Agenda and minutes

Councillors Allen and Sheppard both declared an interest in the report on Neighbourhood Working (Minute No. 88 due to their participation in the Neighbourhood Working Group.

There are no questions from members of the public and the press.

The Chair had been to Coventry on some training and a report will follow.

Quarterly meetings have been held with Councillor Beck – Cabinet Member for Housing and Councillor Denise Lelliott, Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy along with Councillor Hoddinott in relation to collection of waste.

The Chair has been looking at a strategy plan for housing and that will come back once it is formulated.

Housing Information Day – 17^th January. If Members have any questions or topics they would like including in the event, please send them to Christine Bradley, Scrutiny Officer.

District Heating. A brief update was provided by Councillor Sheppard a conclusion has been reached on this issue and resulted in the tenants receiving the lowest district heating. A proper consultation was undertaken and there’s a much more positive relationship between tenants and the Council. An exercise is underway to test fuel efficiency in homes; the results will be shared with all tenants.

The Chair thanked Councillor Allen for her involvement in the Neighbourhood Working Group.

Councillor Walsh referred to page 9 “zero cost to the rate payers” and asked if this could be changed to “zero cost to the public purse”.

Page 7 Item 2 – in relation to the report on Emergency Planning and the report begin forwarded to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board. Councillor McNeely enquired if OSMB had raised the same concerns as this committee including the need to speak to Sheffield regarding attendance at joint meetings. Christine Bradley to follow up. 

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th September, 2017, be approved as a true record. 

The Chair introduced the report by stating the importance of it and the changes it will mean to the workings of Councillors in their communities.

The Council’s Corporate Improvement Plan has a specific improvement  theme of “strong, high impact partnerships”. This includes “active ward Councillors working within neighbourhoods to build community and citizens capacity”. The objective was the introduction of “a new model of citizen engagement and neighbourhood working linked to a review of Area Assemblies”. To give effect to this improvement priority the Council decided on 19th May 2017 to endorse a new vision for neighbourhood working:

“Putting communities at the heart of everything we do by

Councillors working with their communities on what matters to them, Listening and working together to make a difference and

Supporting people from different backgrounds to get on well together . . . to help make people healthier, happier, safer and proud”

·           To support delivery of the vision the Area Assemblies were replaced with a new ward based model of neighbourhood working with the following characteristics:

·           Production of Ward Profiles and Action Plans for all 21 wards identifying local issues, priorities and opportunities.

·           The assignment of dedicated officer support at 2.5 days per week per ward to implement the new model.

·           An allocated devolved budget for each ward to address and respond to local Ward Plan priorities and support community involvement and development.

·           Training and support provided by the Local Government Association on ward planning and new ways of neighbourhood working. This will include “Ward Walks” in each ward and joint officer and member capacity building seminars, and training on using social media to engage with residents.

The review is a councillor led process and implementation over a 12 month transitional period, is being driven by a member group chaired by Councillor Yasseen, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Working and Cultural Services. The group will oversee the transitional arrangements leading to the embedding of the model.

Other related matters the group will address will be the production of a new Neighbourhood Strategy that will see the ward as the “building block” to enable partners and communities to work together to improve local outcomes, make the best use of resources and local assets, and develop innovative approaches to enable more people to help themselves and each other.

Key Issues

The review sought to address a number of key issues originally raised in the RMBC Corporate “Fresh Start” Improvement Plan (26th May 2015). These were to:

o    Determine why working at a neighbourhood level is important

o    Describe the outcomes of improved neighbourhood working

o    Highlight the added value of a neighbourhood approach to locality working

The expected outcomes of the review of neighbourhood working are to:

o    Improve local democratic engagement and community leadership by describing the way in which councillors, officers and partners will interact with the local community.

o    Identify the support that could be expected by Elected Members from the Council and its key partners.

o    Clarify the role of the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

Asim Munir, Tenant Involvement Co-ordinator, presented the report outlining the main points as identified in Appendix 1.

The Council has commissioned Rother Fed to undertake two scrutiny reviews per year to inform service improvement and quality. The RotherFed Tenant Scrutiny Working Group was formed in April 2016 and their first review was to consider the engagement of young tenants in Council housing. This topic was selected as it had been established that younger tenants, aged between 16 and 34, were on the whole more dissatisfied with housing services.

This scrutiny review was agreed by Improving Places Select Commission (IPSC) on 5^th April 2017 and it was agreed that an action plan be brought back in six months detailing progress against the recommendations. Progress against the recommendations outlined in the action plan is set out at Appendix 1. The action plan has been agreed by the Housing Involvement Panel and the Housing and Neighbourhood Senior Management Team.

The majority of the actions in Appendix are identified as being either amber or green on the “rag” rating, which is testament to the people involved in achieving the actions.

Councillor Sheppard suggested a follow up non mandatory event for the young tenants to share their experience from the process – which was detailed to inviting some young people to this meeting the next time it is on the agenda.

Young people have had input into consultations regarding customer care training, shared accommodation, the Housing Strategy and the Housing Revenue Account.

Councillor McNeely asked in relation to items E, F and G on page 29 of the papers. 

Mobile telephone numbers for Housing Officers should not be given to tenants due to the many cases they have to deal with. The special number for Housing should be used by customers after which their enquiry will be passed onto the relevant Housing Officer.

In relation to items E and F regarding tenancy workshops the Financial Inclusion Team are working with the Housing Options Team. Housing Officer will be involved in providing any issues identified by the tenants.

Recruitment in relation to the Housing Income Team should be completed by the end of November.

