire Council (BC); however, the CB was unable to make any comment until the application had been through the process.

The Chairman will provide an update on the key activities of the action groups.

The Chairman stated that the action groups had been busy and briefly highlighted some of the work of each of the groups.  There were no questions.

·       Funding applications - Jackie Binning, Community Board Co-ordinator, will provide an update on the applications received and the 2021/22 budget.

·       Community Board Action Plan – To see the latest plan go to the NWC web site North West Chilterns Working Groups | Buckinghamshire Council

Funding applications – Jackie Binning, Community Board Co-ordinator, advised that funding applications had closed on 1 February 2022; organisations could still apply for funding but they would be considered from the 2022-23 budget.  The budget was approximately £244,000 and the number of applications had exceeded the budget.  The Board would need to make decisions and prioritise applications for this year, consider some for 2022/23 and possibly reject some.  Jackie explained that she was still processing the applications and emphasised that the board members would be made aware of any proposals and asked for comments and votes in order to know the views of the board and to be able to prioritise accordingly.

A member of the board mentioned that the grant/funding had been reduced.  The Chairman explained that BC provided the funding and last year had a different set of criteria to this coming year.  BC had to make a balanced budget in challenging circumstances and a difficult decision, not formally agreed yet, had to be made.    The Chairman hoped that all the applications would be programmed in over the next two or three years.

The North West Chilterns CB action plan - Jackie reminded the board members that the action plan was on the North West Chilterns website - North West Chilterns Working Groups | Buckinghamshire Council (scroll to the bottom of the page).

·       Question time:  The Chairman will respond to any questions received.

·       Buckinghamshire Council update – to be presented by Sophie Payne, Service Director, Culture, Sport and Leisure.

·       For information purposes:

Ø  Live countywide and local consultations can be viewed on the Your Bucks website Your Voice Bucks - Citizen Space

Public questions - No questions had been received.

Buckinghamshire Council Update - Sophie Payne, Service Director for Culture, Sport and Leisure, referred to the update paper in the agenda pack and highlighted the following points:

• Help was available for those struggling financially over the winter months and the update contained a link for those needing support - Money problems - advice and support if you are struggling to make ends meet | Buckinghamshire Council.
• The update contained links to two consultations; the Local Government Boundary Commission (LGBC) consultation has asked for residents to provide information to help the LGBC complete proposals for the new ward boundaries in Buckinghamshire. Following unitary, a public consultation was carried out to decide that there would be 98 councillors for Buckinghamshire Council.
• Views had also been sought on the new Local Plan for Buckinghamshire.  Sophie encouraged members of the Community Board to promote the link [However, on checking the link after the meeting it was found that the consultation closed on 11 February 2022]. The Local Plan for Buckinghamshire: Help us plan for the future - Your Voice Bucks - Citizen Space

The plans for the Jubilee were progressing well and there were numerous ways in which residents could become involved.  The Council had waived the charges for temporary street closures for street parties.  There had been good take up to date on the tree planting scheme - https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/environment/trees-and-hedges/tree-planting/ .

21 July 2022

21 July 2022

The Chairman thanked everyone for their work and contributions over the last couple of years.