Meeting documents

The minutes of the meeting of 6 June 2016 were agreed and signed.

Matters Arising:

• Councillor Mrs Bucknor thanked Councillor Yeulett for asking the questions on her behalf at the last meeting but stated that the question at point 11 had not been answered. Councillor Yeulett stated that there are also some further follow up questions with regards to the brown bins and invited the panel to ask any further questions;


• Councillor Mrs Laws stated that some residents with mobility issues have help from volunteers with their gardens, the people helping with the gardening work are unable to move the waste themselves, should these households be charged for brown bin collections? Richard Cassidy stated that subject to the final decision by members, it was intended that the scheme would be based upon a flat rate charge;


• Councillor Mrs Laws asked if the assisted bin collections will be available for brown bins. Richard Cassidy confirmed that the assisted garden waste bin collection service will continue for those who subscribe to the scheme;


• Councillor Mrs Hay stated that in a sheltered housing property in her area the gardens are the responsibility of Roddons, but a few of the residents actually do the work in the gardens. The brown bin should therefore be the responsibility of Roddons. Richard Cassidy stated that if Roddons are taking a service charge for maintaining the open space then the cost of disposal should be met by them;


• Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that South Cambridgeshire only collect their brown bins monthly during the winter months, and asked if this is something that we have looked into, or have we looked at altering the charges for the winter months. She added that she has not been able to find another local area that charges for this service and is concerned that the people who can least afford it in a deprived area will be expected to pay for this service now. Richard Cassidy stated that the Council has a savings target and members have asked that a charge is considered, around 50% of local authorities in the eastern region now charge for this service now including Peterborough. He stated that with regards to changing the collections for the winter months, the scale of the savings made would be much less than introducing an annual charge. The feedback and discussions with regards to the brown bin collection is that the scheme is well respected and although there is a dip in collected waste in the winter the scheme is still used. The plan is to offer substantially the same scheme that we do now but with a charge;


• Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that Peterborough had a take up of around 18,000 and the cost of the administration was higher than they were expecting, have we looked at this? Richard Cassidy stated that the key to keeping the administrative charges low is to keep the scheme as simple as possible, something like looking at a person's ability to pay will increase the overall cost for everybody;


• Councillor Yeulett stated that the Overview and Scrutiny Panel understand that the CSR is a dynamic programme and we will fit items into our future work programme moving forward. He added that we have asked that Rob Bridge attends a future meeting to update us on the status of the CSR Programme, and this has been agreed;


• Councillor Yeulett agreed to circulate the Future Work Programme to Senior Officers and Cabinet Members;


• Councillor Yeulett stated that a letter had been sent to the Leader on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel with regards to appraisals for Cabinet Members, and confirmed that the appraisals have taken place.

Val Thomas, Consultant in Public Health and Chairman of the Fenland Health and Wellbeing Partnership presented the Fenland Health and Wellbeing Partnership Update.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows:

1. Councillor Yeulett asked, looking at the report and plan how does this address the issues in Fenland and what difference has it made to the people in Fenland. Val Thomas stated that we look at the outcomes of targeted work in this area. The partnership looks closely at the targeted outcomes that can be monitored, but the outcomes are very often long term. An example of this is the issue of childhood obesity, the food project in schools contributes to healthy eating in the home and this is an indicator that it will contribute to the obesity rates in fenland moving forward;


2. Councillor Yeulett asked how the partnership engages people in their projects. Val Thomas stated that you can put in more walk ways and more gyms to encourage people to be more active but you cannot make people use them. The partnership provides the information, skills and motivational training, but engaging people is the hardest challenge, getting people to use the opportunities that are there to improve their health and lifestyle is difficult, but, there are some improvements being made, smoking figures have come down in the past 10 years, this is a marked improvement, and in some schools there are children and families eating more healthily. These changes and improvements are not happening overnight and a strategy has to be in place for many years to make a difference, but improvements are being made. We are looking at helping people to help themselves with programmes such as the Healthy Fenland Fund; this engages communities to think about their own health there is funding available for community projects that seek to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Fenland. Members can have an influence in their own areas by encouraging engagement in these projects;


3. Councillor Mrs Hay asked what work the partnership are doing with regards to social care and NHS working more closely to ensure that bed blocking does not occur. Val Thomas confirmed that this is not a focus for the partnership, we would focus on helping people to be as healthy as possible and support it from that angle;


