Agenda item

The Committee will receive an update on the Council’s approach to devolution of services and assets. 

Contributors:

Cllr Arif Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities

Roger Goodes, Service Director, Partnerships, Policy and Communications

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Arif Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities and Matthew Everitt, Service Director, Business Intelligence & Community Support to the meeting. Cllr Angela McPherson, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing had also been due to attend and had sent her apologies.

The Cabinet Member gave an overview of the work of Opportunity Bucks, making the following key points:

• Opportunity Bucks had been set up as a flagship programme to improve life chances for those Buckinghamshire residents whose outcomes were considerably worse than the average for the county. Wards had been identified where unemployment and crime were higher, and educational attainment and health outcomes were much lower than the county as a whole.  For these wards, the data was similar to less affluent areas of the country, such as Leicester and Durham.
• The overall aim was that everyone in Buckinghamshire should have good education, career progression, a healthy and active lifestyle and a decent and warm home. Improved outcomes were needed for the current and future generations.
• Opportunity Bucks was launched in December 2022 and had been allocated a budget of £1.5 million per annum.
• The key to the success of Opportunity Bucks was partnership working with local groups from the public and charity sectors and local organisations.

A lot of work to date had focussed on establishing the structure and governance of the Opportunity Bucks programme within which there are three levels of delivery to achieve its aims, Strategic, Community and Individual:

1. Thematic partnerships which focused on education and youth engagement, jobs, careers and skills, the quality of the public realm, standard of living and health and wellbeing at a strategic level.
2. Ward partnerships operated at the community level, where local members, officers and stakeholders identified local challenges and interventions to meet local needs.
3. At the Individual level, the MEAM (Making Every Adult Matter) team had been established to engage with individuals or families in most need and link them with appropriate help and support.

Some significant achievements of the programme so far were:

• A scheme to introduce traffic calming measures and improvements to reduce anti-social behaviour and increase resident satisfaction in Castlefield.
• An initiative where registered social landlords were encouraged to leave any carpets which were in good condition for the next tenant at a nominal fee, rather than automatically disposing of them.
• An additional £2.1 million had been secured from central government to improve numeracy skills which helped residents, particularly with household budgeting.
• Litter picks, area clean-ups and a community café organised by ward partnerships.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for this overview and invited Members’ questions.  In response to questions and during subsequent discussions, the following main points were noted:

• The Cabinet Member emphasised that ward members and local organisations knew their wards well and were trusted by local residents, which was key in identifying targeted interventions that would be effective.
• A Member asked what was being done to advertise and promote the work of Opportunity Bucks.  The Cabinet Member gave details of a recent Community Action Day which had taken place in High Wycombe. The Community Action Day had been promoted using a leaflet drop, social media and via the Community Boards.  The day included around 10 contributors including Community Safety and voluntary organisations. 
• Matthew Everitt added that the relevant Community Boards had encouraged participation and engagement across the 10 wards. Local events and community engagement sessions had also helped.  A newsletter had gone out to Opportunity Bucks residents in October 2023, with another to follow in December 2023. The Opportunity Bucks programme also had a strong web presence.
• In response to a Member’s question on how the 10 wards were chosen for the programme, Matthew Everitt explained that a large amount of analysis had been carried out using indicators including unemployment, poor health, crime and educational outcomes. Solid evidence had led to the choice of the 10 Opportunity Bucks wards.
• It was noted that any underspend of the annual £1.5 million allocation would be carried over into the following year.
• Whilst the programme was planned for three years, the aim was to make changes which would have a lasting positive effect within the 10 Opportunity Bucks wards.
• A Member noted the emphasis on Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) measures and asked about peer support programmes in schools. He also noted that Youth Forums had given a voice to young people in some of the legacy councils before the unitary authority was formed. In response Matthew Everitt stated that there was not a specific Youth Forum within the programme but that representatives from organisations working with young people were represented within the ward partnerships. All of the ward partnerships had been effective at identifying areas of need in their areas, including need relating to youth activities and safe spaces for young people.
• A Member commended the way that Opportunity Bucks was harnessing partnership working and listening to residents and local members in a pragmatic way and suggested that this was something that all residents should expect from the Council wherever they lived.
• A Member proposed that the Anti-Social Behaviour team should be invited to a future meeting to talk to the Committee about its wider work in the county. There was general agreement that this would be helpful.

                                                                             Action: Scrutiny Manager

• A Member asked how the success of this project would be measured. The Cabinet Member advised that a dashboard with performance indictors would be updated regularly and any learning would inform future efforts. Matthew Everitt added that assessing the impact of the programme is key and would take place at three levels: Initiative, Theme and Programme, to ensure activity could be counted as well as outcomes. An example was offered, explaining that metrics reporting the take-up of adult literacy and numeracy courses, would link through to the measurement of the number of unemployment benefit claimants.
• A Member asked if any unexpected issues had arisen during the first year of Opportunity Bucks. Matt Everitt explained that the nature of the problems experienced in some communities was more complex and entrenched than anticipated.
• Again, Members expressed concern about other wards in the county, explaining that the cost of living crisis had led many residents into difficulties. The Cabinet Member explained that for other wards, various sources of help were available including the Helping Hand team. The Cabinet Member also suggested that members should speak to their Community Board Chairmen and Managers to discuss initiatives that could help their local areas.
• The Chairman and a number of members commented that the Helping Hand team had been doing a magnificent job and asked that their thanks should be passed on to the team members. The Cabinet Member expressed his gratitude for this recognition of the team.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member and Matthew Everitt for attending the meeting and advised that the Select Committee would be interested to receive further updates on the progress of Opportunity Bucks.