Minutes - Community Support Overview Group - 11 May 2004

BOROUGH OF POOLE

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY SUPPORT OVERVIEW GROUP

THE MEETING WAS HELD ON TUESDAY 11 MAY 2004

The meeting commenced at 6.00pm and concluded at 8.30pm.

Committee Members Present:

Councillor Bulteel (Chairman) Councillor Mrs Hillman (Vice Chairman)

Councillors Alien, Ms Atkinson, Mrs Deas, Mason (as substitute for Mrs James), Meachin, Newell, White, Miss Wilson and Wretham.

Other Members in Attendance

Councillors Clements, Mrs Hives and White.

1.APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Mrs James.

2.MINUTES

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2004, having been previously circulated, be approved as a correct record and confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

3.DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Ms Atkinson declared a personal interest in various items as a member of WRAG and a tenant of a garage owned by the Council.

Councillor Meachin declared a personal interest in various items as a nonexecutive director of the Poole Primary Care Trust.

Councillor Bulteel declared a personal interest in various items as an employee of Leonard Cheshire Foundation.

Councillor Mrs Hillman declared a personal interest in various items as she was the Chairman of WRAG and a member of the ALMO Board.

Councillor Mason declared a personal interest in various items as ViceChairman of the Raglan Housing Association.

Councillor Adams declared a personal interest in various item as a member of the Adoption Panel.

4.SUCH OTHER BUSINESSAS, IN THE OPINION OF THE CHAIRMAN, IS OF SUFFICIENTURGENCY TO WARRANT CONSIDERATION

There were no items of business for urgent consideration.

5.LOOKING FORWARD

(a)Corporate Strategy and Business Plan

The Policy Director presented the report and guided Members through key aspects of the Corporate Strategy, stressing in particular those areas of relevance to the Community Support Overview Group.

In referring to the Step Change Projects detailed in the Strategy, the Policy Director explained that work on some of the projects had already begun and that, in particular, the strategic project "Poole Connects - building capacity in the community through partnership" would be of interest to this Overview Group.

Members were then asked to comment on the priorities listed in the Corporate Strategy and to provide feedback on the Step Change Projects in particular.

During the ensuing discussion the following points were made by members of the Group:-

the existing Vision had been incorrectly summarised and worded, and in particular the word "plan" should be replaced with "play";

affordable Housing was a key issue of concern to many local people and needed to be made more prominent in the Strategy;

when referring to "communities" in one of the Step Change Projects it was important to define what community meant in the context of the project;

use of the anagram "PEOPLE" to illustrate the Council's values, whilst felt to be appropriate, nonetheless needed to be made more positive and, rather than phrasing values such as "we want to be more efficient", words such as "we will strive to be more efficient" should be used;

the value focusing on "equal opportunity for all" needed to be referred to in a more positive way to demonstrate the Council's determination to eliminate instances of inequality;

progress towards meeting priorities needed to be carefully measured and priorities and values needed to be set that could be measured;

tangible actions should be included in the Strategy to demonstrate the proactivity of the Council and its determination to lead communities in the Borough by example;

as the Strategy would be summarised and promoted in straplines throughout the Borough, careful attention would need to be paid to the phrasing in order that the true meaning of the Strategy could be conveyed;
members of the public, with the help of their elected representatives, should be encouraged to engage with the aims and objectives of the Strategy, and to recognise the vital part that they could play in its implementation;
the "Customer First" Step Change Project was an opportunity to help redefine how the Council delivered its services and it would also significantly influence the outcome of other Step Change Projects;
the "Building Communities Through Partnership" Step Change Project should be re-worded to say "Building Communities Together and in Partnership" to more accurately reflect what the Council wished to achieve by this project;
partnership was key to many of the projects listed in the Strategy and it was important that the Council was not always perceived as the senior partner, as was often the case
very important lessons could be learnt from working with partners;
when consulting on the Strategy it was important not to raise expectations as to what the Council could facilitate;
sustainability was a key issue which needed to feature prominently in the Strategy, and it should feature as a common thread throughout many of the step-change projects. The Policy Director stressed how important it was to keep the balance of building sustainable communities but also providing for the needs of the present day.

In concluding its discussions on this item, the Overview Group expressed support for the numerous opportunities which implementation of the Strategy would facilitate for the people of Poole, and noted that their comments would be taken into account when finalising the Strategy.

AGREED:that the aims and objectives of the new Corporate Strategy be noted and that members comments be taken into account when finalising the Strategy.

Unanimous

(b)Presentation by Poole Primary Care Trust (PCT) - Services for Older People

Marian Lambourne from Poole PCT gave a presentation on the project "Services for Older People" and highlighted key points of this project, providing Members with background information and suggestions as to how they might wish to become involved in the project.

Points included in her presentation were:-

the Borough was populated by a high percentage of older people;
the Elderly Resource Team of the PCT had tripled its workload over the last years;
the national set of standards from the Department of Health had been published, which would help to guide the Services for Older People project;
in April 2004 145,627 patients registered with a Poole GP, 13% of which were patients over 75, where as the national average was 7.6%;
in Poole 12.8% of the population were all pensioner households, whereas the national average was 9.4%;
in Canford Cliffs and Parkstone Wards there were higher than average statistics for all key indices of older people. The Project would therefore focus its efforts on these areas, particularly over the next 12-18 months;
Poole PCT was committed to redesigning older people's services in order to ensure that services were equipped for older people's needs;
the project would follow a pattern of three stages, the first of which would be a consultation stage, including a public event, distribution of questionnaires, one-to-one interviews and the collating of key data. Stage 2 would focus on the formulating of a work plan from information gathered from stage 1. Stage 3 would be an attempt to redesign services provided by the PCT in response to lessons learnt from stage 1 and 2;
as part of the project there would be an event on 21st June in the Lighthouse Art Centre to which many people would be invited, including older people, their relatives and agencies who work with and for older people. Other methods of consultation would also be carried out, including direct visits to residential centres, the distribution of a questionnaire and other public relations activities.

