Agenda and minutes

No Declarations of Interest were recorded. 

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion held on 2^nd October, 2013, were considered. 

It was noted that the Members’ Seminar in relation to the Rotherham Integrated Youth Support Service had taken place and had been well received. 

Resolved: -  That the minutes of the previous meeting be agreed as an accurate record for signature by the Cabinet Member. 

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Strategic Housing and Investment Co-ordinator (Housing and Neighbourhood Services, Neighbourhood and Adult Services Directorate) that outlined a proposal to develop a small grants scheme that would enable individuals and community groups to support Streetpride services through undertaking environmental improvements.

Through the Housing Revenue Account, it was proposed that two small grant schemes be made available to a total of £10,000, and individuals and groups from the voluntary and community sector be invited to bid for a maximum small grant of £250 on an annual basis. 

The two schemes proposed would run as a pilot scheme for one year in the first instance: -  

·         The Environment Exchange Grant Scheme: -

Rotherham’s individuals, Community Groups and TARAs could apply for a small annual grant (of up to £250) to assist with running costs in exchange for their commitment to undertake specific, mutually agreed activities on the communal areas of estates such as litter picking, emptying litter bins, grubbing out weeds and so on. 

• The Improving Your Community Grant Scheme: -

Rotherham’s individuals, Community Groups and TARAs could apply for a small annual grant (of up to £250) to be spent on improving their community/environment through schemes such as adopting a street or flowerbed, litter picking, basic gardening equipment and so on.

The Co-ordinator explained that RotherFed had agreed in principle to manage the grant at no cost to the Council and would hold an event for members and other community groups with the purpose of launching the grant, scoping potential projects and promoting the Streetpride Volunteers scheme.

The proposal had been presented to the Cabinet Member for Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods and the Area Assembly Chairs’ Forum as stakeholders in this area.

It was expected that the two grants would help supplement Streetpride’s environmental services.  Both Street Cleansing and Grounds Maintenance had experienced substantial reductions in staffing levels and service standards over the previous two years and services were now provided to a lower level.  Whilst the two grants were intended to support Streetpride’s activities, it was not expected that this would enable the Council’s overall provision to be scaled back.  If the grants scheme was successful and community resilience demonstrated then Streetpride could potentially work with volunteers to up-skill them and re-focus their own capacity. 

Discussion ensued on the proposal presented: -

·         Was £250 a meaningful amount that would enable individuals and organisations in the voluntary and community sectors to make a difference?;

·         The importance of supporting Rotherham’s eleven Deprived Neighbourhoods to benefit from the scheme as far as possible;

·         The potential for the proposed small grant schemes to give greater added value to wider range of Services than Streetpride;

·         The potential for working with Parish Councils as precepting authorities;

·         The potential to concentrate works in non-parished areas;

·         Importance of building up an evidence-base to support the use of Housing Revenue Account funding;

·         The need to undertake a six-month review of the pilot small-grant scheme to include: -

o   Whether the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Cabinet Member welcomed representatives of the Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector Partners, and the Community Engagement Officer (Community Engagement, Housing and Neighbourhood Services, Neighbourhood and Adult Services Directorate) to the meeting. 

Minute No. E3 (Single Infrastructure Grant – Presentation) of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion held on 24^th June, 2013, recorded the presentation received by the Cabinet Member in relation to the outcomes of the Single Infrastructure Grant that enabled activities to be undertaken by the voluntary and community sector in Rotherham. 

A draft impact report had been produced relating to the Single Infrastructure Grant provided by the Council for the 2012/2013 financial year, outlining the activities that had taken place in-year.  The Partner Organisations that had contributed to the document were: -  

• Voluntary Action Rotherham;
• Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance (REMA);
• Together for Regeneration;
• Rural Action Yorkshire;
• South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau (SY FAB);
• Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council;
• Rotherham NHS Primary Care Trust;
• Rotherham One Town One Community. 

The report was organised into the following headings and included ‘key facts and figures’ relating to the groups that had been engaged with in 2012/2013. 

• Groups Worked With and Key Facts and Figures;
• Volunteering;
• Services Support;
• Service Delivery;
• Voice, Engagement and Representation;
• Transforming How We Work and Future Work;
• Key Events.

The draft impact report concentrated its consideration on the main aims of the Single Infrastructure Grant: volunteering, services support, service delivery and voice, engagement and representation. 

Representatives of SY FAB, REMA and Together for Regeneration were in attendance, and they, along with representatives of VAR, spoke about the joint working and independent accreditation of Rotherham’s Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS) Services that had recently taken place.  Part of this exercise had included lessons learned.

