Community Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Ulverston East report
Contents
Introduction page 3
Evidence of deprivation page 4
Deprivation in the Ulverston East Ward page 5
The Scrutiny Review page 9
Employment and economic development page 14
Education, training and childcare page 16
Crime page 17
Housing page 19
Visit to the Salterbeck Estate page 22
Health page 26
Building communities page 29
Conclusion and recommendations page 31
Appendix 1 - IMD 2007 Cumbrian Ward ranks
2 Introduction
1 The Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee included the Ulverston East Review in its work programme for 2006/07 and established a task group in July 2006.
2 Ulverston East is the most deprived Ward in South Lakeland and the purpose of the review was to explore options open to the Council and partner organisations to reduce multiple deprivation and inequalities in the Ulverston East Ward of the District, with the intention that any model developed could subsequently be applied to other Wards with high levels of deprivation within the District.
3 The Governments Neighbourhood Renewal Programme notes that where we live can greatly influence our opportunities in life. For people living in disadvantaged areas opportunities can be extremely limited. People may face postcode poverty – where schools are under-achieving and unpopular, businesses have closed and left, transport to other areas is limited, housing is in short supply, there are high levels of crime and a poor quality local environment with few facilities or amenities. Those who can, move on. Others become trapped in a cycle of poverty, unable to make choices over how or where they live (Neighbourhood Renewal Unit Factsheet 1. ODPM. 2003).
4 Living in a deprived neighbourhood affects people’s health and wealth. Compared to the national average, more people are dependent on state benefits and child poverty rates are higher. People tend to have greater problems with their health and tend to die younger.
5 Tackling deprivation in neighbourhoods is important for several reasons. First it helps improve the quality of life for residents and it attracts people and businesses back into deprived areas. There are also wider consequences if deprived areas are neglected. They stifle opportunity and drain resources in terms of benefits, additional spending on crime prevention, social services, health care and so on. And social inequalities can lead to tensions between communities.
6 Neighbourhood renewal initiatives attempt to reverse the spiral of decline in disadvantaged communities. This involves working at the grassroots level to deliver economic prosperity and jobs, safer communities, good education, decent housing and better health, as well as fostering a sense of community among residents.
7 Working together, public services have a potentially massive role to play in turning around deprived neighbourhoods, particularly in raising the standard of education, health, housing, policing and criminal justice, the environment and transport in deprived areas
8 The task group worked closely with a range of partners and examined evidence of deprivation in the Ward and possible solutions over the course of the review. The task group are indebted to all of the partners who participated in the review for their help and assistance. The task group feel that their recommendations will help promote lower worklessness, less crime, better health, better skills and better housing and physical environment in Ulverston East, and help narrow the gap on these measures between Ulverston East and the rest of the District.
3 Evidence of deprivation - the Indices of Multiple Deprivation
9 Evidence of deprivation in Ulverston East comes from the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), which are part of the Governments official measure of multiple deprivation at the small area level. The IMD are recognised as one of the most accurate statistical measures of the quality of life in local communities.
10 The IMD brings together 37 different indicators which cover specific aspects or dimensions of deprivation – these include Income, Employment, Health and Disability, Education, Skills and Training, Barriers to Housing and Services, Living Environment and Crime. The indicators are weighted and combined to create the overall IMD scores.
11 The IMD may be used to compare the extent of and different concentrations of deprivation within and across local authorities. As the IMD are a relative measure of deprivation they cannot be used to determine ‘how much’ more deprived one area is compared to another, for example it is not possible to say that area X, ranked 20, is twice as deprived as area Y, which is ranked 40. However it is possible to say that X is more deprived than Y.
12 The IMD are based on the small area geography known as Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs), which have between 1000 to 3000 people living in them. In most cases the LSOAs are smaller than Wards, which supports the identification of small pockets of deprivation. There are 32,482 LSOAs in England. The LSOA ranked 1 is the most deprived and that ranked 32,482 is the least deprived.
13 In December 2007 the Department of Communities and Local Government released the IMD 2007, which ranks Ulverston East (LSOA reference number E01019389) as the 8875th most deprived LSOA in England out of 34,482.
14 Cumbria County Council have taken the IMD 2007 data and used it to estimate Ward level deprivation figures for all District Wards in the County. The 167 Wards have then been ranked, with 1 being the most deprived and 167 being the least deprived Ward. As people are generally more familiar with Ward boundaries this helps make the data more meaningful.
