Solihull Council

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Solihull Partnership Governing Board Minutes

Date:
Thursday, 22nd July, 2010
Time:
10.00 a.m.
Place:
Room 4 Civic Suite
 
Item Description Decision
Public
220710 Minutes
Preamble
ACTIONS:

•Melanie to draw up the list of partnership meetings eligible for access through the car park barrier and to circulate to all Board members.

• Councillor Hedley, Phil Mayhew and Anne Brereton to get together to discuss progressing the MyPlace project. (Phil Mayhew to follow up)
220711 Taser Training Demonstration
Preamble
ACTIONS:

• Partners to contact Carl Foulkes if they know of any groups who would like to see the Taser Training demonstration.

• Melanie Lockey to speak to Owen McFarlane about linking up the hard to reach groups in Solihull with WM Police to receive the Taser Training.

• Jane Connelly to contact Carl Foulkes about linking up offending groups to receive the Taser Training.
220712 Homelessness Services Commissioning Review
Preamble
ACTIONS:

• John Pitcher to send Hannah Colson the Homelessness Strategy to circulate to Governing Board members.

• Sarah Barnes, John Pitcher, George Daley and Melanie Lockey to get together and scope out the project.
220713 Neighbourhoods Project Stock-take
Preamble
• The Governing Board noted the work undertaken through the Neighbourhood's Project and approved the formal close of the Neighbourhood's Project and the disbandment of the Neighbourhoods Project Board.

• The Governing Board approved for the Stronger Communities Strategic Group to take forward the on-going monitoring and development of the framework for community engagement and involvement in decision making.

ACTIONS:

• Mark Rogers, Carl Foulkes and Melanie Lockey to meet up and agree who the Project Sponsor will be and identify the Terms of Reference for the Challenging Families Project Board.

• Board members to go back to their organisations and nominate a lead from their organisation to sit on the Challenging Families Project Board and provide Melanie Lockey with their contact details.

• Communications teams from across partner agencies to get together to ensure there is no duplication of work and to plan communications for the future through working together rather than as separate agencies.
220714 Solihull Coalition Agreement
Preamble
ACTIONS:

• Board members to contact Councillor Hedley if they would like to discuss the Coalition Agreement in more detail.
220715 Sustainable Community Strategy Refresh Project Overview
Preamble
ACTIONS:

• Melanie Lockey to change the Voluntary Sector Organisations power in section 6.1 of the Appendix to read "involvement in shaping priorities"

• Subject to the above change, the Governing Board agreed the project overview for the refresh of the SCS.

• Jane Connelly to circulate her organisation's priorities to all Governing Board members.

• All partners to provide Melanie Lockey with their current organisation priorities.

• All partners to provide Melanie Lockey with their thoughts on the prioritisation process for the refresh of the SCS.

• Melanie Lockey to compile a list of prioritisation process's once gathered from members, and circulate round the Governing Board.

• Hannah Colson to add the refresh of the SCS as a standing item on the Governing Board forward plan for the next three scheduled meetings.
220716 Partnership Finance Update
Preamble
ACTIONS:

• Partnership Finance up date to be added to the forward plan as a standing item for the foreseeable future.
220717 Any Other Business
Preamble
220718 Forward Plan
 • Refresh of the SCS to be added to the forward plan as a standing item until further notice.

• Partnership Finance up date also to be added to the forward plan as a standing item until further notice.

• Sarah Barnes to return to the next Governing Board on 19th August with the amended version of the "Community Involvement Standards"

• Carl Foulkes to present an item at the next Governing Board on 19th August regarding the outcomes from the "Feel the Difference" survey.

• Jane Connelly to provide the Governing Board with a report on the development of the "Reduction of Re-offending strategy" at the meeting on 7th October.

• All partners who have taken on a FJF (Future Jobs Fund) employee to provide the Governing Board with a report at the meeting on 7th October regarding future employment opportunities following their initial 6 months contract.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING -19 August 2010, 10am, Committee Room 1

Preamble

ItemPreamble
220710Board agreed the minutes from the 27 May as an accurate record of the meeting.

Melanie Lockey informed the Board since the last Governing Board Meeting there has been a change in council appointment to the Stronger Communities Strategic Group with Councillor Hedley now the Elected Member representative.

Melanie Lockey explained to the Board she will be identifying a list of Partnership Meetings with Mark Rogers that are eligible for access through the barrier, as parking is limited at the Council for visitors.

The MyPlace Centre project was approved at the Planning Committee on the 16th June 2010. It was noted the project is still at risk due to potential conflicts of business interest with Parkwood Leisure.

