Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest to report.

The minutes of the previous meeting were considered and reference was made to Minute E39 (LGBT Community Profile).  The Cabinet Member and Advisers for Community Development, Equality and Young People’s Issues had now read, discussed and approved the full contents of Rotherham’s draft LGBT Community Profile.  The Community Profile would be published with the suggested amendment. 

Resolved: -  That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 5^th December, 2011, be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman. 

Chris Brodhurst-Brown, Youth Services Manager, Schools and Lifelong Learning, Children and Young People’s Services, to report. 

The Cabinet Member introduced Rachel Barraclough, Youth Officer, Children and Young People’s Services, who attended the meeting to present an update regarding the Youth Service, on behalf of Chris Brodhurst-Brown, Youth Service Leader. 

The National Government had devised the ‘Positive for Youth’ policy to bring together all of the Government’s policies with regards to young people in England who were aged between 13 and 19 years old.  The document represented the interests of at least nine departments and had been written in partnership with young people and youth professionals through extensive consultation and collaboration. 

Rotherham’s Youth Service was well placed to meet the requirements of the new Strategy and was already meeting the Policy’s requirements through a range of different work strands.  These included:

• Voice and Influence work whereby Rotherham’s young people had an input into the use of resources and provision shaping;
• Young people had been actively involved in the evaluation of Services since 1999;
• The Rotherham Youth Service supported the organisation of the Youth Cabinet, the UK Youth Parliament and the Looked After Children and Young Peoples’ Council, all of which were central to the new Positive for Youth Strategy;
• Cross-sector partnerships already existed between the Youth Service and partners, including the CWDC Graduate and Apprenticeship projects with the Voluntary Sector Consortium;
• The development and deployment of Rotherham’s Prevention and Early Intervention strategies within the Youth Offending and Youth Service teams further supported the aims of the Positive for Youth Strategy.

Discussion ensued, and the following issues were raised:

·         Youth Parliament Elections for the Rotherham Borough would take place on Thursday 19^th January, 2012, and the election count was planned for Friday 20^th January, 2012.  The Rotherham Youth Service had supported the candidates to prepare their manifestos and campaigns.

·         Coal Fields Apprenticeships – there were twenty vacancies for this scheme.  Advertisement and interviews for the posts was underway.

·         The content of the apprenticeships that the Rotherham Youth Service ran was noted.  At the end of the two-year apprenticeship, postholders would be qualified at Level Three in Youth Work.  The qualification, coupled with the placements that they had undertaken within the Service and with partner agencies would qualify the young person to work in a Lead Worker post within a Youth Service set-up, or within a range of other disciplines. 

·         The minibuses and equipment ordered for the provision of mobile youth work had started to be delivered.  It was anticipated that all equipment would be available at the end of February, 2012 and launch events were being planned. 

Resolved: - That Rachel Barraclough be thanked for the update provided, and the information noted. 

AsimMunir, Community Engagement Officer, Resources Directorate, and Paul Griffiths, Parish Council Liaison Officer, Neighbourhoods and Adult Services, to report.

Consideration was given to the report prepared and presented by Asim Munir, Community Engagement Officer, and Paul Griffiths, Parish Council Liaison Officer, which detailed provisions under the newly incepted Localism Act that related to community empowerment. 

The report provided a commentary on the potential implications of the Act in relation to existing and future Council and Parish Council policies. 

These were:

·         Council Tax Referendums: - A referendum would be required to agree increases in council tax settlements by major precepting or local precepting authorities (County, Fire, Police, and Parish Council respectively) that went beyond the principles and calculations set out for each authority by the National Government.

o       The Council, as the billing authority, would be responsible for the referendum arrangements.

o       Potentially, the Council could be responsible for arranging four referendums on the same day in parts of Rotherham if the council tax settlements by the Borough Council, Fire and Rescue, Police and Parish went beyond the principles and formulas provided by the National Government.  

·         Community Right to Challenge: - Councils would have to consider challenges from charities, community and voluntary organisations, any two members of staff, parish councils, and anyone else permitted through Regulations by the Government, to take over the delivery of services that were currently provided by the Council. 

o       The Council would be responsible for setting the timetable, taking into account budgetary and decision making requirements in relation to this provision.

o       The Council would be responsible for undertaking a procurement exercise proportionate to the value and nature of the service that had been challenged. 

·         Assets of Community Value: - A list of ‘assets of community value’ would need to be maintained and published by the Council and community and voluntary organisations would be able to nominate land and buildings to be included on the list. 

o       Inclusion on the assets of community value list would have implications on the sale procedure of any of the assets.      

·         Neighbourhood Development Orders: - Parish Councils or Neighbourhood Forums (consisting of residents, business members and elected members from that neighbourhood and not less than twenty-one members) would be enabled to provide certain types of planning consent. 

o       NDOs would need to go through the process of inspection and adoption and would be formally approved by a referendum;

o       The local Planning Authority would be able to charge the Parish Council or Neighbourhood Forum for associated costs. 

Further information, advice and guidance was expected from the Secretary of State in relation to all of the provisions within the Localism Act. 

A programme of communication, briefing and training for Rotherham’s Officers and Elected Members was being devised in relation to the new responsibilities under the Act.  This would be added to as additional information was released, and as new provisions come into force.

An NCO event in Rotherham was planned for 9^th February, 2012, and information about the event would be distributed to Elected Members. 

Resolved: - (1)  That the report be received and it’s contents noted. 

(2)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

Janet Spurling, Community Engagement Officer, Commissioning, Policy and Performance, Resources Directorate, to report.

Consideration was given to a report submitted and presented by Janet Spurling, Community Engagement Officer, Commissioning, Policy and Performance, Resources Directorate, which provided an update on the revision of the Rotherham Compact..  The National Compact had been renewed and Rotherham’s policy had been revised in-line with these alterations.

Rotherham’s Compact was an agreement between public sector organisations who were members of the Local Strategic Partnership, and the town’s voluntary and community sector organisations, to work together for the benefit of communities and citizens. 

Adherence to the Compact would allow both sides to meet their respective commitments and would help to achieve:

·         Equity in relationships;

·         Informed policy decisions based on the expert knowledge of the groups who worked with local people;

·         More appropriate funding that closely reflected the needs of users;

·         Identification of inequality and discrimination and take positive actions to challenge these;

·         Value for money;

·         Dispute resolution procedures had been incorporated into the Compact in July, 2011.

The renewed Compact had been drafted by Voluntary Action Rotherham in-line with the National Renewed Compact.  The revisions simplified, clarified and removed some duplication within the original document.  The Compact now had three sections:

• Involvement in Policy Development;
• Allocation of resources and commissioning;
• Achievement of equality.

The document had also been altered to reflect the recent change that removed the requirement to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority.  Further information and guidance was expected in relation to the Vetting and Barring Scheme Review and the future of CRB checks.  Although not yet available, this may have future implications for the Compact document.   

An executive summary of the Rotherham Compact and the full Rotherham Compact documents were attached to the report as appendices.

Following adoption of the revised Rotherham Compact, a programme of awareness raising for stakeholders would take place. 

Resolved: - (1)  That the report be received and it’s contents noted.

(2)  That the adoption of the revised Rotherham Compact document, amended in-line with the National Renewed Compact, be approved, and stakeholders informed.

Monday 13^th February 2012, to start at 11.30 am in the Rotherham Town Hall. 

Resolved: -  That the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Community Development, Equality and Young People’s Issues be held on Monday 13^th February, 2012, at 11.30 am in the Rotherham Town Hall.