During the ensuing discussion Members of the Group expressed their support for the project and suggested other clients who should be invited to the 21st June event.

Members of the Group also felt that it was important to work in partnership with the PCT on improving its services for older people and it was noted that following the consultation stage of this project the Group would receive an update report from the PCT.

AGREED:that the presentation on the Services for Older People project be noted.

Unanimous

(c)Corporate Parentinq

The Head of Children and Families Services presented the report explaining precisely what Members' role was as a Corporate Parent, and highlighted that attention should be paid in particular to the health, welfare and education needs of "looked after children" throughout the Borough.

During the ensuing discussion it was stressed that all 42 Councillors were Corporate Parents and that the membership of the small group, as recommended at paragraph 2 of the report needed to represent key services of the Council including Education, Housing and Leisure Services. One Member in particular stressed the importance of all members of this Group being fully police checked.

It was suggested that the Principal Democratic Support Officer contact the Group Leaders to ask for nominations for the Group, and that in doing so the invitations should stress the need for these Members to be police checked.

AGREED: (1)that a Member Group be set up to develop the Corporate Parenting Role representing for example, Education, Housing and Leisure Services;

(2) that the remit of the Group be to further develop the proposal regarding extended membership, for example involvement of foster carers, young people, practitioners, managers and the Advocacy Service and activities, for example, visits to children in foster care settings, meetings with young people, carers and practitioners; and

(3) that a report on the progress of the Group be submitted to the November 2004 meeting of the Overview Group.

Unanimous

(d)The Pension Service Partnership Fund - Funding to improve Take-up of Older People's Benefits

The Head of the Revenue Benefits Service presented the report and highlighted in particular the recommendation which was to work with partners to develop a bid for submitting to the Department of Work and Pensions regarding the Pension Service Partnership Fund.

During the ensuing discussion, Members of the Group suggested ways in which older person's benefit take-up could be improved in Poole, through the maximising of publicity space in libraries, bus stops and other public places.

The Head of the Revenue Benefits Service clarified that funds from the bid would benefit those over 60 years of age. In response to the Groups suggestions as to how to improve benefit take-up, he referred to the initiatives of the Pension Service and other services who already promoted details of older people's benefit schemes. He then stressed that in order to make the bid successful, it would be important to submit it jointly with other local organisations.

General discussion then continued on how the Council could improve its publicity of benefits for older people and the possibility of providing a mobile display to take round to various events throughout the Borough was explored.

AGREED: (1)that the aims of the Pension Service Partnership Fund

be noted;

(2)that the intention to submit a bid to this Fund be supported in principle; and

(3)that, should the bid be submitted by this Council, it should be agreed with the Portfolio Holder (Community Support).

Unanimous

(e) Home Choice Scheme

A presentation was delivered on the Home Choice Scheme, and information provided on matters such as:

why the Council had needed to change the way it allocated housing
how the Home Choice Scheme worked
what were the benefits of a choice based - date ordered system
the success of the first three months of the scheme.

During the ensuing discussion particular cases of accommodation need were raised and questions asked as to how these cases would be prioritised.

A question about the membership of the Priority Panel was also raised and it was clarified that the Panel included representatives from a number of services including the Allocations Team, specialist Health Visitors, Social Services, Children and Families and other experts.

In conclusion, Members of the Group thanked the Officers for their presentation and expressed support for the Home Choice Scheme, and noted the early success of this new scheme.

AGREED: that the presentation on the Home Choice Scheme be noted.

Unanimous

(f)Allocations Policv

The Housing Needs Manager presented the report and in particular highlighted the proposals listed in paragraph 4 which he explained had arisen as a result of changes to legislation and a further review of the Allocations Policy.

During the ensuing discussion the following points were raised and clarified:-

with regard to the leasing arrangements, more needed to be done to explore the issue of probate Le. where ownership of the asset of the estate of the deceased would lie in these circumstances. With regard to paragraph 4.4 which referred to an applicant deliberately depriving his or herself of capital, it was stressed that care would need to be taken in these cases to ensure that people were treated fairly. The Housing Needs Manager explained that Housing Benefit guidelines would apply in this case, which included the right of appeal;
whilst the Council did not normally refer to Land Registry records to check whether or not applicants already owned property, there were specific checks that were undertaken with regard to proof of residence and resident dependents and Members noted that if false information was given the Council could evict people;
where older people living in private residential homes could no longer afford to do so, the Council would look at each individual case to assess whether or not it could help to find alternative accommodation; and
the proposal detailed in 4.5 relating to the housing of serious offenders would need to be carefully managed to ensure people's concerns were allayed.

Other matters regarding the Allocations Policy were discussed and the recommendations were unanimously agreed.

AGREED:(1)that proposed changes to the Allocations Policy, as

detailed in paragraph 4 of the report, should be subject to consultation with the wider community; and

(2)the proposals be recommended to the Portfolio Holder (Housing) together with the response from the consultation.

Unanimous

6.MONITORING OUTCOMES

A report on the Section 17 Audits of Housing & Community Services and the Poole Housing Partnership was submitted for information.