Executive Support Group
Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 2nd March 2006 at Committee Room No. 1, Sherwood Lodge, Bolsover
BOLSOVER LOCAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
EXECUTIVE SUPPORT GROUP
Minutes of a meeting of the Bolsover Local Strategic Partnership Executive Support Group held on Thursday, 2nd March, 2006, at 9.30 a.m., Committee Room No. 1, Sherwood Lodge, Bolsover.
PRESENT
Mr. B. Strutt - Derbyshire County Council
Mr. J. G. Ford - Housing & Environment Action Group
Mr. T. Whatton - INVOLVE
Miss D. Row - Education & Training Action Group
Mrs. C. Hopwood - INVOLVE
Mr. W. Lumley - Bolsover District Council (Accountable Body)
Councillor K. Reid - Parish/Town Councils
Mr. R. Colgrave - Partnership Team
Miss N. Price - Partnership Team
Mrs. L. Khella - Partnership Team
Mr. K. Hollingworth - Employment & Transport Action Group
Councillor B. Murray-Carr - Bolsover Community Safety Partnership
Mr. J. Young - Education & Training Action Group
Mrs. M. Chambers - North Eastern Derbyshire PCT (Chair)
Mrs. P. Brown - Partnership Team
Mr. P. Gamble - Government Office for the East Midlands
Mrs. S. Scott - INVOLVE
Councillor A. Tomlinson - Bolsover District Council
IN ATTENDANCE
Mr. F. Horsley - EMDA
Mr. R. Brooks - Wavehill Consultants
Dr. M. McShane - North Eastern Derbyshire PCT
Mr. J. Ritchie - Bolsover District Council
Mr. M. Stone - Derbyshire County Council
Mr. J. Dugdale - Derbyshire Rural Community Council
Mrs. M. Chambers in the Chair
ESG68/05 APOLOGIES
Mr. T. Trafford - Housing and the Environment Action Group
Mrs. T. Wilkinson - INVOLVE
Ms. S. Coleman - Employment & Transport Action Group
Ms. J. Ryalls - Health & Wellbeing Action Group
Councillor E. Watts - Bolsover District Council (Vice Chair)
Insp. I. Palfreyman - Bolsover Community Safety Partnership
ESG69/05 CREATING A PATIENT-LED NHS
Dr. McShane gave a presentation which briefly explained the Government’s White Paper “Creating a Patient-Led NHS”, which was currently out for consultation (consultation period ends 22nd March 2006).
Mr. Strutt confirmed the Building Schools for the Future initiative and that a Conference had been arranged at the Renaissance Hotel, South Normanton, on 20th March, 2006.
Councillor Murray-Carr queried whether preventative measures would be implemented to specific health related problem areas. He raised serious concerns regarding the growth in alcohol consumption by young people. Dr. McShane advised that this type of problem could be addressed through the Local Area Agreement by working in partnership with the Police and other agencies, e.g. Health and Education.
Mr. Brooks queried what effect the restructure of the Primary Care Trust would have on the Local Strategic Partnership. Dr. McShane advised that consideration was being given to how the structure would retain local connections. This could be by creating joint appointments in public health with local authorities and the development of practice based commissioners.
Councillor Tomlinson joined the meeting at 10.05 a.m.
Dr. McShane advised that any comments could be forwarded directly through the website or fed back to the Primary Care Trust. It would, however, be helpful if the Local Strategic Partnership responded.
The Chair thanked Dr. McShane for giving the presentation.
AGREED that the comments be noted
Dr. McShane left the meeting at 10.10 a.m.
ESG70/05 SINGLE REGENERATION – END OF SCHEME EVALUATION
Mr. Brooks, Wavehill Consultants, gave a presentation on the key points from the evaluation of the Single Regeneration Budget programme. A copy of the presentation and an Executive Summary of the Final Evaluation Report was circulated for information.
Councillor Murray-Carr referred to paragraph 1.5 and suggested that it would be useful to see where Bolsover District was at the beginning of the programme as well as the current/future status. He also referred to paragraph 1.9 and commented that the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund was addressing some of the gaps identified.
Mr. Brooks advised that the final report would contain an update of the baseline information, by theme, from when the Single Regeneration Budget programme commenced.
Mr. Horsley congratulated the Partnership and Bolsover District Council on successfully managing the Single Regeneration Budget programme over the last 11 years. He continued that concentrating on the infrastructure (capital) first and then tackling revenue afterwards had proved to be most effective. The strength of the Partnership and the good work done in the past was reflected in the success of receiving Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) funding.
Mr. F. Horsley left the meeting at 10.30 a.m.
