Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Westley, Carlym Sandringham (Healthy Living Centre) and Michelle Gamble (UR Choice Project)

Councillor Sundip Meghani was Chair for the meeting.

Councillors were asked to declare any interest they had in the business on the agenda, and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

There were no declarations.

The minutes of the previous Beaumont Leys Community Meeting, held on 20 July 2011, are attached and Councillors are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the Beaumont Leys Community Meeting held on 20 July were approved as a correct record.

An update will be given on recent Police developments and successes. There will also be an update on the ‘One Neighbourhood’ survey.

Sergeant Rich Jackson gave an update on Policing issues highlighting the following points:-

-       In nearly all key main crime categories, (burglary, theft, vehicle crime, anti-social behaviour and domestic violence), crime was significantly down on the same period from the previous year.

-       The one issue which remained a problem was drugs. Therefore, the Police Problem Solving Profiles were focussed on this issue. Arrests had been made, with custodial sentences expected. These would be followed up to see if evictions could be made as a result.

-       A significant operation had been undertaken with court officials to deal with non-payment of fines. There had been significant numbers of arrests made and the recovery of large amounts of money.

-       There was a plan for the Police to take a shop unit in the shopping centre over the Christmas period. Last year there was a 50% reduction in crime in the centre as a result.

-       More details on the death of local resident from Tilling Road would be provided at the next meeting.

Comments and questions were made as follows:

-       John Thomson, Housing Area Manager commented on the issue of evictions from Council properties in drugs cases. He noted that the law required there to be a ‘nuisance’. This could easily be argued in court for class A drug offences, but was more difficult to argue lower classes.

-       Kim Thorrington, Youth Worker reported that young people were unsafe on Beaumont Walk as he’d received reports that they were having cigarettes and money extorted from them. Sergeant Jackson agreed to discuss the matter with Kim.

-        A number of comments were raised about drugs:

-       It was noted that it was a key issue for the area.

-       Big scale dealers and users with a problem should be considered differently.

-       Treatment was enacted where users who tested positive when they came into contact with the criminal justice system.

-       People who phoned the Crimestoppers phoneline could be assured of complete confidentiality.

-       It was proposed that there be a main item on the agenda of the next Ward Community Meeting looking at the issue and potential solutions to some of the problems.

-       There was some discussion about the reasons for the reduction in the crime level – it was noted that it was likely to be a result of the movements of criminals in and out of the area, particularly if key criminals were in prison. There were however a number of actions relating to enforcement / diversion and education that the Police and other agencies were taking, which was also undoubtedly having an effect.

-       It was reported that the Beaumont Leys Local Policing Unit now had a new Commander who was Inspector Kev Morris.

A representative from Children and Young People’s Services on will be present to provide information to the meeting.

Cathy Dobb, Head of Service for School Organisation and Assets gave the meeting a brief presentation on the admissions for school places process. The following points were noted.

-       It was currently the time of year for parents to submit their 3 choices in order of preference for secondary school, deadline of 31^st October.

-       Schools were unaware of the order of preference when choosing to make an offer to parents; this allowed for the more efficient allocation of places.

-       The Choice Advice Service was a body, independent of the Council which could advise parents on making the choice for their child’s school.

-       After the secondary school process the Foundation (reception) places are dealt with – deadline 15 January.

-       It was noted that with Foundation level, it couldn’t be assumed that if a child attended a nursery at a school that a school place would be automatic.

-       Applying online was recommended as choices could be amended up until the deadline date and it could be guaranteed that the application had been received.

-       If unsuccessful there was an appeals process and you could go on  a school’s waiting list, but there was no guarantee of success.

Questions / comments were raised on the following areas:

-       The importance of putting three choices – Cathy advised that it was always important to put three choices down. If only one choice was made and it wasn’t successful, any school could be allocated.

-       The importance of getting the application in on time – all applications received on time would be dealt with first and only then would late applications be dealt with.

The Chair thanked Cathy for her presentation.

He also congratulated Councillor Dempster and all those involved in the city’s education for the improved results in the city this past year. In particular, it was noted that Babington Community College’s performance had improved from about 23% 5 A-C in 2008 to over 70% this year.

Councillor Dempster asked those present to spread the message about admissions and that people shouldn’t make assumptions about city schools, they were improving and people should go and see them.

A representative from Waste Management will be present at the meeting to introduce the new Orange Bag recycling scheme.

