Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence of Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor John Taylor.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26^th July 2022.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26^th July 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

The Chair provided updates as follows:

(i) The Kirklees Employment and Skills Plan 2022-2025, which had been subject to pre-decision scrutiny by this Committee in April 2022, had been adopted by Cabinet on 26^th July. Cabinet had requested the submission of regular progress reports on the delivery of the plan and the Economy and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel would undertake further scrutiny as necessary. (Minute 78, 2021/22).

(ii) Further to pre-decision scrutiny by this Committee at meetings in November 2021 and June 2022, the Communities Partnership Plan 2022-2027 had been endorsed by Cabinet on 21^st September. It would be submitted to the next meeting of Council, on 12 October 2022, for approval. (Minutes 27 (2021/22) and 10 (2022/23)).

The Councillors will be asked to say if there are any items on the agenda in which they have disclosable pecuniary interests, which would prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items, or any other interests.

No interests were declared.

Most debates take place in public. This only changes when there is a need to consider certain issues, for instance, commercially sensitive information or details concerning an individual. You will be told at this point whether there are any items on the Agenda which are to be discussed in private.

All items were heard in public session.

The Committee will receive any petitions and hear any deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern.

A member of the public can also hand in a petition at the meeting but that petition should relate to something on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 (2), members of the public should provide at least 24 hours’ notice of presenting a deputation.

No deputations or petitions were received.

The meeting will hear any questions from the public in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.

No questions were asked.

A report will be submitted which gives an update on progress in respect of the Community Anchor Network.

Contact:

Mags Rogerson – Service Manager, Personalised Care

A report was submitted which gave an update on progress in respect of the Community Anchor Network Contract.

Jill Greenfield the Service Director, Customers and Communities and Mags Rogerson the Head of Service, Local Integrated Partnerships attended the meeting to present the report and answer Members’ questions. The following points were highlighted:

·       The aim was to build a network with strong relationships rather than focussing on specific target-driven outcomes.

·       Partnership working with the social prescribing service across Kirklees.

·       There were fifteen community anchors across Kirklees with a lead anchor in the Huddersfield, Rural, Batley and Spen, and Dewsbury and Mirfield areas.

·       Monitoring of the contract.

·       Engagement had taken place with over 300 community organisations.

·       Each anchor was developing a locality plan in conversation with local communities which would set out priorities, concerns, opportunities and connections. These plans would be widely shared.

·       Promotion of the network and engagement with Ward Councillors.

The Panel also welcomed Tom Taylor from Third Sector Leaders Kirklees and Carole Roberts from Huddersfield Mission to share their experience of the project. Third Sector Leaders Kirklees was responsible for co-ordinating and managing the development of the anchors and the network and Huddersfield Mission was one of the local anchor community organisations.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       In respect of how the network would grow and support smaller organisations serving different geographical areas; it was explained that the lead anchors were well established organisations with strong infrastructures and the community anchors were very well embedded in their local communities. The lead anchors would provide peer support to smaller groups to aid in their development.

·       Staffing capacity in the lead anchors could be funded, funding for the local organisations was flexible to allow it to be best used to support their needs.

·       From the point of view of a lead anchor organisation this was a different way of working to previously; it had taken some time to develop new relationships and establish aims and boundaries. There was a positive and supportive relationship with the relevant Council officers. At a more local, community level it was considered that partnerships had been strengthened and trust was being built within the sector.

·       The principle of using those ‘best placed’ to address a need was correct; established community organisations had the necessary experience, knowledge and connections. New or struggling groups would be able to go to them for support.

·       Some areas currently had fewer local anchors. One of the five aims for the lead anchors was to reach out to groups and organisations that it did not already have contact with and, if they wished to engage, the local anchor network would respond with help and support as appropriate. This would also be forthcoming if requested by a smaller local group.

·       The level of awareness of smaller local groups about this offer was queried and how would they know that this support was available.

