Councillor Graham Stokes Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

JUNE 2004

CARDIFF 2004
I recently attended the Challenge Cup Final in Cardiff, it was a fantastic weekend with an electric atmosphere, a sell out crowd of 73,000 assembled on a sunny day in Cardiff. The one thing that stands out from football is that fans come from every conceivable rugby club you could imagine, all wearing their own club shirts, so we saw clubs as diverse as local pubs, amateur sides, to Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams, alongside the usual Super League clubs, all getting on and having a great time together. You would think in the pub afterwards that the discussion we would be having would be around the attributes of Sean Long and Andy Farrell, but none of it, after a bit of brain lubrication juice we were discussing issues like, if there are more birds than trees, do they share trees, and if so would a crow share with a pigeon, and does a bird fly home to the same tree every night?.

Also on Cardiff Bay we saw seagulls which seemed immense, probably from scavenging on left over chips etc, someone wondered if a seagull was capable of picking up a cat in its claws, and in a fight between a cat and a seagull which would win? Call us mad or what!

We also had the mystery of the missing cows, outside our hotel window was a field of cows, they were definitely there when we went to sleep (very late), but when we woke up the next morning they had gone, answers on a postcard will be accepted as to where you think they may have gone.

ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
A briefing I have attended recently was on Anti Social Behaviour, this affects everybody, not just Knottingley and Ferrybridge, it is evident wherever you travel, so I was interested to hear what we in Wakefield are doing to control the situation and try to improve the area in which we live.

I have included a lot of detail below as I don’t know about you, but I feel it is one of the most important areas that needs to be tackled, I would welcome your comments on how you feel, what you see as being the problems and resolution to Anti Social Behaviour (Legal please), have you experienced it and where. It is important to not only know what resolutions are available but also to ensure they are in operation and working within our area.

LOUISE LAY – HOME OFFICE ASB UNIT "TOGETHER ACTION PLAN"
A British crime survey shows that 1 in 3 people are affected by ASB, the human impact and day to day experience is very damaging to community life. The good news is that burglary, violent crime and vehicle theft are all reducing. Anti social behaviour, graffiti, noise, groups hanging around, all make us feel unsafe and increase the fear of crime.

The government launched the "Together Action Plan" last year to offer help, support ant training to combat ASB, action has been taken against families causing problems, and clean up campaigns have been organized across the country, a new team of ASB prosecutors has been appointed to ensure ASB is tackled effectively.

Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO’s) are being used more, interim orders can be used for a swift response, and ASBO’s can be attached to convictions. A national helpline is available at 0870 2202000

OVERVIEW OF WAKEFIELD RESPONSES TO ASB
Wakefield Council have developed enforcement teams within the council, with neighbourhood patrollers and dog wardens, who can now hand out tickets and fines to people causing litter. A police officer dealing solely with abandoned vehicles is employed by the council.

The council aims are to have a safer and cleaner environment, reduce crime and the fear of crime and ASB, and provide reassurance, this is to be achieved through partnership working. The recently set up Anti Social Behaviour enforcement team consists of a Co-coordinator, 9 caseworkers with specialisms in highways and flytipping enforcement, 4 more are being recruited from licensing, housing, fraud, anti social behaviour team. The demands and workload will be shared with the police, and neighbourhood patrollers. Partners include, the police, housing, youth service, environmental health and education. They are looking for sustainable long term solutions and success will be measured by improvements that the public and communities see and feel.

Local Neighbourhood Action line 0845 8 506506. Contact via the police 0845 6060606

HOUSING TENANCY ENFORCEMENT
Housing one call is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They deal with repairs, nuisance complaints, housing benefit and general housing advice. The tenancy support team has 3 West Yorkshire police officers directly employed by housing, they are able top provide a professional witness role in ASB evidence. Action taken has included, visits to properties, warning letters, injunctions, acceptable behaviour contracts, notices of seeking possession and Anti Social Behaviour Orders.

LEGAL SERVICES
ASBO’s can be applied for by the police or housing authorities, applications are made to magistrates court for standalone or crown court for bolt on to conviction ones. It needs to be proved that the defendant is acting in an anti social behaviour way, that an order is necessary to control it, and allegations must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Evidence is crucial. There must be good direct evidence e.g. oral testimony by a witness. Hearsay evidence can only supplement but not replace first hand evidence. An order prevents the defendant from engaging in anti social behaviour for a minimum of 2 years, breach is a criminal offence liable on conviction to imprisonment for up to 5 years. The maximum for 12 – 17 year olds is a 2 year training and detention order.

POLICE
The police operate 2 twilight patrols containing a sergeant and 4 constables, one deals with anti social behaviour and is deployed depending on information supplied by the intelligence unit, the other deals with under age drinking and tackling licensees. There are also 3 mobile police stations that travel around the district spending 3 months in each area. There is an anti social unit, which identifies ASBO candidates, gathers evidence, consults on options and prepares files. The Twilight Patrols are contactable on 01924 292236

POLICE RAID ON WARWICK ESTATE
On 29th April 60 police officers targeted Warwick Estate, 10 properties were raided, 4 people were cautioned and 12 people were arrested for drug, theft and stolen property offences, this was an excellent result and will now lead to convictions, anti social behaviour orders or tenancy enforcement action. The raid was a good example of partnership working and working with the local community, it will I hope help to restore public confidence and ensure that our estates are better places to live in.

