Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Neighbourhoods Meeting Group: Wentworth Valley Area Assembly Meeting Date: Tuesday 7 February 2006 Meeting Time: 6.30 pm Meeting Venue: Hellaby Village Hall Chair: Councillor Amy Rushforth Present: Jean Moore - Bramley Shop Owner Dennis Moore - Bramley Shop Owner Margaret Robinson - Bramley Shop Owner Glyn Staves - Bramley Parish Council Laura Harvey - Hellaby Resident Joan Herne - Hellaby Resident Chris Arnold - Hellaby Resident Jack Arnold - Hellaby Resident Phyllis Mullarkey - Hellaby Resident M Higginson - Hellaby Resident Jean Peet - Hellaby Resident George Scott - Hellaby Resident Ann Scott - Hellaby Resident Alan Ellis - Hellaby Resident Glynis Ellis - Hellaby Resident Jim Humphries - Hellaby Resident Dora Humphries - Hellaby Resident Kath Wilding - Hellaby Resident Barrie Webb - Hellaby Resident Joseph Carney - Hellaby Resident John Hellewell - Hellaby Resident Yvonne Hellewell - Hellaby Resident Lesley Carr - Hellaby Resident Pat Davies - Hellaby Resident Marjorie Watts - Hellaby Resident Peter Vine - Hellaby Resident Claire Milner - Hellaby Resident Vera Blackburn - Hellaby Resident Kim Scott - Hellaby Resident Mick Thacker - Hellaby Resident 1 Denise Hardy - Hellaby Resident J Jepson - Hellaby Resident Sandra Clubb - Hellaby Resident T Clubb - Hellaby Resident Jim Cobb - Hellaby Resident Jean Cobb - Hellaby Resident David Morton - Clerk to Maltby Parish Council C McMahon - Maltby Town Council David Guest - Wickersley Resident Gloria Martin - Wickersley Parish Council Mike Brown - Rotherham PCT Keith Stringer - RMBC, Tenants Representative Joe Holbrook - RMBC, Tenants Representative Cllr. Lynda Binnie - RMBC, Hellaby Ward 5 Councillor Cllr. Glyn Robinson - RMBC, Maltby Ward 9 Councillor Cllr. Amy Rushforth - RMBC, Maltby Ward 9 Councillor Sam Rowley - RMBC, Streetpride Mick Stowe - RMBC, Neighbourhood Development Sue Weatherley - RMBC, Neighbourhood Development Melanie Stewart - 2010 Rotherham Ltd. Ayuba Lawan - 2010 Rotherham Ltd. No. Agenda Items Action 1. Welcome and Introductions (and any apologies for absence Introductions were made and apologies were received from Tom Cray, Michelle Musgrave, Andy Wright, Shaz Hoades, Jeanette Hamilton, J Gunn, Cllr. Pauline Darby, Cllr. John Turner, Cllr. Brian Cutts and Beryl Billington. 2. Minutes of previous meeting (13 December 2005) The minutes were agreed as a true record. 3. Matters Arising 3) 6) – Cycle Lane – shouldn’t it be coloured? We don’t think so. Action: Ayuba will check. AL 4. Correspondence and Handouts The Handout Pack includes a list of the Walkabouts for 2006, the Safer Neighbourhood Teams Presentation, Dalton Parish Council’s 2 No. Agenda Items Action 4. Correspondence and Handouts cont. Report, information on a training course for community groups, information on the temporary closure of Lidget Lane Recycling Centre and information on the ‘Meet the Funder’ afternoon at the Wesley Centre, Maltby on 2 March. Ayuba had received advanced notice of road works on Northfield Lane, Wickersley, starting on Friday 10 February for 1 week to put a crossing near the school. It was asked if anyone was aware of the impact this would have on the traffic. 5. Update on Safer Neighbourhood Teams Sgt. Stuart Price, SYP, Safer Neighbourhood Project Team and Insp. Richard Scholey, South Yorkshire Police Stuart thanked the Area Assembly for inviting him back to update us on how things are going. He explained that the Government wanted the police to look locally and engage with people. The SNT is working towards more focussed joined up policing. They want to find out what people want. We have a good start with the community planning process. We refer to that and also come out to communities asking them what they want, also what the Area Assemblies want. There are 7 Safer Neighbourhood Teams that are the same as the Area Assembly areas. Police Officers, PCSO’s, Neighbourhood Warden’s, Neighbourhood Champions, Neighbourhood Manager and Streetpride staff attend joint daily briefings. Two teams are piloting the scheme, Rawmarsh and Wath. It is working really well in these areas. The other 5 areas launch in April. We have a Community Information Unit (CIU), based at Maltby Police Station. It’s not fully staffed yet. This unit looks at police and council data and briefs the joint daily meetings. This unit is the 1st of its kind in the UK and the Government are looking closely at it with a view to using it nationwide if it proves successful. Early indications of CIU are promising. They are looking at fly tipping at the same time as violent crime and to see if there’s a pattern. 