4. Councillor Buckton asked for clarification with regards to IBA training as detailed in the improvement programme. Val Thomas explained that IBA or Alcohol Identification Brief Advice is to help frontline staff to recognise when they are talking to someone who they recognise as having a problem with alcohol misuse;


5. Councillor Buckton stated that the report referred to staff in Fenland District Council having this training, he asked who has received the training. Val Thomas stated that this training is offered to frontline staff. Richard Cassidy confirmed that the training will be delivered to the Environmental Health Team, Housing Options Team and Street Scene Officers;


6. Councillor Buckton asked how this training enables them to contribute. Val Thomas stated that if they encounter someone that they feel might be misusing alcohol they can raise the issue with them sensitively in a way that encourages them to think about the issues and where they might be able to get support and not to be defensive;


7. Councillor Buckton asked if the partnership is able to capture when this is being used, or if it is successful. Val Thomas stated that it would be difficult to monitor it in this way, the person might go away and think about it for a number of weeks or months, and by the time they decide to seek help from the alcohol services it is difficult to make the link. Richard Cassidy stated that there is a lot going on to raise awareness, it is an on-going process, but overall the incidents of street drinking have reduced;


8. Councillor Buckton asked for clarification with regards to the Workplace Programme for employers, and about the numbers involved in the programme. Val Thomas explained that there are three strands to this with the longest standing being with businesses. A range of interventions offered to work places including work place stress. There are a range of businesses involved, currently 23 businesses with approximately 2,500 staff;


9. Councillor Yeulett asked if businesses are happy to engage. Val Thomas explained that the work is led by BITC (Business in The Community) which is part of the Princes Trust, working to get healthy in the work place, they are skilled but they find it difficult engaging employers;


10. Councillor Buckton asked about the willingness of schools to engage in the projects targeted for them. Val Thomas explained that schools have a lot of competing priorities and we understand that and try not to make the projects too disruptive, we try to make it as easy as we can for schools to participate;


11. Councillor Buckton asked what proportion of the schools in Wisbech are involved. Val Thomas stated we understand that this is where the greatest need is, but there is not a good take-up with schools in that area. Sometimes you do not always go where the greatest need is because of the engagement issues;


12. Councillor Buckton asked about the take-up from schools with regards to the Food for Life Cooking Bus Project. Val Thomas stated that 4 schools signed up, but these included schools outside the Fenland area too. She added that it was difficult to get schools to engage, but when they do, the project works very well;


13. Councillor Buckton stated that sometimes, as good as a project might be, if it is not working you have to decide if you keep pushing it. Val Thomas agreed, she stated that sometimes you have to stop, take a step back and do something else;


14. Councillor Buckton asked about the progress with regards to the Community Sports Activator Fund, which is a significant amount of money. Richard Cassidy stated that we applied for that funding to run the scheme through Sport England, there is 1 full time sports activator, employed through living sport. There have been a range of sports with many attending, in many cases above attendance targets, however not all sports have been so popular and these will be reviewed. He added that you cannot underestimate the amount of marketing that is needed for this kind of project. He agreed to provide more information for members relating to the outcomes for this project through the all members briefings to Council;


15. Councillor Mrs Davis stated that she understood the resistance met from some parents, and referred to a case where a Head Teacher wanted to be involved in a food in school project but needed the support of the parents, which was not forthcoming. Val Thomas stated that any support in the community is helpful, the more that people know about these projects beforehand the better, we have all the material to support them in school but need the support of the communities for it to work;


16. Councillor Mrs Davis asked what the situation is with regards to the possible closure of the local hospitals. Val Thomas stated that the review of the local hospitals is looking at a whole range of factors and how they can be fit for the future. Much of what is going on links into the work of the partnership and when we have updates that link into our work we will explore them. Richard Cassidy stated that this is a huge issue for our communities, the partnership tends to work on preventative issues, but the partnership should lobby on behalf of the communities. Councillor Yeulett asked if Richard Cassidy could take this issue forward to CMT and Cabinet as we are isolated here apart from Doddington Hospital for daily needs, everything else is so far away, we need to have someone from Fenland fighting our corner on this issue;


17. Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that she had helped a neighbour who was due to attend an arthritis clinic to get an appointment as she had been told that the next appointment would be in January 2017. She stated that this is not good enough, something needs to change as people are affected by these issues. Val Thomas agreed to discuss any personal examples following the meeting;


18. Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that these projects are not engaging those that have the greatest need. She added that Waterlees has over 1000 youngsters but we have the worse facilities, is the partnership focussing on the needs? Val Thomas stated that the partnership do look at wide ranging statistics as a lot of the preventative services are commissioned on need, and we focus on those areas;


