October 13, 2023

Full Up in Selsey are getting ready for Half Term: "It’s that time again, please text us to book your meals for half term. Meals are free or if you would prefer to pay we ask for a £1 donation for a main and pudding. 07852506923." 

This week was Full WSCC today and earlier, CDC’s Cabinet on Tuesday which Steve kindly went too as neither Donna, our Green colleague Sarah or I could make it. Cabinet agreed a position statement to, as Steve put it, 'hold the line' in regards to Selsey's sea defences until funding comes through, something which is welcome when you read this. Preliminary work has provided information on the potential risks to the exposed Selsey peninsula, which has a long history of coastal flood and erosion risk. Many of the seawalls, which were constructed in the 1950s, are reaching the end of their design life and due to the sea level rise - caused by climate change - the level of protection provided by the existing defences will decrease over time. 

The need to look at options for future sea defences and this work is being led by officers at Coastal Partners. They will build a detailed business case for the Environment Agency – the organisation that considers funding for new sea defences - through an application and bid process. This will be reviewed and discussed by CDC ‘s Cabinet in the new year. CDC is one of five local authorities along the south coast which has joined together to form Coastal Partners. This is a team of engineers, surveyors, project managers, environment and finance experts who centrally deliver a coastal management service across Chichester and 246 km of connected coastline. 

CDC are encouraging residents to find out how they can help to protect against flooding. This includes signing up for flood warnings; making a flood plan; and protecting their property. An article on this will be included in the winter issue of the CDC’s ‘initiatives’ magazine. You can also find out more about Coastal Partners and the response they provide to flooding and the work in Selsey.

Cabinet also agreed to upgrade the CCTV cameras in Chichester city centre to a wireless system by releasing £115,000. The project would also include purchasing some re-deployable cameras, which can be moved around the city easily if a ‘hot-spot’ area is identified.

On Wednesday, Donna had CDC’s Grants & Concessions Panel. Then on Thursday, she was back in East Pallant House for the Joint Employee Consultative Panel. Something she comes across quite often at West Sussex is the issue of Public Rights of Way - as she is well versed in WSCC speak, if she mentions PROW in conversation you will understand what she is referring to! Over the last century, research has discovered that almost 1000 miles of PROW, or footpaths to you and me, has been lost - read more here.

On Thursday I had our quarterly Leaders of the Opposition briefing, which included a recap on what happened at Cabinet and the latest on strategic projects including the Local Plan. If you have been missing Val and Mick they will be back soon because their holiday in Tenerife ends on Wednesday, ., when STC haa their Planning and Assets & Amenities Committees.

You may remember I asked a question at the last Full CDC about the proportion of local Category 1 999 calls answered by a fully qualified paramedic. I felt I should raise this issue after reading in The Guardian that in some parts of England up to a third of such calls are not answered by one. Last week I was able to share with you that in July around 88% of Category 1 calls in West Sussex were responded to within 15 minutes. June was only 84% while April & May were nudging 90%. I now know that approximately 94% of Category 1 life and death calls were answered by a fully qualified paramedic within the region covered by SECAMB in 2022-23.

I also was sent some data which reflected how ambulance services across the UK have different response models, each utilising different staff mixes made up of highly skilled ambulance crews formed of paramedics, emergency medical technicians, emergency care assistants, ambulance support crews and volunteers. It showed that this year in terms of Category 1 Calls, on 51805 a paramedic had been on the scene on 3534 occasions they had not. There was also a  a statement from the Managing Director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) Martin Flaherty OBE, QAM: -

“The most important aspect of responding to any life-threatening emergency is to get a clinician (and the life-saving equipment on board our vehicles) to the patient as quickly as possible so they can deliver life-saving interventions such as defibrillation. This does not always require a paramedic, furthermore, ambulance staff can request additional clinical support to assist with providing the best care for their patient, such as requesting a paramedic or specialist practitioner to attend the scene, or having a conversation with a doctor, mental health professional, or specialist practitioner based in their 999 control rooms.

"AACE has no particular patient safety concerns around this data and our committed, mixed crews attend thousands of incidents every day, saving many lives, with the support of paramedics and specialists always available.

“One aspect the data does appear to reflect is how paramedics are in high demand across the health service. As a result, ambulance trusts are always working hard to maintain and increase paramedic numbers. The good news is that universities are delivering more paramedic graduates than ever before with some trusts running their own successful student paramedic programmes, so there is certainly cause for optimism in that regard.”

A reminder that this is Black History Month (which is focussing this year on paying homage to black women whose contributions were ignored.) Stonepillow’s Big Sleep Out 2023 is on Saturday and on Sunday it is CDC's Cross Market and More which includes a range of artisans including the Love From Selsey group. Northgate Car Park closes at 6pm on Wednesday for the Sloe Fair and reopens at 12.00pm Saturday week. This month is also Stoptober so get some help from the West Sussex Wellbeing programme.

WSCC’s WORTH specialist domestic abuse service supports women and girls to feel safe in West Sussex. Over the summer, they were out and about with Sussex Police talking to people in high streets, parks, open spaces and even college Fresher's Weeks. There is the Safe Space Sussex app which can guide you to a nearby safe place if you feel unsafe in any way. Other partners joined these sessions including Paragon and Life Centre, who came along to help raise awareness of VAWG (Violence against Women & Girls), domestic sexual violence and abuse and to promote Worth itself, whose teams of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) work to identify, assess and assist people at risk. If you would like to access support, refer someone for support, or discuss next steps, please call into WORTH’s duty line on 0330 222 8181. Alternatively a referral form and email address can be located here.

Since the start of the month Autumn/Winter opening hours returned to all 11 Recycling Centres in West Sussex. The opening times for all Recycling Centres are 9am - 4pm until 31 March 2024, but Chichester is closed on Tuesdays. 

Finally: - 

• Free digital business tools training

• Report potholes to WSCC

• Housing Health & Safety

• Warmer Homes UK

• Suicide in Sussex

• Domestic Abuse

• Supporting You

• WSCC Meetings

• CDC Meetings

As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.

Tim