Agenda and minutes

Councillor Ali declared a personal interest in Minute No. 77 as reference was made to MAARI in the report.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion held on 19^th December, 2005 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Reference was made to Minute No. 62 (L.G.B.T. History Month Celebrations) and confirmation given to the flag flying ceremony from Reresby House on Wednesday, 1^st February, 2006 between 12.30 p.m. and 1.30 p.m.

It was noted that until a policy had been agreed no flags would be flown from the Town Hall.

It was confirmed that the first meeting of the “Proud” Spoke had taken place in relation to Minute No. 65 (N.R.F. Commissioning) and were supportive of the principle agreed by the Local Strategic Partnership.

A draft copy of the report was circulated to all those present and Martin Hughes, Community Engagement Manager, gave a brief summary and snapshot of activity on the progress of community planning in Rotherham, how it explored the development of geographically based Community Plans, engaged Communities of Interest, how it ensured and measured quality, how it impacted on strategic documents and service delivery and potential links into Neighbourhood Management, in particular with the establishment of the new Area Assemblies and their Area Plans.

A community boundary map was shown to Members depicting possibly forty-four areas for local community organisations that have/could have a Community Plan.  The map illustrated three distinct colours:-

·              Green – for local communities that have a plan.

·              Amber – for local communities that were on with a plan scheduled to be completed by March, 2007.

·              Red – for local communities where the process had not started, often as a result of reluctance from communities to get involved. Work was ongoing in these areas and it was still anticipated that these areas would have a plan by March, 2008.

Members wished to see greater involvement with communities, how best to engage them, giving them the opportunity to become involved and to ascertain how their needs could best be met in the community planning process.

Members noted that the existing core budget of the Community Involvement Unit supported the work of the community plan process with the majority of the completed community plans having also been funded through Objective One.

There were a few community plans, where the Parish Council had taken a lead, which were funded through other funding streams where the Community Planning Team had less of an influence.  The Community Involvement Unit had the expertise to link communities strategically and were sensitively building relationships.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the continued development of Community Planning in Rotherham be noted and supported.

(2)  That the contribution of the Community Involvement Team in providing opportunities for Communities of Interest to become involved in decision making be noted and supported.

(3)  That consideration be given to the role of Rotherham Partnership and Area Assemblies in scrutinising the standard of Community Plans.

(4)  That consideration be given to the development of an appropriate corporate mechanism allowing priorities identified through Community Planning to be fed into the decision making process, in line with the Corporate Community Involvement and Consultation Framework.

(5)  That the contribution of local Community Plans in the development of Area Plans be noted and supported.

ZafarSaleem, Equalities and Diversity Manager, gave an update on the situation concerning migrant workers and confirmed that an officer group had been established involving South Yorkshire Police, Neighbourhoods, P.C.T., Asylum Seekers Team and Children and Families.

Issues of concern appeared to be around:-

·              People being exploited.

·              Unlawful deductions from salaries.

·              Housing issues, including overcrowding.

·              Education and social care of adults and children.

·              Health needs.

Whilst nationally there were some concerns about sexual exploitation of Eastern European women, it was uncertain if this was the case locally.

Some positive work was already taking place by the New LifeChurch at Canklow and through staff working with ethnic minority children in Education, Culture and Leisure Services, where an officer who spoke Slovakian was now based.

Some funding had been secured from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to conduct some research to determine numbers of adults and children in the area, what the issues of concern were and as to what action could be taken.

A meeting was to be arranged in the next few weeks to scope a programme of action and to see what self help or preventative work could be provided.

Resolved:-  That the situation be noted and a further report be provided on research during March, 2006.

ZafarSaleem, Equalities and Diversity Manager, drew attention to the current situation and requested a steer on how to address the problem from Members   due to the political sensitivity of this issue.

The legislation concerning gypsy and travellers was to change and be incorporated into the Local Development Framework with a needs analysis much wider than merely a stop off site for this community.

A borough wide approach was, therefore, required to tackle these needs and an application had been submitted to the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly for £15,000 to carry out the necessary research.

An officer group had been established to look at various issues and to consider which Programme Area should take lead responsibility.

The legislation and guidance concerning gypsy and travellers was to change and strategic approach was required involving all Programme Areas and our partners such as the C.P.T. and S.Y.P.

The information from the O.D.P.M. indicated that the Council, Police and the P.C.T. would have to carry out needs analysis that would have to look into:-

Ø            The provision of a site for the mobile gypsy and travellers.

