Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were intimated by:

Alex Taylor, Argyll and Bute Council

Peter Bain, Oban High School

The Chair also intimated that she was coming to the end of her two year tenure in the chair and would be standing down at the appropriate time. It was requested that clarification on whether the existing chair could stand for re-election was sought from the Management Committee.

No declarations of interest were intimated.

The minute of the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Community Planning Group meeting of 27^th August 2016 was approved as a correct record.

It was noted that on page 5, “Charette” should be spelt as “Charete”.

Opportunity for verbal updates by Community Planning Partners

Scottish Fire and Rescue

Derek Wilson from Scottish Fire and Rescue gave an update to the group on a number of recent activities and statistics over the last quarter.  He confirmed that there has been a reduction on deliberate fires but an increase in accidental fires. 

He updated the group on the campaign which they ran last year with Oban Phoenix Cinema to help promote home fire safety visits and advised that this year they are tasked with a number of events to further promote home fire safety visits with includes working with the Oban Winter Festival.  He advised there have been 73 home fire safety visits in the last quarter and hope to have carried out more next quarter.

He confirmed that there have been no accidental dwelling fires but the number of road crashes and aeroplane crashes has increased.

Mr Wilson updated the group on the initiative which is ongoing throughout Argyll and Bute called ‘Bikers Down’ which invites bikers into local offices to take part in first aid training and provide information to reduce casualties.

He gave an update on the major fire incident which happened at the Mill Park depot and advised that 50 fire fighters were called out as a multi cylinder exploded at the time to cause a substantial fire.  He confirmed that the fire was brought under control after 2 hours and that the Commander instantly put information online to inform people what was happening. He advised that officers came up from Hamilton to carry out a fire investigation.

Councillor Robertson congratulated Scottish Fire and Rescue on the way the fire was handled.

The Chair asked if there was any feedback available from the survey which was carried out at the start of the year.  Mr Wilson agreed to look into this and circulate an update to the group.

Police Scotland

Sgt Mark Stephen gave an update to the group on Police Scotland’s involvement with the fire at the Mill depot and advised that they worked closely with Scottish Fire and Rescue and were very impressed with the service they provided.  He confirmed that Police Scotland took total control of the scene for investigation reasons and that they handed it back to the Council on the Monday.  He advised that the Police investigation is still ongoing.

He referred to the recent press article which talked about closure of the Oban Police Station and confirmed that this was inaccurate and that there are no plans to close the Oban Police Station. He advised that there have been discussions regarding the possibility of Police Scotland moving into Oban Community Fire Station Cllr Roberson intimated that she had been asked by Connel Community Council to request information on the custody arrangements if the Police Station was to move and information on this matter was given to the group.  He also confirmed that the current officer covering Taynuilt has moved out of the area and while Police Scotland has agreed to give up the Police Station in Taynuilt for financial reasons, the level of police cover in the area would remain the same. He informed the group that the replacement officer had originally been on a summer secondment in Oban and is moving back to the area as he liked it and will start on 28^th November.

He updated the group on the drink driving launch which is underway and spoke about the crime bakers initiative which will take place over winter where the CID in the mobile police unit will be about to detect people coming into the area.  It was noted that Oban Live was such a success that it will increase in size next year which has great financial benefits for the town.  He confirmed that they had no disturbances this year from a police perspective.

The newly appointed Youth Engagement Officer, PC Claire Brown was introduced to the group.

Argyll and Bute TSI

Joan Best advised the group that they have a third sector network meeting on 28^th November 2-4pm in the Glencruitten Church Hall about partnership working and the way forward and to help work better and apply for funding.

Adult Learning

Brian Marden gave an update to the group on dyslexia week and advised they had two successful screening in Oban library. He confirmed there was a lot of publicity on the website and they handed out a number of blue ribbons to show appreciation and awareness as well as turning McCaig’s Tower blue for the week.

He advised that there is a model on Leon which goes live in January with resilience stories on adult learning and why it is important and how it has affected 10,000 people. 

Mr Marden confirmed that Argyll and Bute Council are the first local authority in Scotland to receive their first award in Dyslexia awareness initiative.

He gave a further update to the group on Book Week Scotland and confirmed that as part of the book week Scotland celebrations, the Scottish book trust ran an online poll to identify the best Scottish book-to-film adaption and Oban’s choice were two classic films which were are being shown in Oban Phoenix cinema at the end of the month – “The 39 Steps” and “Sunset Song”.

Report by Community Planning Manager

The group gave consideration to a briefing note, outlining the consideration of the Community Planning Partnership (CPP) to issues raised by Area CPG’s at their meetings in August 2016; the Alcohol and Drug Partnership’s Annual Report for 2015-16; updates to progress on the delivery of actions contained within the delivery plans for Outcomes 2 and 6 and a focus group session on the review of the Joint Health Improvement Plan (JHIP).  It was noted that the Area CPG Chairs would be invited to attend future Management Committee meetings.

