Cabinet Member for Communities
Decision:
Decisions Made by Cabinet:
1.1 That Cabinet agreed the consultation approach and timetable for the Joint Communities Strategy described in paragraphs 10.5 and 10.6.
1.2 That the Assistant Director for Planning and Communities, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities, was given delegated authority to make any minor changes as necessary to the consultation version of the draft Communities Strategy prior to the Strategy going out for consultation.
Reason for Decision:
To ensure that Babergh District Council have an up to date Joint Communities Strategy which provided:
· Strategic leadership on the key community issues facing the districts;
· Coherent and joined up approaches to the way we work with our communities and with partners;
· Greater local accountability for decision making; and
· A more focused approach to community development which has the greatest impact.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:
1.1 To create a Joint Communities Strategy and publish it for consultation.
1.1 To create a Joint Communities Strategy and not publish it for consultation.
1.2 Not to create a Joint Communities Strategy.
1.3 The Council has prioritised the creation of its Joint Communities Strategy and therefore the question is whether to consult with stakeholders or not. Given the nature of the Strategy it is considered vital that there is appropriate consultation prior to its formal adoption by Full Council.
Any Declarations of Interest declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None
Minutes:
105.1 Councillor Jan Osborne, Cabinet Member for Housing introduced report BCa/18/57 on behalf of Councillor Margaret Maybury, Cabinet Member for Communities.
105.2 The strategy had been developed as a response to some of the bigger community related changes, which had taken place within the Districts and the challenges and opportunities that lied ahead.
105.3 Section 3 of the consultation version detailed the commitments for the strategy, which have been developed through focussed discussions with a cross party group of councillors, external partners, statutory agencies and staff. It was the intention to use the consultation period to clarify these and other issues to develop a more conventional strategy document.
Councillor Osborne MOVED the recommendations in the report, which was SECONDED by Councillor Nick Ridley.
105.4 In response to Members’ questions the Assistant Director for Planning and Communities stated that the last bullet point on page 85 would be removed and that the questions would be more general.
105.5 Some Members was concerned that there were inconsistencies in the strategy and that it was lengthy.
105.6 The Assistant Director outlined the following in response to questions:
· Social prescribing was one of the areas of activity articulated by the focus groups;
· Suffolk Costal and East Suffolk District Council both has a similar strategy;
· Members had identified the need for a Community Strategy;
· The current version was a ‘working’ progress document.
105.7 He continued that reliance of local residents was already a huge part of the Community and it was hoped that the strategy would give a sense of coherence of how to use the resources and to inspire residents to partake in volunteering. He recognised there was a continued pressure for more volunteers. Therefore, it was important that the grant schemes were facilitated to community groups to support them.
105.8 Councillor Frank Lawrenson stated that the use of open questions was likely to make the analysis a challenge. He also suggested that information about the statutory and discretionally services should be fed back to the community. He stated that this should be made clearer in the strategy.
105.9 Councillor Sue Carpendale asked if the strategy delivered social value. She also suggested communities provided feed-back on what was working in their communities.
105.10 Councillor Hinton enquired about the changing demographics and the difference between the two districts. The strategy was specific in relation to the estimated population growth between 2018 and 2036 and he could not get this to correlate with the number of houses being built.
105.11 The Assistant Director, Planning and Communities responded that the estimated population growth was from the statistics for Public Health and that the housing requirements were different due to the change of family structures. However, the strategy did not deliver an answer to housing development requirements and the document did not refer specifically to one district.
105.12 He continued that change in the population demographics would have a significant impact on areas such as volunteering and that some groups, such as the Over 65s and Over 85s were growing.
105.13 Although some Members felt the document was too long, they stated that they appreciated the development of a communities strategy and thank the team for the work.
By a unanimous vote
It was RESOLVED: -
1.1 That the consultation approach and timetable for the Joint Communities Strategy described in paragraphs 10.5 and 10.6 be agreed.
1.2 That the Assistant Director for Planning and Communities, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities, be given delegated authority to make any minor changes as necessary to the consultation version of the draft Communities Strategy prior to the Strategy going out for consultation.
Reason for Decision:
To ensure that Babergh District Council have an up to date Joint Communities Strategy which provided:
· Strategic leadership on the key community issues facing the districts;
· Coherent and joined up approaches to the way we work with our communities and with partners;
· Greater local accountability for decision making; and
· A more focused approach to community development which has the greatest impact.
Supporting documents: