Agenda item

The Area Council Manager introduced the item referring to the workshop that been held recently.

The workshop had considered a suite of information including the outcomes from the Community Listening Exercise and whether this information mirrored the priorities of the Area Council.  Members were reminded that the Environmental Priority had been considered and agreed in November 2021, and the priority to reduce Social Isolation and Loneliness had been agreed in 2020 with associated funding allocated for three years.

Members concluded that the Area Council priorities remained valid and were broad enough to capture most future issues.

The attention of Members was drawn to the workshop discussions on devolving finance to the Ward Alliances in the area.  The report provided a number of options, with the recommended option to devolve £5,000 to each Ward Alliance.  Members discussed the various options, including a suggestion to pause consideration of the issue until the amount of Ward Alliance Funds remaining was considerably lower, and that perhaps finance could be better utilised at an Area Council geography. The majority of Members supported the recommendation within the report.

It was noted that youth work provision, delivered across the five wards of the Central Area by YMCA and The Youth Association, was due to conclude at the end of June.  The recent workshop had discussed this and it was noted that the Community Listening exercise had highlighted this as a priority.  It was therefore recommended to develop a Youth Work Grant Fund at a cost of £65,000 per year for two years, and that young people take part in co-production of the service.

With regards to the Supporting Vulnerable People priority, it was noted that the contract with Citizen’s Advice Bureau to provide information and advice services was due to end on 30^th June, 2022.  Members were reminded that a review of advice services was underway, with the outcome of this expected near the end of the financial year.  In order to ensure continuity for residents, it was recommended that the service provided by CAB be extended for three months.  In addition, it was recommended that a grant fund for services to support vulnerable people be established with a budget of £20,000 per year for two years.   As funding for this priority was lower than others, it was suggested that the Area Team would look to supplement this, where possible, with grant funding from external sources.

Members were reminded of the Youth Work Training Fund, approved by the Area Council in 2019 but paused due to the pandemic.  It had been proposed that The Youth Association, in partnership with YMCA, would provide one-to-one support and accredited youth work training.  Initially £28,000 had been ringfenced for this purpose.

In order gauge appetite for the proposal in the current climate, a workshop had been held, which was an astounding success. An initial cohort of 12 had been identified, and it was suggested that a further cohort would take part in the programme in the autumn.  This would be open to all over the age of 18, and it was proposed that the second cohort be recruited through community networks.

Once participants had undertaken training and completed the programme it was envisaged that they would work with Community Development Officers and the Ward Alliance to develop youth work activities.

Members noted the current financial position, including the reduction in finance carried forward each year.  It was agreed that this was positive, with finance being utilised effectively against the priorities of the Area Council.

RESOLVED:-

(i)            that the Central Area Council priorities for the years 2022-24 as detailed in 4.2 of the report be approved;

(ii)          that the overview of all current contracts, contract extensions, Service Level Agreements, and Well-being Fund projects, with associated timescales be noted;

(iii)         that approval be given to devolve £5,000 per ward (total £25,000) from the main budget into each respective Ward Alliance Budget to be distributed through existing mechanisms;

(iv)         that the budget for the Youth Work priority be approved at a cost of £65,000 per year for two years;

(v)          that the service provided by CAB be extended for three months from 1^st April to 30^th June, 2022 at a cost of £10,000;

(vi)         that the budget for a grant fund to support vulnerable people be approved at a cost of £20,000 per year for two years;

(vii)        that the ringfenced funding to progress the Youth Work Training partnership project between The Youth Association and YMCA be released at a total cost of £28,000 (£18,000 in the financial year 2021/22 and £10,000 in the financial year 2022/23);

(viii)       that the actual financial position to date for 2021/22 and the projected expenditure, including future proposals, to 2023/24 as outline in appendices 1 and 2 of the report, be noted.