19. Councillor Mrs Bucknor asked if the Orchards School have been involved in the programmes for schools. Val Thomas checked and stated that they had recently attended their first meeting;


20. Councillor Mrs Davis stated that the first she had heard of the sports project was when 2 table tennis kits arrived at the hall. Nobody at the Parish Council knew about them and the facility had not been advertised, this does not seem to be good use of these resources. Richard Cassidy stated that one of the lessons learned is that there has not been enough advertising, and we know that we need to be communicating better with the communities. Councillor Mrs Davis stated that if town and parish halls are going to be used as venues talk to the councillors as they will know who to target in the community. Councillor Mrs Bucknor agreed, she suggested that Councillors should be emailed posters and advertising for these activities as we will know where to put the posters for them to be seen by the right people. Richard Cassidy agreed and stated that a downside of this project not being directly managed by FDC staff is that the coordinators do not understand the importance and value of local councillors knowledge of their community;


21. Councillor Mrs Hay stated that with regards to the General Lifestyle focus in the improvement programme there are no recorded outcomes or progress. Val Thomas confirmed that the progress is recorded in appendix 2 - Update on Actions. Councillor Mrs Hay suggested that in future it would be useful to refer to the page;


22. Councillor Yeulett stated that we have looked at and discussed many of the strategic priorities today, he asked for a brief update on Mental Health and Sexual Health. Val Thomas stated that mental health is incredibly topical at the moment. As a partnership we are trying to get to grips with this, the report refers to the training that has been put into this area. Training was offered for schools with regards to mental health issues for young people and there is other work planned. Training was offered in the workplace to help to identify mental health issues for adults, and to identify dementia in older members of the community. This is a topic that is quickly moving up the agenda. She added that with regards to sexual health we are looking to get services into Fenland, there is a new sexual health clinic in Wisbech, it has been hard to extend the services as we were looking at comprehensive cuts to the public health grant;


23. Councillor Mrs Mayor asked about the services for Whittlesey. Val Thomas stated that people tend to gravitate to Peterborough from Whittlesey and this has been their preference, we look carefully at how we target our services, and looking at the consultation responses that was the feedback we received. Councillor Mrs Mayor stated that something closer is needed for Whittlesey as the bus service to Peterborough is not good. Councillor Mrs Laws agreed stating that people often associate Whittlesey with Peterborough, but Whittlesey has transport needs;


24. Councillor Yeulett stated that during the pre-meeting the panel discussed the number of acronyms used in the report and asked if in future an explanation of these could be included. Val Thomas apologised stating that this is used as an internal document with people from a health background and agreed included something in the future;


25. Councillor Mrs Bucknor asked with regards to the work based programme, was any funding coming from Europe as the report refers to Fenland waiting until the Referendum was over. Val Thomas stated that this was a specific piece of work with employees, the works takes some time and we were anticipating that staff would be busy until after the election;


26. Councillor Yeulett stated that members are very aware of the financial difficulties and have been working on the Comprehensive Spending Review, we have less money to spend and we all want more for our money. We are all guilty of looking for short term gains and not looking for the long term outcomes and sometimes we have to take a step back and look at the long term outcomes. We recognise that engagement is an issue that runs through everything that the partnership is doing and that we might be able to help with this in our own communities by raising awareness.

Councillor Yeulett thanked Val Thomas for attending the meeting today and thanked members for their comments and questions.

(Councillor Yeulett declared a non-pecuniary interest in this item by virtue of the fact that he is a substitute member of the Health and Wellbeing Board at Cambridgeshire County Council)

Members considered the Progress in Delivering the Communities Corporate Objectives 2015-16 Report presented to them by Councillor Tanfield via Skype.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows:

1. Councillor Yeulett stated that Golden Age Fairs and Youth District Council (YDC) have both been identified in the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR); he asked what the alternatives are for these projects if the funding is reduced or withdrawn. Councillor Tanfield stated that Councillor Cornwell would be able to update members following the meeting with regards to Golden Age but with regards to YDC we are looking to attend a meeting with the British Youth Council who might be able to help with advice, funding or officer time. The Head Teacher at Wisbech Grammar is keen that the YDC continues and is happy to be involved moving forward. We are looking to meet with each of the schools to see if they might be able to help with transport and meeting venues, we are also contacting the Police and Crime Commissioner to see if this is something that they might help with;


