Agenda and minutes

Gill Bainbridge  -  Bells Lane and Aspley Tenants’ and Residents’ Association

Vic Plant  -  Neighbourhood Watch Council

Jeni Smith  -  Aspley / Bells Lane Partnership

If you need any advice on declaring an interest in any item on the agenda, please contact the Constitutional Services Officer shown above, if possible before the day of the meeting

None.

Last meeting held on 20 November 2013 (for confirmation)

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2013 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Chair to report

Deborah Wilson, Neighbourhood Development Officer, explained to the Committee that the Council has adopted a policy of ‘plain English’ and, in the future, the language in all reports would be simplified to ensure they were more understandable to everyone. This will include, where possible, not using acronyms or technical terms.

RESOLVED to note the information.

Presentation by Dan Corcoran

The Committee received a joint presentation by the Reverend Dan Corcoran, St John's Church, Bilborough, and Becky Godber and Joshua Sims, two of the Award winners, regarding the GEM Award ceremony, held at Hadden Park High School in November 2013.

RESOLVED that the thanks of the Committee, for the attendance by Reverend Corcoran, Becky Godber and Joshua Sims, and its congratulations to all winners of awards and the organisers of the event, be recorded.

Verbal update by Lynn McNiven

The Committee received a presentation by Lynne McNiven, Consultant in Public Health, regarding the work of the Public Health Directorate within Nottingham City Council, and outlining the services available to residents of West Area. During discussion, the following comments were made:

(a)  after introduction of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups have an equal and explicit duty to prepare Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWS), both through the Health and Wellbeing Board;

(b)  the aim of a JSNA is to improve the health and wellbeing of the local community and reduce inequalities for all ages. It is used to help determine what actions local authorities, the NHS and other partners need to take to meet health and social care needs and to address the wider issues that impact on health and wellbeing;

(c)  the full JSNA for the City, and for the West Area specifically, can be found at http://www.nottinghaminsight.org.uk/insight/jsna/jsna-home.aspx ;

(d)  the JSNA cannot be completed/implemented fully without input from residents, ward Councillors etc on the needs of local people in their local area.

RESOLVED that the thanks of the Committee to Ms McNiven for the informative presentation be recorded.

Susan Thorpe, Traffic Management, to report

Susan Thorpe, Traffic Management, informed the Committee of a project, arising from the findings of a steering group consisting of the City and County Councils and Nottinghamshire Police, to address complaints from residents about inconsiderate/ illegal parking during school drop off and pick up times and stated the following:

(a)  a toolkit has been designed, and sent to all 110 maintained schools within the City Boundary, containing a guide to writing a School Travel Plan, ‘Walking Bus’ guidelines, a parking support leaflet, a ‘keep me safe’ poster, a full Road Safety Education delivery toolkit, a ‘home to school’ template letter and information on parking in a responsible manner;

(b)  the Parking Enforcement Team will be visiting each school in the area for a Week of Action and their presence should deter people from irresponsible/illegal parking. The visits would be on a rolling schedule, which will be varied so as not to follow a set pattern;

(c)  Civil Enforcement Officers will first speak to those parking, highlighting the dangers of irresponsible parking, then advise them that they should not be parking where they are and, finally, if the parking continues, enforce via a fixed penalty notice (FPN);

(d)  unfortunately it is not possible to work out if there are ‘persistent offenders’ as records of FPNs issued is not kept on a name basis;

(e)  the work being undertaken will also involve educating parents, on driving and parking safely outside schools, and children, on road safety in general, although Nottingham has the best road safety record in the country for school journeys, with child casualties dropping from 100 in 1990 to less than 20 in 2012.

During discussion, it was stated that the scheme should be funded centrally, not from ward Councillor budgets.

RESOLVED that the project was noted and welcomed.

Claire Hale, Groundwork Greater Nottingham, to report

The Committee received a presentation by Claire Hale, Groundwork Greater Nottingham (GGN), informing it of work undertaken to date, funded from Area Based Grant (ABG) monies. The main points were as follows:

(a)  the total West Area ABG 2013/14 was £169,077.75, of which £111,811.50 is for Youth Delivery, £30,000 for Employment and Skills and £27,266.25 for Community Centres. There is also provision for a maximum management fee of £8,453.89, although GGN has only charged half of this (£4,281.66);

(b)  Youth Delivery

(i)  includes 10 partner groups, such as the Asian Women’s Group, BEST, Hope Church and the YMCA, 9 of which have received contractual and compliance audit visits;

(ii)  625 young people have been supported (against a ‘to date’ target of 250), with an average cost of £4.58 per young person per week;

(iii)  activities undertaken include mentoring, life skills, personal safety workshops, work experience, healthier lifestyles (cooking and eating) and drug awareness workshops;

