ROTHER LOCAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP (LSP) Minutes of Board Meeting held on Wednesday, 22 nd September 2010 at Town Hall, Bexhill

Transcription

1 ROTHER LOCAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP (LSP) Minutes of Board Meeting held on Wednesday, 22 nd September 2010 at Town Hall, Bexhill Chairman: Martin Fisher, LSP Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of RVA Present: AmicusHorizon Children s Services Planning Group East Sussex County Council East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service Environment Agency Hastings & Bexhill Economic Alliance Rother Association of Local Councils Rother Voluntary Action Safer Rother Partnership Sussex Police Ten Sixty Six Enterprise In attendance: East Sussex County Council Environment Agency East Sussex Children s Services LSP Co-ordinator: LSP Secretariat: Represented by: Martin Jones Alison Sorlie Cllr Keith Glazier (part of) Scott Hartnoll Dr Michael O Shea Alan Blackwell (part of) Dave Young Cllr Ian Jenkins Madeleine Gorman Gina Sanderson Carol Studley Chief Inspector Heather Keating (part of) Graham Marley Stephen Potter (Guest Speaker) (part of) Chris Wick (Guest Speaker) (part of) Maggie Boulter Mrs Joy Hughes Graham Burgess Joanne Wright Scott Lavocah Marie Kennedy Item Notes Action 1. Welcome and introductions Welcome was extended to all those present and in particular to new Board member Alan Blackwell, Partnership Manager at Seaspace who will represent 1

2 the Hastings & Bexhill Economic Alliance. Also to Stephen Potter, Environmental Strategist at ESCC; Chris Wick, Environment Manager at the Environment Agency; Maggie Boulter, Participation Worker for ES Children s Services; Scott Hartnoll from ESF&RS; Cllr Mrs Joy Hughes, and Joanne Wright both from Rother DC. 2. Apologies for absence Cllr Carl Maynard, Sheila O Sullivan, Sharmila Nebhrajani, Linda Seddon, Lisa Schrevel, John Drinkwater, and Ian Stewart. Note: It was reported that Lisa Schrevel had been seconded to Adult Social Care for a period of 1 year. Lisa would be replaced by Sarah Dyde during this time. 3. Urgent items of business None were raised. 4. Minutes of last meeting held on 21 st July 2010 and matters arising Dave Young remarked that the note under item 9 on page 6 of the minutes should have been recorded as an action. Following discussion, agreement was reached that as the Co-ordinator usually attends Rother s Services & Overview Scrutiny Committee meetings once a year, it would be sufficient to present the LAP reports at these times. Note: The Vice Chairman offered to also attend this meeting with the Co-ordinator in June of next year. Any outstanding actions were reviewed as follows: 4.1 Crime and Community Safety Street a Month Initiative Carol Studley confirmed that the Street a Month Initiative had been completed and that the programme of findings would be forwarded to the Secretariat for distribution to the Board when finalised. 5. Declarations of interests Submitted by the Vice Chairman in his capacity as Chief Executive of Rother Voluntary Action in relation to item 8 below. 6. Focus on LSP Thematics: Priority Area 2 Carbon Reduction CS 6.1 Climate Change Partnership for East Sussex The Vice Chairman opened discussions about the focus of the day s meeting by circulating a report summarising the carbon emission statistics recently released by DECC on 16 th September The statistics form the basis of National Indicator NI 186 the percentage reduction in tonnes per capita of carbon emissions since Although the figures presented related to the year 2008 (most recent data) and pre-recession, it was clear that Rother has the highest percentage of carbon emissions per capita in East Sussex with the data for these emissions covering the areas of: industry & commerce, housing, rail transport, and land & forestry. Following on from this report, the Chairman then invited Chris Wick, who is heading up the Climate Change Board for East Sussex to give a presentation about the risks that are likely to occur as a result of changing climate and what the Climate Change Partnership for East Sussex will be doing for Rother in terms of reducing these risks. The presentation also outlined the structure of the Climate Change Partnership and how it functions and showed what is already being done within Rother in terms of sustainability and conservation. This led to a discussion whereby the following key comments were noted: Communication at a local level with the Town and Parish Councils would be paramount when working towards a common goal to educate and enable communities to take responsibility for their own environments etc. As such, confirmation was given that a channel of dialogue has already been established through RALC by a working group chaired by Simon Hickmott at East Sussex County Council on behalf of the Climate Change Partnership. Note 1: The Vice Chairman confirmed that he had recently become a member of the Climate Change Board and had also been invited to become 2

