Agenda item

Opportunity Bucks was the Council’s local partnership approach to levelling up, working in partnership across the county to improve outcomes for people who were experiencing the most hardship.  Outcomes for people across the county were, on average, good. Income was above the national average, educational attainment was high, and the proportion of people claiming out of work benefits was low.

However, the county averages masked the challenges that some people in some specific parts of the county were facing. 10 Ward areas had been identified where outcomes were substantially worse for residents, with more people in these Wards claiming benefits, having worse health outcomes, experiencing higher crime and having limited opportunities.  The Council’s aim, through the Opportunity Bucks programme, was to ensure that everyone in the county had the opportunity to succeed, that we grow together as a place and that nobody was left behind.  The Cabinet report provided an update on progress made since the official launch of the programme on 7 December 2022.

RESOLVED –

That the progress of the Opportunity Bucks programme be NOTED.

Opportunity Bucks was the Council’s local partnership approach to levelling up, working in partnership across the county to improve outcomes for people who were experiencing the most hardship.  Outcomes for people across the county were, on average, good. Income was above the national average, educational attainment was high, and the proportion of people claiming out of work benefits was low.

However, the county averages masked the challenges that some people in some specific parts of the county were facing. 10 ward areas had been identified where outcomes were substantially worse for residents, with more people in these wards claiming benefits, having worse health outcomes, experiencing higher crime and having limited opportunities.  The Council’s aim, through the Opportunity Bucks programme, was to ensure that everyone in the county had the opportunity to succeed, that we grow together as a place and that nobody was left behind.  The Cabinet report provided an update on progress made since the official launch of the programme on 7 December 2022.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing reported that it was a flagship programme to improve outcomes for residents who were experiencing the most hardship. The Council delivered targeted intervention into the ten wards identified to ensure everyone had the opportunity to achieve such as:-

·       A good quality job

·       Learning and career progression

·       A good standard of attainment and skills

·       A healthy and active lifestyle

·       A decent, warm home

·       Pride in where they live

The Cabinet Member reported that this Project could only be successful with strong partnership working and a strong multi-agency commitment with statutory partners, the voluntary and community sector, local stakeholders, community groups and resident associations. There were 3 levels of working:-

·       Thematic partnerships which operated at a strategic level and focused on improving education and youth engagement, job careers and skills, the quality of the public realm, living standards and health and wellbeing for residents across all ten wards.

·       Ward Partnerships which had been established at a community level in all of the ten target wards which were led by local members with officer support and involving local stakeholders and community groups who enabled the Council to identify the key local challenges that residents were facing.

·       At an individual level a Making Every Adult Matter team to support residents who were experiencing multiple disadvantage and to improve outcomes.

This Project was being monitored through performance indicators. The Cabinet Member for Communities gave a few highlights on what had already been achieved:-

·       implementing traffic calming measures in Castlefield to improve the local area.

·       a policy change to Buckinghamshire’s main Registered Social Landlords to that they could no longer remove carpets by default when tenants change and instead the carpets were offered to the incoming tenants for a nominal fee.

·       securing additional funding to support the aims of the programme including £2.1m funding from Government to improve numeracy skills through the Multiply Scheme.

·       making functional improvements to the Totteridge recreational group, targeted community clean ups and litter-picks and establishing community cafes.

The Chief Executive informed Members that this was a Buckinghamshire initiative, not national, which the Council wanted to undertake to help disadvantaged residents improve their outcomes and was an innovative approach to the levelling up agenda. It also had buy-in from private and public sector partners who all had a sense of ownership in the programme. Some of these initiatives were short term but other areas such as health, education and housing would take longer to show active improvements. The Service Director for Business Intelligence & Community Support reported that there was an ethos of identifying what worked well and looking at tangible feedback to ensure that funding was invested in the right areas with the highest impact. There was a suite of performance indicators capturing activity taking place and the benefit this provided. The Chief Executive reported that these metrics showed any return on investment particularly for the shorter term and the longer term objectives would not show initially. National metrics could also provide a useful measuring tool.

The Cabinet Member for Homelessness and Regulatory Services reported that this initiative had already helped some previously entrenched rough sleepers who were now using accommodation. Also there had been improvements to living conditions as professionals had referred any concerns to Environmental Health so they could investigate. Work had also been carried out linking in with Community Boards and holding workshops to identify what initiatives could be carried out in those ten wards.

The Cabinet Member for Transport referred to the traffic calming scheme, which had improved community cohesion. Children would be able to play outside which would help to improve their mental health and initiatives like this could be used elsewhere in Buckinghamshire.

Reference was made to the Horizons Programme which provided continued coaching and guidance from the Career Development Consultant, a personalised Horizons learning plan, training and development recommendations and networking opportunities for those who had been referred. The Service Director reported that this programme launched at the end of September and there had been nine referrals so far. The target was 30 individuals of which 20 should come from Opportunity Bucks areas.

Cabinet thanked officers for all their work and the work carried out by Members in the ten wards.

RESOLVED –

That the progress of the Opportunity Bucks programme be NOTED.