15 The data for the South Lakeland Wards has been extracted from the rankings produced by Cumbria County Council and is attached at appendix 1.
4 Deprivation in the Ulverston East Ward
16 Based on the IMD 2007 data the County Councils rankings show that Ulverston East Ward is the most deprived Ward in South Lakeland, and is the 27th most deprived Ward out of the 167 District Wards in Cumbria.
17 There are several other South Lakeland Wards clustered quite closely together. In some of the IMD 2007 domains some of these Wards are ranked higher than Ulverston East. In terms of overall deprivation Kendal Kirkland in ranked 43rd out of the 167 Wards in Cumbria. Kendal Underley is ranked 45th, Ulverston Central 47th, Ulverston Town Ward 64th, Kendal Far Cross 67th, and Kendal Highgate 71st.
18 The table below shows the rank within South Lakeland District (47 Wards) and the County (167 Wards) for the Ulverston East Ward across the IMD 2007 domains and sub-domains:
Ulverston East Ward Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2007 Ward rank summary (from summaries calculated by Cumbria County Council)
IMD Deprivation Domain District Ward rank Cumbria Ward rank Overall IMD 1 27 Income Domain 2 17 IDACI sub-domain 1 13 IDAOPI sub-domain 7 52 Employment Domain 1 24 Health Domain 2 44 Education Domain 2 28 Child Ed sub-domain 2 23 Skills Ed sub-domain 3 37 Barriers Domain 30 101 Geographical sub 28 106 Wider barriers sub 13 21 Crime Domain 19 106 Living Environment Domain 7 33 Indoors sub-domain 8 32 Outdoors sub-domain 12 47
19 A brief explanation of the IMD 2007 Domains and sub-domains is given below.
5
Income Deprivation Domain
20 The Income Deprivation Domain captures the proportion of the population experiencing income deprivation in an area. It includes the following indicators:
o adults and children in Income Support households; o adults and children in Job Seekers Allowance households; o adults and children in Pensions Credit (Guarantee) households; o adults and children in Working Tax Credit households; o supported asylum seekers in receipt of subsistence support and/or accommodation support;
21 in addition there are two sub-domains:
o Income deprivation affecting children index; o Income deprivation affecting older people index.
22 Ulverston East is the second most deprived Ward in the District and 17th most deprived Ward in Cumbria in the Income domain. This indicates that a relatively high proportion of the population in Ulverston East experiences income deprivation.
23 The Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) represents the proportion of children aged 0-15 living in income deprived households. Ulverston East is the most deprived Ward in the District and is the 13th most deprived Ward in Cumbria measured against this sub-domain.
24 The Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI) represents the proportion of people aged 60 or over living in income deprived households. Ulverston East is the 7th most deprived Ward in the District and 52nd in Cumbria measured against this sub-domain.
Employment Deprivation Domain
25 This domain measures employment deprivation in terms of involuntary exclusion of the working age population from the labour market. It includes the following indicators:
o recipients of Job Seekers Allowance (both contribution and income based); o recipients of Incapacity Benefit; o recipients of Severe Disablement Allowance; o participants if the New Deal scheme.
26 Ulverston East is the most deprived Ward in the District in this domain and is ranked 24th most deprived Ward in Cumbria in the Employment Deprivation Domain.
6 Health Deprivation and Disability Domain
27 Thus domain measures rates of poor health, early mortality and disability in an area across the entire age range. It includes the following indicators:
o years of potential life lost; o comparative and disability ratio; o measures of acute morbidity; o the proportion of adults under 60 suffering from mood or anxiety disorders based on prescriptions.
28 Ulverston East is the second most deprived Ward in the District and is ranked 44th most deprived Ward in Cumbria against the Health Deprivation and Disability Domain.
Education Skills and Training Domain
29 This domain captures the extent of deprivation in terms of education, skills and training. The indicators are structured into two sub-domains – one relating to education deprivation for children and young people in the area and one relating to lack of skills and qualifications among a sub-set of the working age adult population.
30 Ulverston East is the second most deprived Ward in the District measured against the Education, Skills and Training Domain and is ranked 28th in Cumbria.