MORE HOUSING UPGRADES PLANNED FOR FINANCIAL YEAR

Heating/Electrical Upgrade
Aire Walk numbers 4,5,8,10,14
Aire Street numbers 8,10,12
Croftlands Numbers 2, 4 ,6
Garden Lane Number 9

KNOTTINGLEY SPORTS CENTRE TARGET FOR VANDALS
Improvements to Knottingley Sports Centre’s heating, ventilation, filtration systems and the changing rooms over the past year have resulted in increased numbers of people using the facility over the past year, but the cost of a recent spate of attacks by vandals is eating into resources earmarked for further refurbishments. Wakefield Council has condemned the attacks by vandals that have seen Knottingley Sports Centre broken into for the third time in a week, and is appealing to the public for help in tracking down the culprits. Funding which was to be used to make further improvements to Knottingley Sports Centre is having to be used to upgrade security including upgrading alarms, lighting and CCTV following a spate of overnight attacks which have run up a repair bill of £10,000 over the past year.

An improvement plan is going ahead later this year to enable disabled people to join in activities including: -

• Disabled toilets and changing facilities for both dry and wet changing areas
• New shower and toilet facilities
• New disabled entrance and refurbishment to the main sports centre foyer area
• Passenger lift to all three floors of the building
• Refurbishment of the fitness centre

In addition new activities such as joint and muscle mobility classes are planned to start after the work has been completed in the autumn.

If anyone has information on the attacks of vandalism they should contact the Centre Manager on 01977 722505 Police on 01977 601059.

ENGLAND LANE SCHOOL CHOIR
I would like to give my congratulations to the pupils of England Lane School who after winning a competition in Wakefield are to sing at the Royal Albert Hall, London, this is a fantastic achievement and something they will remember for the rest of their lives.

FAIR SHARES FUNDING
We have just received the news from the Ferrybridge Community Centre Committee that their bid for Lottery Fair Shares Funding has been rejected. This came as a bitter blow to us, as the application was successful for Coalfield Regeneration Trust and looked as though the plans were about to be achieved. The decision to refuse the application was all the more surprising because less than 1 week before at the council area panel meeting we had a presentation from Caroline James from Fair Shares Funding.

We were told that the Wakefield district is within a fair share area, which means that we are being targeted, as we have not had our fair share of lottery funds, £4.2million was allocated to them to distribute between 2002 – 2005 of which £1.7million still remains in the fund.

We were told that community groups could benefit from 3 funds: Awards for all for funding less than £5,000, a medium fund for applications between £5,000 - £60,000, and a large fund for applications above £60,000. Eligibility is for groups with a constitution, a committee and a bank account. The fund has now merged with the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and is now called "The Big Lottery Fund".

The Community Fund can be contacted on 0113 2245300, and there is an enquiry line on 0113 2245301 which operates from 9.30 to 12.30 Monday to Friday.

Having had the application for funding refused at Ferrybridge the local councillors are obviously extremely disappointed. A lot of hard work has gone into this application, and additional funding has been obtained from other sources. We would dispute the findings and main reasons given for refusal, we have every confidence in the existing committee to take on the responsibility for such a project, the people involved are experienced and have been running the centre on a voluntary basis for many years with a high degree of success

This Centre is a well used resource and is the only Community Centre within the Ferrybridge area, it caters for the needs of all age groups and many individual groups. We have requested a meeting with the funders and the committee to ask them to consider our views, we feel this bid meets the criteria, and intend to meet the lottery fund to determine where we go from here.

YOUTH PARLIAMENT
Wakefield’s two new members of the UK Youth Parliament were elected following the first ever 100% internet election in the district. The two members elected are Ian Asquith and Stewart Torrance, they will represent the district on the National Youth Parliament for 12 months and will take a lead role in the Involving Young People group.

BRIGHT SPARKS
On 28th May, Vale School celebrated the official opening of their new Foundation Unit, it was opened by the manager from Ferrybridge C Power Station, Mr Roger Winn. The Power Station has had strong links with the school for many years, hence the decision to call the new unit "Bright Sparks".

The opening of Bright Sparks now means every school in Knottingley and Ferrybridge now has a nursery unit, we are now looking to build on this with the introduction of a children’s centre based at Simpson’s Lane school that will provide services to families across Knottingley and Ferrybridge by integrating all the existing services that exist for children and families, this will be done in partnership with the Health Authority, Social Care, Education and other statutory and voluntary organisations.

KNOTTINGLEY CARNIVAL
Knottingley and Ferrybridge Carnival will be held on 10th July with events happening throughout the week, there will be a dog show on Wednesday 7th July, outside Kellingley Social Centre, Rugby on Thursday and Friday evening, Swimming Gala on Friday, the Carnival Parade and field event on Saturday and a church thanksgiving service at the amphitheatre on Sunday. I hope that people will support the events and get involved in organising floats and stalls, and help in any way they can.

Graham Stokes
Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

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