Ward 8 –Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum
Meeting held on Wednesday 7 October 2009
in the Tain Youth Cafe
Present:
Cllr Alan Torrance (Chair)
Cllr Richard Durham
Cllr Alasdair Rhind
Richard Cross, Nigg and Shandwick Community Council
Neil Munro, Tain Community Council
Hamish Mackenzie, Tarbat Community Council
Rose Hazell, KALE Action Group
Maureen Ross, Seaboard Memorial Hall
Hugh MacKenzie, Tain Youth Cafe
Insp. Ramsay Aitkin, Northern Constabulary
Nigel Brett-Young, HC
Robb Parkes, HC
Graham Nutt, Tain Youth Cafe
Carol Elliot, HC Ward Manager Tain and Easter Ross
17 members of the public
Apologies:
Alice Smith, Balintore and Hilton Community Council
John Scott, Fearn Community Council
George Dobbie, Kilmuir and Logie Easter Community Council
Peter Whiteley, Tain Community Council
Robert James, Balintore Residents Group
Isabell McLaughlin, Milton Housing Forum
Fiona Robertson, Tain Initiative Group
Ian Hargrave, HC Corporate Manager, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
1. Welcome and Introductions
Cllr Torrance welcomed everyone to the Forum.
2. Apologies for Absence
As listed above.
3. Community Safety/Police report – Inspector Ramsay Aitkin, Northern Constabulary.
Insp Ramsay gave an overview of the number of calls and incidents dealt with during August and September.
Northern Constabulary have a 73% detection rate for crime and a 54% detection rate for serious crime. Tain and Easter Ross is an exceptionally safe area.
The management of the area is changing with Supt Julian Innes in post since June 2009 and Chief Inspector Matthew Reiss taking up post on 2 November 2009.
The Police now intend to have an officer at every Ward Forum and Community Council meeting. If for operational reasons this is not possible a report will be submitted instead.
Each Primary School is being visited a minimum of once per term now and each Secondary School at least once per month.
Over the last two months the Police have been focusing on Anti-Social driving. Next month they are holding Driving Ambitions events for young drivers.
Feedback from the Royal Visit was very positive with Princess Anne complimenting the young people of Tain.
The Police want to speak to youth groups and forums about the issues important to them so would welcome invitations.
So often young people or boy racers are often perceived as those speeding but last month the average age of people caught speeding was over 40.
Q – A recent TV programme said that 2/3rd of Ambulance call outs are drink related. Is it similar for the Police?
A – A high percentage of calls to the Police are drink related.
Q – What are the changes in the Command structure?
A – Supt Julian Innes has overall responsibility for the North area including in the Islands, CI Matthew Reiss will have responsibility for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross and Insp Ramsay Aitkin has responsibility for the Sutherland and Easter Ross area. At least one will attend Ward Forums.
Q – It seems like the Police just drive through villages. Can they walk around and chat to young people where they congregate?
A – Police Officers are encouraged to do this on a regular basis. Following recent staff changes Police Officers are getting to know their areas better.
Q – How many Police are in the Tain area?
A – 10 full time constables and 2 sergeants are based in Tain. This is the full complement for the station.
4. Ward Update and feedback from the previous Ward Forum.
The Notes from the previous Ward Forum are attached to the agenda.
There is no update on LEADER spending in the Ward. No applications have been made locally so the Local Area Partnership hasn’t met. The next meeting of the Local Area Partnership will be before the Ward Forum on 9 December.
A small grant scheme has recently been launched in the Ward to give community groups a helping hand to access expert advice and assistance to help them take local projects on. More information on the Community Project Development Scheme is available on the leaflets table.
Congratulations to KALE Action Group for securing all the funding needed to build a new community building in Milton.
The Council is carrying out the following consultations across the Highlands:
- The Highland wide Local Development Plan consultation, which was the subject of our last Ward Forum, closes Monday 9 November.
