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 12^th June, 2006 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman, subject to amendments to representation on the working groups to remove Councillor Ali from the Women’s Strategy Group.

With reference to Minute No. 11 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion held on 12^th June, 2006, the Assistant Chief Executive confirmed that the Chief Officers’ Group had decided that S.R.B. and N.R.F. were to merge.

It was, therefore, recommended that a joint meeting be set up, chaired by the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion, to consider membership details.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Assistant Chief Executive regarding the development and implementation of a Public Health Strategy for the borough, which was a key priority in the Community Strategy and Corporate Plan.

Its development had been led jointly by the Primary Care Trust and the Chief Executive’s Department, steered by a Public Health Strategy Group including representatives from Council Programme Areas, Rotherham PCT and the Local Strategic Partnership.

There had been good progress on the development of the Strategy and informed by a detailed analysis of policy and research evidence about key trends and issues and analysis of policies and key trends at national, regional and local levels.  The draft Strategy was organised into each of the five priority themes and two cross cutting priority themes and each section detailed a number of specific actions that were key to improving health and reducing health inequalities.  The Strategy also linked into the Local Area Agreement.

The Strategy had been through a period of consultation and had been endorsed by the Corporate Management Team.  The Cabinet raised a few issues, which were being incorporated.

Members considered this an important Strategy and welcomed its development, but requested that this be closely monitored and managed.

Resolved;-  That the Public Health Strategy be welcomed.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Principal Officer for Performance Management informing Members of the recommended approach to the allocation and use of the Pump Priming Grant to support the stretch targets in the L.A.A.

Government Office have been informed that the Council was unable to operate on the basis of a capitalisation direction and would impact on our ability to achieve the stretch targets within the L.A.A.

The feedback received appeared to give the Council more flexibility with the proposed allocation of Pump Priming Grant based on both capital and revenue expenditure.  An early decision on the allocation of the Pump Priming Grant was needed to ensure that target holders could start programmes of work and employ temporary staff as soon as possible, to undertake the work required on stretch targets.

Details on the proposed allocation of the L.A.A. Pump Priming Grant was provided.

Target holders would be required to supply quarterly reports on performance and spend against stretch targets and would maintain auditable records to support any pump priming grant expenditure.

Resolved:-  That the proposed allocation of Local Area Agreement Pump Priming Grant be noted.

Members welcomed to the meeting representatives of Voluntary Action Rotherham (V.A.R.), Janet Wheatley (Chief Executive) and Keith Dodson.

Janet Wheatley gave a presentation to the meeting on V.A.R.’s progress to date and drew specific attention to:-

·              V.A.R. Organisational Update.

·              South Yorkshire Investment Plan.

·              Update on the S.L.A.

·              Future Priorities/Deliverables.

Members welcomed the good work and the achievements so far and the need for the progress to be sustained.

A question/answer session ensued and the following issues were raised:-

·              Relationship with R.E.M.A. and work with the B.M.E. community.

·              Mainstream funding and delivery of services.

·              S.L.A. support for core activity and additional investment.

·              Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and the support to N.O.P./V.O.I.C.E.

·              Stability of the organisation and its funding streams.

·              Involvement with Area Assemblies.

·              Performance Management Framework.

·              Neighbourhood Renewal Fund support to V.A.R.

·              Long term viability and sustainability of V.A.R. and the voluntary and community sector.

·              Sustainability of numbers of staff.

·              Delivery of services and outcomes.

·              Capacity building of the voluntary and community sector.

·              Value for Money.

Resolved:-  (1)  That representatives of Voluntary Action Rotherham be thanked for their attendance.

(2)  That the information contained in the presentation be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Policy and Research Manager, which provided a summary of the findings of a major consultation exercise undertaken earlier in the year to help inform the development of the budget.

The consultation was themed around the Council’s Vision and priorities of the Community Strategy to ensure consistency with the early stages. 

A number of overall priorities emerged from the consultation.  These included:-

·              Town Centre.

·              Economic Growth.

