(mins.dot)
Minutes of a meeting of the Shipley Area Committee held on Wednesday 18 September 2013 at Kirklands Community Centre, Menston
Commenced 1800 Concluded 1950 PRESENT – Councillors
CONSERVATIVE LABOUR GREEN
Cooke Ross-Shaw Love
Davies Heseltine Shaw Townend Whiteley
Apologies: Councillor Greenwood Councillor Heseltine in the Chair 41. DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST
The following non pecuniary interests were declared in the interest of transparency:
(i) In relation to Minute 46 (Bradford District’s Clinical Commissioning Group) Councillor Cooke disclosed that he was a member of the Bradford and Airedale Health and Wellbeing Board.
(ii) In relation to Minute 48 (Business and Enterprise Support Programme 2011-2014) Councillor Love disclosed an interest as he had sought advice from the service.
(iii) During consideration of the Parks and Green Spaces item (Minute 47) Councillor Heseltine disclosed that he undertook voluntary work at the Prince of Wales Park in Bingley.
ACTION: City Solicitor
42. INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS
There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.
43. PUBLIC QUESTIONS
There were no questions submitted by the public.
44. SCAPAG ISSUES
The Area Co-ordinator informed the Committee that no SCAPAG issues had been received for this meeting.
No resolution was passed on this item.
NO ACTION
45. SCAPAG MEETING NOTES
The Area Co-ordinator presented the notes (Document “W”) of SCAPAG contributions made at the meeting with the Area Committee held on 24 July 2013.
Resolved –
That the notes be received.
NO ACTION
46. BRADFORD DISTRICT’S CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUP (CCG) Previous reference: Minute 107 (2012/2013)
The Strategic Director of Environment and Sport submitted Document “X” which provided Members with an update and feedback on issues raised at the meeting of the Committee on 17 April 2013.
The Locality Development Manager (Bradford District’s CCG) stated that when the issue was previously reported to the Committee, CCGs were in their infancy. Answers to questions raised at the meeting were provided in Appendix 1 of Document “X”.
Following a summary of the report, Members’ welcomed additional funding from Public Health into debt advice services and asked how it would be delivered. Work to eventually eradicate the use of 0844/5 numbers by GP Practices was also welcomed.
In response to Members’ questions, it was reported that:
• Plans relating to how Public Health would deliver debt advice services needed to be addressed to them. The Area Co-ordinator stated that a report was due to be presented to the Committee from Public Health in December 2013.
• Practice-based patient groups were developing and support had been offered to enable them to share best practice and have a stronger voice to influence CCGs.
• Most, but not every, GP Practice had a patient participation group and the numbers on each varied as well as the frequency of their meetings.
• Information was not available to hand about the demographic of the patient participation groups.
• Information would be provided at a future meeting about the number of contacts made with Healthwatch since its establishment and the type of work undertaken by
the CCGs to reduce premature death from cardiovascular disease.
• There were pressures on the Government at a national level to extend GP opening hours.
• Nominations were made by each practice-based patient group for places on the patient group network.
• Joint commissioning arrangements were already in place to provide debt advice services as well as work undertaken in partnership with the Community Legal Advice Service Partnership.
A discussion took place regarding the lack of public knowledge about CCGs and what they did. The Locality Development Manager stated that explanations were provided at community engagement events to raise awareness about CCGs, however, she agreed that more work was required.
A Member raised questions about what role local communities would have in influencing the CCGs commissioning and procurement decision making. He asked whether there was a role for the public to play or whether these decisions would be made by the NHS. In response, the Locality Development Manager stated that this matter was actively being discussed by CCGs and that work undertaken with Members and patient groups would inform commissioning plans for the following year. The process by which CCGs planned and bought services were also being explained to patient groups.
Resolved –
(1) That the Bradford District’s Clinical Commissioning Group be thanked for the report and answers provided to Members questions.
(2) That a report be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee including information about Clinical Commissioning Groups and what they do, in plain English.
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE: Health and Social Care ACTION: Strategic Director, Environment and Sport
47. PARKS AND GREEN SPACES
The Council’s Executive had identified the Parks and Green Spaces Service to report to Area Committees through the devolution agenda.
The Strategic Director of Environment and Sport submitted Document “Z” which outlined the basis on which the Parks and Green Spaces Service operated in the Shipley Area.
The Principal Manager, Parks and Green Spaces, gave a summary of the report and corrected an error in paragraph 4.1.2, which should have stated that there were 19 full time operational staff, not 17.
The Chair requested that financial information be provided to Members on the cost of providing the service and that further information also be provided on the budgets attached to the parks listed in paragraph 2.8 of the report as well as the budgets and Ward locations of the other recreation areas listed in paragraph 2.8.
In response to a Member’s query, the Principal Manager clarified that Greenwood Park on Sandy Lane was not within the Shipley constituency and therefore should not have been listed in paragraph 2.8 of the report.
A discussion took place regarding sponsorships for parks and green spaces. The Principal Manager stated he would pursue this issue.
In response to comments made by Members on the upkeep of snickets it was reported that work previously undertaken by Street Scene was now the responsibility of the Parks department and that although work was undertaken in partnership with Shipley College, due to a lack of resources it was difficult to attend to all snickets.
A Member who was also a Baildon Ward Councillor stated that as Baildon did not have a park, funding from the service should be allocated to Baildon in Bloom, which was currently funded by the Town Council.
In response to a Member’s question about the use of wild flowers and sight lines for road users, the Principal Manager stated that sight lines would be attended to.