·       Some development of the lead anchors was still ongoing but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

A report will be presented in relation to the Kirklees Loneliness Steering Group established in 2020 by the Council and partners.

Contact:

Helen Gilchrist – Project Manager, Local Integrated Partnerships

Jill Greenfield – Service Director, Customers and Communities

Jill Greenfield – Service Director, Customers and Communities, Mark Wearmouth – Service Manager, Local Integrated Partnerships and Helen Gilchrist – Project Manager, Local Integrated Partnerships presented a report in relation to role of the Kirklees Loneliness Steering Group.

The group had been established by the Council and partners, further to the development of a partnership vision to make Kirklees a place where communities are more connected and support each other to develop meaningful relationships and reduce loneliness.

The report was part of the ongoing scrutiny of this topic by the Committee and the Chair gave a brief update on visits undertaken with:

·       Yorkshire Children’s Centre

·       A local Long Covid Support Group

·       Luv2MeetU (a charity which organises events for small groups of people with learning disabilities or autism to address issues associated with independence and/or loneliness).

She had also observed a recent meeting of the Loneliness Steering Group.

The report set out background to the group including its vision and key priorities, the work undertaken prior to and during the pandemic and an ongoing review of its terms of reference and membership. It also set out the key challenges faced in addressing loneliness.

It was reported that there was a strong commitment from the group and the aim was to strengthen its focus and purpose post-pandemic with key objectives that could make an impact. A review had been undertaken, with a range of options considered, and a decision made to continue with a broad strategy group with a wider membership. The role of group was highlighted, as set out below, and comments were invited from the Committee:

·       Owning and driving forward the strategy across the life course.

·       Understanding local needs, identifying opportunities for development and setting priorities for action.

·       Continuing to make tackling loneliness/ meaningful social connection everyone's business.

·       Keeping a ‘watchful eye’ on progress and helping to unblock barriers to progress.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       The steering group was quite large and appeared to have significant engagement, but further clarity was needed in respect of the impact it was having, other than ensuring awareness at a strategic level in the organisations involved.

·       It was recognised that there was a need for the steering group to develop an achievable and purposeful work programme aligned with the identified priorities and, further to this, for discussion to take place with partners about their responsibilities and accountability, and consideration of the resources that were necessary to re-shape the agenda.

·       The training of staff at grass-roots level to identify loneliness and to build their confidence be able to address the issue, with the necessary sensitivity, was an aspiration of the steering group and a guidance note had been produced in 2021. It was noted that most large organisations had training and development programmes and an issue such as this could be accommodated under the wellness agenda.

·       In respect of links with the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and ownership of this issue, it was explained that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

The Lead Members for the Corporate Scrutiny Panel and the Economy and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel will update the Committee on the work being undertaken by these panels.

Contact:

Sheila Dykes – Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer, Legal and Democratic Services

Councillor Yusra Hussain, Lead Member for the Economy and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel updated the Committee on the work being undertaken by this panel.

An update was submitted on the work of the Corporate Scrutiny Panel by Councillor John Taylor, the Lead Member.

The updates were noted and the panels thanked for their work.

The current version of the Committee’s Work Programme for 2022-23 will be submitted for Members’ consideration.

The latest version of the Work Programme was submitted for the Committee’s consideration.

The next meeting would be held on 1^st November 2022 and the following items had been provisionally scheduled:

·       Draft Inclusion and Diversity Annual Report

·       Inclusive Communities Framework Implementation

·       Lead Members’ Updates from Children’s and Health & Adult Social Care Panels.

The Chair reported that, since the last meeting of the Committee, she had been consulted, in her role as Chair of Scrutiny, on an urgent key decision in respect of the award of grant funding from the Department of Work and Pensions to deliver the Local Supported Employment Initiative.

She had agreed that call-in could be waived as a decision was required to receive the grant and enter into a funding agreement. Confirmation of the successful application for funding had been received on 16th August 2022 with instructions to return the signed grant agreement by 26th August 2022, hence the need for urgency.