Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting.

The Chairman varied the order of business as shown on the Agenda and the Minute reflects the order in which the items were considered at the meeting.

DECISION

NOTED.

Minute of the meeting of Berwickshire Area Forum of 3 December 2015 to be noted.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of 3 December 2015. 

DECISION

APPROVED the Minute for signature by the Chairman.

Consider report by the Service Director Commercial Services.  (Copy attached.)

The Chairman introduced Mr Sean Peffers from the Council's Road Safety and Traffic Management section.  Mr Peffers explained that a region-wide Speed Limit Review had recently been completed and the recommendations from that Review included the introduction of a 40mph speed limit on the A6105 at Huntlywood; and the introduction of a 30mph speed limit on the D121/6 at Grantshouse.  These speed limits were a reduction of the National Speed Limit which was currently in place on the two lengths of road network.  Mr Peffers advised Members that the required two stage consultation process had been concluded and feedback had been received from Perryman's Buses and Gordon and Westruther Community Council, both in support of the proposals.  The financial implications associated with the proposals totalled £4,350 and included the cost for additional signage along with advertising and making the Traffic Regulation Order.  These costs would be borne by the Aids to Movement budget.  A short discussion followed and Mr Peffers clarified points raised by Members.

DECISION

Presentation by Els Nicol and Sandra Millar, SBC Community Learning and Development.  (Copies attached.)

5.1       There had been circulated copies of the Berwickshire Learning Community Plan for 2015-18.  The Chairman welcomed Els Nicol and Sandra Millar from the Council's Community Learning and Development section to the meeting.  They explained that a "Learning Community Plan (CLP) sought to address the learning needs of its locality through partnership.  It used the strengths of institutions, public, private and voluntary services and community groups to enable young people and adults to achieve their full potential.  Learning communities used learning as a way to build community capacity and to promote social cohesion, social inclusion, regeneration and economic development."  Ms Nicol went on to explain the benefits of this type of partnership, emphasising the importance of local knowledge both by individuals and organisations, and how such arrangements could best work for the community as a whole.   Education Scotland inspections across the country had demonstrated that effective planning and evaluation by CLPs stimulated community benefit and current Community Learning Development regulations required that a 3 Year Strategic Plan was in place for the Scottish Borders.

5.2       There were 9 LCPs in the Scottish Borders, each based around the High School areas and co-ordinated by Community Learning Development Workers (CLDWs).  Each CLP looked at 5 strains of inequality within its local community, namely: Economic; Health & Wellbeing; Achievement & Attainment; Keeping People Safe; and Housing.  The required 3 year Plans were operational, with the first year almost at an end and local actions had been prioritised, with all partners being committed to the delivery of the Plan.

5.3       Within the Berwickshire area, there were two LCP Local Action Plans in existence, the first of these being Berwickshire.  Following identification of local community concerns, actions currently being taken forward were: under Employment and Income where lack of transport and associated problems were seen to increase inequalities, action was to set up a Transport Consultation Group with young people to address these issues so that, eg young people were in a much stronger position to sustain employment;  under Health & Wellbeing and Keeping People Safe a lack of mental health services in the locality had been identified, and the agreed action was to build emotional resilience with 10-14 year olds; a lack of support during the transition from Primary to High School had been identified as a concern under Skills and Attainment and a number of projects had subsequently been established to assist in making progress such as the Living with Parents programme for Primary School pupils, the Transition Research Project at Berwickshire High School and new work experience/volunteering opportunities for Adults with Special Needs.  Ms Millar went on to explain that three priorities had been identified by the Eyemouth Learning Community Partnership, namely under Health & Wellbeing; Employment & Income; and Transport.  The Partnership would strive to strengthen and develop emotional health and wellbeing support for pre-16 year olds; develop and improve provision of positive destinations for young people; and initiate consultation on transport issues in Berwickshire, including participation in a pilot project along with the Strategic Transport  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Presentation by Clare Malster, Strategic Community Engagement Officer. 

6.1       The Chairman introduced Ms Clare Malster, SBC's Strategic Community Engagement Officer to the meeting.  Ms Malster explained that a Household Survey was carried out every two years and the results of the survey undertaken in 2015 had now been published.  The Survey had been undertaken in partnership with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Border Sport and Leisure Trust, Transport Scotland and Registered Social Landlords.  Responses had totalled 41% - 2,445 in paper format and a further 261 completed online.  Berwickshire had returned 44% of the questionnaires for the area.  The full Survey details were available online.