2. Councillor Yeulett stated for clarification you are still formulating your plans moving forward. Councillor Tanfield stated that we will spend a few more months looking at alternative arrangements, and although we cannot guarantee that this will come to fruition we are trying everything;


3. Councillor Yeulett asked if Corporate Sponsorship has been considered. Councillor Tanfield agreed to investigate this further;


4. Councillor Mrs Bucknor asked when the meeting with the British Youth Council was scheduled for. Councillor Tanfield confirmed that the meeting was scheduled for late August;


5. Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that the YDC meetings have been very March based and suggested that these should be moved around the district. She asked if there is representation from all schools. Councillor Tanfield stated that all of the schools now have representatives at the meetings, she explained that Thomas Clarkson were not attending for a while but are involved again now. She stated that meetings at Fenland Hall do not have an additional cost attached, previously, meetings have taken place in various locations including the schools, but many of the schools have been busy with exams and have not been able to accommodate;


6. Councillor Yeulett stated that looking at the report performance is varied with regards to leisure. Councillor Tanfield confirmed that there has been a slight drop off, we lost approximately 20% to the Tesco Gym, she added that the new media company will be targeting this area;


7. Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that if you just want to swim it is a challenge to go online and find that information from the timetable, it is very confusing. Councillor Tanfield stated that there are new timetables coming out very soon with more time for casual swimming, she agreed to discuss this further with Phil Hughes before they are published, noting that this could be why there has been a drop off and that it is important to look at this issue to make it clearer for customers;


8. Councillor Mrs Laws agreed stated that we need to look at these timetables as a matter of urgency as it might be putting people off. Councillor Yeulett agreed stating that it needs to be user friendly. Councillor Tanfield agreed;


9. Councillor Yeulett asked for clarification with regards to £823,000 investment in leisure centres. Councillor Tanfield stated that we need to make the leisure centres as efficient and effective as possible. We need to look at the lighting and the heating systems. Currently we heat the pools constantly as the equipment is old and that is the only way it can be operated, new equipment can be adjusted and will heat the pools just when they will be in use. Changing electrical systems and lights will also improve the efficiency. Councillor Seaton confirmed that these improvements and reducing energy costs are financially beneficial to the council;


10. Councillor Mrs Bucknor asked if these improvements are to make the leisure centres more attractive for businesses to come in or with a view to selling them off. Councillor Tanfield stated that whether we are looking to go to a trust or for a private company to come in to help to run the leisure centres we need to be the best that we can possibly be;


11. Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that it sounds that like you are making the leisure centres more attractive with a view to selling. Councillor Tanfield stated that the leisure options will be for members to decide in the next few months as part of the CSR, but this work will benefit the council in the long run. Councillor Seaton confirmed that it is not about selling but about the management or running of the leisure centres. Richard Cassidy stated that we want to engage with members of the overview and Scrutiny Panel and have a meeting scheduled to 'Overview' the leisure options as part of the CSR.


12. Councillor Yeulett thanked Councillor Tanfield for taking part in today's meeting with regards to Leisure via Skype.


13. Councillor Mrs Hay asked how the assisted bin collection is promoted. Richard Cassidy confirmed that there is information about this on the website, he added that we have been looking at the people that make use of this service of which only 18% are known to social care and social services and so there is a clear miss-match there which needs further investigation;


14. Councillor Mrs Hay stated that she had looked for the information on the website and had eventually found it, but added that it was not easy. She stated that people do not know that this service is available. Richard Cassidy confirmed that assisted bin collection is a service that is offered, we always ask if the customer has somebody that could help them first, a neighbour or a friend or family member as many have someone that can help;


15. Councillor Mrs Hay asked if the assisted bin collections will still be available if customers opt to pay for brown bin collection. Richard Cassidy confirmed that an assisted garden waste bin collection will still be available for those who take up the service;


16. Councillor Mrs Hay asked for clarification with regards to the rogue landlord funding how many properties does the data in the report represent. Richard Cassidy confirmed that the data refers to 256 properties;


17. Councillor Mrs Hay asked what measures are in place or what services are being offered by the multi-disciplinary teams to prevent unnecessary hospital stays and bed blocking. Richard Cassidy stated that this is about people who are in crisis need and who need multi-agency support, it is not just bed blocking. Fenland's contribution is mainly through helping to provide a more preventative focus, services such as housing adaptations grant work and our handy person service can go a long way to help keep someone in their own home. There is slow progress moving the multi-disciplinary teams into this kind of work, as most resources go to people in the last 2 or 3 years of their lives;


