Agenda and draft minutes

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary or other Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in Section 9 and Appendix B of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed.

No declarations were made.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2022 be approved as a correct record.

The SBC Group Manager Localities and Neighbourhoods provided a brief overview of the report, Update – Priority Three, Strong, Healthy and Attractive Neighbourhoods.

Following a question regarding free meals being distributed as part of the Marlow initiative,  it was advised that there were four drop off points across the borough and 400 meals were distributed each week. The college had agreed to act as a hub for the meals and community leaders could collect meals on behalf of residents. The rationale behind the initiative was to provide support with food to enable those families in need to continue to pay for vital things such as their rent and bills.  The food bank as well as other agencies and charities providing food were overwhelmed by demand.  Fuel poverty also continued to be an area of enormous challenge for many families.

Action 1 - Group Manager Localities and Neighbourhoods undertook to provide a verbal update and additional data at a future meeting regarding how many Slough residents were accessing food banks and the scheme in Marlow.

The SBC Active Communities Manager advised that there was a monthly poverty forum attended by 20-30 third sector organisations.  Following a question, she advised that the Great Winter Get together was part of the Jo Cox foundation, in partnership with the DWP.  There were 20 confirmed stalls for both days of the event. 

Action 2 - The Chair requested that Board members be invited to attend a future meeting of the poverty forum.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

The SBC Executive Director, People, Adults provided an overview of the report, Update – Priority Two, Integration, Health and Social Care Partnership Board.

Following a question, the Executive Director advised that the drivers behind the recent unprecedented challenges faced by staff at Wexham Park hospital, which was an outlier in Frimley, remained in critical incident mode for a week longer than Frimley Park Hospital.  Daily presentations numbered in the hundreds, with long ambulance queues and insufficient beds to meet the scale of the challenge.  Significant numbers of residents had reported that they had been unable to get GP appointments.  The hospital was on black alert for a number of months.  A  multi-agency discharge event meeting was planned to share and implement learning from this recent experience.

The Chair stated that many surgeries continued with online appointments and some patients had reported that they could not get appointments soon enough and were obliged to visit A&E as their symptoms worsened.

The SBC Active Communities Manageradded thatshe had been advised that the capacity at A&E was 180 patients and that one weekend in November 2022, 500 people had attended A&E.

She added that the situation was exacerbated by an unexpected arrival of  asylum-seeking families in the borough, who often had high healthcare needs.  She was working to improve communication with the organisation contracted by the Home office to find accommodation locally for asylum seekers. She would provide the Home Office with feedback from local health and education colleagues regarding the proposal to house 190 asylum seekers. The Council would also make the Home Office aware of the need for giving Slough advance notice of asylum seekers so that it could better plan and accommodate their needs.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

Supt. Barham, Thames Valley Police tabled a slide presentation on the topic of Supporting young people: Violence, knife crime, substance misuse and the impact of substance misuse on health, crime and criminality.

Following a question about Chalvey the Supt advised that It was very well policed area.  This was a partnership issue, and required a multi agency approach to tackle the issues there.  Chalvey and Upton wards were the central focus for the Safer Neighbourhood Partnership work on tackling violence and crime. The social effects of the cost of living crisis would percolate through more quickly in a place like Slough where there were significant levels of deprivation.

The Chair welcomed the representative from the Youth Parliament and stated that it would be useful to get her input on the matter (and from other young people in Slough schools) to the Police.

An officer stated that a significant amount of public order offences took place in the town centre and its environs.  It was important to take this into consideration when designing and updating the town centre in the future.

The Chair felt that this topic linked well into the integrated services workstream.  She asked if there was there any  learning from  good practice from other authorities that could be used and how PSPOs could be implemented.

The Supt. Advised that PSPOs (Public Space Protection Orders) could be  used in certain parts of the town to tackle ASB.  He would be having further discussions with the Community safety partnership manager.  They would need to provide evidence before implementing a PSPO. He would look into learning from other authorities and report back to the Board. He added that the  night time economy was very limited in Slough. Community feedback, regeneration of the town centre, would help to revive it and attract new investment.

Following additional questions, the representative from the Police advised that often a small number of individuals were disproportionately represented in committing crime.

Chair asked officers to look into whether this topic could somehow be integrated into  the SHAN initiative.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

No one was available to provide a verbal update. An update would be provided at the next meeting.

The SBC Strategic Partnership Lead gave a slide presentation which provided an update on national and local government policy.  There were no questions from the Board.

Resolved – That the Work Programme be noted.

15 March 2023.

15 March 2023, at 3.00pm.