31 Ulverston East is the second most deprived Ward in the District and 23rd most deprived Ward in Cumbria in terms of education deprivation amongst children and young people, and is the third most deprived Ward in the District and 37th most deprived Ward in Cumbria in terms of a lack of skills and qualifications amongst working age adults.
Barriers to Housing and Services
32 This domain measures the barriers to housing and key local services. The indicators are structured into two sub-domains – geographical barriers and wider barriers.
33 Ulverston East is 30th most deprived Ward in the District and is ranked 101st in Cumbria measured against the housing and services domain and is ranked 28th most deprived Ward in the in the District and 106th most deprived Ward in Cumbria against the Geographical Barriers category, which includes the following indicators:
o road distance to a GP surgery; o road distance to a general store or supermarket; o road distance to a primary school and road distance to a post office.
7 34 Ulverston East is ranked 13th most deprived Ward in the District and 21st in Cumbria against the Wider Barriers sub-domain which includes the following indicators:
o household overcrowding; o difficulty of access to owner-occupation; o the local authority level percentage of households for whom a decision on their application for assistance under the homeless provisions of housing legislation has been made.
Crime
35 This domain measures the rate of recorded crime for four major crime types, representing the risk of personal and material victimisation at a small area level. The four crime types measured are burglary, theft, criminal damage and violence.
36 Ulverston East is the 19th most deprived Ward in the District measured against this domain and is ranked 106th overall in Cumbria.
The Living Environment
37 This domain addresses deprivation in respect of the living environment. It comprises two sub-domains – the indoors living environment which measures the quality of housing (including housing in poor condition and houses without central heating) and the outdoors living enforcement which contains two measures about air quality and road traffic accidents.
38 Ulverston East is the 7th most deprived Ward in the District and is ranked 33rd overall in Cumbria.
39 Ulverston East is the 8th most deprived Ward in the District and 32nd most deprived Ward in Cumbria measured against the Indoors Living Environment. This sub-domain includes social and private housing in poor condition and houses without central heating indicators.
40 Ulverston East is the 12th most deprived Ward in the District and is the 47th most deprived Ward in Cumbria against the Outdoors Living Environment. This sub-domain includes air quality and road traffic accidents involving injury to pedestrians and cyclists.
8 The Scrutiny Review
41 The following members of the Community Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed to serve on the Ulverston East task group:
o Cllr Phil Lister (PL) (Chair); o Cllr Joss Curwen (JC); o Cllr Colin Hodgson (CH); o Cllr Janette Jenkinson (JJ); o Cllr Betty Spendlove (BS); o Cllr Brian Wilkinson (BW); o Margaret Pritchard (MP) (Tenants Committee co-optee).
42 The task group was supported by Steve Richards (SR) (Scrutiny Officer), Tracey Ingham (TI) (Scrutiny Officer) and Janine Jenkinson (JJenk) (Democratic Services Assistant).
43 Over the course of the review several SLDC officers and 22 representatives (listed below) from a range of partner organisations participated in the review. The task group is deeply indebted to all Council officers and partners for their assistance with this review and would like to thank them for their input and commitment.
SLDC Officers:
o David Sykes (DS) (Head of Regeneration and Housing); o Scott Burns (SB) (Culture and Economy Manager); o Jayne Kendall (JK) (Ulverston and Low Furness Market Towns Officer); o Tony Whittaker (TW) (Principal Strategy Officer, Community and Housing Group); o Paul Mountford (PM) (Policy Officer).
Partners who contributed:
o Dianne Whitehead (DW) (Area Manager, Cumbria CC); o Pete Hine (PH) (neighbourhood Development officer, Cumbria CC); o Carolyn Nuttall (CN) (Public Health Development Specialist, MBPCT/Cumbria PCT); o Helen Lawler (HL) (Policy Officer, South Lakes Housing); o Inspector Richard Vernon (RV) (Cumbria Constabulary); o PC Trevor Ronson (TR) (Cumbria Constabulary); o Police Sgt Rupert Johnson (RJ) (Cumbria Constabulary); o PCSO Patsy Blakeborough (PB) (Cumbria Constabulary); o Cllr Wendy Kolbe (WK) (Ulverston Town Council and Cumbria CC); o Karen Hanks (Head Teacher, Ulverston Victoria High School); o Jane Steventon (JS) (Cumbria Sure Start); o Sue Hackney (SH) (Cumbria Sure Start); o Cllr Brenda Marr (BM) (Ulverston Town Council); o Pat Edwards (PE) (Neighbourhood Development Officer, Cumbria CC); o Anne-Marie Wilmott (A-MW) (Senior Development Officer, Impact Housing Association); o Keith Dobson (KD) (Director of Operations, Impact Housing Association);
9 o Richard Lowthian (RL) (Housing and Community Services Manager, Home Housing Group); o Stephen Soars (SS) (Regional Housing Manager, Two Castles Housing Association) o Charlotte Williamson (CW) (Locality Health Improvement Practitioner, Cumbria PCT); o Carole Wood (CWood) (Associate Director of Public Health, Cumbria PCT); o Anne Payne (AP) (Community Development Officer, Impact Housing Association); o Jane Leonard (JL) (Community Development Worker, Impact Housing Association).
