Agenda and draft minutes

To note any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Allison Bingham

Pippa May

Dave Norman

Polly Norman

Councillor Squire

Councillor Lawrence

To confirm as a correct record the minutes from the previous meeting.

The minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record.

(i) Bus Station Toilets

The Forum discussed the toilets at the bus station and comments were made that sometimes the toilets had been shut earlier than they were supposed to and that comments made previously by the Forum, in that there was no colour contrast in the toilets which made it difficult for people with visual impairments, had not been acted upon.

It was suggested that it may be too late to repaint the toilets in contrasting colours, but one option could be to put black and yellow tape to mark out certain areas.  The Chairman stated that there were also disabled facilities at the Lynn Museum.

ACTIONS:

(i) The Chairman to speak to the relevant Portfolio Holder about the issues reported by the Forum in relation to the Bus Station Toilets.

(ii) Allison Bingham to liaise with the relevant officers and Helen Sismore to investigate if colour contrasting tape could be used in the public toilets.

(iii) Allison Bingham to investigate if the Forum’s budget could be used to purchase and install colour contrasting tape into the toilets.

(iv) Allison Bingham and the Chairman to report back to the next meeting on progress.

The Secretary read out the following correspondence:

(i) QEH Catchment A&E Delivery Board

An email had been received from June Leamon in which she stated that she was a Member of the above Board which discussed and received reports from Senior Hospital Clinical Consultants, Staff, NCH&C, A&E, Ambulance, 111 Service etc.  If any members of the Forum had any comments they would like June Leamon to pass on and take forward they could contact her.

(ii) Bus Station Toilets

Allison Bingham, who had sent apologies for the meeting had forwarded the following:

It was noted that when the next decoration was planned for the toilets the contrast of the walls and floors would be looked at. 

The door to the accessible toilet had been changed twice following comments about it being too hard to open and too heavy.  There were currently no plans to change the doors again.

(iii) Safe Scooter Training

Allison Bingham was still awaiting a response from the organisers, but they were not planning on arranging any future events in the area.

(iv) West Norfolk Disability Forum on the Website

Following comments from the Forum, the web team would add the West Norfolk Disability Forum to the A-Z search so that it could be found earlier.

To receive an update from the Principal Project Surveyor on the above project.

This item had been deferred until the next meeting.

Fiona Matchett from West Norfolk Community Transport attended the meeting to provide an update on the services provided by the organisation.

She explained that the service had been running since 1992 and covered from Wells-next-to-sea to Thetford to Wisbech.  Some of the services offered included Dial-a-bus, Flexi Bus and the Community Car Scheme and on average 600 people per day used the service.  Fiona Matchett informed the Forum that the organisation was funded by Local Authorities and the CCG.  She acknowledged that Local Government budgets were stretched and anticipated funding cuts in the future.  In order to sustain the service, work was ongoing to make West Norfolk Community Transport self-sufficient.  Promotion of the service was ongoing to increase take up.

Fiona Matchett explained that previously promotion of the service had been through word of mouth and reputation, however work was now ongoing to publicise the organisation wider and included advertising on the Lily website and West Norfolk Community Transport were currently KLFM’s Charity of the month.

Fiona Matchett explained that bookings could be made by phone and could be made a week in advance, however ‘on the day’ bookings would be accommodated if possible.

It was explained that fares were charged at around £2 for journeys in King’s Lynn and discounts were available for concessionary bus pass holders.  There was also a return service from Hunstanton on certain days which cost £4.50.  Details of the standard runs were available on the West Norfolk Community Transport website.  The Forum was informed that there was no joining fee to use the service however an optional donation could be given.

The Chairman suggested that the services could be publicised through Parish Magazines.

The Chairman thanked Fiona Matchett for attending the meeting.

The Chairman explained that he had asked for this item to be considered by the Borough Council’s Environment and Community Panel.  The Chairman of the Environment and Community Panel had referred the item to the West Norfolk Disability Forum for consideration.

