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 Master, elected as Chair, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Apologies were received from Darren Evans – City Warden, Andrew Deacon – South Highfields Neighbours, Doug Holly – Evington Road Neighbourhood Association (ERNA) and Sergeant Yusuf Nagdi – Leicestershire Police.

No interests were declared.

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 17 December 2015 is attached at Appendix A and Members are asked to confirm it as an accurate record. Any update on actions taken since the last meeting will be reported at the meeting.

The action log of the previous meeting held on 17 December 2015 was confirmed as a correct record.

The Stoneygate Ward Councillors will provide an update on the issues they have been dealing with in the Stoneygate Ward.

Stoneygate Ward Councillors provided an update on the issues they had been dealing with in the ward including those arising from the Evington Road patch walk. The following was discussed:

Councillor Chaplin

·         It was noted that Councillor Chaplin had been providing local people with support to accessing health services.

·         An overview of Planning and Development Control Committee (PDCC) was explained. It was noted that Councillor Chaplin would be happy to assist people who wanted to submit planning applications and/or speak in the PDCC meetings.

·         In regards to the budget meeting at the end of last month it was confirmed that there would be a 2% increase in Council tax.

·         Ward surgeries had been taking place.

Councillor Thalukdar

·         It was noted that Councillor Thalukdar had been dealing with constituent issues such as school admissions and homelessness.

·         In regards to school admission places, it was reported that the criteria in Leicester had changed and it was now agreed that pupils with a sibling in the school would receive priority admission.

·         The Combat Fire Authority (CFA) - it was noted that the Ward Councillors had been involved in works to save the fire station.

Councillor Master

·         It was noted that in regards to the budget/ cuts there was still an aim to protect local services.

·         Councillor Master encouraged residents to take part in consultations/ events as this was a way for residents to voices their opinions on the topic.

·         A resident requested statistics on the number of children from the ward currently not in primary schools, children who had applied but didn’t receive places and also children that hadn’t applied for school places. Councillor Master agreed that these figures could be looked into.

·         Councillor Chaplin confirmed that it was possible for parents/ guardians to appeal school decisions once every year.

An update will be given on the open space options on Evington Road.

Dindy Outen, Arts Advisory Officer provided a written update on the options available for the Evington Road open space opposite One Stop shop.

·         It was noted that limited funds were currently available.

·         Residents and Councillors agreed at the meeting that options 3.2 or 3.3 were the most favoured. The comments were to be fed back to Dindy Outen.

v  Option 3.2 - Decommission artwork and replace with new artwork (either with a mural on the wall located behind artwork) or a sculpture, project to be managed by local community group with support from Leicester Arts and Museums Service.

v  Option 3.3 – Decommission artwork and replace with new community project (e.g. planting programme).

·         A few residents requested a bench in the open space. It was noted that the question would be asked in addition to requesting the Police opinion.

·         Jane Russell secretary of Evington Road Neighbourhood Association (ERNA) had previously shown preference of a planting scheme. Dindy Outen to contact Jane.

·         It was discussed that the ownership of the residential wall in the open space would need to be investigated.

The Clinical Commissioning Group will provide an update on the Maples Surgery closure.

Richard Morris from the Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) gave an overview on the service that the CCG provided and an update on the recent closure of the Maples Surgery on Evington Road due to the retirement of Dr Newley.

All to note:

·         Letters were sent out to inform all patients of the Maples Surgery closure and advice was given on registering with another practice.

·         It was noted that single handed practices were currently required to give 3 months’ notice of closure. The CCG were now encouraging small practices of this type to voluntarily give 6 months’ notice of closure.

·         The CCG in conjunction with Dr Bentley (a GP member of the CCG) would be keeping Dr Newley’s patients’ records open for 90 days, whereby the medical records would be reviewed, support provided for patient care/ advice on alternative practices and patients contacted for follow up treatments/ care.