Sophie Glover from Biffa gave the meeting a short presentation presenting the new orange bag recycling scheme. She noted the following points:-

-       Orange bags were now replacing the existing green box scheme.

-       More recyclable materials could be put in the bags than could be put in the green boxes.

-       A pack would be sent out to residents which would say what could be put in the bags, this would include a fridge magnet for ease of remembering.

-       Green boxes could be retained to store the orange bags in.

Questions were asked on the following matters:-

-       Communal blue bins for flats? Sophie commented that an individual assessment will be done on each block of flats and a bespoke service would be put in place based on the most appropriate approach for the benefit of residents.

-       What couldn’t be put in? foodwaste, broken glass, nappies.

-       What were the details of the trial areas? Recycling had doubled and participation rates increased by 20% in those areas where the scheme was trialled.

-       What happens when you run out of bags? Put a sticker (supplied) on the last bag and new ones will be left.

Sophie also pointed out the importance of ensuring that all recyclable materials were cleaned of food waste to avoid the likelihood of foxes tearing into the bags. She also noted that the ‘ball mill’ separation system would still be used but, by using the orange bags more materials could be successfully recycled.

The Chair thanked Sophie for attending.

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.

The following budget applications will be considered:-

Application 1

Applicant:      Essential rejuvenation dance sport & fitness

Amount:         £1,352

Proposal:       To promote and encourage community cohesion amongst Leicester’s young people through dance and drama sessions.

Summary:     The funding would be used towards coaches, equipment and room hire, with a Finale at the end of all the projects.

Approved under the fast-track process:

1.    Beaumont Leys Library

Amount:         £500

Proposal:       Funding towards publicising the Health and Wellbeing event in Beaumont Leys on October 1^st 2011, and pay for alternative therapy practitioners.

Targeting local schools, children’s centre and community centres, the event is to promote active leisure time, health and wellbeing, and community safety, and raise awareness of all the services provided by the partners involved.

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer introduced the budget requests which had been submitted to the Committee.

Application 1 – Essensual Rejuvenation Dance, Sport and Fitness

Mandy Shepherd was in attendance at the meeting and spoke in support of the application for funding to cover the cost of coaches, equipment, room hire and a finale at the end of the programme.

-       There was great demand  for the dance and drama sessions.

-       However, there were many young people who couldn’t access the sessions due to the costs involved.

-       The funding would enable the sessions to be put on for six months, during which time efforts would be made to make the project financially sustainable.

There were some comments from residents during the discussion on this item.

-       There seemed to be a large number of applications for young people and none for older people. It was however noted that there was a lack of older people’s organisations in the ward who would normally lead on applying for funding.

-       The ‘Somewheretogo EM’ project could assist with finding venues free of charge for young people’s activities.

-       The Council should provide somewhere free for the project. It was however noted that this was part of a wider debate.

-       There was general support for the application and the cross generational aspects were supported in particular.

RECOMMENDED:

That the application be supported and £1,352 be allocated, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Member for Health and Community Involvement.

Application 2 – Leicestershire Police – Beaumont Leys Beat Team

Sergeant Rich Jackson presented an application which requested £1035 funding in support of a joint proposal between the Police and the Fire Service to provide a shop unit at the Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre over the Christmas period. Advice and support will be available at the unit as well as free crime prevention measures for local people on production of a utility bill.

The following comments were made in relation to this application:-

-       Information on other areas such as drug / alcohol / domestic violence support should be made available at the unit.

-       A similar application should be made to the Abbey Ward for funding, if not this year, then certainly next year.

-       The unit should be publicised in the ‘One Neighbourhood’ magazine.

RECOMMENDED:

That the application be supported and £1,035 be allocated, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Member for Health and Community Involvement.

Application 3 – Leicestershire Police – Community Speedgun

Sergeant Rich Jackson introduced an application for £500 towards the cost of Community Speedgun, to address problems related to speeding drivers as identified in Police surveys. This was a shared application for a number of areas in the North West of the city.

RECOMMENDED:

That the application be deferred to be considered in more detail by local Councillors.

Application 4 – Leicester Speedway Limited

An application was received from Leicester Speedway Limited, for £1,102.98 to request funding to support a proposed outreach programme  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

The next meeting would be held on 7 December.

There was a debate about what time it should be held, whether it should be 3.30pm or 6.00pm, upon being put to a vote of those present, it was agreed to keep the meeting at 6.00pm.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending.