Inverness Ness-side Ward Forum Action Note

Consultation for Local Police and Fire & Rescue Plans

Thursday 19 September 2013, Hilton Community Centre

Attendance:
Cllr Jean Slater (Chair)   Highland Council
Cllr Alasdair Christie   Highland Council  
   
Scott Hay, Area Manager   Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Robert Scott, Group Manager   Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Chief Inspector Graeme Murdoch  Police Scotland
Act. Chief Inspector David Ogilvie  Police Scotland
Ann Edwards, Principal Housing Officer Highland Council
Stewart Wardlaw, Ward Manager  Highland Council

Maria de la Torre     Lochardil and Drummond CC
John Lister      Lochardil and Drummond CC
Christina Cameron    Hilton, Milton & Castle Heather CC
Naomi Hyslop, Youth Development Highlife Highland (Inverness Royal Academy)

3 Members of the Public
 

Actions

Welcome and Introductions
Cllr Slater opened the Meeting

Fire and Rescue Service Plans

Area Manager Scott Hay and Inverness Group Manager Robert Scott updated the Forum on the services currently provided to the Ward including emergency response and preventative work.  Detailed information was presented on incident levels within the Ward.

The Forum noted that incident figures were relatively low given that there are thousands of homes within the Ward e.g. 7 “accidental dwelling fires” in 2012/13.

The Forum discussed priority areas of work.  A commitment was made to continue to improve performance standards.  Local priority areas included accidental house fires, deliberate fires and road traffic collisions. Further feedback (NB see contact details below*) was invited to inform future planning.

Ward Policing Plans

Chief Inspector Murdoch described the aims of the Police’s consultation, to capture the views of local councillors, community councils and interested members of the community in order to inform future policing priorities as outlined within the Local & Ward Policing Plans for 2014 to 2017.  The Chief Inspector’s presentation highlighted the context of current policing issues and priorities specifically relevant to Ness-side Ward .

Attendees were asked to prioritise key areas of policing activity. Further discussion followed on future Policing and Community Safety priorities and this raised some areas of specific interest/concern:

• The community councils greatly value the contribution and relevance to local policing of the designated Community Beat Officers (a specific suggestion was made for posters of local community officers/contact details for community centres, shops and other gathering points in the community).
• Attendees appreciated the importance of and emphasis on public protection work to protect members of the community who are vulnerable or at significant risk.
• Potential for increased, positive youth engagement by officers (to complement current Community Beat Officer work in schools more informal contact at schools and on the street was suggested).
• Call handling via the 101 number (the Chief Inspector advised that each call generates an incident number that callers can request for future reference).
• Antisocial behaviour associated with particular domestic addresses, with possible drugs/alcohol as contributory factors.
• Littering – potential for increased enforcement and joint working with Council staff (prompting a discussion on providing adequate numbers of litter bins where most needed.  Stewart advised that the Council’s Waste Team had recently carried out a project involving the Royal Academy and Asda, which had resulted in more bins being provided in the Culduthel area.  Suggestions from local members of the community on the best locations for bins would be welcomed.  Cllr Slater also agreed to pass on feedback to the Waste Team on the arrangements for food waste collection).

The Chief Inspector summarised the broad priorities for the Ward, which are:

• Drugs misuse/supply
• Public protection
• Antisocial behaviour
• Alcohol misuse and associated disorder
• Road safety

Cllr Slater closed the Meeting.

Notes

*Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Contact Details;

Telephone – 01463 227000
www.firescotland.gov.uk
www.facebook.com/ScottishFireAndRescueService
Twitter - @scotfire_north
(NB for the full Fire and Rescue Service presentation please see under “Current Documents” on the Web Forum page).

Police Scotland Contact Details;

http://www.scotland.police.uk/
Ward Plan 2013 for Inverness Ness-side Ward -
http://www.scotland.police.uk/your-community/highland-and-islands/inverness/inverness-ness-side/