44 The task group met on nine occasions between October 2006 and November 2007 as shown out in the table below:
Meeting date Issues covered Task Group Officers Partners members present present present
12.10.06 the scope of PL, JC, CH, DS, SB, JK, DW, PH, CN, the review JJ, BS, BW SR HL, RV 29.11.06 evidence of PL, JJ, BS, DS, SB, SR DW, HL, RV, deprivation BW TR 15.02.07 employment PL, CH, JJ, BS SB, JK, TI DW, BM and economic development 03.03.07 education, PL, JC, CH JK, TI DW, WK, KH, training and RV, PB, JS, childcare SH 27.04.07 crime and PL, JC, JJ SR RJ, PB disorder 01.06.07 housing JC, MP, BS TW, SR DW, PE, HL, A-MW, RL, SS 03.08.07 visit to PL, JC, MP, SR AP, KD plus Salterbeck BS, BW Lillian Baldry Estate in and Bill Reville Workington - Salterbeck Residents Association 07.09.07 health JJ, BS SR CWood, CW, PE, JS, PB 23.11.07 building PL, JC, CH, JJ SR, JJenk, PM AP, JL, WK, communities RJ, DW plus Helen Lancaster and Carole Parker – Honeypot Estate Residents
10 45 The task group held their initial meeting on 12 October 2006. In order to help them scope the review the task group invited several Council officers and a number of representatives from key partner organisations to attend and participate in the review.
46 The task group discussed the Governments National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, which aims to tackle multiple deprivation and reduce inequalities. The Governments initiatives are focussed on those areas of greatest deprivation nationally and focuses on addressing several key areas of deprivation, these are:
o poor job prospects; o high levels of crime; o educational underachievement; o poor heath; o problems with housing and the local physical environment; o developing stronger communities.
47 The Task Group also considered a number of Factsheets on Neighbourhood Renewal and data on deprivation in Ulverston East from the office for National Statistics and the Indices of Multiple Deprivation.
48 The task group discussed the scope of the review and potential areas to explore further. Partners were also invited to contribute. The key points from the discussion are summarised below.
49 South Lakeland as a whole does not suffer from high levels of deprivation which means that government funding for neighbourhood renewal is not available. This means that SLDC must work with partners to find ways of addressing deprivation within the District. In order to be successful any initiative(s) put in place following this review will have to be based on extensive consultation with the local community. Creating jobs and raising income levels is one of the keys to reducing deprivation.
50 Crime in Ulverston East is largely associated with relatively few households. Unfortunately the impact of crime and in particular anti-social behaviour is disproportionate to the numbers involved and intimidation hinders the development of any sense of community.
51 There is a wide range of health information for the Ulverston East ward covering both health inequalities and schemes to promote health, Ulverston East has historically been covered by Health teams from Barrow.
52 South Lakes Housing (SLH) currently manage social housing and engage and work closely with tenants in Ulverston East and there may be scope to expand and develop this role, perhaps through the Tenants Committees. The Decent Homes programme will roll out across Ulverston East in 2008 which will lead to improvements in the quality of social housing (the Honeypot Estate has already been improved), in addition there may be some scope within the Decent Homes programme for providing community facilities (play areas, parking areas, etc) and environmental improvements.
11 53 The Ulverston and Low Furness Market Towns Initiative (MTI) has drawn down £1.2 million in funding from the North West Development Agency (NWDA). The MTI programme has been largely aimed at creating an entrepreneurial culture within the area. The original three-year project is due to end in March 2008. Following a successful residual funding bid the project has been extended for a further year.
