Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Paul Westley was chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

The first main item on theagenda is Declarations of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything on the agenda they have a personal interest in. For example if a meeting was due to discuss a budget application put forward by a community group and one of the Councillors was a member of that group, they would not be able to take part in the decision on that budget application.

Councillors are asked to declare any interest they may have in the business on the agenda, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Councillors were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda and/or declare if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

No declarations were made.

The minutes of the previous Beaumont Leys Community Meeting, held on 2 June 2010, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The meeting was asked if there were any comments or clarifications on the minutes of the previous meeting.

It was noted that in the Budget item, the first paragraph at the top of page 7 referred to the ‘Oak Farm Neighbourhood Centre’, when it should have read ‘Home Farm Neighbourhood Centre’.

It was also noted that in item 10, City Warden, the first line referred to ‘Matthew Davidson’ when it have referred to ‘Matthew Davinson’.

It was also felt that there were other errors and it was requested that the minutes be reviewed to check for them.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the previous Beaumont Leys Community Meeting held on 1 June 2010 be agreed as a correct record, subject to the above amendments.

John Thomson, Neighbourhood Housing Manager will provide an update on housing and environmental improvements that have been carried out in the area.

John Thomson, Area Manager for Housing informed the meeting of proposed environmental improvements for Council housing areas in the Ward.

Butterwick Drive – new external cladding, floor coverings and landscaping, covering 36 dwellings at a cost of £70,000.

Thornholme Close – security doors to be installed - £57,000 (£22,000 from different funding sources).

Bluegates Road, Lime Grove Close, Gresley Close – new uPVC windows to be installed - £31,000.

Bluegates Road – improvements to the main entrances and pathways widened - £8300.

Torridon Close – changes to the car park to create 8/9 more spaces - £5100

Bluegates Road – landscaping

All of these improvements would cost £170,000. John stated that he had £142,000 available and enquired if anyone had any preference as a priority. No particular priorities were expressed. Councillor Westley commented that he felt there should be funding opportunities available to cover the cost of all these improvements.

Future Jobs Fund

John gave the meeting an update on the Future Jobs Fund, a scheme which gave job opportunities to unemployed people. A number of the recruits did a great deal of work in the Ward, such as painting and decorating and landscaping. At the same time it developed their confidence and gave them skills.

A resident commented that he worked alongside people on the Future Jobs Fund scheme in St. Matthews. He felt that they were doing an excellent job in difficult circumstances.

Councillor Westley agreed that the Future Jobs Fund recruits did an excellent job and he would be looking at ways of keeping them employed with the Council. He also felt that an event should be held at the Town Hall to thank them for all their hard work.

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer will provide a presentation on the Onepass which provides discounts for goods and services for older people.

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer gave the meeting a brief presentation on the Onepass scheme which provides older residents of the city with discounts for a range of goods and services from shops and providers in the city.

Residents commented that the Boots at Beaumont Leys knew nothing about the scheme and there were also problems at Marks & Spencer. It was further commented that lots of places tended to give discounts to older people anyway. Problems were also noted at Leicester City Football Club as they said that people needed to book in advance if they wanted to receive the discount. The scheme wasn’t generally felt to be working well. It was however commented that it was well received at John Lewis.

Councillor Westley commented that there was bound to be teething troubles with a scheme like this and thanked residents for their feedback. He felt that the above establishments should be contacted to make them aware of the scheme. He also felt that there were opportunities for other organisations to become involved.

Shobhana Patel, Community Safety Development Officer will provide a presentation on services available in relation to Domestic Violence, including services available to victims and what people can do if they suspect it of happening to people they know.

Meena Kumari, from the Safe Project and Shobhana Patel, Community Safety Development Officer gave a presentation on local Domestic Violence services.

The presentation started off by showing a DVD of women from a range of backgrounds and ages who had suffered from Domestic Violence.

Meena and Shobhana then talked about how all kinds of people, including children, could be affected by domestic violence and the different types of abuse. Further details were discussed about how it affected people, how they felt and why they couldn’t just walk away. Figures were provided about how many people were affected by domestic violence on a national and local basis. Information was also provided about the steps that people could take to address their own difficulties and where other people were suffering. Details of all the local resources and support available were also given.

Councillor Westley thanked Meena and Shobhana for their presentation.

Councillor Dempster raised a couple of issues. Firstly, she felt that repeat offences were a particular issue in Beaumont Leys, which was why it was felt important to have the presentation. Also, she felt that whenever any presentation was given or any literature was produced on domestic violence, there was never any recognition of the fact that males were also victims of domestic violence. She felt that she had made this point a large number of times in her Cabinet role, but it didn’t seem to get taken seriously. She hoped that agencies and the Police were sufficiently trained to recognise this problem. Meena commented that she shared Councillor Dempster’s concerns and pointed out that there were a number of support agencies who did support male victims. Martin Birch from the Police also commented that domestic violence was a priority for the Police. There were specific facilities at the Beaumont Leys Police Station for victims and new ways of working, including the use of headcams had been successful in improving prosecution rates.