Ø            The location of the settled gypsy and travellers and their needs.

Ø            How we deal with road side encampments and stopovers.

Ø            The community safety and community cohesion issues that would arise.

Ø            Enforcement and moving on policy.

A borough wide approach was, therefore, required to tackle these needs and an application had been submitted to the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly for £15,000 to carry out the necessary research.

Resolved:-  That once the outcome of the application to the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly was known, that a joint meeting be arranged with the Cabinet Members for Economic Regeneration and Development Services, Neighbourhoods and Community Cohesion to ascertain which Programme Area takes ownership of this issue.

ZafarSaleem, Equalities and Diversity Manager, gave an update and confirmed that a core group and a steering group had been established to which Councillor Burton had been invited.

It was envisaged that a Conference take place after International Women’s Day, to which community groups and organisations and various agencies be invited.

The event will take place on 28^th March, 2006 at the Unity Centre (10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.) with speakers and workshops based around the Community Strategy priorities.

Resolved:-  That the information be noted and the date of the event be circulated.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Waheed Akhtar, Partnership Officer (Regeneration), which provided an update on progress with the commissioning framework for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (N.R.F.).

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.

Reports on the commissioning process had been submitted to the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee and the Area Assembly Chairs meetings where concerns about links to the Steering Group were raised and that Area Assemblies themselves should be the decision-makers.

An updated version of Annex A on the priority areas for commissioning were circulated to all those present and explanations given to the six floor targets.  It was also pointed out and explained that some amounts had also been set aside for allocation to further priorities yet to be agreed.

Resolved:-  That the progress on the N.R.F. Commissioning Framework be noted.

This item was deferred to the next meeting.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Zafar Saleem, Equalities and Diversity Manager, which outlined the progress on Commitment 43 in the Year Ahead Statement 2005/06 “Begin to deliver the Community Cohesion Action Plan”.

As part of Commitment 43 of the Year Ahead Statement to progress the Community Cohesion Action Plan the progress/feedback shown in the Community Cohesion Action Plan in the submitted appendix demonstrated that the Council have made a significant progress and was on target towards the delivery/completion of the plan.  Through implementation of the actions indicated the Council would meet the guidance issued by the Local Government Association and Home Office on promoting community cohesion.

The report detailed the Council’s contribution to the delivery of the Community Cohesion Strategy and the progress on all the objectives listed in the Community Cohesion Action Plan.

It was also pointed out that due to movements in staffing there may be a gap in a champion to delivery the objectives and monitor their outcome.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the progress made on implementing the Council’s Community Cohesion Action Plan 2005/2006 as set out in Appendix 1 be noted.

(2)  That a further update report be submitted in March 2006 including priorities for the Council’s Community Cohesion Action Plan 2006/2007.

(3)  That the Council had been shortlisted for the L.G.C. Sustainable Communities Awards 2006 for our work on Community Cohesion be noted.

Resolved:-  That the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion take place on Monday, 27^th February, 2006 at 10.00 a.m.

The Chairman introduced a report which provided an update on the development of a joint charter between Rotherham’s Parish and Town Councils and the Council.  The Charter set out how the two tiers of Local Government aimed to work closer together for the well-being of local people and to promote engagement with the democratic process.

The Charter would be examined at a Parish Councils Seminar on the 4^th February, 2006.  It was hoped that as many Parish Councils as possible would sign up to the Charter at this seminar to prevent any delay in its implementation.

Resolved:-  That the progress in the development of a joint Charter between the Council and the Town and Parish Councils be noted.

Consideration was given to a verbal report by Zafar Saleem, Equalities and Diversity Manager, on the progress of the Advice Review.

Six consultants had been approached, three had an expressed an interest in the contract and two were shortlisted for interview on the 20^th and 24^th January, 2006.

From the two consultants interviewed Peg Alexander of Smile Consultancy of Leeds, was selected and the contract to deliver the review was within the budget from March, 2006.

A request was also made for an Elected Member to be nominated to sit on the Steering Group to oversee the project and its completion by May, 2006.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the consultant selection of Peg Alexander of Smile Consultancy of Leeds, be approved.

(2)  That the payment of £8,000 for the contract from the I.C.I.B. budget be approved.

(3)  That Councillor Burton be nominated to sit on the Steering Group to oversee this project.