Agenda item

·        What is missing for older and vulnerable residents in the ward and how can we bridge the gap – workshop and group discussion facilitated by Joe Micheli, Adult Social Care Commissioning Manager at City of York Council

·        Ward budget -  an update on recently funded projects and timetable for year 2017-18

·        Have your say

I.        Welcome

 

Cllr Warters opened the meeting by inviting Sgt Danny Leach from the York North Neighbourhood Policing Team to update residents on their work within the ward.

 

II.       Police update

 

Sgt Leach introduced himself to the residents as the newly appointed lead of the York North Team.  Tom Richardson introduced himself as being new to the force and appointed to work in the York North Team, he was also new to the role and was just settling in;  he worked alongside two other PCSO’s namely Rachel Simpson and Andy Smith.  

 

Sgt Leach explained how the Neighbourhood Policing Team had changed at the beginning of April.   Due to the increasing pressure on the Teams, Safeguarding and Vulnerability issues which required in depth risk assessment had been removed from their remit, in order that they could refocus on their core work of neighbourhood policing enabling them to have more time to meet and speak with people and engage with the community.  If people had any issues Tom, Rachel or Andy or he would be the main point of contact.  

 

Should there be serious problems other resources were available such as drawing officers from other teams to help deal with them rather than just sending a single PCSO.  He said that Osbaldwick and Derwent was a very safe place to live with low crime rates.  There had been the following crimes in 2017:

 

•        Vehicle Crime 1

•        Burglary 3

•        Anti Social Behaviour 39

  

He said that the team needed to know about issues being experienced by residents and that they needed to be reported.  

 

Q       A resident said that they had ‘heard it all before’  and how did he proposed to make a difference.  She also expressed concerns about the 101 phone service with frustrations regarding being put on hold and felt it discouraged people from using the service. 

A       Sgt Leach said that he understood people’s frustrations with the 101 service but that it was a national service which assessed and graded calls and allocated appropriate resources, but sometimes there may not been any resources available.   In an emergency 999 could be called.   He explained that there was sometimes a shortage of resources due to the policy of recruiting from within and PCSOs moving into the Police Force. 

 

Q       A resident asked how many PCSOs there were in the Greater York area and do you have a central base in York.

A       Sgt Leach said that he had a full complement of four PCs and 21 PCSOs for the North side of York.  The South of York had 2 PCs and 16 PCSOs who worked in a three shift pattern.   The North York Team was based at Athena House, Clifton Moor and the South York Team was based in Acomb. 

 

Q       A resident asked if there was a way to contact the team directly other than using 101.

A       There is a central email inbox snayorknorth@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk  which is checked twice daily which is the best way of contacting the team in a non emergency.  If this option was used residents needed to be aware that it would not be logged as it would be if 101 had been contacted. 

 

Cllr Warters thanked Sgt Leach and his team for the update.

 

 

III.      What is missing for older and vulnerable residents in the ward and how can we bridge the gap

 

Joe Micheli, Adult Social Care Head of Commissioning and Carl Wain Adult Social Care Commissioning Manager facilitated a workshop and group discussion on this issue.  

 

Joe said that their aim was to support older and vulnerable people within the Ward and said that the Local Account which Adult Social Care produced yearly gave key statistics on page 2 of the report.  He explained that as people were now living longer there was an increased demand on services in health and social care and that often the first contact comes at a time of crisis.   Therefore they were trying to focus more on prevention of people using the services by investing more into community solutions such as Older Citizens Advocacy York (OCAY).

 

Carl Wain said that there were community budgets available for grants and services for older people and that the Commissioning Team at CYC could support Councillors in any commissioning processes and how local people from the community could be involved in the process, there is particularly more flexibility in process if they were under £5,000.    They needed to identify gaps and needs within the Ward.

 

Within the Ward there had been:

 

•        Increase in child poverty to 11.6% (was 4.7% 4 years ago)

•        Rise in fuel poverty to 10.7% (was 7% 4 years ago)

•        Above average % of people with limited long term illness or disability (17.5% compared to 15.5%)

•        Top 5 highest quantity of ASC assessments (6.56 compared to 4.82 per thousand). However you would expect this as 32.9% households over 65 years old compared to about 22% in York.