- Draft Highland Coastal Development Strategy closes 9 November.
- Draft Highland Biodiversity Action Plan closes 31 October.
- Draft Management Rules for burial grounds, closes 16 October.
- First Phase of Community Council Review, focusing on CC boundaries. Closes 23 December.
You can get more information on these by visiting the HC web site.
A public meeting was held on 22 September to measure interest in the area in starting a tourism group. Over 20 people interested in the tourism industry attended from both this Ward and the Cromarty Firth Ward. A steering group was formed with representatives from both areas. The group has had their first meeting and are working on becoming constituted. They have named the group ‘Explore Easter Ross’ and plan to cover an area that takes in both Wards.
At the start of September a bus timetable focus group with representatives from Community Councils and bus users met with a representative from Stagecoach to discuss timetabling issues raised at the Ward Forum and via Community Councils.
They are meeting with Stagecoach again at the start of November to check progress on agreed actions. This group is also conducting a survey in the Seaboard News to measure interest in an early morning service to Inverness which was one of the suggestions for improvement.
Q – Does the review of Community Council boundaries have an agenda to merge Community Councils?
A – The law sets out how a Community Council review should be conducted. It requires that the first stage should consult on boundaries, which is why this is being done. There is no other agenda. Community Councils and individuals are encouraged to feedback their thoughts on the current boundary of their Community Council via the Highland Council’s web site or by post to Highland Council headquarters.
5. Highland Council Highland wide and local youth work
It is a National priority that Local Authorities:
- Engage with young people to facilitate their personal, social and educational development;
- Enable young people to gain a voice, influence and place in society.
Highland Council youth work has to work within the frameworks of the Highland Community Planning Partnership’s Single Outcome Agreement and The Highland Council’s Youth Work Policy. Youth Work is also inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE).
The Highland Council’s Youth Work Policy has 5 priorities. The role of youth workers is to support young people through these. They are:
- Achievement frameworks. Such as the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme, John Muir Award, Millenium Volunteers.
- Targeted developments. That is prioritising who they work with. Such as Young Carers, Looked After Children.
- Co-ordinating, intergrating and developing local provision.
- Support to partner organisations. For example – the Tain Youth Café.
- Leading on giving young people a voice. For example through Youth Voice.
The Highland Council has committed to placing a youth worker in each of the 29 Intergrated Learning Communities (ILCs) based around Secondary Schools.
Locally, Rob Parkes is the youth worker based at Tain Royal Academy covering most of the Tain and Easter Ross Ward.
In Balintore the youth worker has started the Balintore Youth Group which in the last 6 months has had over 600 visits. The group is interested in the Arts and their mural won an award during National Youth Work Week. Their artwork is displayed in the Balintore Community Pavillion. Transport is also an issue for young people in Balintore.
One-to-one support is also being given to some young people by the youth worker.
Balintore now has 3 part-time youth workers. The youth worker is working with a new youth committee in Balintore which feeds in to the Tain Youth Forum, which he also supports.
The Tain ILC also includes the Kyle of Sutherland. The youth worker has been working with a youth group there.
Within Tain Royal Academy the youth worker is developing the Youth Acheivement Awards for 14s and over. Young people get a qualification at the end of these awards. Young people get credits for work on and out of school by, for example, attending committes, sports.
The youth worker has also helped a junior football club in Fearn get established.
The youth worker also works with the Active Schools Co-ordinator to:
- help emerging sporting talent;
- help young people get sports qualifications;
- help young people get on nationally recognised programmes;
- helps with school holiday programmes;
- help with Transition Events. That is events for Primary 7 pupils to help make their move to the Secondary School easier;
- develope cycle safety using the Duke of Edinburgh pupils to help deliver.
Q – How are you letting kids know they can do sports development?
A – Via their usual networks and through school and clubs.
Q – Do young people go out to Primary School P7s via the Transition programme and promote Youth Forums?