Sergeant Rich Jackson and PC Martin Birch to give an update on recent Police initiatives, successes and current developments.

PC Martin Birch gave an update on recent Police initiatives, successes and current developments.

Overall Progress

Martin reported that overall, the Beaumont Leys area was making good progress towards city Police priorities and there had been a reduction in all crime of 12% compared to that reported at the last meeting.

Summer Burglary Initiative

An awareness raising even had taken place over the summer where Police patrolled the area to put notes through open windows which indicated risk of burglary. Of the burglaries that took place in the Police station’s area 60% of these were as a consequence of windows being left open.

Emerging Trends

Theft from cars was currently dramatically increasing it was felt that this was a result of people from outside the area coming in. Martin strongly recommended that satellite navigation systems and handbags should not be left in unattended vehicles.

Motorbikes

Martin noted that the illegal use of motorbikes was not as bad a problem as it had been in previous years. A tough stance had been taken and the preventive measures installed on the Black Pad had proved successful.

Distraction Burglary

Martin noted that this was an ongoing problem where vulnerable people were often preyed upon, he noted a particular incident where £10,000 was stolen. He advised that people thoroughly check who is at their door, and especially interrogate their identification as this could easily be faked. Perpetrators of this crime could be very convincing and will usually have a story to tell about why they need access to the house. He advised if people had any doubts that they contact the Police.

Budget Situation

There had been a great deal of publicity about government funding cuts in the media. The Ward area had already seen a reduction in one officer and Police Community Support Officer. Whilst officers’ time would be at a premium in the future and resources would be stretched, Martin felt that the area was served by one of the best Police forces in the city.

Firework Display

There would be a North West Leicester firework display on Friday 5^th November at Mowmacre Sports Ground. Martin was taking a big role in organising this.

Councillor Westley queried why it had to be in Mowmacre and why not held on Beaumont Park. Martin commented that due to the wind direction and the need to have a ‘fallout’ area meant that there was nowhere suitable in the Beaumont Leys ward. He was however committed to promoting it as being for the whole North West Leicester area.

Councillor Dempster asked that local older people’s groups and doctors’s surgeries be given leaflets advertising this event.

Other Matters

A resident enquired whether an officer called Caroline would be coming back to beat 13, as she had developed good relations with residents and knew the area well. Martin commented that as part of the recent realignment staff had been moved about, and were covering wider areas. However there was nothing stopping them from visiting any part of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

Jenny Skelding, Challenge & Support Unit Coordinator will provide a presentation on tackling anti social behaviour in the area.

Jenny Skelding, Challenge and Support Unit Co-ordinator from the Community Safety Division gave the meeting details of the Street Based Anti Social Behaviour Team.

The Team of 8 youth workers patrolled the ward in the evenings on Friday and Saturday, particularly where hotspots had been identified to talk to people on the streets. Firstly, they would be advised if they were being anti social, they would then be signposted to other activities and given the confidence to go to other areas where activities could be found. The Team also undertook workshops with young people on the street about substance abuse and support was given to witnesses. The team acted as a visible presence on the street and they were often the first to attend incidents. This had led to close working with the Police and success in reducing the crime figures.

Jenny commented that particular hotspots in the ward that the team focussed on were on Grisedale Close and Bluegates Road.

The Chair thanked Jenny for this welcomed initiative. 

Councillors are reminded that they will need to declare any interest they may have in budget applications, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Steve Letten Member Support Officer will give an update on the current position with regard to the Community Meeting budget.

The following budget applications will be considered at the meeting.

B1) Summer Football Project – to confirm funding previously agreed.

The following budget request was included on the agenda for formally noting as it had been agreed by Councillors in between meetings to enable the project to take place.

Summer Football Project – request for £2500.

RESOLVED:

that the previously agreed funding be noted.

Speedway

David Hemsley from the Speedway Consortium informed the meeting that the first phase of development, the speedway stadium was underway and was due to be finished by March 2011. This would enable it to be ready for the 2011 season.

Beaumont Way

A resident queried whether Beaumont Way was adopted highway and if so, could it be re-surfaced. It was noted that despite it only being resurfaced relatively recently it was in a terrible condition. It was noted that the bad winter had probably created the situation. It was asked that a request for this be put forward.

City Warden

Barbara Whitcombe, City Warden Manager informed the meeting that the City Warden service had anti graffiti kits to remove graffiti available for free for organisations and businesses.

Residents could access anti graffiti services by phoning the Environmental Helpline on 2527001.

Tesco

A resident informed the meeting that she had recently become Tesco’s Community Champion and as such, had some money to help with community events. It was planned to help fund the fireworks display and support a local football team. The Chair said that this was very welcome.

The meeting closed at 7.55pm.