(c)  Employment and Skills

(i)  includes 3 partner groups, BEST, the Aspley Bells Lane Partnership and the 53^rd St Margaret’s Scouts, all of which have received contractual and compliance audit visits;

(ii)  27 work experience placements and 10 volunteer programmes have been created and 17 people have been supported into employment;

(d)  Community Centres

(i)  includes the Aspley Community Training Centre and Beechdale, Bells Lane, Birchover, Sheila Russell and The Vale Community Centres, 5 of which have received contractual and compliance audit visits;

(ii)  to date there have been 24,996 centre users, against a target of 11,890, of which 920 were previously under-represented groups, and 6,893 opening hours, against a target of 6,620;

(e)  the GGN focus continues to be working within agreed monitoring and reporting standards, supporting grant recipients to meet standards for delivery of services to young people, ensuring community centres are preparing/planning for proposed changes to centre management and are working with Neighbourhood Development Officers, mapping area-based needs and priorities, establishing a framework of local priorities for incorporation into work plans for 2014/15 and awarding 2014/15 grants in line with new targets and priorities;

(f)  future opportunities include the possibility of ‘digital inclusion’ opportunities locally and other funding sources, such as the DCLG Our Place Neighbourhood Community budget and the Big Lottery Talent Match Fund.

RESOLVED that the thanks of the Committee for the informative update by Ms Hale be recorded and the latest position was noted.

Joint presentation by Anna Coltman, Partnerships, Policies and Communications, and Tim Millns, Nottingham City Homes

The Committee received a joint presentation from Liz Jones, Head of Corporate Policy, and Tim Millns, Rent and Leasehold Manager, Nottingham City Homes, informing it of the impact to tenants and the Council following the introduction of the Welfare Reform Act 2012/Under Occupancy Tax (known as the ‘bedroom tax’) on 1 April 2013. The main points were as follows:

(a)  there are currently 4,120 Council and Housing Association properties classed as under-occupied by 1 or 2 bedrooms. Of this, since 1 April 2013, 46% of City Homes tenants now have to pay full rent, 892 notices seeking possession have been issued as a result of under-occupancy arrears, 1,011 discretionary housing payments (totalling £557,000) and 927 Emergency Hardship Scheme awards have been made and 173 city households are subject to the new benefit cap;

(b)  following the introduction of Welfare Reforms, it is predicted that £18.3 million will be taken out of the Nottingham economy due to reduced household disposable income.

RESOLVED that the thanks of the Committee for the informative presentation by Ms Jones and Mr Millns be recorded and the latest position was noted.

Jane Ludlow, Locality Management, to report

The Committee received an update by John Davis, Community Protection, and Jane Ludlow, North Neighbourhood Operations Manager, regarding action taken in respect of dog fouling in West Area. The main points were as follows:

(a)  during the last 12 months, 211 dog fouling operations have been carried out, resulting in eleven £50 fines being issued;

(b)  120 dog owners have signed up to the Responsible Owner Charter and have been encouraged to have their dog micro-chipped for free;

(c)  the new key performance indicator for CPOs (for 2014/15) is to carry out 750 fouling operations, with each CPO being required to issue at least two fines per year.

RESOLVED to note the latest position.

Verbal updates by Lisa Ash, Gordon Fenwick, Chris Holloway and Jane Ludlow

The Committee received updates from Aileen Wilson, Family Community Team, Gordon Fenwick, Nottinghamshire Police, and John Davis, Community Protection, in regard to performance again Nottingham Plan themes.

RESOLVED to note the latest position.

Report of Director of Neighbourhood Services

Deborah Wilson, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented the report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services, detailing performance against key issues and themes, linked to priorities in the Nottingham Plan 2020, in each of the 3 wards during the period 1 October to 31 December 2013.

RESOLVED to note the information contained in the report.

Report of Director of Neighbourhood Services

Deborah Wilson, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented the report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services, detailing the latest spend proposals from the Area Capital Fund 2013-15, including spending on highways and footpaths.

RESOLVED

(1)  to note the available remaining ward balances of £239,954   (Aspley), £28,167 (Bilborough) and £72,788 (Leen Valley);

(2)  to approve the following committed schemes for the Leen Valley   Ward:

(3)  further to the report, to approve the additional committed schemes   for the Bilborough ward as follows:

(4)  to note that in light of the decision in resolution (3) above, further   to resolution (1) above, the available remaining ward balance for   Bilborough is now £3,667.

Report of Director of Neighbourhood Services

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services, detailing the actions taken under delegated authority since the November 2013 meeting, in respect of spend on local projects of individual ward Councillor allocations.

RESOLVED to note the actions taken, as detailed in the report.