Agenda and minutes

To elect the Chairman of the Communities and Localism Select Committee for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED

That Mr P Irwin be elected Chairman of the Communities and Localism Select Committee for the ensuing year.

To appoint the Vice-Chairman of the Communities and Localism Select Committee for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED

That Mrs L Walsh be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Communities and Localism Select Committee for the ensuing year.

Apologies for absence were given by Ms L Smith.

The following personal interests were declared :-

Noel Brown

Chesham Youth Council

Peter Cooper

Member of The Queens Park Arts Centre, Aylesbury, Community First Responder South Central Ambulance Service

Emily Culverhouse

Chiltern Voice Radio – Management Team, The Theatre Shed – Management Team

Chesham Youth Council

Mimi Harker

Chairman of Community Impact Bucks, Patron of South Bucks Community Hospice

Vice – Patron of Oasis Partnership, Wycombe Sound Radio

Abdullah Hashmi

Member of a Self-Help Bereavement Society in Wycombe

Paul Irwin

Chairman of Waddesdon Cricket Club, Chairman of Trustees – Bernwode Community Bus, Food Bank and Pantry

Paul Kelly

Councillor at Slough Borough Council – Deputy Chairman of Scrutiny Neighbourhood Panel

Graham Peart

Chairman of One Can Trust, Heart of Bucks – Member of Audit Committee

Luisa Sullivan

Victims First Specialist Counselling Hub (Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner)

Ashley Waite

Bernwode Community Bus, Waddesdon Cricket Club

Julia Wassell

British Association Social Workers – Ambassador, MIND – High Wycombe

Totteridge Community Centre – Member

The Committee will receive an update on the Covid-19 response in connection with Communities and Localism.

Contributors:

Mr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health

Mr Patrick Hogan, Cabinet Member for Culture

Mr Fred Wilson, Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services

Mr Clive Harriss, Cabinet Member for Sports and Leisure

Sarah Ashmead, Deputy Chief Executive

Richard Barker, Corporate Director Communities

Rebecca Carley,  Community Safety Manager - Adults, Health & Housing Directorate

Emma Denley, Head of Local Support Hubs

Martin Dickman, Service Director Neighbourhood Services

Simon Garwood, Localism Manager

Sophie Payne, Service Director Culture, Sports and Leisure

Papers:

Covid-19 Update report

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health introduced the report. Before he did so the Chairman thanked the volunteers on behalf of everyone for the huge amount of work they had undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic which had been an absolute lifeline to the health and wellbeing of residents in Buckinghamshire.

Local Support Hubs

On 23 March, the Council established eight local support hubs to support those individuals with serious underlying health conditions who were advised to shield. The hubs were envisaged as local collection/distribution/volunteer coordination points. At the outset, a senior manager was allocated as a manager for each hub, with support from local library managers. With support from mutual aid, these managers have drawn in 132 staff from across the council to support them. Each day, data is received from Minister of Housing Communities and Local Government about individuals needing support; this is analysed and passed to hubs.  17,991 were on the shielding list and out of that number 4,052 required assistance which was increased to 6,215 where other vulnerable people had been identified through Adult Services. Hundreds of people have also been provided with emergency food supplies and 659 residents have required regular follow up calls due to their vulnerability.

A website was also set up to help manage the Covid-19 crisis which linked in with 370 different community groups. A volunteer form on the website attracted 1850 people who put their names forward to help. This initial contact work is currently being transferring to the customer services centre, as the Council looks to reduce the work of the hubs. Customer Services dealt with 8,894 contact queries during this period.

A strategic group of charity leaders formed to help the council prepare a coordinated response. This involved Community Impact Bucks and the Clare Foundation hosting the management of over 1800 volunteers, weekly dial in’s with the Cabinet Member (which has now moved fortnightly looking at the Recovery Plan) for shared intelligence on emerging trends, issues within the crisis and consideration of both the sector and vulnerable residents in the recovery phases. This included a weekly cross organisational funding group exploring maximising funding coming into and being distributed around the county e.g. Rothschild, Heart of Bucks, LEAP, National Lottery and the Clare Foundation.

The Volunteering and Voluntary Sector cell was quickly formed. Area coordinators were quickly redeployed to the cell to develop links with local C-19 voluntary groups, fulfilling the support needs of local vulnerable people. The locality working arrangements helped forge close relationships with parish councils as they were key in setting up community responses in their area and sharing local data to target the vulnerable. The Cabinet Member also chaired weekly strategic discussion with BMKALC (the Bucks and Milton Keynes Local Association for Town and Parish Councils); gathering shared intelligence on town and parish council needs and sharing best practice.

Councillor Crisis Fund

The fund was £250k of Public Health money, earmarked for Community Boards, which aimed at supporting the excellent emergency work local members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Committee will hear from the Cabinet Members for Communities and Public Health, Sports and Leisure, Culture and Regulatory Services, who will outline their priorities for the next 12 months.