·              Transport/Traffic Parking.

·              Learning.

·              Quality and Provision of Leisure Activities/Facilities.

·              Crime and Safety.

·              Environmental Issues.

·              Housing.

·              Democracy and Pride.

·              Community and Voluntary Sector.

·              Care.

·              Customer Service.

Particular attention wad drawn to the feedback from those involved in the consultation, which was very positive with most people stating they would like to be involved in similar consultation exercises.

Members welcomed this level of involvement with the public and wished to ensure that it was meaningful and it continue in the future.  It was suggested that the process be initiated again and integrated as part of Local Democracy Week.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the main findings from consultation with the public about priorities for Council spending for 2006/07 be noted.

(2)   That the main findings from the report as outlined be noted.

(3)  That the findings, which would be used to develop the budget and more widely be noted.

(4)                 That the findings of the report continue to be taken into account in further developing policies and services.

(5)  That the generally good feedback about the consultation be noted.

(6)  That an update on consultation options, as part of Local Democracy Week, be submitted to the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion in July, 2006.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Policy and Research Manager, which outlined the findings from a major conference on the needs and priorities of older people in Rotherham and how these have been used to inform policy and service delivery.

The event was popular and reflected in the formal and informal feedback received.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the main findings from consultation with the public about priorities for Council spending for 2006/07 be noted.

(2)  That the main findings from the report as outlined be noted.

(3)  That the findings, which have been used to develop the Older Persons Strategy and more widely be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Policy and Research Manager, which advised Members about the development and dissemination of the updated Ward and Assembly Profiles.  It also provided and update on progress in the development of neighbourhood statistics more generally.

The statistics were refreshed on an annual basis, apart from those provided by the census.

It was suggested that some of the information collated be made available on-line via the GIS system to facilitate the Council’s own super output areas, especially on voter turnout.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the new Ward and Area Assembly profiles be welcomed.

(2)  That the profiles be circulated more widely.

(3)   That the use of the profiles in the use for service planning and policy development be welcomed.

(4)  That the wider developments in the development and dissemination of profile, including on-line methods, be welcomed.

The Policy and Research Manager gave a verbal update on the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy.  Thirteen target areas and four communities of interest had been agreed with the development of action plans for each area.

A series of studies had been suggested with many of the deprived areas not improving as fast as some of the other areas.

The Neighbourhoods Programme Area and other partners were developing a series of action plans, which would be subject to a Performance Management Framework and the outcome of the target areas and communities of interest reported back.  Consideration was also being given to the good practice used by other Local Authorities.

The second stage of the deprivation study would also take into account the quality lifestyle study where it was planned to over sample in the target areas.  The importance of a feedback mechanism was emphasised.

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

Consideration was given to the Community Cohesion Forward Plan, where it was noted that little input had been made from the Neighbourhoods Programme Area.

Various additions were suggested including:-

·              Outcome of the Walkabouts in September.

·              Team Visits.

·              Public Health Strategy Monitoring.

It was suggested that Reachout be the subject of a good news story for June and the work with Radio Sheffield.

Resolved:-  That appropriate action be taken.

(The Chairman authorised consideration of the following items in order to process the matters referred to.)

The Equalities and Diversity Officer reported that work was progressing by the Neighbourhoods Programme Area, but to what extent was unclear.

Resolved:-  That a update be provided for the next meeting by the Neighbourhoods Programme Area on the current situation with Gypsy and Travellers.

The Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion reported that he had extended an invitation to his counterpart Cabinet Member in Doncaster to attend a delegated powers meeting in September.  This would raise the profile of Community Cohesion and facilitate the sharing of information.

The Head of Policy and Partnerships was in receipt of a two day course for the IDeA Leadership Academy for Community Cohesion to be held in Warwick on the 15^th and 16^th November, 2006.

Resolved:-  That consideration be given to meeting the cost of this two day course by the Member’s Training and Development Budget.

Resolved:-  That the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion be held on Monday, 17^th July, 2006 at 8.30 a.m.