Agenda and minutes

Apologies received from Cllr Chris Malpas, Neelam Aggarwal-Singh, John Rawlings, Nick Stephens and Matthew Toresen

Minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a true record.

Matters arising:

A number of the items for consideration suggested by JC are issues that have been raised by the forum previously that need to be followed up– it was agreed that these will be revisited under Item 6 on the agenda.

AR asked whether Andy Cox’s actions had been followed up from a previous meeting. AM has not had a response yet from Andy Cox. AR and has had further response regarding Stop Search, and will circulate this to the forum. ACTION: AM to circulate letter from AR to the forum. RP advised AM to email Tom Thompson at Northamptonshire Police, who is a deputy for Andy Cox, to follow up these actions. ACTION: AM to email Tom Thompson.

AR commented on the positive effect partnership working in the forum has had with the Hate Crime issue, and the HIRGs.

Cllr Bottwood urged all members to complete the online budget consultation survey. ACTION: AM to circulate budget consultation survey to the forum members.

AR commented that she felt the budget documents can be vague and general – the more details that are provided, the more likely people will be comfortable to respond. JC commented that she felt that simpler documents may be more accessible to the general public.

Cllr Bottwood went through the proposals for the budget 2015/16. Two key items that were discussed were the review of Information and Advice services, and Enterprise Zone investment.

·        Review of Information and Advice services

AR commented that NREC have concerned about this. Many internal services are statutory requirements, and as a result AR felt that the cuts will be directed towards CAB and Community Law. AR also commented there is not an assessment about the impact of this, and the effect it may have. VR responded on this issue. VR commented that she believed it is a positive thing for the Council to be looking at this. Conversations are also being had with NCC about their Information and Advice contract. Both CAB and Community Law are aware of the change, and are on board with working with the Council to shape how this process will look. The Council will be looking to make this more outcome focused, promote better partnership working between the organisations and the Council, and reduce duplication.

AR asked where the transparency of this review will be for other organisations that have concerns around the outcome. VR advised AR that she could not answer currently how the decision will be made, where etc. ACTION: VR will take this away and will let AR know the response. VR assured AR that there is a proper review happening, currently it is not clear what the services being provided are. Cllr Bottwood commented that all decisions will have to be transparent when reviewing processes happen.

·        Enterprise Zone investment

AR commented on the investment into apprenticeships in areas such as motorsport engineering industries etc. AR commented that it would be good to see positive action targets, such as women’s and girl’s apprenticeships, for instance. Cllr Bottwood said that this will be taken back for discussion, on how the Borough Council could deal with this and have an influence. Cllr Bottwood also advised that Cllr Hadland may be able to help further with this, as NBC Cabinet member for Regeneration.

Luisa Jepson was previously the Victim Support Officer for the Hate Crime Unit. This has now been disbanded, and LJ is now the Hate Crime Coordinator. Hate Crime cases will be dealt with by local policing teams. Mick Stamper is now the lead for Hate Crime for the County. The Hate Crime Incident Review Groups did not continue to run after the closure of the unit, however these are now going to meet again; Northampton HIRG’s first meeting is next week. Currently, the HIRGs are made up by local authorities, NCC, NREC, and third party recording agencies. LJ will be looking to roll out third party reporting agencies, getting other groups to sign up as reporting agencies and extending the membership of the HIRGs. JC asked about Hate Crime reporting from Schools, this data is not coming through. Education does not sit on the HIRGs, and NCC officer dealing with hate crime in schools is now no longer in post. Many schools do deal with issues internally.

Michaela Elliot (NCC, Hate Crime and ASB), is writing an action plan on this. ACTION: AM to contact and invite to a future meeting.

LJ is looking at how the force is performing on tackling Hate Crime, and how to increase confidence in reporting to the Police. AR and NREC inform LJ of any issues they come across. If anyone else has any issues that arise, please let LJ or NS/RP (Police Community Engagement Officers) know about these so they can be recorded and fed back.

