Agenda and minutes

The Chairman thanked all the co-optees for their participation and contribution to the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel now their two year membership had come to an end.  Organisations would again be contacted and nominations sought for the next two years, which the Scrutiny Panel would consider.

Councillor Stonebridge was also organising a “Members Only” event on the 25^th May, 2008, commencing at 11.00 a.m. to identify and prioritise the work programme for Scrutiny for the next municipal year.  This Scrutiny Panel needed to start thinking about what work it would like to consider.

The Scrutiny Panel were now reminded that the minutes of meetings of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Involvement were now included as part of the agenda pack.  Any items of interest to this Panel should be directed to the Scrutiny Adviser.

There were no Declarations of Interest made.

There were no questions from members of the public and press.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Vince Roberts, Partnership Manager, and Michael Clark, Partnership Officer, and a presentation which set out the current position with regard to the development of the new 2008/2011 Local Area Agreement.

An emerging list of indicators, taken from the National Outcome and Indicator Set, that could form the basis of the second Local Area Agreement 2008/2011 were included as part of the report.

The presentation drew specific attention to:-

·              The Local Area Agreement and the Current Position.

·              The 198 National Indicators.

·              The Process.

·              Picking the right Measures.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and clarified:-

-                 Area Assembly input into the National Indicators.

-                 Achievement of targets and progress still to be made in the current Local Area Agreement.

-                 Issue of resources and ability to cope with an increasing number of Indicators.

-                 Description of Indicators and what they actually measure.

-                 Assault with injury crime rate and the inclusion of domestic violence in the figures.

-                 Buy into the Local Area Agreement by the Council, the Government and other partners.

-                 Duty to involve and responsibility for involvement across the Council.

-                 Achievement of Target 152 and whether to seek a more challenging target in say Target 173.

-                 Proud Target 1, the risks and the challenges facing this.

-                 Receipt of additional resources to assist with achievement of targets.

-                 Relationship of the National Indicators with the refresh of the Community Strategy.

The Scrutiny Panel wished to monitor the National Indicators and requested that they be provided with updates on a six monthly basis.

Resolved:-  (1)  That  the emerging list of potential Indicators that could form the basis of the 2008-2011 Local Area Agreement be noted.

(2)  That consideration be given to whether Target 152 should be replaced by the more challenging Target 173 and for a response to be provided to the Chairman of the Scrutiny Panel in writing.

(3)  That the direction in negotiating the Local Area Agreement 2008-2011 and the further steps to completing the work be agreed.

(4)  That an update report be provided on the Local Area Agreement in six months time.

The Chairman welcomed Diane Douglas, Environment and Development Services’ Equalities Champion, and Zahid Qureshie, Environment and Development Services’ Policy Co-ordiator, who gave a presentation on Equality and Diversity in the Directorate.

The presentation drew specific attention to:-

·              Main equality and diversity objectives and targets.

·              How the targets were being achieved.

·              How the Directorate was embedding the additional strands of promoting age, religion and sexuality equality into equality work.

·              Update on the EIA outcomes achieved.

·              Outcomes of equality monitoring on service delivery.

·              Plans for rolling out further equality and diversity training to employees.

·              Working towards having a workforce that was representative of the local community at all levels.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and clarified:-

-                 Training strategy, whether this was labour intensive and the use of online materials.

-                 Monitoring of the Environmental Impact Assessments, including around disabled accessibility to toilets.

-                 Approaches to hard to reach groups.

-                 Equalities and diversity training provision and the tendering opportunities.

-                 Disestablishment of the Joint Disability Equality Scheme post.

-                 Evaluation and impact of the training being delivered.

The Scrutiny Panel was made aware of difficulties associated with the use of disabled toilets by those acquiring keys under false pretences.  It was suggested that this be looked into further and an appropriate response provided to Scrutiny Panels and the Chairman of the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel.

Resolved:-  (1)  That Diane Douglas and Zahid Qureshie be thanked for their informative presentation.

(2)  That the issue of disabled toilet access by people not disabled be investigated and a response be provided for all Scrutiny Panel Members and the Chairman of the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Janet Spurling, Equalities and Diversity Officer, which gave a brief overview of the present position regarding work on the borough’s first Women’s Strategy, “Rotherham – Working Together for Women.  The Strategy had been developed under the auspices of Rotherham Partnership and approved by the Board on 29th November, 2007.

Reference was made and further detail provided on:-

·              “Women Working Together for Change” Event.

·              Women’s History Display.

·              Making the Strategy Work – Performance Management.

The Scrutiny Panel welcomed this report and were informed, when asked, that the Action Plan would be monitored and progress reported to the Corporate Management Team, Cabinet, Local Strategic Partnership and this Scrutiny Panel.

