Agenda and minutes

Councillor Miss M V Chamberlain

RESOLVED THAT:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday, 14 June 2017 be taken as read and confirmed.

Due to a Police representative being unavailable this agenda item was deferred until the next meeting of the Forum in January 2018.

Due to an IMPACT Team representative being unavailable this agenda item was deferred until the next meeting of the Forum in January 2018.

M Smith informed the Forum that the Reality Bus has started its next 10 week block of sessions based in South Wigston, returning to its usual location on the bridleway adjacent to South Leicestershire College. The Reality Bus will be open to young people on a Friday evening from 7pm until December 2017.

A full update from Reality Bus staff will be sought for the next Forum in January 2018.

M Smith gave the forum a brief overview of the project plan he is currently drafting for the ‘Something to Do!’ project. As part of the plan M Smith has been reviewing anti-social behaviour figures for the Borough from January 2011 to date, and has already identified an unseasonable reduction in the number of reported incidents of anti-social behaviour that coincided with the delivery of the project’s pilot scheme.

Conversely, the anti-social behaviour figures also show an upward trend in the number of reported incidents of anti-social behaviour following the removal of Leicestershire County Council’s Positive Activities for Young People/Early Help funding that was previously available to the Borough and District Councils.

The purpose of the ‘Something to Do!’ project is envisioned to enable constituted groups within the Borough to apply for funding for, and deliver, youth provision in the Borough in support of youth provision commissioned by the Oadby & Wigston Community Safety Partnership. This approach would enable a wider variety of youth provision to be available to young people within the Borough, particularly as the current provision through the pilot scheme is sports based only.

The project would also seek to develop a network of ‘Something to Do!’ providers within the Borough who can signpost young people on to other youth provision, including specialist services that are already in existence within the Borough, and enable trained staff to support and develop existing provision where a gap has been identified, or a lack of funding or available workers is putting provision at risk.

It is also intended that ‘Something to Do!’ is recognised as a brand for youth provision, and that under that brand a ‘Youth Directory’, that the Council has previously published, is made available identifying all available youth provision within the Borough.

The project plan is expected to cover the next three years once completed.

The Youth Council has drafted, and approved, a set of Terms of Reference for themselves. The Terms have been approved by the Council’s equalities officer, Veronika Quintyne, and by this forum. They now need to go to the PFD Forum for final approval and adoption. The next PFD Forum is taking place on Tuesday, 31 October.

Cllr. Mrs Morris, as chair of the PFD Forum, has accepted the Terms on to the agenda for the next meeting, and M Smith has agreed to provide her with a copy of the Terms for her own reference.

M Smith enquired as to whether Youth Council members would be able to attend the PFD Forum, and was advised to liaise with Democratic Services regarding this as the Council’s constitution may prevent this from occurring.

M Smith announced that this year’s Supersonic Boom had raised £300.00 in support of Newlife, the Charity for Disabled Children. M Smith has contacted Newlife to arrange for a cheque presentation at a future meeting of the Youth Council, and they are now seeking an available representative to accept the cheque on their behalf. It is intended that Devina, as Young Citizen of the Year 2017, be the one to present the cheque at the meeting, and for a press release to be made to cover it.

Members were provided with all of the anonymous feedback received from the stall holders at this year’s Supersonic Boom in advance of this meeting. The feedback was mostly positive, with 75% of respondents rating the event as an 8 out of 10 or higher. Examples of the feedback are provided below:

• "Lovely people - friendly staff. Really well organised."
• "Well organised and attended."
• "Great opportunity to work with colleagues from the police and district council and share fun activities as well as joint working."
• "A really good opportunity to reach a diverse cross section of the community – one parent had been there for 4 hours and had only planned to come for one; she said that she and the children had really enjoyed it. This is a parent who struggles with crowds and social activities so this was AMAZING!!"
• "Next year let’s hope we have the sunshine and no high wind. Otherwise good weather, chilled community event. Very nice vibe."
• "Fab event – well done to Mark, the Youth Council and everyone else involved! Bring on 2018! :)"

The only negative points raised concerned the wind on the day that prevented some stalls from displaying all of their wares, ultimately having an impact on their sales. One stall holder rated the event as 2 out of 10 due to this, despite praising the event in the other sections of the feedback form.

Youth Council members, following their own review of the event, also agreed that the relocation of the stage made a huge difference in attracting crowds to Blaby Road Park, with the sound being directed towards Blaby Road rather than into the houses the back on to the park itself. It was agreed that next year, however, that there should be a map of the stall pitches made available to prevent some confusion and arguments that arose, as well as providing more bins on the far side of the site.

None raised.