54 The Ulverston Canal Masterplan is a very significant document that offers considerable potential to regenerate the area and increase job opportunities. The Masterplan will influence the development of the Council’s Local Development Framework (LDF).
55 Establishing a community facility or community centre in Ulverston East, which perhaps could offer community advice and support, skills and knowledge training, and could host a range of services, could be a central part of any regeneration initiative. The Dale Street Community centre had closed recently as it was not popular. It is possible that the Dale Street Primary School may be amalgamated with another school and close.
56 Sure Start funding is now available for Ulverston and a Children’s Centre may be located within the Ward.
57 note: Sure Start Children’s Centres aim to deliver a good start in life for every child under 5 and their families.The Centres bring together integrated services including early education, childcare, health and family support.
58 The new Ulverston Children’s Centre will be located in the old Dale Street Community Centre, which will be modified. The National Children’s Homes (NCH) charity won the copntract to manage and deliver services from the Children’s Centre from April 2008. These services will be dlievred from a number of lcoaltions until the building works at Dale Street are completed.
59 The task group discussed undertaking consultation with residents of Ulverston East. Whilst recognising that consultation with the community would be key to the successful delivery of any project or initiative arising from this review, the task group did not consider it appropriate to consult at this stage. They were concerned that this may raise hopes and expectations of action within the community when there could be no guarantee that this would be the case. Some partners suggested that the community had received little but bad news for some time and the task group were concerned not to add to this. The task group agreed to make use of the information gathered by partners for this review.
12 60 The Task group next met on 29 November 2006. Several partners had circulated data on Ulverston East prior to the meeting which was considered by the task group.
61 Economic data tables indicates that a relatively large number of young people were living in the ward (21.4% aged 0-14 and 18.9% aged 15-29) and relatively few elderly people (4.4% aged 75-84 and 0.8% aged 85+). The employment statistics were very similar to the rest of the District and the County, with the majority of residents (35.9%) in part-time occupations. However Ulverston East has twice as many registered unemployed people (4.5%) than the rest of the District (2%). There are also significantly higher rates of people who are permanently sick/disabled (9.2% compared to 4.3% for the District overall) and perhaps linked to this a greater numbers of carers (6.6% compared to 4.3% for the District overall).
62 The Police StreetSafe survey carried out in August 2006 revealed that litter was the greatest concern for residents, followed closely by youth disorder. Dog fouling and drug abuse were next and then general crime. Graffiti scored low on the scale. The survey was conducted at a time when local residents were very aware of disorder in the area due to young people congregating in the summer evenings. Criminal damage, drugs and offences against the person were higher than District averages. Thefts of motor vehicles were also slightly higher, along with general theft and burglary. Domestic disputes in the area were three times higher than any other ward in the district, and twice as high as the County level. There is also a high level of anti-social behaviour, such as abandoned vehicles, drinking in the street and noise-related nuisance.
63 The Ulverston East South Lakes Housing Tenant Profile confirms that 21% of residents are under 34 years of age and there are fewer elderly people than usually expected. There is a high percentage of female residents (65.7%), and a high percentage of families (75%). 77% of tenants are in receipt of housing benefits. The data showed shorter tenancy lengths in the ward compared to other areas (31.5% being tenants for less than 5 years, with only 6.6% staying for over 21 years). In the Honeypot area 35% of Council property had been sold off, and 65% sold off on the Park Estate. In general longer tenancies make for stronger communities and the shorter tenancy lengths in Ulverston East means higher numbers of new young families moving into the area on a regular basis, which could hinder the development of a sense of community.
64 There is a perception that residents of Ulverston East do not participate in community life in Ulverston as much as other residents do and the reasons for this social exclusion should be explored. Few residents seem to participate in social and cultural events in the town and few children and young people from the Ward appear to participate in sports events and schemes even when they are subsidised. The Cumbria Joint Area Review (December 2006) indicated that access to leisure and cultural facilities in Cumbria can be a ‘postcode lottery’, especially for vulnerable children from households on low incomes. The task group felt that leisure passes may help overcome such barriers, supported by outreach activity within the Ward, particularly in school holiday periods. This may also help reduce anti-social behaviour.