Joe introduced Sue Collins, Director of Development at York CVS and Jasmine Howard, Ways to Wellbeing Co-ordinator to talk about Social Prescribing.

 

Ways to Wellbeing Project

 

Jasmine said that she worked out of the four Priory Medical Practice surgeries on a project called Ways to Wellbeing which was a social prescribing pilot that had been running for the past year and aimed to help people to stay well longer and feel more in control of their lives.  She said that it was estimated that up to 20% of people contact their GPs with a social concern.  The pilot aimed to connect people to local community support by reducing the number of GP appointments made by socially isolated patients and to help people stay safe and well at home for longer; people go to their GPs because they do not know where else to go.   GPs do not have the time or resources to understand what options were available in a local area.  People’s social needs can be met where medical treatment is not appropriate.   A key reason for a GP referral is to support people with emotional needs, long term conditions and mental health needs or just advice.  

 

Social isolation was a big issue and small things could improve peoples’ quality of life.  The pilot could provide mentors introduce and support people in areas of interest to them such as directing them to community projects, groups or clubs i.e art, gardening, choirs or helping them with their benefits. 

 

The pilot was evaluated by the University of York St John and they found that the pilot had resulted in 80% of people having a greater sense of wellbeing, 75% of people had improved confidence and that loneliness and isolation and decreased resulting in a 20% drop in GP appointments.

 

There had been 180 referrals since February 2016 and on average they have dealt with 14 GP referrals a month.

 

A resident said that social isolation and loneliness was not just specific to the elderly and cut across all age groups.

 

Q       A resident asked when the GP identified a person as needing help from the pilot how is the referral then made to Jasmine’s team.

A       The GP completed a basic referral form on the system which was forwarded to her and she then contacted them directly.  The first time she met them she just listened and identified what was happening in their lives and what support they had.   At the following meeting she then considered the options based on their needs.    They could work with people up to six times. 

 

York Neighbours

 

Wendy Smart from York Neighbours explained that the charity now involves 70 volunteers and that new volunteers are welcome.  New volunteers receive training and undergo DBS check before going out to help those aged 65 plus with small one off jobs i.e. changing a light bulb or fixing a door handle. 

York Neighbours organise trips out where the volunteers use their own transport and take senior residents to places on interest.  The charity also provides regular social phone call service.

 

If people want to try a club and do not feel confident to go on their own we could arrange for someone from York Neighbours to go with them up to three times.

 

York Neighbours have a memorandum of understanding with Age UK York to compliment but not to duplicate services.

 

There followed a 10 minute table top discussion where residents were asked to identify any areas where they felt there was a gap in provision within the Ward.

 

Following the group discussion the following feedback was received:

 

•        More Day Centres – Joe said that a recent service has been commissioned with Age Uk for day club provision.

•        Resident noted that the council tax was increasing by 3% to cover social care.  Joe confirmed that there would be more funding from the Government across Health and Social Care nationwide. 

•        Osbaldwick Bowls Club currently shared a green with Glen Park, East Parade.   Could a grant be applied for a Bowls Club within the Ward.   Cllr Warters said that it would be a good idea to apply to both Osbaldwick and Derwent Ward and Heworth Ward for funding.  It was noted that the playing field at the closed school would be ideal for a bowling green.

•        There was nowhere to meet in Kexby and Holtby and there was a need for a meeting place/hub. 

•        There was a Poetry Club in Osbaldwick

•        There was a need for a youth club - which might include the community field.

•        There was a need for a non-activity based group but it was noted that a lot of elderly people could feel nervous and sensitive and their feelings needed to be factored in to the planning as it could be a barrier.  There could be a resistance to ideas.  It was noted that not all people who experience social isolation and loneliness were poor and there were a lot of affluent people with the same problems.

 

In addition the feedback sheets through the group activity included as ideas:

 

•        Bringing groups of local volunteers together to do gardening for older people

•        Start / fund a local transport scheme like Haxby Helpers (could be complemented by York Neighbours?)

