Agenda and minutes

Cllr L A Bentley, Cllr Ms A R Bond, Cllr Ms K Chalk, G White (Youth Offending Service - IMPACT Team)

RESOLVED THAT:

That the Minutes of the Forum held on 1 June 2016 be taken as read, confirmed and signed.

PCSOBaladi provided the forum with an update on youth related areas of concern the Police currently have in the Borough. K Baladi stated that whilst Anti-Social Behaviour around the Junction Road / McDonalds area has continued he, and his colleagues, are working closely with the restaurant to alleviate in the issue. The Youth Offending Service’s IMPACT Team is also still working in the area. It is clear that a lot of ‘city based’ young people are still travelling into the area.

There were a number of reports during the summer holiday of young people accessing a derelict building within the Borough. The Police worked with the building’s landlord to secure the site and ensure that access to it is not possible for the general public.

Reports of Anti-Social Behaviour in Oadby and South Wigston have both quietened down dramatically.

Cllr Miss Chamberlain raised an issue where damage to the safety flooring around the slide on Little Hill Park was posted on ‘Spotted Wigston’, a Facebook group for residents. It is alleged that this damage has been caused intentionally by ‘older young people’ for whom the park is not designed. PCSO Baladi stated that whilst there were a number of calls received about the park last year there have been none this year; he went on to say that he would look into the ‘Spotted Wigston’ post however. PCSO Baladi also encouraged that incidents are reported to the Police and not just placed on Facebook.

J Crane mentioned that whilst the Wigston Club for Young People, adjacent to Little Hill Park, was closed in August it has now reopened on a Monday and Wednesday evening. It appears, however, that the public believe the club to be permanently closed which is not the case. PCSO Baladi stated that he would ensure his colleagues are aware the club is open in order to signpost young people to it.

M Smith pointed out that now we are in September that the Reality Youth Bus will be back in the Borough and located next to the Wigston Club for Young People. Unfortunately dates for this are not yet confirmed but will definitely start in September; M Smith will ensure that the bus staff are aware of the club’s opening hours in order to promote it.

Due to apologies received this item was withdrawn from the agenda.

M Smith provided the forum with an overview document of the feedback received from stall holders at the close of this year’s Supersonic Boom. 21 of the event’s 33 stall holders completed the evaluation form provided to them.

The feedback from the stalls was mostly positive although many mentioned that trade was slow on the day; several put this down to the weather which, whilst perfect for such an event, was so warm that many members of the public arrived to watch the entertainment but then did not engage with the stalls as well as in previous years.

General feedback received states the event’s appearance was more of a ‘festival appearance’ this year, with additional gazebos and flags dotted around the site, which made 2016’s event stand out from previous years.

Learning from this year’s event is to acquire additional bins for the ‘far side’ of Blaby Road Park; there was more litter than last year which required a litter pick to amend prior to OWBC refuse staff collecting rubbish bags the following day.

This was also the first year that employed advertising on Facebook and at the majority of ‘Poké-Stops’, in-game real life locations within the ‘Pokémon Go’ game, where posters for Supersonic Boom were placed. Each Poké-stop regularly attracts young people within the Youth Council’s, and Supersonic Boom’s, target age range so the need to advertise at them was obvious.

Unfortunately on several occasions the A4 and A3 posters for Supersonic Boom that were placed on Blaby Road Park, and around the Borough, were torn down by individuals. These were shortly replaced but highlight the issue of having a banner for Supersonic Boom; the cost of printing and laminating new posters is low compared to the cost of replacing a canvas banner.

This year’s event raised £480.00 which will be split evenly between the Oadby Youth Centre and the Wigston Club for Young People. M Smith will be arranging cheque presentations to representatives of each club for September’s Youth Council meeting.

The Chair provided a short update on the work of the Youth Council; in it he stated that due to the planning of Supersonic Boom much of the Youth Council’s focus was on the event. August’s meeting was used solely for the delivery of leaflets regarding the expected noise from Supersonic Boom to residents living along, and off of, Lansdowne Grove.

For September’s meeting the Youth Council will be electing a new Chair and Vice Chair due to the current occupants moving on to university. This increases the need of the Youth Council to promote themselves and their work effectively with the goal of recruiting several new members to the group.

From September’s meeting the Youth Council will be refocusing on their ongoing Arriva campaign as well as supporting the UK Youth Parliament’s ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign.

M Smith provided each member present with a copy of the current ‘Safeguarding Handbook’ he has developed for all OWBC staff and members. This handbook provides a quick ‘go to’ guide for safeguarding queries as well as detailing the process required to raise a safeguarding concern. Whilst the new safeguarding policies M Smith has drafted are being adopted by the Council the handbook acts as a more up to date reference than the existing policy documents.

Once the revised policies have been adopted all members will be invited to attend safeguarding training based upon them. Variations on this training will also be rolled out as mandatory training to all OWBC staff.

M Smith also provided members with the dates of the current round of PREVENT training that all OWBC staff will undertake. An open invite was given to members to attend one of these sessions. PREVENT is the Government’s initiative for safeguarding those at risk of being radicalised by any extremist movement and ties into the revised safeguarding policies and procedures.

M Smith informed members that the Leicestershire County Council website for young people, The Jitty, was closing due to the deletion of the staff posts at the Council whose purpose it was to maintain the site. Members raised the query that as The Jitty was originally an OWBC initiative would it be possible for OWBC to recover the domain name; M Smith stated he would look into this.