Agenda and minutes

Apologies were intimated from:-

Inspector Claire Miller, Strathclyde Police

Councillor Vivien Dance

Councillor David Kinniburgh

There were no Declarations of Interest

The Minute of Meeting 11 September 2012 was approved as a correct and accurate record.

Katie Burke was not available to attend  and would be invited to attend a  future meeting.

Action: Belinda Ruthven

Ishabel Bremner, Economic Development Manager, provided the Group with an informative presentation on the initial draft of the 2013  - 2018 Economic Development Action Plan.  She highlighted the process that would be followed prior to Full Council approval of the document in January 2013.  Ms Bremner circulated copies of the draft document and invited feedback. 

Discussion then followed and several suggestions were forthcoming and were noted by the officer.

Action: Ishabel Bremner/Belinda Ruthven

RN Commander Phil Ireland, briefed the Group on the current progress of the Maritime Change Programme but noted that there had been little change since the previous update.  He informed that the Base were now in discussion with Argyll and Bute Council and that a matrix of contacts was in the process of being established. Commander Ireland explained that due to the transient nature of the Armed Forces which resulted in frequent change of personnel, this would prove a useful tool.

Commander Ireland informed that several bids had now been submitted for an Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant and that feedback had indicated that those submitted had been of a high standard.

Bids are also expected in by end of January for the MOD Support Fund for Schools and feedback will come back to the Group on the progress of these.

Commander Ireland highlighted that any requests for support from the Base should come at an early stage and he asked for suggestions from the Group on how clashes between community events could be avoided.

Future updates on the Maritime Change Programme will come under Partner Updates and Captain Jack Tarr has agreed to provide these where relevant.

The Group were briefed in a report by the Area Governance Manager, Argyll and Bute Council, that the Helensburgh and Lomond Community Safety Partnership (CSP) had recently restarted with representation from all the main contributors in the safety arena.  The report highlighted the activities which the CSP participants had or would be undertaking in the near future.

Action: Noted

Argyll Voluntary Action

Gillian Barclay – Argyll Voluntary Action, informed the Group that the last Third Sector forum event had been a success and very well attended. A further event is planned for February and will focus on joint commissioning

Helensburgh Community Council

There followed some discussion around the Community Emergency Plan which had been circulated to the Community Councils in the area, following concerns, particularly in Helensburgh Town where it was felt that the area was too big to manage with the limited resource on the Community Council. Elaine Garman NHS, suggested that it may be beneficial to concentrate on individual areas in Helensburgh rather than the town as a whole.

The Group was given assurances that the document should not be viewed as a replacement to the emergency services but that it’s purpose was to flag up issues as an early warning.   It was noted that the two information days held in Dunoon and Oban had not been particularly well attended and the possible reasons for this were discussed. 

Charles Reppke suggested that he could feed back the comments received to Morag Brown, Improvement and HR,  who would report back to the Group with her views.

Action: Charles Reppke

Strathclyde Police

Area Commander Gary Stitt, informed that Inspector Claire Miller was currently meeting with the new Divisional Commander to discuss the forthcoming introduction of the Single Force.

He informed the Group of the operational measures over the festive season and that his staff were liaising with local licenses premises to emphasise their support.

Feedback from community councils and elected members which had indicated lack of information had now been addressed with the circulation of a Community Policing Newsletter which had also been distributed to the CPG.  Area Commander Stitt provided a briefing on the crime statistics which in comparison to the same time last year, were extremely encouraging

The Group was updated in a report by the Area Governance Manager, Argyll and Bute Council, of the current position of the Duchess Wood Local Nature Reserve committee in relation to the Community Planning Group in that they had now become a strategic partner. 

The Group was asked to propose two nominees to sit on the DWNR committee to represent Public Health and Young Persons.  Morevain Martin kindly agreed to take up the first of these positions and any suggestions for the Young Persons’ representative would be welcomed.

Gillian Barclay suggested that the Saltire Volunteering Awards could be approached and she agreed to do this and feedback to the Group with their decision.

Action: Gillian Barclay - AVA

Group Commander Eddie Renfrew advised the Group that the new Chief Officer was now working with local senior officers with a view to the implementation of the Single Force and emphasised that there would be no impact on local services.

A new ‘First Through the Door’ approach had now been adopted which would highlight any relevant issues through a reciprocal referral process. Area Commander  Renfrew explained that the Cooksafe programme had evolved following alerts raised by health and wellbeing groups of kitchen incidents.   A pilot scheme has already been rolled out in Bute and Cowal, and if this proves successful, will be implemented Argyll and Bute wide.

The Group was informed of the association now in place with the Helensburgh and Lomond Community Safety Partnership (CSP). Following the last meeting of which, an elderly lady had now been identified to take part in a promotion on URTV to reassure elderly citizens of the benefits of the free fire safety checks.

The recent Bonfire strategy had proved hugely successful, with zero mobilisation to incidents.

Literature on the Winter/Festive Safety campaigns will be circulated to the Group.

Action: Belinda Ruthven

Nick Davies, Cove and Kilcreggan CC, informed that the standby ferry is currently in operation at Kilcreggan Pier whilst the primary vessel is in refit.  The Pier master has now been reinstated and the signage has been fixed at Gourock Station to alert of cancellations and delays.

Nick advised that lessons learned following the ferry incident have resulted in the formation of the Cove and Kilcreggan Community Trust which has recently applied for grant funding for consultation exercises to the benefit of the local communities. He referred to the proposed Windfarm on the peninsula and advised of the response to the local community survey.

John Tacchi, Helensburgh CC, referred to the dangers of frozen and wet leaves on the pavements especially in the Kirkmichael area of the town and asked that the possibility of the council funding the upkeep of a motorised pavement clearer which they were considering fund raising for, could be considered.  Councillor Robb advised Mr Tacchi to approach Sandy MacTaggart regarding this request.

These issues were previously discussed under Partner Updates.

Elaine Garman, Public Health Specialist, provided the Group with a very informative presentation on the currently available health screening programmes and of the variation in uptake figures of each of these across different areas and gender groupings. The need to reiterate the message of regular screening when available was highlighted.

Elaine Garman kindly agreed to circulate a link to the video to the Group via email following the meeting.

Action: Belinda Ruthven

The Group was asked to consider a report by the Head of Strategic Finance, Argyll and Bute Council, on the proposals for future governance arrangements for the Community Planning Partnership and to note that a further report on detailed arrangements is currently under preparation for submission to the December meeting of the Management Committee.

Discussion was had around the report and the impact that the CPP has on the local area. It was also suggested that the use of acronyms be reduced in council related reports.

Action: Noted

The Group was provided with a report by the Head of Strategic Finance, which sets out the approach to and progress in developing the next community plan.  It also advised them of the approach to developing outcome planning. 

It was noted that the figures in the diagram on Appendix 2 were missing and this will be highlighted with the author to address and these will be distributed to the Group once these are received

Action: Eileen Wilson