Mr. Hollingworth acknowledged that housing stock had improved in quality and that there had been a reduction in heart problems – he queried whether there could be some direct correlation in cross cutting. The Chair stated that this could be referred to Dr. N. Payne for investigation. Mr. Brooks added that there was currently no specific evidence to support Mr. Hollingworth’s comment. Mr. Lumley stated that Dr. Payne had developed a health profiling tool.
The Chair thanked Mr. Brooks for his presentation.
AGREED that the comments be noted.
ESG71/05 MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE SUPPORT GROUP MEETING HELD ON 12TH JANUARY, 2006
Mrs. Scott asked that her name be added to the attendance list.
Page 4 (1st paragraph) – Mr. Young requested that “educational vocation” should read “vocational education”.
AGREED that subject to the above amendments, the Minutes of the meeting held on 12th January, 2005 , be accepted as a true and correct record.
ESG72/05 MATTERS ARISING
ESG57/05 – Building Schools for the Future – Presentation – Mr. Strutt advised that there were still places available for the Conference which was scheduled to take place at the Renaissance Hotel, South Normanton, on 20th March, 2006.
ESG61/05 – ESG52/05 Bolsover Community Safety Partnership – Councillor Murray-Carr advised that he had still not met with Mr. Ford.
Cultural Forum – Update
Mr. Colgrave reported that a meeting of the Cultural Forum had taken place on 27th February at Hardwick Park. Both himself and Mrs. Chambers had attended the event and they had given an overview of the Bolsover Local Strategic Partnership. Discussion had taken place on many issues e.g. the definition of “culture”, Cultural Strategy 2002-2007 and how this would link into the new Community Strategy. Another meeting would be held during early April.
AGREED that the comments be noted.
Mr. J. Ritchie joined the meeting at 10.35 a.m.
Neighbourhood Management
Mr. Ritchie gave an historic overview of the Neighbourhood Management project and progress to date and circulated a report for information.
A report had been submitted to Bolsover District Council’s Full Council on 7th December, 2005, to mainstream the initiative by employing the Project Workers and purchasing the New Houghton Community House which would be utilised as an outreach base.
Councillor Murray-Carr congratulated Mr. Ritchie on the success of the initiative. He also advised that Shirebrook Town Council had now secured ownership of the “One Stop Job Centre” premises and that this could be utilised as a base for Shirebrook if required.
Mr. Young applauded the scheme for the positive work which had been undertaken with young people. Mr. Ritchie advised that the success of the project was due to the Project Workers.
Mr. Whatton also congratulated the scheme which had been very well received in South Normanton.
Mr. Ritchie advised that the Neighbourhood Management project would continue and asked for support in principle from the Executive Support Group .
AGREED that (1) the Neighbourhood Management scheme receive support in principle for its continuation, and
(2) the comments be noted.
Mr. Ritchie left the meeting at 10.52 a.m.
ESG73/05 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL EXECUTIVE SUPPORT GROUP MEETING HELD ON 9TH FEBRUARY, 2006
AGREED that the Minutes of the Special Executive Support Group meeting held on 9th February, 2006 , be accepted as a true and correct record.
Mr. Brooks left the meeting at 10.55 a.m.
ESG74/05 NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL FUND
Mr. M. Stone and Mr. J. Dugdale joined the meeting at 11.00 a.m.
The Chair requested that the item “Facing the Future: Proposal Regarding Community & Voluntary Sector Support” be discussed at this point in the Agenda.
Facing the Future: Proposal Regarding Community & Voluntary Sector Support
Mrs. Scott explained that following the recommendations given at the Special Executive Support Group meeting held on 9th February, further discussions had taken place between representatives of Voluntary Action Bolsover, INVOLVE, Community Economic Development Team and Derbyshire Rural Community Council. The report, as presented, was as a consequence of these discussions.
She continued that it had been extremely difficult to produce the report due to the final recommendations from Peter Stone Consultants still being awaited. However, the proposal was for six months with a smaller team whilst ensuring that resources would be available to deliver all services. Neighbourhood Renewal Funding for an amount of £90,000 was being requested, but this would not be required until Phase 2 of the funding programme for 2006/07 (October 06 – March 07). Voluntary Action Bolsover and INVOLVE resources would be utilised for the period April 06 – September 06 to assist the reorganisation period.
The new organisation would work on the framework of a Council for Voluntary Services (CVS), providing quality infrastructure support for community and voluntary groups throughout the District.
Mrs. Khella confirmed that during the last few weeks positive discussions had taken place and the proposal presented today represented significant progress.