6.2       In response to being asked how they rated Scottish Borders Council as a whole, Ms Malster advised that in Berwickshire, the Council was rated as "excellent" (5.9%); "good" (65%); "poor" (10.8%); "very poor" (3%); and just over 15% didn't know.  Opportunities to participate in the decision-making process saw 6.5% of East Berwickshire and 4% of Mid-Berwickshire "very satisfied"; figures for "fairly satisfied" ranged from 36.3% in East Berwickshire to 41.6% in Mid-Berwickshire; "very dissatisfied" residents varied from 7.3% in the east to 10% in Mid Berwickshire.  Generally, satisfaction with local bus services had been generally consistent at around 81% since 2010, and dissatisfaction had remained around 19% for the same period.  Kerbside waste and recycling collection services had shown a drop of 9% in the level of satisfaction and an increase of 3% in dissatisfaction levels since 2013.  Further reduction in levels of satisfaction was detailed across the range of services at Community Recycling Centres.

6.3       The top five neighbourhood problems identified for Safer Communities included: rubbish and litter (40%); anti-social driving and speeding (37%); Parking (35%); unwanted callers at the door (19%); and people using or dealing drugs (14%).  A consistent 97% of people felt safe on their own at home at night with 2% feeling unsafe.  With regard to walking alone in the local area, 97% felt safe during the day as opposed to 70% feeling safe after dark.  Just over 72% of people in Berwickshire accessed the Internet using a mobile device as opposed to 46.5% in 2013, with the number using a home device (television or computer) remaining at around 43% over the same period.  There had been slight increases in the number of residents using Council and other public facilities and an increase of 4.5% of respondees using Internet or email.  Generally, there was a small increase in satisfaction relating to the time it took to repair roads (up to 23%) however 72% of people were still dissatisfied.  Across the area, 93% of participants rated their neighbourhood as a good place to live and residents in the Berwickshire Wards were some of the most satisfied across the Scottish Borders. 

6.4       Discussion followed and it was acknowledged that there was a need to consider alternative ways of providing services in order to manage budget efficiencies now and in the future.  A net saving of around £450,000 had been achieved as a result of the removal of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Update by Transport Services, Scottish Borders Council.

7.1       The Chairman introduced Mr Tim Stephenson, Passenger Transport Manager at SBC who was present to provide an update on the progress made by the Strategic Transport Board (STB).  Mr Stephenson advised the Forum that there had been two seminars held in 2015 to identify the issues and needs of the local communities.  The first of these events was in Duns in August, followed by another in Eyemouth in October and both events had been very successful.  With regard to what had already been implemented in Berwickshire, Mr Stephenson explained that the Community Transport Hub operated from Coldstream using a central booking system and funding from the Integrated Care Fund and SESTRAN had been received in order to facilitate the initial setting up of the facility.  Generally, there was a high level of young people in the area who felt isolated due to transport issues and this was especially noticeable during school holidays when school buses were reduced. It was important to look at safe ways of sharing transport especially during the hours of darkness and options such as Berwickshire Wheels and Car Clubs Schemes would be considered as part of the overall Strategy.

7.2       In order to facilitate effective exchanges of information and ideas and to ensure regular communication between communities, the STB and SBC in relation to Strategic Transport, each Community Council was being encouraged to put forward a Transport Champion who would take on this role.   A number of options were discussed in relation to setting up of Transport Hubs, including Community Centres, local hostelries and the use of spare capacity from SBC's fleet.  It was agreed that this was an ongoing topic in progress and the Chairman, in thanking Mr Stephenson for his attendance, said that further updates would be presented to the Forum in due course.  Mr Stephenson could be contacted directly at Scottish Borders Council in Newtown St Boswells for further advice and information. 

            DECISION

            NOTED the presentation.

Engagement by NHS Borders.  Attendance by Mr Tim Patterson, Director of Public Health and Mrs Pat Alexander, Non-Executive Director – Borders NHS Board.