Contributors:

Mr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health

Mr Patrick Hogan, Cabinet Member for Culture

Mr Fred Wilson, Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services

Mr Clive Harriss, Cabinet Member for Sports and Leisure

Sarah Ashmead, Deputy Chief Executive

Richard Barker, Corporate Director Communities

Rebecca Carley,  Community Safety Manager - Adults, Health & Housing Directorate

Emma Denley, Head of Local Support Hubs

Martin Dickman, Service Director Neighbourhood Services

Simon Garwood, Localism Manager

Sophie Payne, Service Director Culture, Sports and Leisure

Papers:

Cabinet Member Priorities

The Cabinet Members outlined their priorities for the year as set out in the presentation attached to the agenda. During the meeting they made the following additional points :-

Cabinet Member for Sports and Leisure

The main priority was to get all sport facilities open but there are a number of issues to address to promote social distancing and the safety of customers and staff. Close contact sports such as rugby could not be played at present but other sports such as cricket are likely to return soon.

Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services

·         Crematoria Service had built up resilience in case there was a second wave.

·         Licensing – the high street, leisure services and hospitality were dependent on this service which needed to be fast and flexible to help open businesses so they could use open spaces or start up take away services. A piece of work was being undertaken on taxi licensing polices bringing disparate policies together for all areas. It was important this was undertaken sensitively with the impact on the industry from covid and helping them all back to business.

·         Environmental health services – work needs to be carried out on harmonising policies in addition to air quality strategies and how environmental policies could best support these. Pest control charges would need to be harmonised as well.

Cabinet Member for Culture

The Cultural strategy was a top priority. In the Council budget one third of one percent of the operating expenditure had been allocated to this area and nothing in capital expenditure. The Strategy therefore had to leverage that very small resource by activity and influence and seeking help from external funding. When the Cultural Strategy was developed there were four objectives;

1. A thriving economy and more high-quality jobs
2. Equality of access to cultural activities and opportunities
3. Improved health and wellbeing of the population
4. Re-vitalised heritage and transformed places.

An embryonic partnership was set up by the Council which will help to deliver the strategy. In November two co-chairs were appointed to the partnership and the Rothschild Foundation also one of the partners, has provided funding for an outreach worker. The Partnership Board held a meeting on 18 May and the agenda looked at how the Cultural Strategy could be taken forward.

https://buckinghamshireculture.wordpress.com/cultural-strategy/

Three important areas of the Strategy are:-

·         Identifying cultural assets and increasing the accessibility to those

·         Embracing heritage and arts through communication and promotional events

·         Valuing the beneficial and economic contribution of culture in our environment

The first of these areas is already underway with an exercise being undertaken by the cultural partnership which can foster accessibility and promotion. Culture is key to council business and touches many portfolios including communities, leisure, libraries, town centres, planning, environment.

The Community Boards will have a large role to play in bringing local cultural activity to the fore, supporting its infrastructure and offering funding. A toolkit is being developed for Community Boards. The existing heritage policy will also need reviewing. The beneficial cultural and social use of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee will discuss possible items to include on the Committee’s work programme for the coming year.

Contributors:

All Committee Members

Members of the committee discussed ideas for the work programme. A suggestion was made to have two Inquiry Groups but it was noted that this would be dependent on resources available to support them.

·         Two areas raised on previous items – Town and Parish Charter and Community Radio

·          The covid report states that the relationship between the voluntary sector and the Council has been two way. These have worked well because the volunteers feel valued and that their voices will be heard because they are recognised by the Council. How will the Council build on this partnership working as without the voluntary and community sector our towns and villages would suffer ?” (email from a councillor who was unable to attend

·         Recovery Plan following Covid – looking at the Council’s vision and where the Council will be next May and the longer term – making communities and the Council stronger as a result.

·         Mapping of charities and key community groups across the County to ensure an efficient structure, no duplication (e.g food share groups) or gaps and incorporating the vision of the VCS and the Council in order to make communities stronger and more cohesive. This should incorporate looking at what the VCS does outside of the Council and further opportunities for joint working.

·         Focussing on older and younger people – ensuring that they are supported in the community through leisure services, youth clubs and ensuring that those vulnerable adults who were supported through Covid continue to be supported.

·         Resilience in  local areas – supporting the local economy such as pubs and villages shops, the high street and organisations such as churches who have played a huge role during Covid and the impact of unemployment on local communities and increase in demand for council services

·         Community Governance Review – it was noted that this issue was being discussed at the next Standards and General Purposes Committee

It was agreed that the Scrutiny Support Officer would draft the Work Programme which would be discussed with the Chairman and Vice Chairman and brought back to the next Committee for approval.

24 September 2020 at 10am

Thursday 24 September 2020 at 10am.