Agenda and minutes


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Venue: Reception Room, Barnsley Town Hall

Contact: Peter Mirfin  Council Governance Officer

Items
No. Item

30.

Declaration of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Minutes:

Councillor Williams declared a non-pecuniary interest in minute number 33 in relation to his membership of the YMCA.

31.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting of Central Area Council held on 8th January, 2018 (Cen.12.03.2018/2) pdf icon PDF 84 KB

Minutes:

The minutes from the previous meeting of Central Area Council held on 8th January, 2018 were received.

 

Members heard how a very productive workshop had been held to consider the issue of flytipping, where a number of ideas had been discussed.  It was noted that this was scheduled for consideration at the next meeting of the Area Council.

 

Those present were reminded of the celebration event arranged for 15th March, 2018 and it was noted that 230 people had confirmed their attendance.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Central Area Council held on 8th January, 2018 be approved as a true and correct record.

32.

Procurement and financial update (Cen.12.03.2018/3) pdf icon PDF 494 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The item was briefly introduced by the Chair, before handing to Graham Harris to provide an update on the work of Royal Voluntary Service (RVS).  A number of key achievements over the past 6 months were mentioned: 245 service users had engaged with the service; 1,180 home visits had taken place and 160 befriending calls had been made.  Over 200 transport solutions had been arranged, and 84 people had been introduced to using new technology.  Members heard how 19 new volunteers had been engaged, and 4 more were part way through the volunteer recruitment and induction process.

 

Within the first 6 months of the contract, 10 users aged 50-60 had been engaged, though this was expected to increase as awareness of the ability of the contractor to engage with this age group improved.

 

Of the 245 users engaged, 37 were aged 61-70 and 198 were aged over 70.  Users were primarily women.  It was noted that 30 referrals had been made through My Best Life.  The Christmas party held at Priory Campus had been a great success, with 56 hampers distributed and 86 people attending.   Members also heard that a steering group had been convened, with representatives from the Council, My Best Life, volunteers, and service users.

 

A number of case studies were referred to. These highlighted the demand for the service, the varied support given and the impact on the service users. Members praised the project and the support given to individuals.  It was agreed that the Area Council Manager circulates statistics related to the service broken down by ward.

 

A question was raised as to whether RVS had established any new groups.  It was noted that RVS would try to refer to existing groups where possible to ensure their sustainability, but would help to establish new ones if the need arose.

 

The meeting then discussed the contract with RVS and were supportive of its extension for a further year.

 

The Area Council Manager then spoke to the report previously circulated.  The attention of Members was drawn to the table which gave details of the current situation of every contract.

 

Members were reminded of their previous decision to extend the contract with Twiggs Grounds Maintenance for a further 6 months, pending the outcome of the review of Neighbourhood Services within the Council.  Since this decision, it had become apparent that this would now not be long enough, and therefore it was recommended that this be extended for a further 3 months.

 

Members were reminded of the previous decision to extend the service level agreement (SLA) to provide enforcement and support, focused on private sector housing in the area.  As officers had moved to take up permanent roles within the Council’s core service, the extension would no longer be deliverable.    It was noted any existing open cases would be dealt with by the core team.

 

The Central Area Council Manager drew attention to a proposal for a revised SLA with the Safer Neighbourhood Service to provide support and enforcement within  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

33.

Performance Management Report (Cen.12.03.2018/4) pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Area Council Manager presented a performance management report for quarter 3 of 2017/18. 

 

The attention of Members was drawn to Part A of the report, which provided an overview of the impact of all contracted services since April 2017.

 

The Area Council Manager then provided a brief update on each of the commissioned services, as detailed in Part B of the report.

 

With regards to YMCA, 119 sessions had been delivered, with 31 new young people engaged, and 1700 attendances overall.  There had been 1 new adult and 12 new young people volunteering within the quarter.  It was noted that information relating to age, disability and ethnicity was contained within the report, but caution was expressed regarding its accuracy as people did not always identify themselves within certain categories such as disabled.  In addition it was also noted that baseline information was being collected by the service to help evidence the distance travelled by participants.

 

Attention was drawn to the information relating to the contract with Kingdom Security.   Members noted that 152 Fixed Penalty Notices had been issued within the quarter; 146 for littering and 6 for dog fouling.  Those present heard of the targeted dog fouling operations conducted around Gordon Street and Worsbrough Mill, and the ‘Bin it to Win it’ campaign.