The Chairman explained that he felt that there were areas where improvements could be made to the street scene and asked for suggestions from the Forum.

Pat French suggested that more seats be made available at the Hospital.  She was advised to approach the Hospital direct on this issue and Councillor Baron Chenery of Horsbrugh informed Pat French that the Hospital Board of Directors met on a monthly basis and Members of the Public were invited to attend this meeting if they had issues they would like to raise. 

The Chairman suggested that a representative from the Hospital be invited to a future meeting of the West Norfolk Disability Forum regarding access to services for people with disabilities. 

Members of the Forum asked if seating would be replaced outside of the Town Hall and the Chairman agreed to investigate and feedback to the Forum.

It was also suggested that other organisations and groups concerned with disabilities should be consulted on what they would like made available in the area.  The Chairman suggested that King’s Lynn Ward Councillors could work with organisations on this issue. 

The Forum was reminded that there was no budget available for this, however one possibility could be to look at sponsorship of seating.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Long explained that the Borough did already have a register of all street furniture.  Norfolk County Council was responsible for dropped kerbs and pavements and should have their own asset register.

ACTIONS: (i) The Chairman requested that the Secretary contact the Hospital to invite them to attend a future meeting of the Forum.

(ii) The Chairman to investigate if seating would be replaced outside of the Town Hall and report back to the Forum.

To note that Members of the West Norfolk Disability Forum have the opportunity to comment on the proposed Neighbourhood Plans.

The Forum was informed that the above plans had been published for comment.  Details of the consultation were available at: https://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/info/20127/neighbourhood_plans

To consider the attached Work Programme.

The following items were discussed for potential addition to the Work Programme:

-       Guildhall Complex update would now be presented to the meeting in April.

-       The meeting scheduled for April be rearranged so that it could be held in the Committee Suite.

-       A representative from the Hospital be invited to a future meeting of the Forum regarding accessibility for people with disabilities.

(i) Adult Kandoo Club

Thomas Sutcliffe asked if any progress had been made with the establishment of an Adult Kandoo Club.  The Chairman advised him to contact Alive Leisure who may have further information.

(ii) Employment Event

Thomas Sutcliffe explained that he was aware of a potential employment event being held by the Chamber of Commerce and asked if anyone else was aware of the event.  He was advised to contact the Chamber of Commerce for further details.

(iii) ‘A’ Boards

Members of the Forum asked if there was any progress on the removal of ‘A’ Boards in the town centre.  The Forum was reminded that this was the responsibility of Norfolk County Council, not the Borough Council.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Long, commented that Norfolk County Council had a Policy in place, but currently it was not enforced.  He encouraged members of the Forum to lobby their County Councillor as it was a County Council responsibility. 

The Chairman agreed to email Norfolk County Council to pass on concerns from the Forum and encouraged Members of the Forum to do the same.

(iv) Bus Station

Jackie Norton Jones commented that she felt there was quite a drop when getting off buses at the bus station.  She also commented that the lighting was poor and the electronic timetable display was not working.

Councillor Tyler commented that the sign had been reported and was being fixed.

(v) Guide Dogs – Access All Areas Petition

The Forum was made aware of the above petition which was available at www.guidedogs.org.uk/AccessPetition.  Helen Sismore explained that 42% of guide dog owners surveyed had said that they had been refused access to a taxi or minicab because of their dog and the petitionasked Government to make disability equality training a requirement for all taxi and minicab drivers.  The training would mean that drivers were aware of the rights and needs of guide dog owners and end illegal refusals.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Long asked if statistics were available for Drivers operating within the Borough of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and Helen Sismore agreed to liaise with Councillor Long to discuss specific issues.

Wednesday 19^th April 2017 at 2.30pm, venue to be confirmed.

The next meeting of the West Norfolk Disability Forum would be held on *Tuesday 18^th April 2017 at 2.30pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn.

*Please note change of date.