The Chairman welcomed Ms Susan Manion, Chief Officer Health and Social Care to the meeting.  Ms Manion explained that under the Integrated Health and Social Care agenda, Joint Boards had been established, would be operational as from 1 April 2016 and would have overall responsibility for the delivery of Community Health Services.  National outcomes were in place and each Board would be responsible for ensuring that these outcomes were achieved.  The new joined up method for delivering health and social care and supporting people in their own homes brought its own challenges and there was further development work in progress to ensure cohesive working.  Ms Manion advised that the Integrated Joint Board was aware of the particular issues in Berwickshire relating to cross border provision.  These issues would be considered as part of a wider strategy involving NHS Borders, NHS24, SBC, the Strategic Transport Board and agencies south of the Border.  With regard to financial provision, Ms Manion confirmed that £120m and set aside budgets were available for the delivery of services under Health and Social Care Integration however there were still a number of funding issues to be addressed by both SBC and NHS Borders.  The Chairman thanked Ms Manion and advised that further updates on progress would be brought to the Forum in due course.

DECISION

NOTED the presentation.

Quarterly update report by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) informing the Forum of SFRS activity since December 2015.  The report explained that there had been 9 occurrences of fires in houses/buildings which had resulted in 4 casualties; 1 open fire incident with 1 casualty; 9 Special Service incidents giving rise to 1 casualty; and 20 non-deliberate unwanted fire alarm signals.  Station Manager Matt Acton went on to inform Members of the national Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Trial which went live on 29 October 2015, explaining that three of the seven stations in Scotland participating in the trial were Hawick, Lauder and Coldstream.  Enhanced training had been delivered to firefighters in these stations and when appropriate, the crew would be dispatched at the same time as the local crew to provide life-saving intervention until an ambulance was at the scene.  A programme of prevention and protection work was ongoing within Berwickshire and this included - Home Fire Safety Visits; Firesharp; Fire Safety Audits; Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals; further work in relation to the Safeguarding Policy and Procedure for Protection of Children and Adults at Risk of Harm; work in collaboration with Borders College to provide fire safety advice for students whose first language is not English; CPR training for local communities using local fire stations as the base; and the thematic Action Plan.  An update on the recruitment situation was provided and it was noted that a new trainee had recently taken up post at Coldstream.  A short discussion followed and the Chairman thanked Station Manager Acton for his attendance.

DECISION

NOTED the report.

Quarterly update report by Police Scotland.

Inspector John Scott attended the meeting to present the Police Scotland report for Berwickshire for the period up to 29 February 2016.  The report detailed the Ward Plan Priorities for East Berwickshire, namely Road Safety; Misuse of Drugs; Rural Thefts; and Antisocial Behaviour.  For Mid Berwickshire the priorities were Road Safety; Inconsiderate Driver Behaviour; and Antisocial Behaviour.  Road safety and inconsiderate driver behaviour was being addressed by the use of dedicated parking patrols to both enforce legislation and discourage inconsiderate parking and it was noted that 33 parking tickets had been issued in Berwickshire during the previous three months.  Arrangements were now in place for a young drivers' course to be hosted in Duns and further details were available at:-

http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/info/1529/road_safety/1076/free_sponsorship_to_become_an_advanced_driver

There had been 11 drugs-related offences detected in Berwickshire during the reporting period and a small number of minor rural crimes committed.  With regard to rural thefts, Select DNA information packs were being issued to farms along with additional security advice.  Sheep worrying was of concern in rural areas and a national campaign would be launched by Police Scotland and partners to deter and prevent this activity.  Inspector Scott reported that there had been a reduction in the number of incidents involving drunken disorder and violence over the festive period.  A new Recorded Police Warning Scheme had been introduced in January 2016 to replace the previous Formal Adult Warning system.  The new Scheme provided frontline officers with disposal options of a verbal warning, a Recorded Police Warning, a Fixed Penalty Notice and ultimately a formal Standard Prosecution Report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, depending on the circumstances and nature of each incident or crime.  The Scheme was expected to provide a consistent, swifter, more effective and proportionate way of dealing with low-level offences.  Members' questions were answered in relation to the young drivers' course and crime statistics in Berwickshire.  The Chairman thanked Inspector Scott for attending the meeting.

DECISION

NOTED the report.

            No representative from the Scottish Ambulance Service was available to attend the meeting.

            DECISION

            NOTED.

Mrs Kym Bannerman, Chairman of the Berwickshire Access Panel.

