Eastern Locality Forum (ELF)

Date:Tuesday 25 November 2014, 09:30-12:00

Venue:Training Room 2, Five Lamps, Eldon Street, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 7EA

In attendance:

Cllr Tracey Stott / Elected Member, Mandale & Victoria
Ben Chisanga / 4Children, Riverbank Children’s Centre
Diane Patterson / Tees Credit Union
Simon Feasey / Headteacher, Bader Primary School
Cllr Tom Bowman / Ingleby Barwick Town Council
Cllr Patricia Large / Thornaby Town Council
James Hadman / Catalyst
Arfan Hussain / Community Engagement & Development Officer, SBC

Apologies:

Allan McDermott / Tees Active
Peter Kahlon / Shri Guru Nanak Gurdwara and Sikh Community Centre
Nicola Garrett / Five Lamps
Kerry Anderson / Public Health
Janice McColm / Tees Valley Rural Community Council
Cllr Kevin Faulks / Elected Member, Ingleby Barwick East Ward
Cllr Sylvia Walmsley / Elected Member, Stainsby Hill
Item / Action
1.0 / Welcome, Introductions and Apologies
1.1 / James Hadman chaired the meeting for the first four items of the meetings. All members were welcomed to the meeting and apologies were noted.
1.2 / ELF welcomed Simon Feasey, Headteacher of Bader Primary School, as a new member of the Eastern Locality Forum. He provided an overview of his role and emphasised his commitment to grass root organisations and that the focus of his doctorate is relational trust between groups within the community.
2.0 / Declarations of Interest
2.1 / No declarations of interest were given.
3.0 / Minutes of the 30 September 2015 meeting & Matters Arising
3.1 / The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting with the following matters arising:
3.2 / Item 7.0: Safer Stockton Partnership – Members were informed that Catalyst were to represent the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector at the Safer Stockton Partnership and will provide relevant updates to the Locality Forums and the VCSE sector. As a result, represent from Locality Forums will no longer be used.
4.0 / Election of Chair
4.1 / Arfan Hussain informed members that Mathew Trueman, Thirteen, was the previous chair of the meeting, but due to a change in role has stepped down. Members were contacted on two occasions to invite nominations for the role of chairing ELF. A nomination has been received for Cllr Tracey Stott to become chair.
4.2 / Members were asked if there were any other nominations and then if there were any objections to Cllr Tracey Stott becoming chair. No further nominations were received and no objections made.
4.3 / Members agreed for Cllr Tracey Stott to become the new chair of ELF.
5.0 / Membership of the group
5.1 / Arfan Hussain informed members that, in addition to Simon Feasey, new members have been gained from Shri Guru Nanak Gurdwara and Sikh Community Centre and Tees Active. Members welcomed their addition to the membership of the group.
5.2 / Members emphasised that a key strength of the Locality Forums is its potential for a range of groups to better link and work together on specific issues using their strengths. Members were asked to reflect on the membership of the group and to consider if additional partners were needed and how to better engage voluntary and community groups in the Thornaby & Ingleby Barwick area. Discussions highlighted the following:
5.3 / Some small grassroots groups struggle due to a lack of resources available financially and in terms of leadership with the need for better succession planning. James Hadman informed members that Catalyst can support groups in seeking funding and through the Centre of Excellence can help with succession planning by upskilling the next set of VCSE group leaders to help with sustainability.
5.4 / It is felt that Thornaby and Ingleby Barwick have undergone significant changes over the past years and changing demographics. Members highlighted that there is a need to better engage smaller grassroots groups,residents and those in the more deprived wards. This could be achieved by using social media and engaging with local active Facebook pages (e.g. Thornaby Alert, etc.). Simon Feasey commented that Bader Primary School has experience of using social media, blogging, etc. to engage with parents and the community and is able to provide guidance if ELF decides to set up its own social media pages. Furthermore, it is a space that members could use to communicate with each other.
5.5 / Members commented that progress has been made with the membership of the group through the inclusion of Bader Primary School, Shri Guru Nanak Gurdwara and Sikh Community Centre and Tees Active. It is recognised that through members there is a valuable opportunity to reach families who are already engaged with one specific organisation (e.g. Riverbank children’s centre has an active Parent’s Forum, etc.) and consider how they can be better utilised/supported by ELF as a whole where appropriate.
5.6 / Ben Chisanga highlighted that the level of engagement from parents is high at the children’s centres due to the range of early intervention/prevention support provided, which they are no longer able to access as the child enters primary school. Furthermore, there is need to increase the number of vulnerable families accessing early intervention/prevention support as Mandale & Victoria have an increasing number of children who are looked after or are subject to a child protection plan, etc.
5.7 / Members commented on the need for engagement with private landlords when tackling the issue of fuel poverty.
5.8 / Simon Feasey highlighted the role of schools in the aims of the Locality Forums and will seek secondary representation from Thornaby Academy. / Simon Feasey
5.9 / Members highlighted that there is a need for ELF to help families who are above the point of statutory intervention or do not meet the requirements to receive other services, but still struggle in day to day life (e.g. in working poverty, fuel poverty, children who are not school ready, etc.). This would allow ELF to work in conjunction with other groups (e.g. Infinity) without duplication by focusing on the same cohort.
5.10 / Ben Chisanga commented that Sarah Thompson, Barley Fields Children’s Centre, is undertaking a need analysis of the area, which may be useful for the group. / Arfan Hussain
6.0 / Updates from related fora
6.1 / Diane Patterson informed members that Infinity is the financial inclusion partnership for Stockton-on-Tees. Its priorities are the credit union, digital inclusion and financial education in schools/community groups. The group is in the process of developing a Financial Inclusion Officer post following funding received from Thirteen that will be employed by the Tees Credit Union. The aim of the post is to reduce duplication occurring across service, act as a contact for schools, raise awareness of the credit union and provide support/raise awareness for members of the public in key venues (e.g. customer service centres, etc.).
6.2 / Infinity and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council have signed up to the Stop Loan Sharks charter and are working to raise awareness of the issue (e.g. loan sharks operating at some school gates, etc.). There will also have a range of information communicated during Debt & Depression week at the end of January 2015.
6.3 / James Hadman commented that the issue of loan sharks were discussed at the previous Voice Forum. There is a concern that the use of loan sharks may increase if greater regulation on high cost lenders causes them close their businesses. Consequently, there is a need to ensure that alternatives, such as the Tees Credit Union, are publicised.
6.4 / Arfan Hussain informed members that training has been organised for Locality Forum members by Stop Loan Sharks Project on the 15 January 2015. Further information will be sent out to members in due course.
6.5 / Members highlighted the need to develop local Community Champions as it is recognised that vulnerable families are more likely to seek/respond to advice from peers. Members agreed for this to be included in their action plan for future exploration. It may be beneficial to invite them to a future training session to upskill them on a specific issue and provide further training for those who may be interested in becoming a Community Champion at a level they would feel comfortable with. / Arfan Hussain
6.6 / Members commented that it may be productive to approach Thrive to attend a future meeting of ELF to look at issues surrounding the impact of sanctions and for potential areas of joint working. / Arfan Hussain
6.7 / Members commented on the need for ELF to have a strategic role in recognition of the capacity of members and the wider VCSE sector and will have to prioritise actions appropriately.
7.0 / Stockton Welfare Advice Network (SWAN) website
7.1 / Marie Kerr attended the meeting and provided members with an overview of the SWAN website ( which is due to go live in early 2015. The SWAN network is funded by The Big Lottery Fundand aims to improve access to advice for residents and create the opportunity for agencies to work together to monitor the needs of those residents. This is through the creation of the portal website that will give people a single access point to get the right information they need to resolve their problem at the earliest opportunity. Agencies can either be an:
  • Associate Membership: Members will have their organisation listed within the directory of advice services on the SWAN website and will be able to update the information displayed.
  • Full Membership: Members will have access to the same facilities as the associate members, but will have additional permission to use the online referral system that aims to reduce disengagement from members of the public, access information on the professional training events advertised by other members and share information/data.