Mark Pape gave an introduction to the forum about Ebola, and the fact that there was a suspected case in Northamptonshire – it was confirmed that the case was negative for Ebola. Various exercises have taken place, everything works as it should, and there are no risks to anyone as a result.

MP gave an overview of the Ebola virus, which is not native to humans – comes from fruit bats, monkeys etc. Before last year, outbreaks have been quite small. However, this time, the outbreak was in heavily populated, ‘shanti town’ type areas. Contraction of Ebola is through direct contact with bodily fluids of a person with Ebola. It takes 6-9 days for the mild symptoms show, and the person then becomes infectious. At the point that the mild symptoms show, the person needs to call 111, or call 999, rather than going straight to GP or A&E as this is an uncontrolled route. The person will be asked whether they have travelled to West Africa – if they have not, they will be asked whether they have been in contact with someone who has been. The person will be guided through the healthcare system, and escorted and assisted through the process – a test for Malaria will be done, as this would be more likely than Ebola, and they will then tested for Ebola; the results for this take between 8-10 hrs to come back.

NHFT would like to send out reassurance to ensure that the wrong messages do not get into the community, and to avoid stigmatization of the issue. Furthermore they would like to urge members of the community if they do feel unwell, to get medical advice before the illness progresses to a more serious stage, where it is more likely to pass this on.

MP and JB have been to UAA and other forums like this to spread the message about Ebola to the community - also information is available on the Public Health England website. JC commented that Inspirational FM is available locally as a media outlet.

GK commented that he has been made aware of bullying in schools around Ebola, with children being called names, and also that there has been experiences of racism online about African people and Ebola. The forum discussed whether there is something that can circulate to schools and community organisations about this. LJ asked that if hate crime is being experienced about Ebola, please do report this to the Police. UAA are putting together a report about this to take to NHFT. Mark Pape and Jenny Boyce can be contacted on the following email addresses: jenny.boyce@nhft.nhs.uk / mark.pape@nhft.nhs.uk

Suzanna Storey – Project Diversity

SS has had an earlier meeting with BMESRP, Northampton Black History Project, VIN, NIFF and NBC. Project Diversity will be a research project about diversity, focusing on Heritage, including a conversation between older and younger people about diversity and telling stories - ‘my Northampton’. This could be split into different categories of diversity, such as faith, etc. VIN will take the lead on the application for this, with support with BMESRP, applying to Heritage Lottery Fund.  First, a small bid will be submitted to pool all of the information and research required and this first episode will be used as a marketing tool for further funding.  The ultimate aim is to create understanding about the rich, thriving diverse communities in Northampton, to be used as a tool to make our diversity visible.

VR added that another outcome of the project would be to increase the representation of this forum also; establishing links with communities who are not represented. We would also look to utilising older materials also, celebrating past projects and incorporate their valuable material into the wider project.

PC commented that SCCYC also do a lot of heritage work, which aims to have valuable outcomes. PC asked whether this project will tackle issues, such as racism, women’s issues etc., in addition to celebrating diversity. VR advised that the tangible outcomes will come out at a later point, and the group will work to pin these down – for instance the working group will look at using this as an educational tool. SS also commented that other projects could take off after this, picking up specific issues we come across.

Multi cultural festival – Zimwomen have their first meeting next week – Rutendo will circulate date.

Hate Crime – reporting in schools.

Updates on past consultations with the forum

Further development of action plans

Items for discussion at future meetings:

-       Stop and search – better method of communicating with local communities so residents are informed of the purpose and success of the operation

-       Housing – Northampton Partnership Homes, BME needs and strategy

-       Schools – underachievement, hate crime

-       Zero working hours

-       Northants Police – BME recruitment drive

-       HIMOs

-       Northampton Faith Communities Profile and Places of Worship – Audit and needs assessment.

Thursday 12^th March, 6:30-8:30pm, the Holding Room

Thursday 12^th March, 6:30-8:30pm, The Holding Room