            Kym Bannerman, Chair of the Berwickshire Access Panel (BAC) provided background to the Panel and explained that its main purpose was to improve access in its widest sense for disabled people throughout Berwickshire.  An open meeting was being hosted in the Volunteer Hall, Duns on Wednesday 30 March 2016 and it was hoped that new volunteers would come forward to advance the work of the Panel by working locally to liaise with people affected by disability and identify the type of assistance/support was required.  Further information could be found on the Panel's website at - http://berwickshireaccess.org.uk/  The Chairman thanked Ms Bannerman and on behalf of the Forum, encouraged members of the public to support the work of the BAC.

            DECISION

            NOTED.

Information Update.

            Forum members were updated on the Lottery Small Scheme entitled "Awards for All" which could assist with funding to enable Community Councils to carry out their work.  Further information and advice was available from Jean Robertson, Scottish Borders Council's Funding and Project Officer and Linda Cornwall, SBC Grants Co-ordinator.  Community Councils did have to meet Scheme criteria in order to access these grants.  Discussion followed and it was noted that some work might not be covered by the Awards for All Scheme and organisations might therefore need to investigate other funding routes in these circumstances. 

            DECISION

            NOTED.

Opportunity for members of the public to raise any issues not included on the agenda.

14.1     Neighbourhood Watch Cameras

            In response to a query from Grantshouse Community Council, it was confirmed that Neighbourhood Watch cameras were linked directly to Police Scotland.

            DECISION

            NOTED.

14.2     Regeneration Officer for Berwickshire

            In respect of a previous discussion at the Forum regarding the possibility of the establishment of a Regeneration Officer post for Berwickshire, the Chairman advised that a Business Plan would be required presenting the case for the establishment of the post prior to being presented to Scottish Borders Council for consideration.  The Chairman went on to explain how Eyemouth Vision had been set up, the progress made to date and how the lessons learned could benefit future projects and in terms of funding a Regeneration Officer post, consideration might be given to utilising wind farm monies available.

            DECISION

            NOTED.

Consider matters of interest to Local Communities. 

15.1     Broadband Provision in Berwickshire

            Broadband provision was raised as an ongoing issue and it was acknowledged that in Berwickshire, there were concerns about how current developments for supply would benefit all members of the community, particularly those in very rural areas.  With regard to the fibre to cabinet option, it was noted that the signal diminished once the distance from the cabinet reached 1kilometre, and in Berwickshire this was a very real concern.  Mr Rowley from Lammermuir Community Council advised that within Berwickshire, collaboration was ongoing with BT, Community Broadband Scotland and Digital Scotland to look at options for the area.  The Chairman advised that a report would be presented at the meeting of Scottish Borders Council on 10 March 2016 and that this would consider the way forward for Information Communications Technology (ICT) within the Council under its Transformation agenda.  Discussion followed and it was agreed that in order to have a full and informed conversation, an item to address the wide range of issues relating to Broadband provision in the area be included on a future Berwickshire Area Forum Agenda.  The Chairman would take this forward with officers at SBC and with BT, Community Broadband Scotland and Digital Scotland and would update the Forum at the next meeting in June 2016.

            DECISION

            AGREED that an item on Broadband provision in Berwickshire be added to a future Agenda to facilitate a full and informed conversation about the wide range of issues relating to Broadband provision in the area.

15.2     Community Councils in East Berwickshire

            Discussion took place in relation to the attendance of Elected Members at Community Council meetings in East Berwickshire.  The Chairman explained that there were 12 Community Councils in the East Berwickshire Ward and that time constraints and current workload meant that not all Members could always attend all Community Council meetings.  He was therefore looking to get the views of Community Councils on how this might be addressed.  In response, Community Councils were in agreement that Elected Members' attendance along with their advice and input locally were very much appreciated.  It was also acknowledged that Community Councils were becoming more knowledgeable in terms of sourcing information directly and from the Internet and on that basis, it was perhaps not necessary for all three Members to attend the same meetings.  Further consideration would be given to this matter and an update presented at the June meeting of the Forum.

            DECISION

            NOTED.

Open discussion to consider future agenda items.

            Items for future Agendas were proposed as follows:-

            (a)        Presentation on Broadband provision in Berwickshire; and

            (b)       Roads Review – it was noted that this would be included as part of the routine reporting to the Berwickshire Area Forum.

            DECISION

            AGREED.

The next meeting of Berwickshire Area Forum is scheduled to take place on Thursday 2 June 2016.

14.          Dates of future MeetingS

The next meeting of the Berwickshire Area Forum was scheduled for Thursday 2 June, 2016.

DECISION

NOTED.