Minutes:
The Community Involvement and Inclusion Officer presented the report seeking Members’ views on proposals for the Council’s approach to Community Involvement, the identification of priority neighbourhoods of the City as a focus for one aspect of the Council’s involvement work and on the future format of Community Forums.
Proposals for Community Involvement, including the roll out of My NeighbourhoodPACT into eight neighbourhoods, had been identified through the Place Survey results 2009 and with reference to the Geography of Deprivation Priority Neighbourhoods. The Place Survey identified where residents were least satisfied with City Council services and felt least able to influence decisions. The areas where people were least satisfied correlated with the most deprived wards.
With regard to the Community Forums, two models had been proposed - a Question Time format and a thematic approach. It was proposed that four thematic forums and one Question Time a year be introduced.
Some Members queried the need for identifying Area Liaison Officers to work in the eight areas, suggesting that they would be duplicating the work of Councillors whom it was felt were the first point of contact for residents with issues. These Members felt that the Councillors themselves were able to pass on queries to relevant officers in the Council for which a first class response was provided. The question was also asked by a Member why Gloucestershire County Council rather than Gloucester City Council had been approached for guidance, the same Member expressing concern regarding duplication and increased bureaucracy.
The Community Involvement and Inclusion Officer explained that, although Gloucester City Council had a Community Engagement Officer who helped to co-ordinate partnerships across the City as part of a team, the County Council was operating a similar model to that proposed for Exeter with a number of officers across the authority identified as the point of contact for the community areas identified. This supported greater understanding of the importance of involving communities across the whole authority.
She explained that, as part of the Duty to Involve agenda, it was the responsibility of all public sector agencies to seek to improve engagement in their role as service providers. One of the goals of this agenda was to increase public participation in the democratic process including improving turnout at elections. Whilst it was important for Communities to develop their own agenda and that Councillors had a very significant role to play, the Area Liaison Officers would be a key element and would essentially play complementary roles. The Director Community and Environment explained that this initiative would generate greater activities in local areas, and not just focus on housing and environmental issues. Officers would therefore be supporting not supplanting Councillors.
A Member referred to outcomes in the Newtown/Polsloe area, chosen as one of the initial pilots. Use had been made of the Belmont Community Centre in Newtown and valuable work undertaken. The Polsloe Ward did not have a separate Community Centre but a Community Association had been formed. He welcomed the Community kitty of £15,000 to be made available to groups from across the City but suggested that the remainder of the £33,000 budget could be better spent if used by local Councillors themselves on similar lines to individual budgets allocated to Devon County Councillors for use in their areas.
Referring to work in the Digby/Clyst Heath area of the City, the local Member welcomed the rolling out of this initiative. She referred to the on-going joint work of a number of agencies in this area and to the significant number of local people who had attended local meetings.
Another Member, referring to Polsloe Ward, felt that there should be further consideration of the Duty to Involve agenda and what it was hoped to achieve by this programme. He did not oppose the proposal for Area Liaison Officers but emphasised that their roles should essentially be that of intermediates as ultimate responsibility rested with Councillors. Referring to the establishment of a Community Association in Polsloe resulting from the pilot in that area he suggested that communication with this body could be improved and that there should be greater outreach to those in the community who did not want to be involved in the Association.
The Community Involvement and Inclusion Officer emphasised that a key role of Area Liaison Officers was to work with Community Associations and to help ensure that these bodies worked in partnership with Councillors and other key partners. Part of their role would be to ensure that representatives of all relevant agencies were available at public meetings to address issues raised. This had been a key element and role of the officer when the initial pilots had been set up.
In response to the Chair, who suggested that much work in local neighbourhoods was already undertaken by housing officers, the Head of Housing Services explained the role of estate officers in managing Council housing estates who were funded through the Housing Revenue Account. The Area Liaison Officers would have a wider remit and it was not anticipated that there would be duplication of work between the two roles. The former did however have a contributory role in areas with a high percentage of Council houses.
The above views of Scrutiny Committee - Community Members on the proposals for the roll out of My NeighbourhoodPACT into Neighbourhoods identified through the Place Survey results 2009 and the Geography of Deprivation Priority Neighbourhoods would be reported to Executive on 24 November 2009.
Executive would also be advised of this Committee’s support for the Community Forum model proposed for further consultation to take place with LSP partners on the thematic areas and format.
(Report circulated)