Agenda item

Report No: OAS/FH/17/010

The Cabinet Member for Families and Communities has been invited to the meeting to provide an annual account on his portfolio and to answer questions from the Committee.

[Councillors John Bloodworth, Ruth Bowman and Nigel Roman left the meeting at 6.45pm during the consideration of this item.]

The Committee was reminded that on 21 April 2016, the Committee received a presentation from the Cabinet Member for Families and Communities, setting out responsibilities covered under the portfolio.

At this meeting, the Cabinet Member for Families and Communities had been invited back to the meeting to provide a follow-up presentation on his portfolio.  Report No: OAS/FH/17/010 set out the areas of responsibility and the focus of the follow-up presentation, which was to:

• Outline the main challenges faced during the first year;

• Outline some key successes and any failures during the first year and any lessons learnt; and

• Set out the vision for the Portfolio through to 2019, and whether on target to meet that vision.

Councillor Robin Millar opened his verbal update by thanking the Committee for the invitation and then provided a number or examples, outlining challenges faced; successes and lessons learnt; and the vision through to 2019, such as:

• Councillors new way of working with locality budgets – (challenge)

• Evaluating outcomes – (challenge)

• Community Chest funding.  £250,000 had been allocated to 16 projects – (key success)

• First Care had been commissioned to test the model being used for families and communities – (key success)

• Customer Services: 20,000 calls taken in June 2016 due to the Referendum; 142,000 calls taken last year; 87% of calls answered; 20,000 customer emails received; 52,000 face-to-face contacts; processed 38,000 online forms – (key success)

• Civica technology software to manage the customer services system.  The functionality not as successful as led to believe – (least successful)

• Evaluating the Families and Communities Portfolio – (vision)

• Embedding families and communities into the way councillors and officers work – (vision)

Members discussed the update and asked a number of questions of the Cabinet Member and officers, to which responses were provided. 

In particular discussions were held on how the portfolio was integrating with outside services such as youth development and safeguarding work; the work of locality officers and recent staff turnover;  and the need to evaluate what was being spent under the Families and Community Portfolio to better understand whether it was making a difference to communities and residents.

In response to a particular question raised:

1)   The Families and Communities Portfolio was influencing services beyond its control.  It was a massive change in the way that councillors worked as they developed and became leaders in the wards they represented.  It was a different way of working for local government. 

The Committee suggested a future member development session should be held so members could share with others how they were using their locality budgets, which the Cabinet Member agreed to progress.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for the update on his portfolio.

There being no decision required, the Committee:

1)   Noted the update provided by the Cabinet Member for Families and Communities; and

2)   Noted that the Cabinet Member for Families and Communities would look at arranging a future member development session on role of members and how they were using their locality budgets.