To notify the Chairman of any items that appear later in the agenda in which you may have an interest.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on 2^nd March 2005.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd March, 3005 were confirmed as a correct and signed by the Chairman.

A representative of Sedgefield Police will attend the meeting to give a report on crime statistics and initiatives in the area.

Sergeant B. O’Connor was present at the meeting to give details of the crime statistics in the area. 

It was reported that the crime statistics were outlined as below: -

Sergeant B. O’Connor informed Members that contact had been made with the relevant officer at Durham County Council after concerns were raised at the previous meeting regarding the lack of school crossing patrols within Sedgefield (Minute No: AF(3)33/04 refers). It was explained that there were three vacancies within the Sedgefield area that needed to be filled and every effort was being made to seek replacements by the County Council.

Members were also informed of problems regarding anti social behaviour across the area and of the initiatives that were in place to monitor behaviour. Specific reference was made to the employment of a dedicated Police Community Support Officer (PCSO), who would be based in the area and would work closely with local Beat Offices and residents. Sergeant O’Connor was also pleased to report that there were currently no Anti-Social Behaviour Orders issued within the Area 3 area.

Concerns were finally raised by Members of the Forum regarding problems in contacting the Police and specifically the lack of incidents being reported. It was pointed out that even when feedback was requested from reporting an incident it had not been received. It was agreed that the statistics on reported incidents be brought to a future meeting.

A representative of Sedgefield Primary Care Trust will attend the meeting to give an update on local health matters and performance figures.

Melanie Fordham was present at the meeting to update the Forum on local health matters.

Members were informed of the PCT’s financial position at the end of the year 2004/2005. It was pointed out that there had been a high amount of non elective (unplanned) activities which had resulted in an overspend of £1.4m. It was pointed out, however that discussions were being held to identify plans to rectify the overspend. 

It was explained that the Healthcare Commission was again reviewing the PCT’s yearly star ratings. Sedgefield PCT would be submitting its performance levels over the following two months to the Healthcare Commission for them to award the relevant star. It was hoped the current star rating would be kept.

Specific reference was also made to the Tees Review. It was hoped that the Review would reach its conclusions by the summer of 2005. Further information would be brought to the Forum when it was relevant.

Members again raised concerns regarding the out-of-hours service and in particular the distance that needed to be travelled in order to access the service. It was explained that discussions had been held and three GPs had now been employed and would be based at Sedgefield Community Hospital to accommodate residents in the area and alleviate the problems of travelling to the urgent care centre at Bishop Auckland. Members of the Forum were re-assured that concerns were being relayed to the relevant people at the PCT and that every effort was being made to rectify the problems raised.    

Arrangements have been made for Gillian Fortune, Chief Executive, CAVOS, to attend the meeting to give details of the work of CAVOS and its strategic direction.

G. Fortune, Chief Officer, CAVOS (Community and Voluntary Organisations Sedgefield) was present at the meeting to inform Members of the role of CAVOS within the community. 

It was explained that CAVOS had been set up in 2000, as a representative body for organised voluntary community groups. It was pointed out that there was a CAVOS based in the majority of districts, was free to join and would represent any organised voluntary community group.  

G. Fortune explained that she had taken up the post of Chief Officer in August and was responsible for a team including a Support Officer, Development Officer, Volunteer Bureau Coordinator and a Training Officer. It was pointed out that it was hoped to move CAVOS in a more strategic direction, with the development of Investors in People, a Business Plan, ways of increasing funding, staff and improving sustainability. It was also hoped that once an organisation health check had been completed a training programme could be introduced, as well as the service provision being improved ensuring that signposting was carried out at its most effective.

It was explained that CAVOS provided support to new and existing groups, information on funding and other areas that would be of interest to groups, partnership working, which would allow groups to benefit from working together and form new relationships. It would also promote and market volunteer working and the benefits of joining a community group. 

Members of the Forum were informed of the differences between CAVOS and CEN (Community Empowerment Network). It was explained that CEN represented residents in the community on a more individual basis, working with the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), whereas CAVOS represented organised voluntary community groups not individual residents. 

G. Fortune explained that CAVOS would soon be moving into new premises at the Spennymoor Learning Shop, Festival Walk due to the need for more space and to improve public access.

It was agreed that G. Fortune should continue to update the Forum on the progression of CAVOS and suggested that she be informed of any topics Members wished to discuss at future meetings to place them on agendas.

A representative of the Sedgefield Development Partnership will be present at the meeting to inform Members of its role in the community and answer any questions.

J. Parkinson, T. Randell and R. Clubley were present at the meeting to update Members of the Forum on the role of Sedgefield Development Partnership. Copies of their newsletter and directory were made available to Members if they wished to take copies.

R. Clubley gave details of the Partnerships background, its mission statement, its role and how it was funded. It was explained that the partnership was founded in 2000 as an independent organisation, and was recognised as a registered charity.

J. Parkinson carried on the presentation to introduce the newspaper, ‘Sedgefield News’ and gave details of the work carried out to produce the paper. It was explained that the newspaper was in its third year of publication, was free and was distributed to residents in Sedgefield, Bradbury and Mordon. It was pointed out that articles written by members of the public were always welcomed, explaining that if anyone was interested in producing an article they should contact the office based at 58 Front Street, Sedgefield.  

T. Randall finally gave Members a demonstration of the website. It was explained that the website had been developed a year ago and had continued to grow. The various links were demonstrated, together with were to go on the website to access the relevant information. It was pointed out that the website held information on various different groups, schools, churches, events and childcare etc. T. Randell informed Members of the Forum that the website was continually being developed with the next addition to it being old photographs of significance to the area.

Detailed discussions were held regarding the need for all local community groups and partnerships to work together. It was pointed out that communication needed to be improved for them all to work efficiently and effectively in order for the area to benefit as a whole. 

A letter received from the Environment Agency is attached for information.

Consideration was given to a letter received from the Environment Agency.  (For copy see file of Minutes).

The letter questioned whether a liaison group should be formed in order to deal with residents concerns regarding the Skerne Carrs Project or whether it was more suitable to attend the local Area 3 Forum.  It was agreed that a member of the Environment Agency should attend the Area Forum when matters of interest arose and that they be held in Mordon itself to accommodate residents in that area.

The Chairman will take questions from the floor.

Community Empowerment Network

It was questioned whether there was any information regarding the attendance of the Community Empowerment Network attending the Area Forums. It was explained that although discussions had been held regarding the above there was no news that joint meetings would be developed.

Joint Trimdon Partnership

It was agreed that the Joint Trimdon Partnership would attend the next meeting to give a presentation detailing its role within the community.   

To be agreed at the Annual General Meeting on 20^th May 2005.

It was noted that the date of the next meeting of Area 3 Forum would be agreed by Sedgefield Borough Council at it’s Annual meeting on

20^th May, 2005.