A – Primary Schools have Pupil Councils so are used to electing committees/forums. But this is a good idea which we will look at.
Q – Midnight football in other areas has cut down on crime. Has it been tried in this area?
A – Street football was tried last year but it wasn’t well attended. The Tain Youth Café is working on a similar project. In Inverness they open up basketball courts on a Friday night.
Q – Young people that offend are often victims of bad parenting through drug and alcohol abuse, which means parents can’t look after their kids properly and so it becomes a cycle. Youth workers are to be commended for their work. It is valuable to to target groups to try and break this cycle. Do you work closely with Social Work to identify target groups?
A – There is a variety of good practice across the area where key adults work with youngsters to improve their life chances. The young people themselves are aware of their problems and the issues that affect them, so we need to listen to them too.
Q – What happens in Milton?
A – Milton is covered by the Invergordon Academy ILC. Robert Dinneen is the youth worker there and does similar things to Rob. There are also part-time sessional workers. The youth worker also works with the Woodland Trust.
Q – Do many young people from Inver, Portmahomack and Fearn come to the Tain Youth Café?
A – Yes. For example on a Friday night around 100 young people attend the TYC and approx 60% of these are from local villages.
Q – Tain Tennis Club finds it difficult to get to national squads due to location. How much are youth workers involved with parents and involved in taking kids to national squads?
A – The youth worker gets involoved with clubs at a local level and for example, can help identify cheap HC transport or funding. It is important to get parents involved to work on solutions as our geography doesn’t make things easy.
Q – As laws change volunteers need guidance on Child Protection. Can HC help?
A – Changes are in national legislation. The HC doesn’t have an advisory service to help with issues. The Highland Child Protection Committee does produce guidance on the HC website. SCVO and Volunteering Highland can provide advise. After discussion and various suggestions - ACTION 1. Ward Councillors to discuss how to take forward.
Response: Councillors met with the Highland Child Protection Committee Development Officer to discuss the concerns raised at the Ward Forum. In 2010, the Scottish Government is introducing a new membership scheme that will replace and improve upon the current disclosure arrangements for people who work with vulnerable groups.
The Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG Scheme), which delivers on the provisions outlined in the “Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) (Scotland) Act 2007” will:
- help to ensure that those who have regular contact with children and protected adults through paid and unpaid work do not have a known history of harmful behaviour,
- be quick and easy to use, reducing the need for PVG Scheme members to complete a detailed application form every time a disclosure check is required,
- strike a balance between proportionate protection and robust regulation and make it easier for employers to determine who they should check to protect their client group.
Community Groups can get help:
- On line from the Highland Child Protection Committee Guidance for Community groups publication. http://www.protectinghighlandschildren.org documents & publications section.
- Advice from Pene Rowe, Highland Child Protection Committee Development Officer, - 01463 703421
- Training from the Keeping Children Safe Training Officer for community groups. Claire Collins - highlandkcs@aol.com
- Help from local HC Community Learning and Leisure Co-ordinators.
6. Highland Youth Voice and Youth Forum – Lauren, Anna, Duncan, Michael, Aimee and Daniel.
The Youth Forum was created by the Tain Youth Café over 4 years ago. It consists of young people who want to make a difference within the community of Tain by making their opinions heard and by creating a positive image of young people.
It represents young people at the Tain Community Council meetings.
The Youth Forum has conducted a survey with young people. The 3 things young people would most like to see in Tain are: a Cinema; Shopping Centre and an Ice Rink.
The 3 most positive things about Tain are: The Tain Youth Café; The Swimming Pool and the Skate Park.
The Youth Forum has been recruiting members and trying to get young people to attend Community Council meetings.
It has been trying to get the views of young people across the area on what activities they would like to see. They’ve also been trying to get to know each other and talking about issues across the area.
Tain Youth Forum works at a local level and feeds in to the Ross and Cromarty Youth Forum at a regional level. This in turn feeds in to the Highland Youth Voice at a Highland wide level.