 

Members heard of the contract with Twiggs and their discussions with Voluntary Action Barnsley to enhance opportunities for volunteering.  Also noted was the added value work of the team, with approximately 145 additional pieces of work undertaken.  Members noted that 10 social action projects had been led by Twiggs, with 31 new adult, and 13 new young people volunteering.

 

As part of the delivery of the Private Sector Housing SLA 192 properties were visited within the quarter, with approximately 2,400 visited since the inception of the project.  Members acknowledged the wide range of issues assisted with through the case studies provided.

 

With regards to the Private Sector Housing Home Visiting Service, 10 new referrals had been received, with all having received an initial visit.  2 new adult volunteers had been engaged with 5 more having recently completed their training.  The Little Monkeys group continued to work well, and additional external funds had been received in order to provide activity packs, which also contained details of other support services, at Christmas.

 

The Youth Resilience Fund projects continued to perform satisfactorily, with only amber ratings relating to Exodus due to low numbers of young volunteers.  However this was likely to be rectified in future quarters.  Members noted that numbers often reduced in winter months, especially with detached youth work, due to the weather.

 

Some concerns were raised around the additionality of the investment from the Area Council, and the difficulties in showing direct correlation between investment and outputs/outcomes at times were noted.

 

Members heard how the Christmas fayre organised by The Youth Association was very well received, and how the YMCA had been successful in accessing external funds to carry on the work in the Dodworth ward  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

34.

Notes of the Ward Alliances (Cen.12.03.2018/5) pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Central – held on 24th January, 2018

Dodworth – held on 21st November, 2017 and 23rd January, 2018

Kingstone – held on 10th January, and 21st February, 2018

Stairfoot – held on 11th December, 2017, 8th January, 2018, and 12th February, 2018

Worsbrough – held on 7th December, 2017 and 24th January, 2018

 

Minutes:

The meeting received the notes of the meetings of the following Ward Alliances within the Central Area: Central Ward Alliance, held on 24th January, 2018; Dodworth Ward Alliance, held on 21st November, 2017 and 23rd January, 2018; Kingstone Ward Alliance, held on 10th January, and 21st February, 2018; Stairfoot Ward Alliance, held on 11th December, 2017, 8th January, 2018 and 12th February, 2018; and Worsbrough Ward Alliance held on 7th December, 2017 and 24th January, 2018.

 

With regards to recent discussion at the Dodworth Ward Alliance, Councillor P. Birkinshaw asked whether an update could be provided on the Principal Towns Programme.  The Chair and Area Council Manager agreed to make enquiries about this.

 

Councillor Clarke praised the work of the Community Development Officer for their support of the Worsbrough Ward Alliance, which had recently recruited a number of new members.

 

Members heard how a Health Event organised by the Kingstone Ward Alliance had been postponed until 9th June, 2018 and would be focused on families.  Members were encouraged to forward the details of any groups potentially interested in taking part to Councillor Williams.

 

Councillor Johnson praised the work of over 45 volunteers, and a number of agencies, taking part in the Great British Clean Up event in the Stairfoot Ward, where over 60 bags of rubbish had been collected.

 

Members were made aware of the success of the Christmas event in the Dodworth Ward, which was so well received that those involved were already asking for the diary date for the event this year.  Praise was given to the Ward Alliance and the businesses involved.

 

RESOLVED that the notes and feedback from the Ward Alliances be received.

35.

Report on the Use of Ward Alliance Funds (Cen.12.03.2018/6) pdf icon PDF 97 KB

Minutes:

The item was introduced by the Area Council Manager.  It was noted that, at the time of publishing the report, the following amounts remained for allocation from each of the Ward Alliance Funds:-

Central Ward Alliance Fund - £1,517.32

Dodworth Ward Alliance Fund - £1,588.30

Kingstone Ward Alliance Fund - £4,877.22

Stairfoot Ward Alliance Fund - £5,472.96

Worsbrough Ward Alliance Fund - £9,785.00

 

It was noted that most Ward Alliances had been notified of potential applications which were likely to utilise the majority of the finance remaining before the end of the financial year.

 

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

 

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