·         Following the 90 days, for any remaining patients who had not yet registered with another practice; the CCG were considering various options, some of which were to either manually go through the records and allocate patients to new practices or place the records into a central holding location where records would be stored securely until the patients registered at a new practice. Records would then be sent directly to the new GP.

·         In response to a resident’s query regarding GP shortages and lack of appointments, it was noted that the CCG was working on various plans to encourage more doctors who train in Leicester to stay and work in the city. To assist with creating more appointments, GP hubs had recently been launched for patients to get appointments outside of their general GPs hours.

·         The Leicester hub locations were; Willows Medical Centre, Westcotes Medical Practice, Brandon Street Surgery, Saffron Surgery with general opening hours from 6.30pm-10pm weekdays and 9am-10pm on weekends.

·         Councillor Chaplin encouraged the public/ residents to participate in providing their open opinions of the NHS.

·         Richard Morris reported that from April 2016, it would be a requirement for all GP practices to publicly declare their income on their websites.

An update will be provided on a number of transport and highways issues in the Stoneygate Ward.

Ed Kocik – Team Leader for Traffic Operations reported highways matters. The following was discussed:

·         It was noted that the Stoneygate Ward residents parking programme consultation was due to commence in June 2016. The process was reported to be in several stages which would take approximately 6-8 months at a time.

·         In regards to a request from the previous Stoneygate Ward Meeting, Councillor Master presented figures for parking tickets issued on various streets in the ward, over a 12 month period.

·         The results of the pavement parking pilot scheme which was currently taking place in three Leicester wards would determine the decisions made.

Community groups/ Attendees will have the opportunity to provide reports or updates on community activities and involvement.

·         It was noted that an International Women’s Day event/ meeting would be taking place at St Peters Community Centre on Tuesday 8 March 2016 from 10am-11.30am.

·         A representative from ERNA requested residents concerned with reported issues on Glossop Street such as fly-tipping, litter and ASB to attend the ERNA meeting on Thursday 10 March at the Muslim Khatri Association (MKA) to have a discussion.

Officers from the Local Policing Unit will be at the meeting to provide an update on Police issues in the Stoneygate Ward.

Laura Burt, the Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) read an update provided by the Local Policing Unit. All to note:

Current Staffing:

1 x Police Sergeant 2210 Yusuf Nagdi

3 x Police Constables

4 x Police Community Support Officers

Crime figures in the Stoneygate Ward over the last 2 months:

Burglary dwelling – 14

Robbery – 2

Theft person - 7

Theft from motor vehicle – 17

Current Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Reports:

·         4 in total; 2 were long standing, relating to individuals and neighbours. The 2 further reports were on Abingdon Walk and Onslow Park;

·         Abingdon Walk - had been adopted as the ward priority, it involved groups of youths congregating in the area, using drugs, causing damage and associated ASB.

·         Onslow Park – Police recently adopted following further reports of people drinking in the locality and causing ASB.

Patch Walk:

·         On 26 February 2016 there was a joint visit with MP Jon Ashworth and local Councillors to the area of Evington Road around Glossop Street, Lyme Road, Linton Street and Draper Street.

·         Issues including ASB, fly tipping, littering, parking and traffic were dealt with.

·         Some future beat surgeries dates - would take place at the Somali development Services on 8 March at 10am and Co-op, Evington Road on 16 March & April 6th at 5pm.

The City Warden will provide an overview on environmental and enforcement activities in the Ward.

Laura Burt - WCEO read and distributed the City Warden update. The following were residents and Councillors comments:

·         A resident had concerns of littering outside food outlets on Evington Road; one specific area highlighted was near the Paddy Power betting shop and discussed that food outlets should be encouraged to keep the area outside/ near their shop tidy.

·         It was noted that Councillor Master mentioned the possibility of leafleting or bringing awareness to food outlets.

·         Councillor Chaplin reported that Sarah Harrison – City Centre Director was working on engaging with some of these businesses and it could be a possible item for the next ward community meeting to have an update.

·         A resident requested that thanks be passed onto the street cleaners who were reported to do an excellent job.