Mr. Young queried whether other funding streams had been explored. Mr. Dugdale responded that it would be difficult to approach other funders as the new organisation would not be operational until April 2007.
Mr. Stone commented that political decisions around community engagement in service delivery were still being made, however, discussions were taking place within the Local Area Agreement framework regarding the long term funding for community infrastructure. He continued that the request was initially for six months funding, however, it may be necessary to request further funding for one year if delays were experienced accessing funding from Central Government. Mrs. Scott advised that discussions were taking place with potential funders, e.g. Big Lottery, Lloyds TSB. Early indications were that these funders were interested in helping once the “package” was known.
The Chair confirmed that the amount of Neighbourhood Renewal Funding being requested was £90,000 to fund the period October 2006 – March 2007 with the possibility of further funding being requested from April 2007.
Mrs. Khella queried when Government Office for the East Midlands funding for the Community Empowerment Network in 2007/08 would be known. Mr. Gamble advised that he was not aware of any Government funding being available during 2007/08.
Mr. Gamble commented that there needs to be a fit for purpose Community Empowerment Network to engage with the Local Strategic Partnership as part of Government Office for the East Midlands Performance Management Framework.
Councillor Murray-Carr queried whether work would be undertaken throughout the District or just in the five targeted areas. Mrs. Scott confirmed that the new organisation would support the whole of the District.
Mrs. Brown commented that the milestones would give the Local Strategic Partnership the opportunity to monitor progress. The Chair asked for milestones to be provided for the period September to April.
Mr. Gamble suggested that the current Protocol between the Local Strategic Partnership and the Community Empowerment Network be updated as part of the process.
Mr. Stone reported that the Community Economic Development Team would also be operating with a reduced budget and this may have an impact on service delivery in Bolsover. The Team would cease to exist in two years time.
Mr. Stone, Mr. Dugdale, Mrs. Scott and Mrs. Hopwood left the meeting at 11.23 a.m., whilst discussions took place.
Mr. Whatton queried whether he should remain in attendance during the discussion. It was agreed that Mr. Whatton should remain as he was not employed by either of the organisations involved. The discussion should, however, remain confidential.
Councillor Murray-Carr stated that he welcomed the proposed merger and queried whether progress/spend would be monitored. Mrs. Brown advised that the Partnership Team would be involved in the Joint Working Group and would monitor progress. Mr. Gamble stated that there were standard outcomes available for Community Empowerment Networks.
Mr. Young raised his concern at the lateness of the request for financial assistance and requested that mechanisms be put in place to ensure that the situation did not arise again. Action Groups had already agreed priorities and committed the budget and these would now need to be reviewed.
Mr. Lumley commented that the Government’s direction was clear in terms of working with the community and voluntary sector in service delivery. He was unsure, however, how this could work. Discussions were currently taking place with the Grot2Green environmental initiative to explore ways of working together.
A brief discussion took place regarding accountability, milestone planning etc. The Chair advised that if the Local Strategic Partnership agreed the funding requested, the organisations involved would have to follow performance management arrangements and be accountable to the Partnership.
Mr. Young left the meeting at 11.30 a.m.
Mr. Gamble reported that in terms of financial accountability, from the next financial year this would be done via the Local Area Agreement.
A lengthy discussion took place regarding the role of the Local Strategic Partnership in the reorganisation of Voluntary Action Bolsover and INVOLVE. Mrs. Khella suggested that herself and Mrs. Brown meet with Mrs. Scott/Mr. Stone/Mr. Dugdale to discuss this further.
Mrs. Brown clarified that the Consultants carrying out the mapping exercise were funded through the Neighbourhood Renewal programme and, therefore, the Partnership should have a voice in the outcome. She suggested that a report be submitted to the next meeting of the Executive Support Group . The Chair commented that the Partnership should be involved in the reorganisation and that discussions should continue up to September, in particular in relation to the Accountable Body for the new organisation.
Mrs. Khella reminded those present that the report contained information pertinent to the Community Economic Development Team. The majority of the future funding had been secured, however, there was a shortfall, and this would have an impact on service delivery for the Bolsover District. Mr. Strutt briefly explained the effect the shortfall in funding would have on the Community Economic Development Team in Bolsover and Chesterfield.
Councillor Tomlinson raised his concern at the amount of Neighbourhood Renewal Funding being requested to financially support the Community Economic Development Team in the report. Mrs. Khella commented that European funding (ERDF) had been secured to fund the Team for two years and queried whether because there was likely to be slippage over the two year period, Executive Support Group members only consider funding for the Community Economic Development Team in 2006/07. Discussions around the geographical coverage of the Community Economic Development Team support and whether there would be benefits and making the service available across the whole District took place. It was recognised that the Community Economic Development Team had made significant impact in the communities targeted.