Councillor Hedley advised the Board, Solihull were successful in securing funding for the FJF (Future Jobs Fund) project before the Government abolished the scheme and therefore still have FJF places available for partner organisations.

The Children & Young People's Plan is going to Full Cabinet on 22nd July for approval.
220711Carl Hallbrook provided the Governing Board with a short presentation on the background to Taser and how it works.

Taser has now been deployed over the whole of the West Midlands region which has been running since January 2009; Solihull was the last area to receive it. Police Officers are trained in tactical communication as part of the deployment of Taser.

The Taser gun has been designed to make a record every time the gun is utilised by specially trained officers, this will help the police to monitor the usage of Taser. Police officers must provide justification for every record of use.

The WM Police are looking into sustainability options available for the battery of the Taser gun.
220712David Mattocks declared an interest in the Housing Association.

John Pitcher provided the Board with a brief overview of the reasons for the Homelessness Services Commissioning Review, as stated in the covering report.

It was noted Sarah Barnes will be the project manager for the commissioning review.

Phil Mayhew noted to the Board it is essential for the current service to have a thorough review using the Common Commissioning Framework.

Phil Mayhew also stressed the importance of ensuring significant engagement with the Third sector and Citizens Advice Bureaus forms part of the review.

Councillor Hedley raised concerns regarding the current timescale of the review and asked for the project to get moving as soon as possible.

Phil Mayhew asked the Board to ensure the Third sector are given sufficient time to respond to the review.
220713It was noted the work on service integration is being taken forward through the Challenging Families, Anti-Social Behaviour and Total Capital Projects.

The Challenging Families project is currently awaiting funding from the RIEP (Regional Improvement and Efficiencies Programme) to provide Project Management support and facilitate the customer journey mapping. In the interim period Sarah Barnes is acting as Project Manager.

Carl Foulkes offered up his Quality Services Director to sit on the Project Board for Challenging Families.

David Mattocks volunteered to represent the Third Sector on the Challenging Families Project Board.

Alan Pellowe, offered Graham Perkins-Arson Specialist (WM Fire Service) to sit on the Challenging Families Project Board.
220714Councillor Hedley provided the Governing Board with the key issues highlighted within the Coalition Agreement, including: -

o The importance of Community Engagement (including the hard to reach groups, the homeless and people who migrate into Solihull for employment)

o Council Finances - The need to ensure we are pulling all our resources together to ensure we work smarter and more efficient during these difficult financial times.

o Housing - The need to address the shortage of affordable housing across the Borough.

o Adult Social Care - supporting the review being carried out into the provision and funding of Adult Social Care in partnership with the Care Trust

o Partnership Working - Solihull Partnership to work closer with Elected Members and Scrutiny.

Jane Connelly commented on the need for Public Transport in Solihull to be a key priority as this has been raised as an issue at the recent Partnership Forum meetings.

Councillor Hedley requested that Officer's focus on the time spent on projects so items can be moved on more promptly.

Phil Mayhew, commented to the Board, the current economic climate, is an opportunity for a whole system re-design at a multi-agency level.
220715Phil Mayhew would like the refreshed SCS (Sustainable Communities Strategy) to be more specific about the outcomes and therefore include within it, what the differences in Solihull will be in 3/4/5 years time.

Phil Mayhew noted as part of the refresh process, the original list of priorities needs to be reviewed.

The Governing Board agreed for the Voluntary & Community sector, the Partnership Forums and all partner agencies to be involved in the engagement strategy for the refresh of the SCS.
220716The report provides a summary of the key financial impacts facing the Solihull Partnership since the £6.2bn of savings was announced by Central Government on June 10th.

Section 1.2.3 of the covering report highlights where the suggested cuts in Solihull may be made, however it was noted it is up to the Local Authority to make the final decisions on where to make the savings.

Section 1.2.5 of the covering report provides the Governing Board with an update since the last meeting on the LAA Reward monies. It has now been confirmed Solihull will receive 50% of the total entitlement of LAA Reward monies, all of which will be received within this financial year.

It was noted the Government indicated that the most significant cuts to ABG are to be made from the Children & Young People's area; however the un-ring fenced nature of ABG means that this is at local discretion.

David Mattocks asked the Board to acknowledge the removal of the Supporting People Admin Grant, is not solely a Care Trust responsibility but also the Local Authorities.

Melanie Lockey stressed to the Board, the importance of time pressure on the spending cuts, particularly as they need to be made in year. The sooner the savings are made the lesser the impact will be.

The Board also noted the importance of planning in every aspect of Partnership work, as there are likely to be more ABG cuts ahead.
220717There were no items of any other business to discuss.
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
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