Joint Meeting of Cumbria County Council, Copeland Borough Council,
Parish and Town Councils
23rd March 2015
Egremont Market Hall
Chairman:
Julie Betteridge
Copeland Borough Council
John Bowman
Jane Donaldson
Brian Crawford
Louisa Bestford
Nick Ford
David Wood
David Faulkner
Edwin Matthews
Frank Morgan
Chris Shaw
Elaine Woodburn
Wendy Skillicorn
Gordon Smith
Sue Capstick
David Polhill
Joyce Bestford
Keith Hitchen
Eileen Eastwood
Sam Pagett
Gillian Elliott
Rick Shaw
Jonathan Burgess
Andy Jones
Distington P C
St Bees P C
Millom TC
Parton PC
Cleator Moor TC
Ennerdale and Kinniside PC
Bootle PC
Beckermet and Thornhill PC
Cumbria county council
CALC
Egremont TC
Cumbria county council
Haile and Wilton PC
Whicham TC
Gosforth PC/Ponsonby PC
Parton PC
Waberthwaite PC
Seascale PC
Lamplugh PC
Cumbria CC
North West Ambulance Service
Cumbria CC
Cumbria CC
Paul Walker
Copeland BC
Present:
Apologies:
2. Matters arising from the December 2014 meeting
a) Sellafield Travel Plan The Chairman said that both principal authorities had tried to obtain
the latest draft but without success. Sue Capstick said that 16 cars were left at the lay by at
the head of the Whicham valley on a regular basis with no space for passing motorists.
3 North West Ambulance Service
The chairman introduced Rick Shaw from NWAS. Rick said that his organisation was working
closely with other partners to improve the service and meet current needs. He said that
additional staff and better equipped ambulances were now in place with one such vehicle in
Copeland. He said that one way that the service had been improved was that paramedics on
the ambulance could now refer patients to general practitioners when that was appropriate
and that better use was being made of technology to find addresses when called out. Rick
said that concern had been expressed over the transfer of critically ill patients between
Whitehaven and Carlisle. He said that it was only done when deemed safe to do so and that
a clinician was with the patient. It was accepted that this extended journey time but it was
better that patients were treated in specialized units. He said that if transfers increased his
service would increase resources to meet the demand. Rick described the problems
associated with working with both the West Cumberland and the Furness General hospitals.
He explained the use made of the Air Ambulance service, the Coast Guard and how First
Responders assisted. If a first responder was at the patients side before the ambulance then
the time target time for the ambulance was eight minutes longer but the time to convey
was nineteen minutes He said that his organisation would be happy to talk to parish councils
and locality groups. The Chairman thanked he officer for his presentation.
4. Sellafield Exclusion Zone Extension.
The chairman welcomed Jonathan Burgess the deputy resilience manager from the county
council environment and community services division. Jonathan explained the background
to the changes to the exclusion zone surrounding Sellafield which was being planned and
was to come into effect in July 2015. He said that rather than a 3 kilometre circular zone
around the site the exclusion zone would be extended and based on risk. It would be in
some parts 6.5 kilometres and the plan was looking at vulnerable areas and populations. He
said a number of organisations were involved in the planning with a major aspect being
communications especially visitors to the Lake District. Jonathan explained that the use of
social media with the aim of using cell broadcasts through mobile phones. Information
would go to all households within the new zone which would include the proposed nuclear
power station at Moorside. Jonathan accepted that development would be inhibited inside
the zone and exercises on post incident and recovery were continuing. In response to a
question about the local hospitals ability to cope with a major incident he said that the
group involved was seeking reassurance from the health service and the reply would be
reported to the regulator. The chairman thanked the officer for his presentation.
5. Fostering and Adoption
The chairman welcomed Andrew Jones a support worker dealing with fostering and
adoption within the children’s service division of the county council. Andrew said that the
county council now had over 650 children in care which was many more that authorities of a
similar size and an increase of 200 in the last two years He said that the figure for Copeland
was 110. He said the majority of cases were because of neglect many related to domestic
violence, drug and alcohol problems. He said that whilst some children could be supported
by relatives a large number were with foster parents and the challenge the county council
faced was to recruit more foster parents. He said that ideally children should remain in the
local environment to remain part of the community but some had to be placed outside the
county. He said that the county council always tried to keep siblings together but where that
was not possible they aimed to keep them in touch. Andrew said that whilst independent
organisations such as Barnardo’s children’s charity worked with the county council an
increased need was apparent. He said a campaign was being undertaken at present and he
was aware that parish councillors knew their area and might be able to pass the
information. The chairman thanked the officer for his presentation.
6. Resourceful Communities
Gillian Elliott apologised for the absence of Nick Wright the Waste Protection Manager for
the county council. She said that Nick had produced a briefing paper which would be
attached to the minutes. Gillian said that 250 kilos of waste was generated each year in
Cumbria which went to landfill. Households threw away the equivalent of £60 of wasted
food and on average households had £1k of unused clothing in wardrobes. Gillian said the
paper explained how parish councils and other group could run their own resource
efficiency sessions and how to engage the local schools in the campaign.
7 Cumbria County Council Budget decisions
Gillian Elliott said that there were 670 responses to the consultation document all of which
were considered but save for one proposal which was to reduce the highway’s revenue
budget by 15% they were all accepted by the county council at full council. She said that the
proposals would mean a saving of £51 million but a further £33 million savings would be
needed in the next two years
8 Copeland Borough Council Budget decisions
Julie Betteridge said that all the proposals had been accepted by full council although a
decision had been taken not to reduce the portion of the council tax reduction scheme grant
to parish councils by as much as was first planned. Julie said that the council expected to
have to make further savings in the region of £3.3 million in the next three years. She said
that the budget did ensure that all statutory duties would continue to be undertaken but
seeking ways of growing the local economy was now an essential requirement.
9. Copeland Health and Well Being Forum
The chairman said this issue would be stood over to the next meeting but she said a health
summary for Copeland would be circulated with the minutes
The meeting ended at 8.30pm