Agenda and minutes

The Chair will introduce those present and make any necessary announcements.

The Chair and any other Councillors who are present will make any declarations as required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Dr Chowdhury, Chair for the meeting, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Malik and Darren Evans (City Warden).

There were no declarations of interest.

The Leicester Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire will give a presentation and respond to any questions. “Prevention through Partnership, to protect communities”.

Local Policing Sergeant (Sgt) Nigel Baraclough was present at the meeting and provided the following update:

Local Policing Update

·         It was noted that there were issues regarding young males taking drugs and potentially carrying weapons, they were seen to be located around tower blocks in the ward. Several arrests had been made and the Housing department had been informed.

·         Sgt Baraclough gave an update of a gang who were responsible for violent crime in the Ward earlier this year whereby the Police had recovered many assets/ weapons and the gang had now received banning orders preventing them from entering certain areas. Residents were informed that if they knew of any breaches with this group, they could report this on the Police website by typing ‘banning order Spinney Hills’.

·         Attendees were also informed that they could attend the monthly meetings held by the Police at Wesley Hall. For dates, it was advised to visit the Leicestershire Police website.

City Warden Update

·         Angela Martin – Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) read the update provided by the City Warden.  Contact details for the City Warden were provided and residents were requested to provide details of any City Warden issues to the WCEO after the meeting.

Police and Crime Commissioner - Lord Will Bach

Councillor Dr Chowdhury gave an introduction to the Police and Crime Commissioner – Lord Willy Bach.

·         Willy Bach then explained his position and provided details about the Police and Crime plan which included emphasis on Crime prevention, partnership and protection.

·         It was noted that the plan was built around five themes; 1) viable partnerships, 2) visible Policing, 3) victim services, 4) Vulnerability protection and 5) value for money.

Residents were then given the opportunity to ask questions to Willy Bach some of which addressed issues such as residents’ experiences with the Police, diversity/ equality in the Police and domestic violence. Actions which arose from those questions were as followed:

·         In regards to the domestic violence issues Angela Martin – WCEO agreed to provide contact details of the Community Safety Team to residents who required it. A resident also noted that a service called ‘United Against Violence and Abuse’ (UAVA) which was partly funded by Leicester City Council had recently been launched and a helpline was available.

·         A vulnerable resident noted to have had issues with her housing, reported that the Council were pursuing her for costs which she (and her representative) felt was not her debt. Angela Martin – WCEO agreed to go through further details with the resident after the meeting and look into what could be done.

·         It was queried what actions were being taken to reduce drugs and alcohol in the community. Willy Bach noted that next week was alcohol awareness week and informed residents of organisations such as ‘Turning Point’ which offered a variety of services hubs and ‘Dear Albert’ which helped individuals stop taking alcohol and drugs.

·         The Police were to follow up on a recent robbery which took place at a relative’s house of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Councillors are reminded that under the Council’s Code of Conduct they should declare any interest they may have in budget applications.

An update on the Ward Community Budget will be provided at the meeting.

Angela Martin – WCEO provided the following update on the Ward Community Budget:

The opening balance was noted as £18,000.

The spend to date was £7,060.66 and the remaining balance was noted as £10,939.34.

Teaching representatives from Spinney Hill Primary School were present at the meeting and noted the following:

·         Spinney Hills Primary School was proposed as a venue for future Ward meetings.

The teachers expressed concerns that the actions which were noted at the last Ward meeting still required looking into, including:

·         Addressing traffic issues outside the school.

·         It was felt that the previous meeting minute ‘Councillor Malik requested Martin to have a meeting with the Spinney Hill Primary School head teacher in approximately three months to discuss progress’ had not been actioned.

·         Further information on the one way system design as it was noted that a Highways Officer had visited the site but nothing further.

·         It was expressed that children’s lives were at risk.

·         Teachers requested a crossing patrol.

Angela Martin – WCEO would look into how the above actions and those from the previous meeting could be followed up with Councillors and Officers.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 7.45pm.