Councillor Mallinder asked for any information regarding the tenancy workshops to be shared with this commission.

Lillian Shears, Co-opted Member asked regarding the progress made in relation to the Housing App.

Requirements in relation to the website and the Housing App should be clearer by the end of 2018 financial year.

Page 31 (M) Councillor Sheppard suggested that the young people taking part in the Tenancy Workshops may benefit from being shown around all the on-line services that are available which may assist them in the future.

Further work is needed on the web site in relation to the digital offer made to tenants around accessing services.  Feedback has been provided by young people to improve the offer.

Cllr McNeely (M) page 29 and the Tell us Once service and how this could be implemented due to data protection issues. Asim  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

Sam Barstow, the Head of Community Safety, Resilience and Emergency Planning, introduced Ajman Ali, the Interim Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene for the next six months.

Sam Barstow presented the report which details the recommendations made by the Task & Finish Group made up from Members of this Commission. The review was completed in August 2017 and the report highlights the progress during this short time against the recommendations along with the refresh of the Major Incident Plan.

Councillor Wyatt, who chaired the review into the Emergency Plan, thanked Sam for responding so quickly to the review and accepting the recommendations in full.

Councillor Wyatt went onto highlight the next phase of the work relates to the monitoring of the recommendations in particular the refresh of the Major Incident Plan on a bi-annual basis. Councillor Alam, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Finance, has seen the report and shared the same concern as to how the progress of the MIP is undertaken.

A decision has been made to take the recommendations from the review and put them into an action plan which will continue to be updated and presented to Councillor Alam. The MIP will be updated on a continual basis as new learnings are identified.

Councillor McNeely page 33 of the report relates to training/update sessions scheduled for 28^th November and 5^th December. Confirmation was requested if Members need to attend one or both sessions and if notification could be sent to Members informing them of any such sessions.

Sam Barstow confirmed that notification of any future dates would be sent to colleagues in Democratic Services to then inform Members and that it would be satisfactory for Members to attend only one of the training sessions.

Councillor Walsh, referred to mandatory training mentioned in the report, if training is mandatory, will attendance be logged and if any consequences will be felt for non-attendance.

Councillor McNeely requested an update in relation to a facilitated meeting/away day involving the emergency services and Rotherham M.B.C Major Incident staff to promote team working on 6^th November 2017

Also in relation to under the Shared Service Agreement, that funding is secured for a Community Resilience Worker, questioning where this officer will be based.

P35 – What was the outcome of the meeting held by the Joint Committee on 25^th October 2017; how well was it attended and who is the representative from Rotherham who can provide feedback to this Commission.

P35 without IT how can we be confident that the information on the website is updated where appropriate

Sam Barstow provided a response to the questions raised. In relation to IT, this means that computers and IT will be used, but it will not be a bespoke system for Emergency Planning. A database and manual system will be used and the relevant information updated on the website and available to the public

An Elected Member from both Rotherham and Sheffield attended the meeting which is what is required for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

Councillor Yasseen presented the report on the proposal for the caravan site at Rother Valley Country Park.

Extensive work has been undertaken to develop outline proposals for a new caravan site at Rother Valley Country Park and to assess its business potential. Financial projections suggest that such a development could enable the park to generate a significant net revenue stream for the Council, particularly if it were operational by the time that Gulliver’s opens in 2019. It would also improve greatly the availability of affordable overnight accommodation in Rotherham and enhance Rotherham’s reputation as a welcoming and enjoyable visitor destination. In particular, it would meet Gulliver’s requirement for a caravan site within the vicinity of their major new visitor attraction on the adjacent Pithouse West site.

Much consultation has taken place to date, around the proposal which will provide an AA 5 pennant Standard accommodation with 129 caravan pitches either with one or two shower blocks. The financial projections over the first 5 years of operation are included in the report. This is a capital project for which RMBC will borrow funds which will extend the availability and quality of overnight accommodation in Rotherham.

Councillor Albiston asked why the proposal will take so long to implement.

A response was provided by Phil Gill, Leisure and Green Spaces Manager, Culture, Sport and Tourism, that advice has been sought from Asset Management on the timescale for completion of the project, and that it is, in fact, an ambitious but achievable programme, taking into account the need to obtain planning permissions, building regulations permissions and undertake a tendering process in accordance with procurement requirements.

Councillor Elliot questioned the use of the caravan site, should it be called a caravan and camping site. Not everyone with a tent has a car but there are potential users who are cycling the trans Pennine trail.  Also the allocated space on the map is the same regardless of whether it’s for a caravan or tent.

The Project Team are developing a marketing plan and will need to ensure that the facility appeals to all regardless of what form of transport they use. The research done to date shows that the caravan market is what is most likely to generate most business.

Councillor McNeely explained that the Caravan Club and the Caravan and Camping Club are two separate organisations who should be consulted with equal importance.

Page 44 (12) implication for partners and directorates. Councillor McNeely highlighted possible  impact on Transportation, including the need for tourist road signs to the attraction. This should emphasis the fact that the attraction is based in Rotherham and not Sheffield.

In reply Phil Gill noted that whilst contact had been made with both caravanning clubs in the past, it is the intention of the Council to operate the caravan site at Rother Valley itself as this offers the greatest potential financial return.

Councillor McNeely suggested that both organisations should be approached again regarding possible promotion of the site to their members. All  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

Resolved:-  That a further meeting be held on Wednesday, 3^rd January, 2018, commencing at 1.30 p.m. with a pre-meeting briefing at 11.30 a.m.