Agenda and minutes

Members of the Township Forum are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any of the matters on the Agenda and if so, to formally declare that interest.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

That the Minutes of the last meeting of the Township Forum held on 13 November 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

A member of the public asked whether there was any further information relating to the implementation of the 20mph speed limits in Holcombe Brook and Greenmount following the question that had been asked by Mr Waddell at the last meeting of the forum.

It was reported that Mr Waddell had been sent some information on the scheme via email.

Councillor Fitzwalter referred to Minute RTNM.435 - Children's Centres and explained that the decision would be made at the next meeting of the Cabinet. Councillor Fitzwalter explained that she had been in contact with Ian Chamber, Assistant Director (Learning) about the implications to service provision across Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor. Councillor Fitzwalter explained that the Cabinet report had set out the use of other buildings to provide services and Ian had explained that the libraries and health centres had been identified to be used for provision of support.

Reverend Openshaw explained that there were 15 churches in Ramsbottom that would also be available to support the service.

Councillor Daly asked that all Councillors across the Township Forum be involved in discussions on provision to ensure that as much support as possible was retained.

Dr Falmai Binns referred to issues that she had raised at previous meetings of the forum relating to Market Place in Ramsbottom and the junction at Stubbins Lane and Factory Street and she asked that these issues be carried forward for action until they have been dealt with.

A presentation will be given at the meeting.

Sarah-Jane Rushton gave a presentation on the Bury Directory, the new on-line one-stop information point for advice, support, activities and services in Bury.  The meeting was informed that the community directory had been established as a result of a new statutory duty from The Care Act and Children and Families Act which states that councils must provide easy access to information for local residents.  In terms of the Bury Directory, this had been established from a social care and community perspective. The following key features of the Directory were presented:-

·                     Market themed icons which would allow access to information, services, activities and support for either adults or children and families.

·                     Search option for services’ offered for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

·                     Information and advice to help adults live independently within the community and support for people when they need it the most.

·                     Links to Bury Council’s website.

·                     The ability to personalise contacts and information lists.

·                     Postcode search facility to access health services

·                     Map and distance calculator facility

·                     Basic information about services including contact details

·                     Review of services function including star ratings and comments page

·                     Text language translation facility

·                     What’s on guide

·                     Provider update function and community groups pages

It was also explained that further functions will also be available shortly namely a product catalogue for aids and equipment and a Social Care Personal Assistants (PAs) finder.

The Chair invited questions/comments from the audience:-

·                     Councillor Hussain asked who controlled the directory.

Sarah explained that the registered user would be expected to maintain their own contents but this would also be monitored by staff within the Council. Nothing could be published to the site until it had been authorised by a member of staff.

·                      Councillor Hussain also asked who was providing the translation service to allow the different languages to be accessed. Councillor Hussain asked that this facility be monitored as it could be inaccurate and cause confusion.

Sarah reported that the translation facility was provided by Google.

·                       Mr Schwarz referred to the fact that Bury Council already had a website and asked why this facility hadn't been incorporated into that.

It was explained that the Bury Directory was separate from the Council’s website and brought together information from a wider number of services and providers. There would be access to the directory from the Council website and vice versa.

·                      Councillor Gartside asked whether commercial sponsorship of the site would be considered to help fund the running costs.

Sarah stated that this was something that could be considered for the future.

·                      Councillor Gunther asked how secure the site was and referred to spam e-mails.

Sarah explained that the site was purely a directory of services and would not contain a mailing list to enable e-mails to be sent other than those generated by a member of staff to registered providers.

Sarah also ensured that the directory is as secure as it needs to be for this type of software and included password protection and required authorisations.

·                       Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item RTNM.601

A representative from Healthwatch Bury will report at the meeting.

Annemari Poldkivi representing Healthwatch Bury gave a presentation on Healthwatch Bury, the new consumer champion for both health and social care in Bury, at local level and Healthwatch England, at national level.