18. Councillor Mrs Hay referred to sheltered housing accommodation that once had a full time warden. Richard Cassidy stated that reductions in on-site wardens is probably due to finding a more cost effective way of supporting residents within available resources;


19. Councillor Mrs Hay referred to local sheltered housing accommodation near to her, she stated that the residents say that the warden comes in for an hour or two every week and spends that time on the computer in the office. She added that we are letting these people down and they are the most vulnerable. Richard Cassidy stated that we have regular meetings with Circle Roddons and can raise any specific issues with them on a case by case basis;


20. Councillor Mrs Hay referred to an issue where a local sheltered housing accommodation was without hot water and heating for 8 weeks due to legionnaires. Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that she had raised this issue at the board meeting and was assured that they were looking into the water issues, and they are now looking at changing the heating systems. She added that it is very worrying that they are still testing every day for legionnaires;


21. Councillor Yeulett stated that ARP seems to be moving forward well. Councillor Seaton stated that this has been a very successful partnership, the figures show all the targets are being met especially the bailiff system which is being used as a trading opportunity too. There are 2 other councils which are looking to employ ARP for revenues and benefits enforcement so all looking very positive. There are further service opportunities that could arise from ARP through its trading arm. He added that the future is bright and what has been achieved so far is extremely positive;


22. Councillor Yeulett asked for clarification with regards to Golden Age attendance figures which look promising, but some people who were there say it was not so well attended. Richard Cassidy stated that we count the people into the venue and this is how the attendance numbers are recorded. He stated that the view of the team is that with regards to the regular events the numbers were beginning to drop. The last event was at a bigger venue with lots of stalls, it was well advertised and well attended. The group are thinking about promoting what older people can give back to the community and are looking at volunteering opportunities moving forward;


23. Councillor Mrs Mayor stated that she was at the last fair, she said there were lots of stalls there, but people were commenting that there not many visitors. Councillor Mrs Davis stated that there were more people in attendance, but the numbers had dropped before;


24. Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that with regards to free school meal data the report says that testing of the software is currently underway. She added that the report said the same last year and that this is not good enough, she understands the confidentiality with regards to this matter but stated that schools and young people in Fenland are missing out on funding. Richard Cassidy stated that the district council do not provide free school meals but want families to apply for the good of the community. He agreed to look into the detail;


25. Councillor Mrs Bucknor stated that she has read through a lot of deprivation statistics and this is a serious matter, children not reaching attainment increases as deprivation increases. She added that statistics with regards to children living in difficult circumstances and with parents who abuse drugs or alcohol are issues that are just getting buried in data, and asked how we can take this forward. Councillor Yeulett stated that Val Thomas made reference to the joint strategic needs assessment and there is reference to it in the devolution agreement, but is it high enough on our agenda?  Richard Cassidy stated that education attainment is something that affects Fenland, we are not the education authority but as a district council we want to see improvements, Wisbech 2020 picks up on many of these issues and we will continue to support partners to deliver change;


26. Councillor Yeulett asked for clarification with regards to the issues raised from serious case reviews. Councillor Mrs Mayor stated that she had previously been involved in serious case reviews and it looks as though they are still having the same problems now that they had 7 or 8 years ago. Problems with the recording systems and systems that are still unable to talk to one and other. Councillor Yeulett stated that we need more joined up thinking and joined up working. Councillor Seaton stated that he has been listening to the concerns raised by the panel today and will ensure that Cabinet members are aware of these concerns. Richard Cassidy stated that the section members are referring to comes under partnership working, we do not lead on these issues but want to support the work that the partnership is doing, our main contribution is supporting the 'Think Family' initiative. We have  set up an internal project group to support the 'think family' work and will be training frontline staff to understand what risk signs they should be looking for and referring these people through to the appropriate teams. Councillor Yeulett stated that we have an obligation to look at everything that affects our residents and communities across the board and to look at how we can contribute to these initiatives even if we are not the lead authority.

Councillor Yeulett thanked Councillor Seaton and Richard Cassidy for attending the meeting today.

Members considered the Future Work Programme 2016/17 for the Overview and Scrutiny Panel making the following comments;

1. An additional meeting has been scheduled to take place in August for the Leisure Options Overview Item and the FDC Asset Management Plan.

Members agreed the Future Work Programme 2016/17 for the Overview and Scrutiny Panel subject to the comments above.