Agenda and minutes

Councillor Saghir  -  no reason given

Councillor Unczur  -  other council business

Councillor Watson  -  leave

Christine Willetts  -  no reason given

If you need advice on declaring an interest, please contact the Governance Officer above, if possible before the day of the meeting

None.

Last meeting held on 24 September 2014 (for confirmation)

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2014 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Deborah Wilson, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented a report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services, detailing the latest spend proposals under the Area Capital Fund 2013-15, including highways and footpaths, and Nottingham City Homes (NCH) Environmental Improvement funding.

RESOLVED

(1)  to approve the following schemes:

(2)  to note the remaining unallocated Area Capital Fund 2013-15 and NCH Environmental Improvement monies of Aspley (£nil), Bilborough (£10,643) and Leen Valley (£71,688).

RESOLVED, subject to amending the Bilborough ward Hoylake Park Scheme contribution from £50,000 to £30,000, to note the actions in respect of ward councillor budgets, taken under delegated authority by the Director of Neighbourhood Services, as detailed in the report.

RESOLVED to note the report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services, detailing performance in the 3 wards during quarter 2 2014/15 against key performance indicators.

Chris Holloway to report

Further to minute 21 dated 24 September 2014, Chris Holloway, Nottingham City Homes (NCH) updated the Committee as follows:

Denton Green, Broxtowe

The new build of 4 x one-bed bungalows has started and a media event was held on 10 October 2014 to mark the milestone. It was attended by staff from the City Council and City Homes, along with representatives from the joint contractors, BEST (Broxtowe Education, Skills and Training) and Robert Woodhead Limited.

Cranwell Road, Strelley

The area has now been fenced off and demolition has commenced.  Planning permission has been granted and tenders for potential developers will be sent out this month, with an anticipated contract awarding in the new year and building work to commence in the 2015/16 financial year.

Keverne Court

A scooter store is being installed later this financial year (2014/15).

‘Good News’ stories

•  Strelley Community Club has obtained funding for a ‘job shop’ and NCH has assisted in obtaining the grant for this and other items.

•  Plans are in place to create a sensory garden at Foxton Gardens for those who suffer with dementia. It is hoped that this scheme will compliment national best practice.

RESOLVED to note the latest position in regard to Nottingham City Homes’ works and performance.

Presentation by Kerrie-Ann Maguire, SSE Contracting

The Committee received a presentation by Kerrie-Ann Maguire, SSE Contracting, updating it on the latest position in respect of the street light replacement programme within the City.

Ms Maguire informed the Committee of the proposed works specifically for West Area, including which streets would be worked on in the near future, and the process undertaken prior to commencement of the works.

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

Presentations by

(a)  Jane Lewis, Crime and Drugs Partnership

(b)  Yvette Khouri-Bent  )

  Claire Dixon    )  Equation

  Kerry Sullivan    )

(c)  Val Lunn, Women’s Aid

The Committee received presentations, regarding domestic violence, from Jane Lewis (Crime and Drugs Partnership), Yvette Khouri-Bent, Claire Dixon and Kerry Sullivan (Equation) and Val Lunn (Women’s Aid).

The main points were as follows:

•  the definition of domestic violence is ‘any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass, but is not limited to, abuse in any form, whether psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional.’

•  in Nottingham City there is estimated to be 25-35% of females affected by domestic violence at least once in any 12 month period. In West Area, this equates to 2,514 in Aspley, up to 2,687 in Bilborough and up to 1,249 in Leen Valley;

•  according to the 2010/11 British Crime Survey, between 4% and 6% of men will be the survivor of domestic violence at least once in any 12 month period;

•  although Aspley has relatively stable figures for domestic violence calls to the police, it had the highest number compared to the other 19 wards in the City and, despite a year to date reduction, also saw the second greatest number of domestic violence recorded crime. In respect of calls to the Police and recorded domestic violence crimes, both Aspley and Bilborough saw a higher rate per 1,000 of the population than the City average;

•  In 2008, domestic violence was estimated to have cost the economy in England and Wales £5.7 billion based on public services and loss of economic activity due to injury (‘The Cost of Domestic Violence’, Sylvia Walby, 2009);

•  Equation Nottinghamshire have created the GREAT Project (Good Relationships are Equal and Trusting), aimed at year 5 and 6 pupils, which promotes healthy relationships and raises awareness of domestic abuse. The project involves a 90 minute introduction session for staff, four x 2 hour sessions for children (Healthy Relationships, Defining Domestic Abuse, Excuses and Choices and Respecting Each Other) and a ‘graduation’, held one month after completion of the project;

•  Women’s Aid employs 80 staff and also has 70 volunteers, has helped over 3,500 women to date and provides numerous services for ‘at risk’ women, including a 24hr freephone helpline;

•  while no form of abuse is ever acceptable, victims often state that physical is better than psychological as ‘a punch is over quickly’.

During discussion, Councillors and Neighbourhood Development Officers offered to promote the GREAT Project to Head Teachers and Governors.

RESOLVED to note the presentations.