The meeting was informed of the key objectives for Healthwatch Bury:-

·                     To give adults, children and young people (both individuals and communities) a stronger voice to influence and challenge how health and social care are provided in Bury and to help people get the best out of those services.

·                     To provide advice and information services.

·                     To collect resident’s views on local health and social care services.  This information will help build a picture of where services are doing well and where they can be improved.

·                     To work with a wide range of existing services and organisations in Bury.

·                     To provide evidence and feedback to organisations responsible for commissioning or delivering local health and social care services.

·                     To work with the Clinical Commissioning Group to help make sure that services really are designed to meet local people’s needs.

·                     To represent the views of people who use services and all local citizens on Bury Health and Wellbeing Board.

·                     Provide information about what to do when things go wrong and

·                     signpost people to the independent NHS Complaints and Advocacy Services.

The Chair invited questions/comments from the audience:-

·                     Councillor Gunther explained that she had been a member of the Community Health Council which had been disbanded in 1997 and stated that Healthwatch sounded very much like the same organisation but with a different name.

The Healthwatch service had been provided in the past by what were previously known as the Community Health Council, the Patient Forum, and The Link.  Healthwatch is a Government funded service and Healthwatch Bury have now established a Board to oversee their work.  Healthwatch Bury is an independent organisation and its funding is distributed from Central Government via the local authority.

·                 Councillor Fitzwalter asked whether Healthwatch could review health services which were commissioned by an NHS body and provided by a private provider.

Annemari stated that this would be possible.

·                   Mr Schwarz asked whether the organisation had any powers if it felt that something was wrong and needed changing.

Annemari explained that Healthwatch worked with a number of different organisations including the Care Quality Commission, the Council and NHS trusts. Healthwatch could report issues to any of those bodies as well as asking for support from them and could make recommendations about service provision.

·                 Councillor Daly asked whether Healthwatch had a role in promoting healthier lifestyles.

It was explained that the Chair of Healthwatch was a member of the Health and Wellbeing Board. The Health and Wellbeing Board approved the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and targets relating to this area were set out within this document.

·                  Councillor Gunther asked how many paid staff there were employed at Healthwatch Bury.

It was reported that there were 2 part time staff members. The Board Members were recruited as voluntary members.

It was agreed:

1.   That the contents of the presentation  ...  view the full minutes text for item RTNM.602

·                      Dr Binns explained that there had been issues of speeding vehicles all of the villages around Bury and Holcombe      was no different. Dr Bins asked if the Township Forum could request a conversation with Highways and the Police to discuss what options there were to rectify this issue.

It was stated that a representative from Highways would be invited to attend a future meeting of the forum.

·                       A member of the public referred to the new 20mph schemes that had been installed across the borough and explained that they were not as yet enforceable due to the signage not being erected.

Councillor Hodkinson explained that he had spoken with an officer regarding the signs and he had been informed that they would hopefully be installed by the end of the month.

·                     A member of the public stated that 20mph limits were not the solution to the speeding problem. There were other options that should be considered such as the smiley faces that were used in other towns and cities.

It was stated that for these schemes to work there had to be support across the board.

·                     Gregg Fletcher form Ramsbottom Business Group reported that there was an ongoing issue with three market stall holder which meant that when the market was open the stalls were very far apart and took up almost 50 car parking spaces. This issue meant that fewer people were able to park and therefore fewer people visited the town.

Councillor Wright suggested that the issue of car parking across the whole of Ramsbottom should be reviewed as there were similar many across the town.

David Thomas would contact an officer about this issue and ask for a meeting to discuss the issues.

The next meeting of the Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor Township Forum is due to be held on Thursday 5 March 2015 at 7.00pm at Tottington High School, Laurel Street, Tottington.

It was reported that the next meeting of the Township Forum would be held on 5 March 2015 at Tottington High School at 7pm

Funding report attached for information.

The Township Forum Funding Report was attached for information.

Those present were given the opportunity to ask questions. No questions were forthcoming.

The updated Township Plan is attached for information.

The Township Plan was attached for information.

Those present were given the opportunity to ask questions. No questions were forthcoming.