Agenda item

(To receive a report from Lee Sirdifield, Assistant Director – Corporate, which invites the Committee to consider and comment on the Community Strategy, prior to a decision being taken by the Executive on 7 September 2021)

The Chairman advised that this item invited the Committee to consider and comment on the Stronger Communities: Lincolnshire's Community Strategy, prior to a decision being taken by the Executive on 7 September 2021.

The Chairman invited Lee Sirdifield, Assistant Director Corporate, to remotely present the item to the Committee. 

The Committee noted that the Strategy enabled the Council to build on work that had taken place over recent years and enhanced the level of independence and cross-organisation working within the County.

In guiding the Committee through the report, reference was made to: the background behind the Strategy; the Themes and Objectives of the Strategy; Community Networks; Volunteering; Funding for Communities; Tools and Data; and Consultation and Engagement.

The following Appendices were attached to the report for the Committee to consider:

·       Appendix A – a copy of the Draft Community Strategy;

·       Appendix B – a copy of the Draft Community Strategy Action Plan;

·       Appendix C – Engagement report; and

·       Appendix D – a copy of the Equality Impact Assessment.

During consideration of the report, members of the Committee made the following comments:-

·      Concerns were raised in relation to lack of responses (39 in total) and that it appeared that the community had not been fully engaged in the development of the Community Strategy.  It was acknowledged that there had been a lack of response, but there had been on-going additional engagement activity with voluntary groups, representative bodies, and organisations as part of the strategy development prior to the formal engagement commencing.  The need for obtaining more representative views in future activity was acknowledged and that this was part of the Strategy.  Limitations and constrains included: that the activity took place over a three-week period and whilst restrictions were in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic; and the pandemic-imposed restrictions forced all engagement activity to take place online, which had an impact on demand and response levels.  Despite alternative means for completing the survey being offered, the responses received were only submitted electronically.  The Strategy aimed at building a greater level of awareness of networks in communities, promoting more activity and participation and identifying ways of being more proactive including collaboration with other organisations and groups to achieve wider participation and access to resources;

·      The use of case studies as examples would be more appropriate to showcase to participants how topics related to their communities. Assurance was provided that the Strategy would look at a wide range of engagement methods to allow for more interactive surveys and consultations to be carried out in the future including different models of scenarios to be provided to participants;

·      Concerns were raised about particularly challenging areas in the County that had few voluntary community groups who received very limited support.  In relation to how Lincolnshire County Council engaged with these areas and whether these challenges would be reflected in the Strategy, it was confirmed that the Strategy aimed to identify needs that were not being met across the County and needed addressing.  Work would then be done within these areas highlighted to ensure that any gaps in provision were bridged and that community needs were met, especially in areas where communities were without any provision.  Existing data on gaps in provision were used as part of this engagement activity.  An example was given on how the Council was currently working with some organisations exploring ways of growing community provision within challenging areas from a Public Health and a Community Strategy point of view through a set of standard terms and conditions and a standard governance model. Furthermore, good practice would be communicated though particular case studies that would showcase benefits and how expertise could be transferred across the County.  Throughout the consultation, eighteen plus groups had been identified as wanting to work with the Council on developing and shaping the Community Strategy.  Reassurance was provided that the Strategy was a live document aimed at being developed with the support of communities and that work would continue through the work plan.  The Committee noted that work would continue with communities to understand the challenges they faced, the provisions in place, the actions to be considered and that any gaps in provision identified would be reported back to the Committee going forward in addition to updates on the Community Strategy;

·      Concerns were raised about the consultation being a targeted engagement, and why the targeted audience had not responded.  It was confirmed that some of the questions were answered by as little as four (4) individuals which was a considerably low figure to base any decisions upon, for a population of over 751,000.  This was in comparison to a previous consultation in 2016 for which there were thousands of responses collated;

·      The consultation exercise had been promoted through publicising on social media, through targeting of organisations which aimed to provide representative views, and through the Town and Parish Council Newsletters.  It was highlighted that the subject matter was not one that necessarily appealed to the community which may have also hindered engagement.  It was also clarified that the four responses quoted were the number of businesses that had participated in the survey.  Better tailored engagement would need to be carried out with the public in the future;

·      In relation to the low response rates, it was suggested that the methods of engagement employed for different nationalities were looked at as other organisations who had conducted surveys during the pandemic had received a greater volume of responses due to being more target specific, had undertaken intensive local work and research to understand the communities as well as improved publicising of the services provided for participation (i.e., survey being available in different languages);

·      There was a need to tailor engagement activities to integrate and accommodate diverse communities.  It was highlighted that in Boston more than 30% of the population had migrated from Europe and that more than 32 nationalities were residing in this area.  Reassurance was provided that the Council worked in partnership with other organisations and an example of a project led by YMCA had seen the introduction of the Good Neighbour Schemes which recognised the need for greater integration of cosmopolitan communities and increased cohesion through identifying shared purpose and ambitions. The Council had sought to access additional funding and would continue to look at system wide changes to test and improve better outcomes for Lincolnshire residents.  This aligned with work of the Integrated Care System which was working on integrating the needs for health services within communities; 

·      The role of Parish Councils and the role of Elected Members in understanding the needs within their communities, developing these and providing key messages to communicate solutions was also considered as part of this Strategy.  It was acknowledged that the role of Parish Councils was important as they could pass on information and engage with their local groups and communities directly and assurance was sought that consultation would continue in light of the abolishment of Covid-19 restrictions as would the development of the Community Strategy living document.  Assurance was provided that these comments would be taken on board as part of this on-going journey towards the development of the Strategy;

·      The Equality Impact Assessment carried out as part of this consultation was an exceptional, detailed and excellent document that was informative in its own right; and

·      In relation to Citizens Advice Hubs operating across Lincolnshire, the funding from LCC was provided to Citizens Advice Lincolnshire (umbrella body); with four Citizens Advice Bureaus operating as independent bodies covering different geographical areas.  The service has operated predominantly through a telephony-based service; and the Hubs were located in Lincoln and in market towns.  Further information would be provided to the Committee on locations and opening times of different venues as these operated in varying patterns and not always on a full-time basis.  The free telephony system acted as the initial entry point that triaged and managed demand and operated Monday to Friday.  Performance information in relation to calls answered was fed back and would continue being brought back to this Committee for Scrutiny in the future.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee supported the proposed recommendation to the Executive as set out on page 55 of the report.

2.    That the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee agreed that the comments listed above be forwarded on to the Executive in relation to this item.