Introduction by Aileen Wilson, Community Family Support Manager (Area 3), followed by presentations from

(a)  Diane Preston, Lilies Nursery Managing Director

(b)  Catherine Smith, Early Years Programme Manager

(c)  Caroline Wragg, Family Nurse Partnership Supervisor

(d)  Selina Thomas, Health Visiting Manager

(e)  Aileen Wilson and Pat Smith, Community Family Support Manager (Area 5)

(f)  Jo Bradley-Fortune, Groundwork

(g)  Lisa Ash, Targeted Family Support Manager

The Committee received presentations, regarding Children and Families’ services available from the City Council (NCC) and external partners, as follows:

Aileen Wilson and Pat Mills (Community Family Support Managers, NCC);

Diane Preston (Managing Director, Lilies Nursery);

Catherine Smith (Early Years Programme Manager, NCC);

Caroline Wragg (Family Nurse Partnership Manager, Nottingham Citycare);

Selina Thomas (Health Visiting Manager, Nottingham Citycare).

The main points were as follows:

•  the Vulnerable Children and Adults Directorate (formerly the Family Community Teams) aim is to register, reach and achieve a sustained contact of 65% and over to achieve a ‘good’ outcome in Ofsted inspections;

•  2 areas currently needing improvement in the Broxtowe, Aspley and Bilborough Children’s Centre Group are:

o  ‘teenage parents’ (registering, reaching and sustained contact), with the key risks to achieving the over 65% target being the frequent change of contact data and a reluctance by teenagers to engage due to a fear of being judged by the Children Centre;

o  ‘under 5’s in workless area’ (register and reach), similar risks as above, with proposed remedial action of an improved quality of registration data and subsequent contacts to identify learning, training and work support needs at the earliest stage, an increase in adult learning provision in the centres and schools and an improved pathway to training and employment providers already funded to support this target group;

•  West Area currently deliver 26 open access sessions plus support and, when possible, 11 midwife clinics to promote Early Help;

•  Lily and Co Limited Day Nurseries was commissioned by NCC in April 2013 to provide childcare in 3 Children’s Centres in West Area (Minver Crescent, Amesbury Circus and Broxtowe) and, since April 2014, from Aspley Community Centre (formerly ACTC);

•  each Centre provides full day care for children aged 6 months to 5 years and opens 8.00am to 6.00pm 51 weeks a year, only closing for 1 week at Christmas. The main reason for this is to allow working parents and parents accessing further and higher education to leave their children in a welcoming, safe environment where they feel happy and secure, so that the parents can achieve the best possible outcomes in their studies or careers;

•  the Centres also offer places to children who are eligible for the 2 Year Early Learning Programme and those accessing Nursery Education Funding, and they also have 2 full-time equivalent respite places (usually allocated to children who have been referred through Social Care, Health Visitors or the Children’s Centre team;

•  Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is an evidenced based programme, developed in the US over 30 years, which targets teenage parents and shows significant improvement in maternal outcomes in pregnancy, an improved economic sufficiency and greater outcomes in school readiness. The programme also influences short term health outcomes of increased breast feeding rates and a reduction in smoking, together with a spacing of second pregnancies. Longer term outcomes were evidenced, such as reductions in criminal activity;

•  the FNP is one of only two programmes evidenced to be effective in safeguarding children, as cited by The Lancet in 2012;

•  FNP was adopted by the Department of Health in 2007 as an early intervention preventative programme and has been developed to include the delivery of the ‘Healthy Child Programme’. The FNP programme is currently being delivered in over 100 sites in the country and outcome results, from National research, are due to be released in spring 2015;

•  locally, FNP has been provided by Nottingham CityCare across the City for the past 7 years, with over 350 clients completing the programme. Expansion has taken place and now 2 teams of Family Nurses work out of Children’s Centres in Broxtowe and Bestwood;

•  the service is currently offered to 225 women under 19 in their first pregnancy, approximately 40% of the eligible population;

•  a recent Big Lottery award will fund a further 2 Nurses, increasing coverage to 100% in some areas of the city, including West Area, and currently, 26 clients in West Area are participating in the programme;

•  in 2010 the Government set out its vision for the future of health visiting in England, including expanding and modernising the Health Visitor Service by March 2015. In early 2011 this was supported by publication of the ‘Health Visitor Implementation Plan 2011-15 – A Call to Action’, further highlighted as a priority area in the ‘Operating Framework for the NHS in England - 2012/13’;

•  in response, the City’s ‘Health Visiting Implementation Plan’ was created, aimed at transforming the early support offer to families in Nottingham City, and in particular in West Area;

•  as part of the Plan, Nottingham CityCare Partnership (NCP) has a target to expand the number of Health Visitors from a baseline of 69.4 whole time equivalents (WTE) in 2011 to 154.7 by March 2015 (an increase of 123%). When the Plan was created, it was acknowledged that Nottingham had the largest requirement for an increase in workforce throughout the East Midlands region;

•  The NCP includes NHS England, Health Education East Midlands and Higher Education Institutes, all of which thoroughly support the plan for increasing the workforce and modernising the Health Visiting Service delivered to children and families within the City;

•  as at 30 October 2014, there were 99.58 WTE Health Visitors in post against the target of 154.7 and, with further recruitment from the new 2015 graduates, plus any oversupply from neighbouring providers, it is anticipated that there will be an additional 35 Health Visitors working in the City from January 2015. For West Area that will mean approximately an additional 10 newly qualified Health Visitors.

RESOLVED to note the presentations.