3 part of the working group. It was recommended that membership to the Climate Change Partnership and working group should also be extended to the schools and colleges. Chris Wick confirmed that although Brighton University had originally been invited to represent the whole of the education sector, there would be merit in including someone at a more local level to participate. Note 2: Many projects and ideas are already developing in schools across Rother and the Youth Development Service, along with an enormous enthusiasm and as such it would be important to investigate and co-ordinate how widely this information is being shared. Note: A copy of Mr Wick s presentation is attached separately to these minutes and anyone wishing to comment further or become involved in the Climate Change Partnership forum should get in touch by ing: climatechange@eastsussex.gov.uk 6.2 Developing an Environment Strategy for East Sussex Stephen Potter who has been heading up a working group for an Environment Strategy for East Sussex was also invited to give a separate presentation about this particular area of work, which included: The reasons for bringing together interested parties to develop a draft strategy for the County as a whole. The policy context for the environment and why the strategy is being developed. The type of strategy being developed and progress to date, including how this is linked with the Climate Change Partnership for East Sussex previously outlined by Chris Wick. How the Rother LSP might like to be involved in this work. How to gain a better understanding of the Rother LSP priorities, especially in relation to its vision of Pride of Place. After the presentation, the following comments were noted: It was remarked that the Town and Parish Councils were not listed amongst the interested parties involved in the Environment Strategy Group. Confirmation was given that although efforts had been made to include representatives of the Parishes, people were not always available. Note: The Chairman remarked that the initial idea was to produce something with a degree of rigour that would be flexible enough to consult on. As such, this would require the involvement of practitioners and people who are effectively concerned with environmental issues to help develop the strategy through its early stages. Strategically, the only neighbouring authorities currently involved in terms of overlapping of knowledge and economy benefits are those within East Sussex. The next step would be to talk with Brighton & Hove, and Kent and West Sussex authorities about finding ways to match up with their priorities. In particular, the South East Seven Group is already working on strategic projects such as waste and the management of old land-fill sites across the whole of the South East region with a view to achieving some quick wins together in a cheaper and more efficient way. The question of whether or not a carbon reduction group was needed in Rother was tabled by the Vice Chairman for comments. During discussion, agreement was reached that the following key recommendations would be pursued by the Vice Chairman and the Co-ordinator and that an update on progress would be given at the next meeting: a) consideration to be given to avoiding duplication of working groups and look to achieve Rother s key National Indicator targets, including some more productive targets through continuation of working in partnership at a County level; 3

4 b) the reduction of carbon emissions across East Sussex was identified as being the first priority and would need to be driven locally. Although it was recognised that the areas of concern in Rother are within housing and road traffic, there would still be a need for further analysis to be gathered in order to target the more specific offenders and gain an understanding of the actual problems consideration to be given to appointing a leader/champion within Rother to collate this data and identify the top 10 carbon generators distinct to Rother. This information would then be relayed to the Environment Strategy Group to be matched with what is already being recorded elsewhere across the County in order to promote at least 3 or 4 messages common to all; c) consideration to be given to unpicking the data already provided in the Vice Chairman s summary report on carbon emission statistics for other authorities and investigate how these have been achieved; d) consideration to be given to inviting members of the community from across the District to a future event to talk about the subject and draw on their knowledge Note: A copy of Mr Potter s presentation is attached separately to these minutes and further information about the strategy may be obtained by ing: stephen.potter@eastsussex.gov.uk or ringing (01273) Reports from Thematic Group Leaders Active Communities Priority Action Group Madeleine Gorman reported that both she and Sheila O Sullivan would be expecting greater clarity regarding the outcomes from the various National reviews on the health improvement role of PCTs, local authorities, voluntary organisations etc later on in the year and that more appropriate proposals would be made to the LSP at that time regarding the development of Terms of Reference for the Active Communities Group. Children s Services Planning Group This Group had not met for some time and so it was recommended that the Coordinator would work with Alison Sorlie to restore continuity once the outcome of the Children s Services restructure has been confirmed. Crime & Community Safety Total Crime target was 2% and a 9.1% reduction was achieved on the rolling year to the end of August fewer crimes. Focused work on Prolific Offenders the Home Office has taken nearly 6 months from the end of 2009/10 to formally announce that the SRP has achieved a 33% reduction in offences across East Sussex with Rother IPPOs making a significant contribution to this. The target was 22% and the Partnership continues to make reductions because of targeted work with individual offenders looking at their lives using multi-agency resources. The SRP has been particularly successful at reducing offending of young offenders. Rother has the lowest re-offending rates of young people in East Sussex both those within the court system and pre-court, achieving a 16% re-offending rate in Rother compared to 27% in Lewes and Wealden and 39% in Eastbourne and 34% in Hastings. This is attributed to very effective communication and co-ordination between agencies where young people are discussed and worked with as individuals and an excellent working relationship with some effective YOT workers. Note: It was felt that the Safer Rother Partnership should receive acknowledgement for the many successes it has made over the years in reducing crime in Rother. Agreement was reached that the Co-ordinator would organise for a letter of praise to be written by the Chairman of the LSP on behalf 4 SL/AS SL/Cllr CM

