Blackpool Fairness Commission

Steering Group

MINUTES

19th June 2014

Present:

Dr Arif Rajpura, Director of Public Health (Chair) / Angela Winter, Clinical Commissioning Group
Claire Smith, Stay Blackpool / Ian Collins, Sainsbury’s
Jane Hugo, Streetlife / Wendy Swift, BFW Hospitals
Neil Jack, Blackpool Council / Rev Steve Haskett, All Saints Anchorsholme
Ashok Khandelwal, Faith Forum / Chief Superintendent Stuart Noble, Lancashire Police
Richard Emmess, CVS

In Attendance:

Amanda Bennett, Blackpool Council / Sally Shaw, Blackpool Council

Apologies:

Councillor Simon Blackburn / Alan Reid, Disability First

Introductions and Welcome:

Dr Arif Rajpura welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made around the room.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting:

The Steering Group agreed the minutes of the last meeting as a true and accurate record.

Matters Arising:

Angela Winter asked about the progress of Dave Blacker’s request to display a project from Mereside Boys and Girls Club in an empty shop unit. Angela expressed a concern that this was taking a while. Amanda explained as Dave has no money to pay for it, it unfortunately is just taking time as we have to make sure he doesn’t become liable for any business rates or utilities. Amanda gave a reassurance she is working with the Council’s Estates Departments and progressing this as best as possible.

A discussion ensued about the Community Farm development. Amanda circulated maps of potential sites for information.

Arif asked how likely this was to be delivered. Amanda explained about the project plan and the break points were viability would be critically examined. The results of the consultation exercise should be available for the August Steering Group meeting.

Arif talked about the Alcohol Enquiry on Grange Park and the appetite to see the City Learning Centre (CLC) re-developed for community use.

Neil talked about the longer-term plans for the re-development of Grange Park

Steve mentioned that the hire charges for the CLC make it prohibitive for many community groups and Neil agreed with this and said this should be considered as part of any re-development.

Arif talked briefly about the work undertaken by Left Coast and Angela asked for clarification on what Left Coast does. Neil explained and then a discussion the merits of different styles of dance took place!

Action: Farm Consultation for August Agenda (AB)

Project Search:

Sally Shaw showed a short film followed by a presentation on the Project Search programme. (presentation circulated with minutes).

Angela asked do participants need to be literate and numerate. Sally said she was unsure but would find out and report back.

Neil added that all candidates are already in full-time education and therefore have already demonstrated an ability to learn.

Steve asked is the course validated? Sally explained its not a qualification based programme but there is a graduation/celebration event.

Ashok asked if it is solely for those with Learning Disabilities or could other candidates be considered such as those who are autistic? Sally explained that it was designed for young people with mild to severe learning disabilities and Neil added that this may include some young people on the autistic spectrum.

Ian asked had Blackpool Business Leadership Group (BBLG) had a presentation and Claire agreed this would be a good idea. Sally said it will be on the BBLG agenda shortly.

Neil said it was important to understand that this is not charitable or a “good cause” or being nice. It’s about training and employment for people who are capable of and willing to undertake full time work. Neil gave some examples.

Ashok said he thinks its fantastic and he asked about the support available for employers. Sally explained that there was support for employers during the project.

Richard said he was keen for CVS to get involved but asked for clarification about the mentorship.

Angela asked about the variability of reception work and Neil and Sally both provided reassurance that the college will assess the suitability of candidates and opportunities to ensure the best chance of a successful outcome.

Wendy said she was very keen to support the project on behalf of the Hospital Trust and she had met with Sally and Carmel outside of the meeting to discuss.

Arif asked how the scheme was funded and Neil explained there was some external funding but Blackpool Council had also committed some resources.

Ian asked how many young people will go through the scheme this year. Sally said 8-12.

A discussion then ensued between Ian and Neil about the opportunities for full-time work and what would and would not be a suitable contract.

Action:

·  www.blackpoolfairness.com will have a page for Project Search.

·  Steve and Richard offered mentoring opportunities outside of the workplace for candidates if appropriate.

·  Sally to arrange a presentation at BBLG.

Children’s Summit

Amanda provided an update on the Children’s Summit event due to take place on 1st July. There are approximately 80 children and young people signed up from schools across Blackpool. The panel will consist of:

·  Neil Jack

·  Wendy Swift

·  Stuart Noble

·  Simon Bone

·  Dave Rigby

Children will ask questions relating to the provision of Blue Light, Council and Health Services. It’s an interactive session. Amanda talked about the development of a children’s story book version of the annual report and will bring copies to the next meeting.

Action:

Amanda to provide copies of Florence comes to Blackpool for the next meeting.

Social Enterprises

The farm is progressing well, a project group is meeting regularly and tasks have been assigned across the participating organisations.

The Jobs, Friends and Houses project is still progressing, although securing funding as a start up programme is proving challenging. Still waiting to hear about the Police Innovation Fund.

Abstinence Based Café/Conflict Café – Arif gave some information on schemes he had seen in operation elsewhere. A lively conversation ensued about the idea of these schemes.

Neil said the first step was to encourage existing cafes to stay open later into the evening.

Ian suggested it would be good to hear about the work Left Coast are doing to see how that might help to support the twilight economy in the Town Centre.

Action:

Amanda to invite Left Coast to the next Fairness Commission Steering Group.

Community Shop

Arif presented the options paper prepared by Rachel Stafford from Blackpool Council on behalf of the Steering Group. He gave members 10 minutes to read it but also talked through the highlights.

Everyone agreed that option 4 needs to happen alongside any option taken forward.

Ashok asked why we want to do this. Arif replied it was to alleviate food poverty and reduce the long-term use of foodbanks as its not a sustainable supplier of food.

Ashok feels that this could be delivered through the Wellness Service.

A discussion ensued between Arif and Ashok about this initiative.

Jane suggested the proposal for the CLC be seen as a pilot and if it is successful it could be replicated elsewhere in the town.

Steve asked would this provide competition for the supermarkets.

Neil and Richard both agreed that this shop could be run by the VCFS sector.

Ian talked about the costs of supermarket shopping and the vast differences in price if you know how to shop wisely, supporting the need for training and education.

Claire acknowledged how complex this situation is and how much careful consideration needs to go into the solution.

Neil summarised by saying that options one and three are not options as they are prohibitively expensive and are unfair. Option two is the only way forward and could be linked in with the farm particularly if they were located closely together. Neil explained his reasoning and everyone accepted this.

Richard said that whatever else happens its very important we build in education as encouraging people to shop wisely and make good choices is at the heart of the matter.

It was agreed that Amanda would ask Rachel to do some further work on options two and four together.

Action:

Rachel Stafford to do a more detailed analysis of the Community Shop at the CLC.

Fairtrade

Ian said that he had presented to BBLG with Jenny Ingle from Blackpool Council and had received a good response. An action plan has been prepared and this will be circulated with the minutes. An audit of premises who offer fairtrade products is well under way.

Blackpool Fairtrade Week will be week commencing 28th July.

Any Other Business

·  Open Event

·  Amanda advised that the next open event would be held between 6.00 and 8.00 pm at immediately following the July Steering group as the scheduled meeting clashed with the World Cup. Venue is to be confirmed.

Date of Next Meeting

·  Thursday 31st July – 4.00 pm, Venue Municipal Buildings

·  Thursday 28th August – 4.00 pm, Bickerstaffe House

·  Thursday 25th September – 4.00 pm, Bickerstaffe House