·         Infrastructure development of smaller VCFS groups, including financial resilience skills, governance, identification of key partners and sustainability skills;

·         Representative Organisations working together seamlessly and minimising duplication and overlap;

·         Identifying and working with Rotherham’s new communities and their emerging community groups.

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion discussed the draft impact report and requested that additional information be included in relation to the Single Infrastructure Grant and its origins and aims.  It was also requested that the achievements made possible from the funding be given greater presence in the document, including the use of case studies that demonstrated development journeys, and a demonstration of the high return on investment received from the Council’s grant funding contribution.  The report should also make reference to the accreditation that Rotherham’s VCFS had undertaken, and the lessons learned in the process. 

Resolved: -  (1)  That the draft ‘Supporting Rotherham’s Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector – Single Infrastructure Grant, 2012/2013 Impact Report’ be noted. 

(2)  That further consideration be given to the content of the document as discussed and its content be updated. 

·         Officer to report. 

The Community Liaison Officer (Area Partnerships, Housing and Neighbourhoods, Neighbourhood and Adult Services Directorate) provided a verbal update on the expenditure against the Community Leadership Fund to the end of October, 2013. 

Spend against the 2013/2014 budget had increased by 22% based on the previous year’s expenditure at the same stage.  Around 40% of the 2013/2014 budget allocation had been accounted for. 

The Parish Council Liaison Officer outlined the types of projects that were being supported, with contributions to local charities, voluntary groups, disadvantaged communities and self-help projects being commonly supported.

A press release had been prepared highlighting the projects supported to increase awareness of the Community Leadership Fund and celebrate its successes.  

Resolved: -  That the update provided be noted. 

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Head of the Integrated Youth Support Service and the Head of the Youth Offending Service (Integrated Youth Support Service, Schools and Lifelong Learning, Children and Young People’s Services) that outlined efforts taking place to establish the quality of service offered, the quality of case recording, the implementation of previous inspection recommendations, governance arrangements and customer satisfaction with the Youth Offending Service.

The Youth Offending Service had recently been restructured and, from 1st July, 2013, had become part of the Integrated Youth Support Service (IYSS).

The Head of the Youth Offending Service outlined the data-set that the Service was externally assessed on.  It made quarterly submissions to the Youth Justice Board who validated the data and provided Rotherham with a statistical and national neighbour comparator data set. 

Broadly, the three main areas that Youth Offending Services were judged on were: a reduction in the first time entrants into the justice system, reduction in custodial rates and a reduction in the rate of offending and re-offending. 

Currently Rotherham was performing well against all measures and was above target and comparatively well-performing when compared to national and statistical neighbours.  The Youth Justice Board used the data returns to plan and prioritise HMI visits of inspection.  Rotherham’s rating was currently ‘green’ and had been for some considerable time; based on its current performance, Rotherham was not prioritised for a service inspection. 

A previous inspection of the Youth Offending Service that had been undertaken a year ago and an Action Plan had been created to improve against the inspection outcomes.  The inspection had raised issues relating to case assessment and the planning of risk.  The Action Plan had been undertaken by Children and Young People’s Services’ Performance and Quality Team, which were independent from the Youth Offending Service.  Progress against the resultant Action Plan had been monitored by the Children and Young People’s Services Improvement Panel.  Progress made had been positive and the Improvement Panel were ready to sign-off the document.  It was proposed that the Youth Offending Service’s performance continue to be monitored against this Action Plan by the Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion and the Safer Rotherham Partnership. 

The Service had commissioned a piece of work with the Voice and Influence Team. Work will be started to gather feedback from a sample of young people and their parents and carers to assess outcomes and their satisfaction with the Service.  This would be done in conjunction with the Voice and Influence Officer in the Integrated Youth Support Service and the Performance and Quality Officer.

Discussion ensued and the following issues were discussed: -

·         The IYSS’s Drugs Worker’s role in prevention and early intervention activities with the Service’s customers;

·         How the full IYSS was working in an integrated way to help the Youth Offending Service’s customers to access pre-employment skills and training and diversionary activities and opportunities. 

Resolved: -  (1)  That the report be received and its content noted.

(2)  That quarterly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

·         Monday 18^th November, 2013, to start at 12.00 noon in the Rotherham Town Hall. 

Resolved: -  That the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion take place on Monday 18^th November, 2013, to start at 12.00 noon in the Rotherham Town Hall.