Agenda item

(a)           Place Making – update

(b)           Scottish Borders Warm & Well Project – Ruth Dickinson, Changeworks

(c)            Scottish Fire & Rescue Service update – Don MacNeil, Station Commander  (Copies attached.)

(d)           Positive Communication – Clare Wildsmith, Digital Inclusion Tutor, SBC

(Copies attached.)

(e)           Area Partnership consultation – update

SECTION 1: SERVICE & PARTNER UPDATES

1.0      PLACE UPDATE

3.1     With reference to paragraph 3 of the Minute of 30 June 2021, SBC Service Director Customer & Communities, Mrs Jenni Craig, and SBC Portfolio Manager, Mr James Lamb, were in attendance to present an update on Place Making.  Mr Lamb summarised the progress of the previous Place Making workshop held with Diarmaid Lawlor of Scottish Futures Trust where key issues and success factors had been identified.  The output from all workshops held with Area Partnerships were included in a report considered by Scottish Borders Council in August 2021.  The main purpose of Place Making was to develop joint working by Scottish Borders Council, partner organisations, and communities, to build on existing work and to learn from experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Place Making would be a multi-year project that would see communities developing local plans suited to each community.  As part of the presentation, feedback was requested on the project’s principles, framework, resources and plan.  The meeting was asked for agreement on the project principles, criteria for identifying communities to be prioritised, affirming Place making governance, and to agree next steps.  It was noted that Scottish Borders Council had agreed on the draft principles to develop place-making and that seven had been suggested by stakeholders, with a further six added that Scottish Borders Council felt was important to include.  It was hoped that the Area Partnership would form a Locality Programme Board to have oversight of the Locality Plan and prioritise communities’ activities in Place making.  Mrs Craig emphasised that an inclusive and collective approach should be pursued to ensure equality between rural and urban communities; locality plans were owned by the Area Partnerships which were to be built on community plans, and that the project should be taken forward with mutual trust.  The aspiration was that every community would be supported to develop its own plan but this would take time and could not all be done at once.  The project had a short-term plan to take forward to early 2022 so

that actions could be agreed and communities could observe changes and feed back to the Area Partnership.

3.2     Mr Burton enquired about investment in electric vehicles and the need for millions to be invested and Mrs Craig confirmed that funding streams were being considered, although funding was a challenge for everyone.  In response to a question about the involvement of Community Councils, Mrs Craig confirmed that Community Councils were key players and communities needed to get involved, everyone had a valid opinion.  Charles Strang enquired about the Community Plan and Mrs Craig confirmed that the Community Planning partnership was for the whole of the Scottish Borders and would influence the Community Plan.   Councillor Weatherston enquired what other Local Authorities were doing in response to this as it was vital to make it work, although it was not clear how it would work.

            DECISION

            NOTED that feedback on the Place making proposals should be sent to Mr Lamb, SBC Portfolio Manager, by 31 October 2021.

4.0     SCOTTISH FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

4.1     Mr MacNeil of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service delivered a verbal update of activities being undertaken by the Service.  With regard to operational responses:

·         Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) had adapted and amended operations to reflect COVID-19 measures;

·         FRS facilities were not accepting non-essential visitors;

·         There had been a moratorium on safety visits and community engagement, but that was now starting to relax;  

·         There had been a priority on outdoor safety reflective on recent incidents in Scotland regarding water safety.  Mr MacNeil informed the committee that water safety information had been posted on social media and popular swimming sites and water safety awareness had been delivered on location in Kelso; 

·         Home fire safety had been affected by the pandemic and was to be restarted once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. 

·         Fire stations across the Scottish Borders were being used as asymptomatic COVID-19 testing centres which had previously been carried out by the military, with PCR testing being carried out by the NHS. 

·         New smoke detection standards for domestic housing would come into effect from February 2022.  Domestic properties would require one smoke alarm in the room most frequently used during the day, a smoke alarm in a place with most air circulation, one smoke alarm in each level, a smoke alarm and heat alarm in the kitchen and for alarms to have interlinked connectivity.  Mr MacNeil advised that if a homeowner was considered high risk, the Service would fit smoke alarms with wi-fi connectivity free of charge. 

·         Confirmed that COP26 preparations were affecting the FRS across Scotland. 

4.2     Councillor Robson thanked Mr MacNeil for the water safety work undertaken at the Cobby, Kelso and commended the Fire Service for the work undertaken in respect of unwanted fire alarm signals.  In response to questions about the consequences of not adhering to the new smoke detection standards and whether insurance companies would cover this, Mr MacNeil advised that it would be up to the individual insurance company.  In response to questions about the cost, information was that it could cost in the region of £200, Mr MacNeil advised that unregulated companies had targeted vulnerable people with leaflets causing concerns regarding costs and scams.

            DECISION

NOTED the update.

5.0     POSITIVE COMMUNICATION

Clare Wildsmith was present to talk about positive communication in general, when on line, wearing face coverings etc.  Face coverings and protective screens muffle speech and obstruct facial cues and therefore effectively everyone had hearing and vision loss at present.  The following tips were discussed:-

·         Face the person when speaking

·         Speak clearly and more slowly – give each other time to absorb and process the information

·         Consider the back lighting when online so that you can be seen clearly

·         Gestures can help

·         Re-phrase if someone is not understanding

·         Lower your face covering, if safe to do so (consider having a clear visor to hand

·         Write things down clearly

·         Try a speech –to-text app on your mobile to transcribe

More information can be obtained from : positivepeebles@gmail.com

6.0     AREA PARTNERSHIP CONSULTATION UPDATE

            The Chair advised that the consultation closed on 1 August and officers were in the process of forming a paper to go to Scottish Borders Council later in the year with recommendations for the development of the Area Partnerships based on the outcomes of the consultation. 

            DECISION

            NOTED the update.