•        Start a local ‘Men in Sheds’ social

•        Set up lunch groups in local pubs like the young at heart project (meal & social event)

•        Start a carers cafe / hub in local venue through Carers Centre

•        The use of Good Gym

•        Cab – fuel poverty clinics to be held locally

•        Meeting place / community hub required in Kexby

•        Extend services within Village Hall e.g. promote bowling, films, bridge, yoga, language, other classes

•        Village Fete / Garden party

 

IV.     Ward budgets

 

Michal Czekajlo, Community Involvement Officer and Ward Councillors described schemes recently funded by the Ward and planned improvements.

 

•        Holtby Parish Council:  Purchase and installation of two solar light poles to illuminate village bus stops on A166 (£735 contribution from Ward).

•        Murton Parish Council: A grant towards the purchase of a new notice board to be installed on Main Street in Murton  (£1357)

•        Kexby Parish Council: Funding for rock sale to refill grit bins (£150)

•        Osbaldwick Sports Club: A grant to purchase and set up a multi media system including projector, screen and sound system at the clubhouse (£798)

•        Osbaldwick Sports Club: A grant towards tree planting along the perimeter of Osbaldwick Sports Club (£336).

•        Improvements to St Thomas Close, Osbaldwick:  Narrow strips of verge replaced with cobbles inlaid into concrete to prevent ongoing damage to grass verges (approximately £4900 awaiting the final cost)

 

Planned Improvements

 

•        Dropped kerbs, Intake Lane, Dunnington:  To install a pair of dropped kerbs and overlay the carriageway between the footway to give a good surface for pedestrians to cross Intake Lane, outside numbers 7 – 11 (approximately £2000)

•        To replace bin outside the takeaway on York Street, Dunnington (£350)

•        To replace broken bin at entrance to play park Intake Lane, Dunnington (£350)

Minimum 10 bin requests required to place an order with the supplier.

 

Other Community Projects

 

•        Wild flower planting on Canham Grove: Urban Buzz York Project to create habitat for insect pollinators brought to fruition with the help of the Osbaldwick and Murton Cub Scouts

•        Tree planting by a team of volunteers from Kexby.

 

Ward budget timetable 2017-18

 

Community and voluntary groups are invited to submit bids for funding for schemes which support the delivery of our Ward Priorities:

 

•        A cleaner environment for all villager

•        Safer communities across the area

•        More community and youth opportunities

Funding applications are invited throughout the year.

 

Ward budget allocation 2017-18

 

Ward general/revenue budget: £19,082 (not including carry over amount from year 2016-17 which is yet to be confirmed).

Broken down per parish, per number of electors:

 

•        Osbaldwick = £7,978

•        Murton = £1,564

•        Holtby = £439

•        Kexby = £572

•        Dunnington = £8,529

 

Ward highways/capital budget: £9,090 (plus carry over of £4,392 from year 2016-17).

Broken down per parish, per number of electors:

 

•        Osbaldwick = £3,950

•        Murton = £2,236

•        Holtby = £627

•        Kexby = £818

•        Dunnington = £5,851

 

V.      Have your say

 

A resident said that the Council had to clear up a fly tipping site on Moor Lane, Murton weekly and enquired whether the Council could not put a camera at this site to catch the fly tippers as it would save money in the long run.   Cllr Warters said that the Council Neighbourhood Enforcement Team had suggested this option but the cost was prohibitive. It was hoped that the financial situation may change in the future.

 

Q       Traffic in Osbaldwick:  A resident raised the issue of car parking at the shopping areas at each end of Thirkleby Way and asked how parking could be improved.   It was felt that there was a need to ensure safety as the parking was dangerous.  It was also noted that some people were leaving their cars parked all day in the village and getting the bus into York.

A       Cllr Warters said that if double yellow lines were introduced it would just move the problem somewhere else in the village.   The Police could not do anything about the parking unless there was an obstruction.    The Council were reluctant to deal with this problem but they were looking at introducing a by-law to prevent parking on grass verges.

 

Q       Could Virgin Media be held to account for the shoddy work they have carried out in the Ward.

A       Cllr Warters said that he had put in a Freedom of Information request regarding Virgin Media’s work but that as yet he had had not response.   He did not know what the take up in the Ward was for Virgin services but he did know that in Tang Hall there had been a 48% pick up.   He had asked for a representative from the Council to attend tonight’s meeting but they refused to attend.

 

The Meeting closed at 20.45.