Decision

The group agreed to note the contents of the report and asked that strategic matters relating to the Parking Review be taken to the next Management Committee meeting.

(Ref:  Briefing Note by Community Planning Manager, dated 17^th November 2016, submitted.)

Report by Community Planning Manager

The Community Governance Manager took the Group through a briefing which provided an update on the current development work being undertaken on the Locality Plans following additional guidance recently issued by Scottish Government. A discussion followed regarding the potential for duplication with existing plans in the area, concerns regarding resources and whether there was a need for an additional plan in the area. It was noted that Locality Plans were contained within the Community Planning section of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act, however it was also noted that final guidance on how this should be implemented within CPP areas had not yet been issued and it was hoped that there would be further clarity on this by the February 17 round of meetings

Decision

The Group:

1. Noted the contents of the Briefing note;
2. Asked the Community Governance Manager to raise the potential for duplication with existing plans, concerns regarding resourcing activity and whether it was necessary to have a locality plan if existing plans adequately covered the area  at the Management Committee meeting and;
3. Agreed the February 2017 Oban, Lorn and the Isles Community Planning Group meeting will focus on Locality Planning matters.

(Ref: Briefing update by Community Planning Manager dated 17^th November 2016, submitted).

Briefing note by Community Governance Manager

The Community Governance Manager took the Group through a briefing note on the Strategic Community Safety Tasking and Co-ordinating Partnership which highlighted the purpose, composition and key aims of the partnership.

Decision

The Group noted the contents of the briefing note.

(Ref: Briefing note by Community Governance Manager dated 17^th November 2016, submitted)

Update by Police Scotland

The group gave consideration to a briefing in relation to the online survey - “Your view counts”.  Grant Manders advised that the survey, which can be found at www.scotland.police.uk/yourviewcounts has been designed to allow communities to tell the Police what’s important to them, at a time that’s convenient to them, as its open all year round, around the clock.  He advised that this new process is about accessibility and flexibility and that Police Scotland are continuing to meet directly with different communities across the country throughout the year, to ensure that everyone can have their say, whether they can access a computer or not.

Decision: 

The group agreed to note the contents of the briefing.

(Ref:  Briefing by Police Scotland, dated 17^th November 2016, submitted).

Update by Youth Exchange Group

2 Students from North Argyll Youth Forum gave a presentation to the group on their German Exchange trip.

They spoke about the places they visited each day and explained a statistics test they done on lifestyle in Scotland and in Germany. Members were very interested in the differences between Scotland and Germany and short discussion on the points raised ensured. It was noted that a return exchange visit was planned and members expressed an interest in hearing more about this in due course.

The Group also considered a report on the ‘Big Day Out’ which is an annual event open to all young people in Argyll and Bute aged between 12 and 17.

Decision

The group noted the report and presentation.

(Ref:  Report and Presentation by North Argyll Youth Forum dated 17^th November 2016, submitted).

Verbal update by Carers Centre

The Group considered a presentation from North Argyll Carers Centre. They spoke about the definition of a young carer, what they do and the support service provided by North Argyll Carers Centre.. There was a general discussion about the benefit of the services provided and the challenges faced by young carers There was discussion about the funding challenges relating to delivering the service and the implications of recent legislation.

Decision

The group noted the information provided and the importance of the work that is being carried out by the group.

(Ref:  Presentation by North Argyll Carers Centre dated 17^th November 2017, submitted).

Presentation by Police Scotland

The group gave consideration to a briefing outlining the UK Government’s counter-terrorism strategy (CONEST), the aim of which is to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence. 

The Youth Engagement Officer, Claire Brown, gave an update to the group on the work being undertaken with young people within the area.

Decision

The group agreed to note the contents of the briefing. 

(Ref:  Briefing note by Police Scotland, dated 17^th November 2016, submitted).

Update by Locality Manager

A short briefing paper giving information relating to the Children’s Plan was tabled at the meeting.

Briefing note by the Adult Learning Manager

The Group considered a progress update report on the work carried out by the Argyll and Bute Strategic CLD Partnership with the publication of a web based Community Learning and Development Plan.

Decision

The Group noted the contents of the report and agreed to include consideration of learning and development opportunities when discussing Locality Planning at the February meeting.

(Ref: Report by Adult Learning Manager dated 17^th November 2016, submitted)

Update by Comunn nam Parant  an Obain

The group considered a presentation from Claire Wilding in regard to education in the Gaelic language Oban.

Discussion took place on how the gaelic education is growing across Scotland.  Ms Wilding advised of the benefits and the career paths which can be taken. There was also discussion regarding the benefits of having separate Gaelic speaking schools rather than using Gaelic Medium units attached to an English speaking school and Ms Wilding confirmed that the group are actively working towards establishing a separate Gaelic speaking primary school within the area.

Decision

The group noted the information provided.

(Ref:  Presentation by Claire Wilding dated 17^th November 2017, submitted).

It was noted that the February Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Community Planning Group will focus on Locality Planning and the Community Governance Manager will circulate further information once it is available.