The executive of Highland Youth Voice is made up of representatives from members from local youth forums.
The Youth Convenor of the Highland Youth Voice represents the Highlands at the Scottish Youth Parliament which in turn represents Scotland in the UK Youth Parliament.
For the future, the Youth Forum members want to: expand the forum and increase numbers of Youth Voice representatives; get more young people to attend Community Council meetings; continue to contribute to the community and improve the stereotype of young people.
7. Tain Youth Café – YMCA.
The Tain Youth Café (TYC) was created in 1993 out of tragedy in Tain. In 2002 the TYC building was bought, in 2003 Graham Nutt was employed as a full time youth and development worker and the building was also expanded and improved.
Now the TYC has drop in sessions 4 nights per week and an organised programme 3 nights per week. It is also open lunch times.
Young people get involved in the TYC Youth Committee; the Café crew; the programme and with the Youth Forum.
The YMCA also helps young people explore the spiritual aspect of their life.
In 2003-4 there were 6000 visits to the TYC.
In 2008-9 there were 15500 visits to the TYC.
The Christianity aspect does not put young people off.
Outreach workers are starting a street worker project soon.
The TYC tries to be proactive rather than reactive but it is becoming even more difficult to find funding although it is being asked to do more.
In 2010 -11 the TYC funding to employ a full time worker runs out. A consequence of less funding would be that the TYC isn’t able to open as much and the problems of having so many more young people on the street may be a greater cost.
8. Date, location and topic of next Ward Forum
Wednesday 9 December 7pm for 7.30pm. Milton Bowling Club. The host Community Council will be Kilmuir & Logie Easter.
Theme: The Highland Housing Strategy, which is being consulted on at the moment as part of the Highland wide Local Development Plan. A newsletter about this consultation and a short survey to return was handed out.
Chief Inspector Matthew Reiss hopes to be present. Chief Inspector Reiss replaces Chief Insp Andy Brown who is moving on to another posting.
As always – Can Community Councils and other Ward Forum member groups ensure you gather views from your communities on these items via your own agendas to feed into discussions.
9. Public Question and Answer session.
Q – Transport is a major problem for voluntary organisations. It is difficult for volunteers to transport kids and to get the funding to transport kids. Transport for young people is also a major issue.
A – Parents living in rural areas need to take some responsibility. We need to look at how minibuses available locally can be accessed. ACTION 2. Ward Councillors to discuss how to take forward.
Response: Councillors met with the Council’s Fleet & Maintenance Manager, who is currently updating the Council’s Policy on “Minibus Driving and the use of Highland Council minibuses by the Voluntary Sector”. There are a number of HC owned minibuses available in the area which can be lent to voluntary organisations when not in use. Groups must also be aware they are responsible for the insurance excess (currently £1,000.00) and also have to agree to the terms and conditions of let.
However, new legislation and Council rules say they can only be lent to voluntary organisations with a Section 19 permit. This permit can be obtained through a group’s national body or by applying to the Traffic Commissioner. It lasts for 5 years. The Section 19 permit means drivers don’t have to have a special endorsement on their licence.
Groups that don’t have a Section 19 Permit are not eligible to borrow a HC minibus.
As well as the group having the Section 19 permit, the volunteer driver must have passed a test. Pre 1997 drivers will need to pass a HC minibus assessment which currently costs £45, lessons are also available. Post 1997 drivers need to do a D1 test and have a medical. This is more costly.
More information on borrowing HC minibuses or on the HC minibus assessment is available from Council Service Points.
Comment – Suggest clubs approach their own sports associations and ask them to bring some events further north. Travelling to events is the cost of where we live.
10. Thanks for attending.
Cllr Torrance thanked Tain CC for organising the refreshments; Graham Nutt and the Youth Café for supporting the Forum and allowing us to meet here.
We would remind members of the public they can see the notes from this Ward Forum and information about future Ward Forums on the Highland Council’s Web site.