Successful applicants for Stoneygate Ward funding will give feedback or a presentation on what was achieved with the funding received.

·         An applicant spoke on the success of the Eid party which was held.

·         The WCEO presented information provided by ‘Can’t blame the youth’ which was reported to be a successful event.

·         Councillor Thalukdar requested more applicants to give feedback at the ward meetings.

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 applications will be discussed at the meeting:

Joint Bid: 5128

Applicant: The Friends Hub

Project Name & Summary: Tackle Anti-Social behaviour through sports.

Amount Requested: £1,000

Joint Bid: 5135

Applicant: Leicester Calypso Football Club

Project Name & Summary: 5-A-Side Football Tournament.

Amount Requested: £400

Joint Bid: 5139

Applicant: Community Advice and Law Service

Project Name & Summary: Advice in schools project.

Amount Requested: £700

Bid: 1618

Applicant: Evington Park Allotment Society (EPAS)

Project Name & Summary: Eco-toilet – Stoughton Drive North allotment site.

Amount Requested: £1,397

Bid: 1619

Applicant: Leicestershire Ethnic Elderly Advocacy Project LTD

Project Name & Summary: To offer a unique advocacy service to individuals and groups of elderly people from ethnic minority communities.

Amount Requested: £3,000

Joint Bid: 5142

Applicant: Highfields Play Action

Project Name & Summary: Community group to meet and share social occasions.

Amount Requested: £485

Joint Bid: 5143

Applicant: JJ Service

Project Name & Summary: Empowering and befriend sessions.

Amount Requested: £993

Joint Bid: 5149

Applicant: Greater Noakhali Shomiti UK

Project Name & Summary: Bangladeshi Independence Day.

Amount Requested: £1,000

Bid: 1671

Applicant: Parks – LCC

Project Name & Summary: Onslow Street play area - additional play equipment.

Amount Requested: £6,000

Laura Burt, the Community Engagement Officer (CEO) presented an update on the Ward Community Budget.

The following items were considered at the meeting:

5128: The Friends Hub applied for £1,000 to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) through sports – grant of £1,000 approved in full.

5135: Leicester Calypso Football Club requested £400 to hold a 5-A-Side Football Tournament – grant of £400 approved in full.

5139: Community Advice and Law Service requested £700 to provide advice in schools – grant of £700 approved in full.

1618: Evington Park Allotment Society (EPAS) applied for £1,397 to install an eco-toilet at Stoughton Drive North allotment site – grant of £1,397 approved in full.

1619: Leicestershire Ethnic Elderly Advocacy Project LTD applied for £3,000 to offer a unique advocacy service to individuals and groups of elderly people from ethnic minority communities – application not supported.

5142: Highfields Play Action requested £485 for their community group to meet and share social occasions – grant of £485 approved in full.

5143: JJ Service requested £993 to hold empowering and befriend sessions – grant of £800 approved. It was noted that no funding would be contributed towards the food aspect of the application.

5149: Greater Noakhali Shomiti UK applied for £1,000 to celebrate Bangladeshi Independence Day – grant of £1,000 approved in full.

1671: Parks – LCC applied for £6,000 for additional play equipment in Onslow Street/ park play area – grant of £3,000 approved.

1692: Mr Dillip Chouhan requested £2,175 in support of sports based sessions for children aged 8-14 years – grant of £2,175 approved in full.

1693: South Highfields Neighbours requested £100 to launch a campaign with the Council and City Wardens in regards to cleaning the neighbourhood – grant of £100 approved in full.

1694: South Highfields Neighbours requested £1,000 to organise a street party for local residents – grant of £1,000 approved in full.

1695: South Highfields Neighbours applied for £300 to hold an Onslow Park celebratory event upon completion of the developments – grant of £300 approved in full.

·         Pamela Campbell-Morris gave a presentation on an application request in support of the Highfield Rangers fun day event which would be held at the end of May.

·         The WCEO – Laura Burt informed the meeting of the new online ward budget application process from 1 April 2016.

The meeting closed at 8.05pm.