Resolved:- (1) That the contents of the report be noted.

(2) That the annual report on performance of the Strategy be received.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Zafar Saleem, Community Engagement and Cohesion Manager, which provided information on the impact and opportunities for the council presented by new European migration.  It also summarised progress so far in developing a co-ordinated approach, with partner agencies, to respond to current and future demographic changes caused by migration.

The report drew specific attention to:-

·              Current migrant population data for EU A8 Accession countries.

·              Self assessment and developing good practice.

·              Initial findings from self assessment within the Council’s Directorates.

·              Areas for development.

Reference was also made to actions that had been implemented, which included:-

·              The Community Engagement and Cohesion Manager leading and co-ordinating the Council’s response to new European migration issues, reporting to the Cabinet Member for Communities and Involvement, Cabinet, CMT the New Arrivals Working Party, Rotherham Community Cohesion Partnership, Rotherham Partnership Board and the Proud Theme Board.

·              An officer project group being established to co-ordinate action, comprising of officers from Policy Team, Chief Executive’s Directorate.  This was currently being expanded to include officers from relevant Directorates and partner agencies, such as Neighbourhoods (Housing), 2010 Rotherham Limited and LSP Proud Theme Manager.

·              A Member Development Seminar held on 20th November, 2007 to provide information to Members on new European migration into Rotherham, possible future trends and the opportunities and challenges that migration provided to the Borough.

·              A workshop for Rotherham Partnership Board held on 29th November, 2007 to share information and good practice on New European Migration in Rotherham and plan a way forward.

·              A conference held on 17th January, 2008 for partner agencies, voluntary and community sector organisations.  This shared information and good practice and to begin the development of a co-ordinated approach to respond to current and future demographic changes caused by migration.  As a result officers were in the process of developing proposals for an action plan which would be implemented under the auspices of Rotherham Partnership.  Actions likely to be included were:

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and clarified:-

-                 Co-ordination of the Action Plan and the best solutions to address the migration problem.

-                 Young people from new migrant families being educated in Rotherham and ages and numbers involved (discussed at Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel previously).

-                 Funding to and class sizes in the Welcome Centre.

-                 Issues in relation to schools and how this is being, including impact on resources, performance and academic achievement

-                 Accommodation needs.

-                 High turnover of population.

-                 Outlook for Rotherham in the future and its integration.

-                 Potential impact on resources and statistics.

-                 Information sharing with Rotherham’s Members of Parliament.

Resolved:- (1) That the results of a self assessment carried out by the Council’s Directorates and 2010 Rotherham Limited, to identify current good practice and areas for development be noted

(2)  That the update on progress following the self assessment work be noted.

(3)  That the self assessment  and subsequent actions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

Consideration was given to a report, presented by Carol Adamson, Equalities and Diversity Officer, which provided an update on actions relating to meeting the needs of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities in Rotherham and future plans.

The report drew attention to the progress made by in relation to:-

·              Rotherham LGBT Inter-Agency Group.

·              LGBT Rotherham Limited.

·              LGBT Helpline.

·              LGBT History Month Celebrations.

·              Other responses by partner agencies, such as support for LGBT Rotherham community group, training for employees, RMBC Corporate Equality Strategy and Equality Impact Assessment Tool-kit and Community cohesion.

The Chief Executive Directorate’s Equalities and Diversity Unit were now working with Rotherham LGBT Inter-Agency Group to develop a new action plan, which would contribute towards promoting equality for Rotherham’s LGBT communities and addressing needs.

The Equalities and Diversity Unit were currently developing a Single Equality Scheme to encompass LGBT equality in line with changing legislation and the revised Equality Standard for Local Government.

The Council’s equality monitoring policy and guidance was also being reviewed to comply with the new revised Equality Standard for Local Government requirements.  The Council currently monitors the impact of services by ethnicity, gender, disability and age, but was proposed that this be expanded to include sexuality, gender identity and faith.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and clarified:-

-                 Number of actions completed and how progress was demonstrated.

-                 Progress made and how this compared to other communities of interest.

-                 Funding opportunities.

-                 Recruitment and training of volunteers to manage the LGBT helpline.

-                 Measurement of calls received.

-                 Integration of helpline into existing services and the progress.

-                 Member nomination for the LGBT Steering Group.

Resolved:- (1)  That the actions to date and future plans be noted and welcomed.

(2)  That the Scrutiny Panel be asked for a nomination to the LGBT Inter-Agency Group.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meeting of the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel held on 21st February, 2008 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Involvement held on 13th March, 2008 be noted.

The Scrutiny Panel noted the minutes of the meeting of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee held on 15th and 29th February, 2008.

The Scrutiny Panel noted the minutes of the meeting of the Members’ Training and Development Panel held on 21st February, 2008.