7.2 / The project is managed by a partnership board of key agencies with funding secured for two years. It is hoped that the website will free up capacity for frontline staff to provide support to the most vulnerable families who would have difficulties in using/accessing the site.
7.3 / Members queried the inclusion of the company Hewitts Solicitors and may be an appropriate company to contribute funding due to the advertisement/footfall received. Marie Kerr stated that this is so the public are able to receive information on Legal services, which have a cost attached to them and are not available in the Public or VCSE sectors.
7.4 / Simon Feasey highlighted for schools to be involved in the SWAN website. For example, he highlighted each school website has to have the ability to signpost parents to their Local Offer. It may be useful to approach Lynda Brown, or another appropriate officer, to ask for the SWAN logo to be placed on all school websites.
7.5 / Marie Kerr stated that there were positive links with the Stockton Information Directory ( Members commented on the need to ensure that the SWAN logo is on the Stockton Information Directory.
7.6 / Members agreed for Diane Patterson to approach Marie Kerr to be involved in the partnership board of SWAN. / Diane Patterson
8.0 / Task & finish groups
8.1 / Fuel Poverty
8.1.1 / Cllr Tracey Stott provided an overview of the ELF Fuel Poverty Task & Finish Group. A key action from the meeting was the recognised need to develop a single page summary of the support that is available to members of the public due to the number of schemes/contacts available. The group have undertaken a mapping exercise, which was shared with members. The information provided will be shortened to a single page and circulated to members.
8.1.2 / Arfan Hussain informed members that Five Lamps, as part of the Big Energy Savings Network, is able to offer training for frontline staff around providing members of the public with advice around energy efficiency, schemes and switching companies. Work could be explored in offering the training to a wider range of organisations.
8.1.3 / Members commented on the need for case studies/ real life examples to encourage members of the public to switch and to consider the best way to circulate the leaflet. Members highlighted that schools are a key resource in publicising information to their parents. Furthermore, that parent groups in schools and children’s centres are a valuable resource for consultations and if willing could begin to become more active with support from Catalyst to apply for funding.
8.2 / The group noted the minutes of the ELF Jobs, Business & Social Enterprise and the ELF Welfare Benefits Task & Finish Groups.
8.3 / Members agreed for the establishment of the ELF Best Start Task & Finish Group. / Arfan Hussain
9.0 / Review of the Eastern Locality Forum Action Plan
9.1 / Members agreed for the issues discussed during the meeting to be included in the action plan and for the format of the action plan to be reviewed with the aim of having greater clarity around priorities/outcomes, actions, indicators and increasing the number of actions around the Best Start. / Arfan Hussain
9.2 / Members agreed for Arfan Hussain to consider the viability of a mapping exercise of the community resources available within Thornaby & Ingleby Barwick to help inform the action plan and how organisations could better work together. Arfan Hussain to send an email out to members to respond with their resources and to advertise the mapping exercise on Catalyst. / Arfan Hussain
10.0 / Any Other Business
10.1 / Members agreed for the date of the next meeting to be deferred into early 2015. Arfan Hussain to send information to members.
10.2 / Cllr Tracey Stott highlighted that she is currently liaising within local schools and groups to promote donations to the food bank at the Baptist church and welcomed any support from attendees.