Mr. Whatton asked whether it would be possible to commission the Community Economic Development Team to reorganise Voluntary Action Bolsover/INVOLVE.
Mrs. Khella suggested that she convene a meeting with Mr. Stone to discuss the issues raised and that a report be submitted to the next meeting of Executive Support Group for consideration. Mr. Strutt confirmed that if the current level of service was to be provided, it would need to be funded.
Following the discussion it was agreed that Neighbourhood Renewal Funding be approved to fund the period April – June 2006.
AGREED that (1) the request for Neighbourhood Renewal Funding up to an amount of £90,000 be accepted for the financial year 2006/07 for the new structure, subject to conditions
(2) the Local Strategic Partnership be given the opportunity to influence the structure, e.g. involved in recruitment etc.,
(3) further discussions taken place between the Partnership Team and the organisations involved,
(4) a report be provided to the next Executive Support Group on progress to date,
(5) a meeting be convened with the Community Economic Development Team to review budget and progress funding through the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund for April – June 2006, and
(6) the report and comments be noted.
NRF LSP Performance Management 2006/07
Mr. Gamble briefly explained the report and specifically referred to the fact that if a carry-over of “over 10%” of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund was required, this would automatically assess the Partnership as “red”. The Annual Review of the Partnership would take place during July 2006.
AGREED that the report and comments be noted.
Quarter 3 Progress Update
The report had been provided for information purposes only. Mr. Gamble requested an updated version of Page 8.
AGREED that the report be received.
Update on Commissioned Activity 2005/06
The report had been provided for information purposes only.
AGREED that the report be received.
Chief Executive’s & Partnership Team – Programme Management
Mrs. Brown briefly explained the report.
AGREED that Option 3 be approved.
ESG75/05 PERFORMANCE – MONITORING AND EVALUATION FEEDBACK (ACTION GROUPS/INVOLVE) – DEMONSTRATION OF THE TEN PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
It was suggested that this item be deferred until the next Executive Support Group meeting.
Mr. Lumley reported that the LEGI bid for Bolsover, Ashfield and Mansfield had been successful and £3.8 million had been secured over the next three years.
AGREED that the TEN Demonstration be deferred until the next meeting of the Executive Support Group.
Community Health and Well Being Action Group
AGREED that the report be received.
Bolsover Community Safety Partnership
Councillor Murray-Carr referred to Item 6 of the Feedback Report - Concerns re comments allegedly made by a member of INVOLVE to BBC documentary team and read out a statement.
Mr. Colgrave advised that following discussions with the Director of the programme, he had been assured that the tape would be available for viewing before screening.
AGREED that the report and statement be received.
Councillor K. Reid left the meeting at 12.35 p.m.
INVOLVE
The Feedback Report was circulated for information.
AGREED that the report be received.
Housing and the Environment Action Group
The Feedback Report was circulated for information.
AGREED that the report be received.
Education and Training Action Group
The Feedback Report was circulated for information.
AGREED that the report be received.
ESG76/05 COMMUNITY STRATEGY REVIEW – UPDATE
The Chair reported that Network North had been appointed to complete the Community Strategy document. Interviews would take place with key partners in the near future.
AGREED that the comments be noted.
ESG77/05 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Transport – Merger with CHART Local Strategic Partnership
Mrs. Brown briefly explained the report.
Mr. Hollingworth added that the Employment Group would be known as the “Employment and Enterprise Action Group”.
AGREED that (1) the changes to the revised Local Strategic Partnership structure, taking into account the split from the Employment Group and the creation of a Joint Transport Strategy Group linking into all other Action Group themes be approved,
(2) the Chief Executive’s and Partnership Manager, together with the CHART Local Strategic Partnership Co-ordinator progress with staging an inaugural half day event to establish a Joint Transport Strategy Group before the end of March 2006.
ODPM – Consultation
Mrs. Brown circulated a response for information and asked for any comments to be forwarded to the Partnership Team by Friday, 3rd March, 2006, in the morning, as this was the deadline for responses.
AGREED that any comments be forwarded to the Partnership Team by Friday, 3rd March, 2006 , before 12 noon .
ESG78/05 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Annual General Meeting – Thursday, 6th April, 2006, 9.30 a.m., Committee Room No. 1, Sherwood Lodge, Bolsover.
Thursday, 27th April, 2006, 9.30 a.m., Bainbridge Hall, Carr Vale.
The meeting concluded at 12.45 p.m.