Agenda and draft minutes

No Declarations of Interest were made. 

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion held on 21^st March, 2014, were considered.

In relation to Minute No. E57 (Rotherham Integrated Youth Support Service – Update), it was noted that the partners to the IYSS in respect of the Quality Mark were GROW, Rush House and the YMCA. 

Resolved: -  That, with the above amendment being made, the minutes of the previous meeting of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion be agreed as an accurate record. 

·         Head of the Rotherham IYSS (Schools and Lifelong Learning, Children and Young People’s Services Directorate) to report. 

The  Partnership and Youth Development Manager (Schools and Lifelong Learning, Children and Young People’s Services Directorate) provided an update in relation to the Integrated Youth Support Service. 

·         The re-alignment process: -

o   32 postholders had taken voluntary severance, which equated to 12.13 full-time equivalent posts;

o   11 postholders were potentially facing redundancy, which equated to 4.92 full-time equivalent posts.  Efforts would be made to re-deploy these postholders to other posts within the Council;

o   Training modules, peer mentoring and volunteer opportunities were continuing to be available across the Service;

o   The Integrated Youth Support Service would offer two nights per week of outreach provision from 1^st April, 2014.  This was a reduction from four nights per week available previously;

o   The Service was on target to realise the required savings.

·         Quality Mark: -

o   The External Assessor had spent time with the Service, and was due to return in the week beginning 21^st July, 2014, to continue assessing the self-assessment evidence the Service had been submitted;

o   Initial feedback provided by the External Assessor had been acted upon and a mandatory training module had been designed for all members of the Service who were on Band H or above on how young people’s voice and influence should be embedded into the Service.  This training would also be open to all voluntary sector organisations;

o   The Planning Cycle was ongoing, and smarter plans were being produced for 2014/2015;

o   Consideration was being given to evidencing how the Integrated Youth Support Service impacted on young people individually and as a group, a sub-group had been convened to look at this.  Feedback would be provided to the Cabinet Member in due course.  

·         National Citizen Service: -

o   60 places would be available to young people in the Integrated Youth Support Service over the summer period, 2014;

o   The programme was being delivered in partnership with the Rotherham United Community Sports Trust;

o   Activities would take place following Ramadan and Eid to allow all young people involved to participate in every activity;

o   Two residential trips to the Lake District and Mexborough were planned;

o   The programme included Social Action Projects that promoted physical activity;

o   A focus of the programme could include fundraising for charitable organisations/causes. 

·         Rotherham’s Integrated Youth Support Service’s Easter 2014 activities: -

o   A raising aspirations residentialhad taken place including young people from Dinnington.  One of the themes was a focus on women’s role in the Miners’ Strike;

o   16 young people had visited Poland’s Jewish Quarter, Concentration Camps and Salt Mines.  The trip had been well received and had inspired many ideas for projects following the trip, including those that could link into the Holocaust Day in January, 2015.  Work was continuing to identify funding streams so that future cohorts of young people could benefit from the same trip/experiences.  An evaluation diary and photobooks of the trip to Poland were being designed and produced and would be useful resources for the young people to share their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

·         Community Engagement Manager (Housing and Neighbourhood Services, Neighbourhood and Adult Services Directorate) to report. 

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Community Engagement Manager (Neighbourhood and Housing, Neighbourhood and Adult Services Directorate) and the Strategic Commissioning Manager (Neighbourhood and Adult Services Directorate) that outlined Service Level Agreements relating to advice, information, and advocacy services for the 2014/2015 financial year.

Minute No. E49 (Infrastructure and Corporate Initiatives Fund (ICIB) - Grant Aid for Community Legal Advice & Information Services, 2013/14) of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion held on 25^th March, 2013, confirmed the agreements for the 2013/2014 financial year.

The report related to the Service Level Agreements with Kiveton Park Independent Advice Centre, the Rotherham Diversity Forum Immigration Project and Giving Real Opportunities to Women.  The three agencies were assessed as outside the scope of the current generalist welfare rights advice service commissioning exercise because of their role in providing specialist services on a community of interest or place basis.

As with previous years, it was proposed that the 2014/2015 grants were funded through the Infrastructure and Corporate Initiatives budget because the organisations each contributed to the Council’s Priorities. 

The report outlined the proposed Grant Aid contributions to the Independent Advice Services: -

·         Kiveton Park Independent Advice Centre - £27, 698;

·         Rotherham Diversity Forum - £11, 564;

And the Independent Advocacy Service: -

·         Giving Real Opportunities to Women - £24, 104.

The report outlined the history of the organisations and their performance during 2013/2014 in respect of the contribution received via Grant Aid.

Outcomes included: -  

·         Kiveton Park Independent Advice Centre: -

o   1,866 clients were seen during the 2013/2014 financial year;

o   3,213 enquiries were being dealt with;

o   Verified gains and savings of £2.1 million had been made;

o   Drop-in and outreach sessions and a telephone and on-line service were available, along with home visits to older people;

o   Match funding was facilitated by the organisation;

o   Support for appeals processes;

o   Kiveton Park Independent Advice Centre was the only service covering the south of the Borough. 

·         Rotherham Diversity Forum Immigration Project: -

o   Regularly worked with 600 individuals every year;

o   Provided advice on immigration rules covering visitors, students, spouses/unmarried partners, immigration employment documents, and other related applications.  Advice was also provided on nationality and citizenship under UK law including for naturalization as a British citizen and registration as a British citizen;

o   Worked with people from all over the Borough;

o   Supported appeals.

·         Giving Real Opportunities to Women: -

o  The core client group were women who are not accessing specialist services (health, benefits, drugs, alcohol and domestic and/or sexual abuse);            

o  383 women and their families (423 children) had been supported between 1^st April, 2012, and 31^st March, 2013.

The Community Engagement Manager outlined the conditions of grant requirements including: -

·         Membership of Advice in Rotherham (AiR) umbrella group;

·         Cross-agency referral capability – use of Nellbooker;

·         Common client monitoring;

·         Minimum threshold for quality assurance;

·         A specification that addressed disadvantage;

·         Area of operation to be Rotherham  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

·         Monday 23^rd June, 2014, 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 21^st June, 2014, to start at 12.00 noon in the Rotherham Town Hall.