A Member spoke about the state of the War Memorial in Cullingworth and asked that partnerships, as well as sponsorships, be looked into as a way of obtaining additional resources to support the upkeep of such sites. He stated that Ward Members would be happy to help develop partnership working with voluntary and ‘friends of’ groups. The Chair added that working together was the way forward and he spoke of the added benefits this had in raising community pride in an area.
In response to a Member’s question, the Principal Manager reported that the Community Payback scheme was still used by the Local Authority but added that the remit of the scheme had recently changed which meant that more supervision was required.
Resolved –
(1) That the contents of Document “Z” be noted.
(2) That the Strategic Director, Environment and Sport be requested to continue to investigate sponsorships and partnerships for parks and green spaces.
(3) That details by Ward of facilities as outlined in paragraph 2.8 of Document “Z”
be provided to a future meeting of the Committee.
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE: Regeneration & Economy ACTION: Strategic Director, Environment and Sport
48. BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE SUPPORT PROGRAMME 2011-2014
The Assistant Director of Regeneration (Economic Development and Property) submitted Document “Y” which provided the Committee with an updated progress report on the Council’s Business and Enterprise support activity across the Shipley Constituency Area.
The Enterprise Delivery Manager provided a summary of the report.
Members’ recognised the importance of the work the programme had delivered within the Shipley constituency and stated it would be useful to see statistics in relation to the delivery of the programme.
The Enterprise Delivery Manager stated that statistics for the work undertaken over the last three year period could be provided and stated that the programme was on target to
help create approximately 500 new jobs, indirectly create 200-300 jobs and help to safeguard approximately 400 jobs which could have been lost without intervention from the programme.
A Member spoke of the need for new business creation to aid economic recovery within the District. He welcomed statistics being provided to the Committee as he wanted to be confident of the programme’s effectiveness. He asked to be provided with the numbers of people the programme had worked with, the number of new businesses created as well as employment creation figures. The Enterprise Delivery Manager stated he was happy to provide this information.
The Chair congratulated the Enterprise Delivery Manager on the success of the programme and echoed the previous Member’s comments about the need to provide statistical information to showcase the benefits the programme had made.
In response to Members’ questions, it was reported that:
• The help offered was re-active and always at the recipients pace.
• The viability of the business was always looked at rather than the number of employees a business had. There were many businesses that did not employ many people but generated a lot of wealth within the community.
• Businesses could seek advice from the programme about the best means of securing appropriate loans, e.g. via government funded schemes.
• The work delivered by the programme was not duplicated by any other organisation.
• The programme was funded from the Council as well as from private sector contributions and European funding. There was decreasing external funding available for the programme and it would be up to the Council to decide if it wished to continue funding the programme.
• The survival rate for new start-up businesses which survived over one year was 85% in the Bradford District, which was higher than the national average.
• A Centre of Excellence for Business had recently been launched at Shipley College at which it was envisaged many schools in the area would sign up to. Work would be undertaken with the College on a regular basis.
• The best way the service was marketed was by word of mouth. Referrals were also received via the Job Centre, via Councillors, the programme’s website, in response to advertisements placed in the local media and by attending business conferences.
The Chair thanked the Enterprise Delivery Manager for the report and asked the Area Co- ordinator to ensure that SCAPAG Members also received the information which Members had requested in relation to the programme.
Resolved –
That the information provided about the Council’s Business and Enterprise Programme within the Shipley Constituency Area be welcomed.
NO ACTION
49. PUBLIC CONVENIENCES - DEVOLUTION
The Strategic Director of Environment and Sport submitted Document “AA” which provided further information with regards to the devolution of public conveniences and included specific budgetary information relating to those toilets within the Shipley Constituency. The report also included information on involving citizens in service delivery
and opportunities and challenges for the service in the future.
The Area Co-ordinator provided a summary of the report and stated that, since the report was written, interest had been withdrawn from the business whose involvement was crucial for the Community Toilet Scheme in Saltaire to progress, as outlined in paragraph 2.6.2 of the report. Interest had been withdrawn by the business due to the lack of interest from other businesses in the area.
The Chair queried the business rates provided in paragraph 2.2.1 of the report for the public toilets based at Bingley Jubilee Gardens as they appeared to be very high in comparison with other areas. The Area Co-ordinator confirmed that the rates were correct.
In response to a Member’s question, the Area Co-ordinator clarified that although the public toilets at Northgate in Baildon were opened and closed by a local shopkeeper on a voluntary basis, they were cleaned once a day, as were all other public toilets in the Constituency, hence the staffing costs of £4,400 attached to them.
A Member stated that years ago Baildon Parish Council used to run a Community Toilet Scheme and although the idea was good there was a need to think about the longevity of such a scheme as buildings could change ownership and opening hours could also change. She stated that a scheme would not be a permanent solution. The Area Co- ordinator alluded to areas where schemes had worked and stated that it was a real possibility that the toilets could be lost due to budget cuts if schemes were not put in place to save the Council from funding them.
In response to a Member’s question, the Area Co-ordinator stated that the Council would save money on supplies and services if the toilets were provided by another organisation, such as a public house. A financial reward of £500 a year for providing the service had been offered to businesses but the offer had not been taken up by any as yet.
Resolved –
That the contents of Document “AA” be noted.
NO ACTION
Chair
Note: These minutes are subject to approval as a correct record at the next meeting of the Committee.
minutes\SAC18Sept
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