3 No. Agenda Items Action 5. Update on Safer Neighbourhood Teams cont. Sgt. Stuart Price, SYP, Safer Neighbourhood Project Team and Insp. Richard Scholey, South Yorkshire Police Unfortunately, due to a delay in funding, we won’t get our PCSO’s until October/November, but still going to launch in April. All other people are in place. Accommodation is sorted out in this area. You should see a big change. Looking at the work the Community Planning Officers are doing. Might work through the Area Assemblies. Will tackle 3 or 4 priorities at a time. All working to same priorities at the same time. In the north of Rotherham it is working well. We have changed the way things work, e.g. abandoned vehicles now removed quicker, usually the same day. Much more focussed. There have been other policy changes and hopefully things will get better. Now proper partnership working doing your priorities as well as the governments, giving a community focus. Stuart asked if there were any questions. Q. Where does Hellaby come into the picture? A. Within SNT areas there’s new community beats drawn up. Hellaby will get a named Community Officer. You should all be made aware of the name of Inspector Scholey, your local sergeant and your Community Constable. Q. When? A. Goes live on 3 April. Two tier system at the moment, the 2 areas with SNT and the rest on the old system. Inspector Scholey has 3 teams of 5 for his 3 areas. By 3 April will be able to put names to areas. Q. Will you let Parish Councils know? A. Yes, but if there isn’t a reason for a constable to attend a meeting they will not attend. We’re still interested but we want constables on the beat. If you’ll pass on your concerns we’ll get a feedback to you on a regular basis. Q. Concerns about no police in Flanderwell. Can Housing Panel members be informed? A. Would like to lead to street briefings. Members of community can come along and voice their concerns. We’ll be more accessible. Ayuba will also mention this in his report. Q. Wickersley at the western end of the assembly. Community Policing has historically been maintained. We don’t have any form of wardening in Wickersley. A. Wardens will become a part of this team. They will be deployed 4 No. Agenda Items Action 5. Update on Safer Neighbourhood Teams cont. Sgt. Stuart Price, SYP, Safer Neighbourhood Project Team and Insp. Richard Scholey, South Yorkshire Police according to information received. Team will work from Maltby. For the process to work all officers need to come on at the same time to be briefed with everyone else. It doesn’t mean you won’t get the same level of policing. Q. Will the police get to know their area? A. There will still be beat ownership, officers working their own beat, getting to know issues and working on them. Think the system has a lot of merit, but please be realistic; it won’t all happen at once. It will take time. Major turn around could take 2 years. Need more police, etc. Need to address underlying cause of problems, e.g. environment, youth facilities, etc. Please support us in what we’re doing. Q. ‘Flavour of the month’ crimes, sat. nav. systems, etc. Knock on effect. Anything in system to stop this? A. Now have strategy and equipment in CIU that we hadn’t in the past. Government want us to create a monitoring system for each area assembly. Analysts will look into this making teams better informed than before. Got to train the staff but still have a manager and 2 analysts to recruit. Q. Don’t want police in meetings when they should be on the beat, but can a report be sent to parish council meetings and area assembly meetings? A. It’s not that we don’t care about these meetings, it’s just that in the past police officers have worked round meetings. We will find ways of engaging/communication. If someone needed the Inspector or sergeant will come. C. After apologies local police were always 1st on agenda so they could go. General public don’t know about PCSO’s yet. Keep in touch with us, even if only a small report. Q. Parish Councils should be used as a resource, they are all public spirited, all volunteers. A lot of decisions have already been made. Have they been tested on the communities? A. A lot of decisions have been driven by central government. This was tested in 7 regions. We’re a Pathfinder for this type of approach. We were selected by central government. Trialled in Barnsley then launched South Yorkshire wide. Still tweaking the system. There have been a series of public events, predominantly in the North. Some areas governed by restriction, but consulted as widely as possible. C. Think you made reference to Maltby Community Plan. We’re just starting the process in Wickersley and Hellaby. We need to let every community group know, need to promote who to contact. 5 No. Agenda Items Action 5. Update on Safer Neighbourhood Teams cont. Sgt. Stuart Price, SYP, Safer Neighbourhood Project Team and Insp. Richard Scholey, South Yorkshire Police It’s good that all cogs are coming together.