Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest made.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion held on 21^st November, 2005, be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Reference was made to Minute No. 53 (L.G.B.T. History Month Celebrations) and the need for an up-to-date and modern policy for flying flags at the Town Hall.

Members were in agreement about the need for a procedure.  Discussion would take place with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services for the formulation of a specific policy, but that agreement be given to the flying of the rainbow flag during celebrations in February, 2006.

A report on the policy for flag flying would be submitted to Cabinet in due course for approval.

ZafarSaleem, Equalities and Diversity Manager, submitted a report, which outlined the completed internal consultation process that was undertaken on the Rotherham Compact Codes of Practice.

Members were informed that the Rotherham Compact was a statement of partnership between the Voluntary, Community, Statutory and Private sector partners represented in the Rotherham Partnership.  It was a commitment to working together more closely and to respect each others rights and responsibilities.  It offered a new approach to partnership and a framework to develop more detailed agreements in future work.

The Compact consisted of five Codes of Practice, each of which had an impact assessment stage within the Council. The Codes were:-

·              Black and Minority Ethnic Voluntary and Community Organisations.

·              Community Groups.

·              Community Involvement/Consultation and Policy Appraisal.

·              Funding and Procurement.

·              Volunteering.

Discussion ensued on the structure of the Local Strategic Partnership and which organisations were and were not represented.  It was suggested that as the Partnership was evolving, that the balance of influence for communities be extended to ensure some form of commonality across the borough.

Resolved:-  That the completed Council’s Impact Assessment Document on the five Codes of Practice be agreed.

(2)  That the Impact Assessment Document be presented to the Rotherham Partnership Board and the Compact Implementation Group through the Local Strategic Partnership be agreed.

Consideration was given to the minutes of a meeting of the Women’s Strategy Group held on Thursday, 17^th November, 2005.

This group had been developed to look at key strategic issues to link into the delivery plan through consultation, with the aim of holding a conference to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Membership of this group was fluid and nominations or expressions of interest should be forwarded on to the Equalities and Diversity Manager and he would pass them on to the most relevant person.

Members were also informed that Carol Mills, Executive Director – Resources, would be taking over as Chair of this group for all future meetings. 

A request had also been made for a Council Member to be nominated to attend future meetings.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the minutes be noted.

(2)  That Councillor Burton be nominated as the Council Member representative to sit on this group.

Deborah Fellowes, External and Regional Affairs Manager, submitted a report, which put forward proposals for commissioning within the new round of Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (N.R.F.) for 2006/07 and 2007/08 and sought the support of the Cabinet Member for the draft N.R.F. Commissioning Framework.

The process of developing the N.R.F. Commissioning Framework had been closely aligned with the process of refreshing and refining the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy (N.R.S.) and developing the Local Area Agreement (L.A.A.). The priorities identified were based primarily on research and evidence of need that had come from the extensive consultation carried out as part of the refresh of the N.R.S. and development of the L.A.A.  All sectors have been involved in both of these initiatives.

The report outlined the process to ensure that funding was used strategically and to commission specific projects/pieces of work.  This was designed to minimise the risk of local partners building up a further dependency on N.R.F. funding and creating a future sustainability problem. The approach outlined in the report would ensure that projects being developed and funded through N.R.F. were well aligned with the N.R.S. and L.A.A. The activities would be focused on addressing the inequalities faced by the deprived communities of Rotherham.

It was proposed that the existing management arrangements were refreshed through the establishment of a new Steering Group to oversee the commissioning and review of N.R.F. activity for 2006-2008.  The Steering Group would oversee the process and advise the Chief Executive Officer Group within the Rotherham Partnership, who would make recommendations to the L.S.P. Board (and via the Chief Executive of RMBC to the Council’s Cabinet).

It was proposed that this was composed of:-

·              Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion (as Chair).

·              Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods (as lead for Area Assembly Chairs).

·              Senior representative from each local partner agency.

·              Nominated representatives from private, voluntary and community sectors.

·              Co-opted expertise for the NRS priority work areas as appropriate.

It was proposed that a ‘Fund’ be established that could be steered at Area Assembly level. The Fund would focus on local priorities within the criteria for N.R.F. and would be overseen by the Steering Group.  It was, therefore, proposed to incorporate this into the framework based on the following principles:-

·              A minimum allocation for each Area Assembly of £30,000 per annum.

·              A top up allocation based on the population in N.R.F. areas and communities of interest within the Area Assembly boundary.

Whilst there was a focus on targeting of funding through strategic programmes, it was recognised that community groups and organisations could have a significant impact on local quality of life through small-scale activities at the local level. It was, therefore, proposed that a Community Chest programme be established with £220,000 per annum for this purpose.

The key milestones for taking this forward and the formulae used target communities within Area Assembly boundaries were outlined in the report submitted.

Existing funding projects were given a reminder and a traffic light rating given relating to whether a project had secured mainstream  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

Colin Bulger, Head of Policy and Partnerships, submitted a report which outlined Rotherham Partnership’s draft Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, which was agreed for consultation by Rotherham Partnership at its most recent Board meeting.

Rotherham’s current Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy was agreed in July 2004, and intended to cover the period 2004 to 2010.  An integral part of the Community Strategy, it sought to ensure that all communities benefited from the economic, social and environmental progress in the Borough by addressing root causes of deprivation and driving forward improved services, co-ordination and delivery at neighbourhood level.

In its September Board meeting, Rotherham Partnership Board agreed to a refresh of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, with a particular focus on:-

·              Improving its alignment with new Community Strategy following its refresh.

·              Strengthening targeting and develop local indictors - at the time the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy was being developed, available information to support targeting and develop local indicators was limited. Since the strategy was published, work has been undertaken to improve this information base through commissioned research and the development of research and performance capacity within partner organisations.

·              Reflect and incorporate the raft of new national policy and good practice in relation to neighbourhood well being.

Members were advised that through detailed profile analysis, the strategy identified a small number of communities of interest that suffered from high levels of deprivation.  These were:-

·              Minority Ethnic Communities and Asylum Seekers.

·              Disabled People and their Carers.

·              Vulnerable Older People and their Carers.

·              Deprived Children and Young People.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the overarching strategic framework be noted.

(2)  That the proposed targeting of communities of place and interest be noted.

(3)  That the timetable for finalising the strategy be noted.

Andrew Towlerton, Policy and Research Manager, gave a verbal report on the Older People’s Conference held on 2^nd December, 2005, which was held for all persons over the age of fifty.

Over one hundred people attended to listen to a series presentations and workshops in the afternoon, including a talk by John Healy, M.P.

Some of the emerging issues that were discussed included housing, crime, transport, safety in the interchange, employment opportunities and community learning.

Feedback received would be fed into the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and the Older People’s Strategy.

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

Resolved:-  That the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion take place on Monday, 30^th January, 2006 commencing at 10.00 a.m.