Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Communities which sought its views on the outcome of the public and stakeholder consultation on the draft Communities and Wellbeing Strategy for 2016-2020, which took place between 8 February and 2 May 2016. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 10” is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed Mr. R. Blunt CC, Cabinet Lead Member for Heritage, Leisure and Arts to the meeting for this item.

In his opening remarks the Cabinet Lead Member commended officers for their work on the draft strategy which aimed to enable the best use of resources within the most challenging budget the Council had faced thus far.

The Director brought to the Committee’s attention some minor errors in the percentages outlined in paragraph 1 on page 63, Appendix E of the report pack, which should read as follows:-

·           Reducing the number of County Council funded museums and heritage venues (66.4% disagreed);

·           Reducing opening hours across Communities and Wellbeing venues (65.5% disagreed);

·           Reducing the number of libraries that are fully funded by the Council (78.3% disagreed).

In addition, members noted that the level of savings required by 2018 should read £1.8 million rather than £1.9 million (Appendix A, page 22). The Committee was assured that the Strategy would be amended with the correct figures following the meeting.

The Director advised that the consultation responses had shown that Community and Wellbeing Services were highly valued by residents.  The feedback displayed an understanding that the services provided by the Council needed to be reconsidered and majority of responses agreed with the new approach outlined in the draft Strategy which recognised that different communities needed different levels of support.

In response to questions raised, members were advised as follows:-

(i).       Concerns regarding community capacity were raised within the consultation process. Members were assured that the Department had extensive experience in supporting communities and volunteers, including its work with museums and libraries. Officers would continue to make attempts to harness the right skills within localities and provide sufficient support and guidance to enhance community cohesion. This work included supporting communities in developing links with other agencies, such as Voluntary Action Leicestershire;

(ii).      The Strategy aimed to enable resilient communities and reduce dependency on Council services.  The Service would be based on the combination of leading on the provision of a range of services and providing support to local communities to enable them to help themselves.Time-limited targeted services would also be in place to ensure the most vulnerable groups and individuals received the correct level of support at the right time;

(iii).    In response to a point raised about ensuring a fair spread of service resource across the whole County, the Lead Member assured members that a review of all existing venues and operations was underway to ensure that this issue was given due regard.

It was reported that two Committee members had recently visited Peterborough Library “Open+” where a trial was being conducted which meant the Library operated without staff, with books being loaned via an automated system. The feedback from the visit was positive and it was noted that incidents of anti-social behaviour had been significantly below that which had been expected.

A view was expressed that this approach could be considered as a means of mitigating volunteer capacity issues and avoiding library closures, or even as an alternative to community management. In response, members were advised that volunteer-run libraries enabled a range of services to be provided from venues and that it therefore remained the most desirable option. The Committee noted that the ongoing trial in Syston would provide lessons on the feasibility of the Open+ type system and this would be shared with the Committee at a future meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the comments of the Committee be forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration at its meeting on 18 July 2016.