5 of the Board to the Chief Constable of Sussex Police. This letter would be copied to Chief Inspector Heather Keating. Housing Strategy Action Group A complete review about the outcomes relating to the Family Intervention Project, the Self-help Project, re-assessment of the Housing sub-group targets, and Terms of Reference would be presented by Martin Jones at the next LSP meeting in November. Jobs & Skills Priority Action Group The Enterprise and Skills group had not met since the last LSP meeting. This was to allow for a period of reflection pending the Government s spending review in October. East Sussex County Council has put forward a bid to establish a Countywide Local Enterprise Partnership (what the Government hoped would be the successor to Rural Development Areas). The bid focuses on three key areas the Hastings area (which includes Rother, and makes particular note of the Hastings/ Bexhill Link Road), Eastbourne and Newhaven. It is hoped that if successful, this will help to enable a bid to the 1bn Regional Growth Fund to help support regeneration in the County, although it is still unclear how successful the bid is likely to be (either the LDP or funding bid). It is anticipated that by the time of the next LSP meeting, the picture should be somewhat clearer as to structures and potential funding, which may help the Group to move forward (including being part of the Hastings and Bexhill Economic Alliance). In terms of key targets the only update was a very marginal increase in unemployment up 0.1% to 2.8%. Central Bexhill was at 6.6 and Sidley at 6%, being the only areas above 4%. Rother Health Improvement Partnership There was no report on this item. MJ 7.7 Rother Transport Action Group The August meeting of the Group had been a great success due mainly to the attendance of Rupert Clubb, Director of Transport and Environment at East Sussex County Council and other members of Mr Clubb s team. Those present had been very encouraged by the immediate response to questions put forward to Mr Clubb about concerns relating to ongoing issues such as access to transport for young people, LAP thematic responses to traffic calming, the promotion and facilitation of cycling in Rother, including School Travel Plans. Progress on the Link Road had also been discussed and further information about this would be given at the next meeting following the Government s spending review in October. 8. Local Action Plans Report from LAP Steering Group The key messages emerging from the LAP Steering Group report for September 2010 highlighted: i) the specific number of community targets being undertaken by RVA under the terms of the new contract the PCT has identified some funding which will help to enable some of the activity works to move forward. ii) the production of a LAP refresh toolkit by RVA, which enables a quick and correct way of checking with the Parish Councils what has been achieved; iii) the difficulties still being addressed in finding a champion to take ownership of the Bexhill LAP and the implications for its successful delivery. Note: The Vice Chairman recommended that this matter should be taken up with both the Chairman of the LSP and the Chief Executive of Rother DC. Dave Young offered to organise this meeting. iv) in addition, a Village Gateways Workshop has been organised for 29 th 5 DY

6 September This is something that is already well supported. Items for information Place Survey update Joanne Wright, Policy Officer at was invited to present an update about the Place Survey. This was supported by a paper that was circulated to remind the Board about the research provided by the last Survey undertaken in Rother in 2008/ 09. Following the decision by the Government on 10 th August 2010 to abolish the Place Survey, the Council had decided not to run the Survey in 2010 but would be considering the future of this research whilst looking to reduce costs. Consequently, the Council is now seeking the opinion of LSP members about the usefulness and role of the previous research, the impact on priority setting and what alternatives might be found to replace the Survey. Note: The question was put to the Board whether or not the research had contributed to the LSP priorities and if this should continue and on what basis. Following discussion, it was agreed that the Survey had indeed been valuable and should continue to be undertaken preferably every 2 years but that every 3 years would be acceptable. Any other business National Take Over Day Maggie Boulter tabled a request to the Board for volunteers to take part in the National Take Over Day, where children and young people work with decision makers. The Vice Chairman agreed that there was merit in promoting this event and said that those present would, in principle, be willing to take part. Note: Maggie Boulter would forward further information about the event directly to Board members. Rother DC Economic Development Strategy Confirmation was given that Rother s Economic Development Strategy had been formally adopted by Council at its meeting on Monday, 20 th September MB 10.3 Departure of Head of Amenities from Rother DC Madeleine Gorman announced that she would be leaving Rother DC within the coming months. On behalf of the Board, the Vice Chairman thanked Madeleine for all her hard work and contribution to the LSP over the years and wished her well for the future. 11. Date of next meeting Wednesday, 24 th November 2010 at Bexhill Town Hall at 2.30pm. 6