13 65 note: Social exclusion is a process in which social, economic and cultural factors can combine to exclude individuals, groups and communities from participating in society and gaining access to economic, cultural and social resources. When combined, they create an acute form of exclusion in particular neighbourhoods.
66 The task group again discussed the idea of establishing a community facility located in Ulverston East, where various partners could either co-locate or use as a location to provide services from, for example health services and advice, training and education, community support and advice, youth facilities, a drop-in centre, etc. There was strong support for this idea.
67 The task group agreed to examine each of the key themes of neighbourhood renewal in turn:
o poor job prospects; o educational underachievement; o high levels of crime; o problems with housing and the local physical environment; o poor heath; o developing stronger communities.
68 The task group agreed that at the partner responsible delivering services or with the greatest influence over a theme would gather evidence in relation to Ulverston East, present this to the task group and lead the discussion on the issues and possible solutions. Summaries of these discussions are set out below.
Employment and economic development
69 The task group met on 15 February 2007 to discuss employment and economic profiles in the ward, and to look at the potential to develop skilled jobs and methods to bring down unemployment levels. Scott Burns (Culture and Economy Manager, SLDC) and Jayne Kendall (Low Furness and Ulverston MTI Officer) presented relevant information.
70 Ulverston East is an urban ward with a population of just over 2000 residents. The working age population is 64%, compared with 54% in Cumbria generally. Figures show that despite a large working potential in the Ward, there is a lower percentage of economically active people. Unemployment is higher in the male (8.2%) than the female (3.7%) population with the male population unemployed being greater than the national figure of 6.5%. 90% of the working male population is in full time employment (31 hours per week) whilst only 49.8% of the working female population is in full time employment.
71 There is a lower percentage self-employed people, particularly for the male population, compared to District and National percentages. There is also a low student population and a relatively low retired population compared to District and National Averages.
72 1.9% of the population are on Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) compared to 0.8% for the District and 2.5 % Nationally. Most people claiming JSA are between 25-49 (58.3%) and have been claiming it for six months or more (66.7%).
14 73 There are a relatively low percentage of residents of Ulverston East working in higher paid roles. For example, only 6% of those in employment work in professional roles compared with 11.6% across the District. It is apparent that the predominance of low incomes within the Ward is due to the types of occupations held by residents. 58.4% of those living in Ulverston East may be categorised as ‘hard pressed’, compared with only 9.6% in South Lakeland. 0% are ‘wealthy achievers’, and only 1% ‘comfortably off’.
74 Research from the Department of Communities and Local Government indicates that the majority of unemployed people in the Ward have no higher- level qualifications, whilst only 12.7% of those in employment have higher- level qualifications. This highlights important training and education issues in the Ward that need to be addressed. The number of people without a car is also significant (29.8%). This can be recognised as a clear barrier to employment in the Ward.
75 Young people attempting to enter the job market: Research from Connexions Cumbria in February 2007 showed that within the Ulverston East Ward:
o 17 young people were employed with no training; o 29 young people were employed with training; o 11 young people were on apprenticeships (with employment); o 5 young people were not in education, employment or training.
76 Opportunities for economic growth – subject to the implementation of the Ulverston Canal Masterplan, Ulverston East could provide opportunities for:
o Development of serviced business land; o Expansion for existing companies into much needed 21st century accommodation; o Attracting more inward investment; o Opportunities for young entrepreneurs – a big culture in the area; o Creation and safeguarding of jobs for local people; o Training opportunities / developing skills; o Starter units for young people to develop skills and start small.
77 In summary the Ward had lower than average income levels, higher than average working age population, a higher than average unemployment level and lower than average skills and training levels. It was felt that these issues highlighted the problems of residents in gaining access to work and training opportunities due to transport and housing.
78 The task group agreed that the implementation of the Ulverston Canal Masterplan, linked to further education and skills training to lift the current low education and skill levels within the Ward, offered the greatest potential to create job opportunities and raise income levels.
15 Education, training and childcare
79 The task group next met on 3 March 2007 to consider education, training and childcare within the Ward. Jane Steventon and Sue Hackney (Cumbria Sure Start) and Karen Hanks (Head Teacher, Ulverston Victoria High School) attended and provided information.
80 Parents are entitled to a nursery grant if they have children under 5, and that government funding was available for five two and a half hour sessions per week. Parents are encouraged to take up this grant, and letters are written to the parents of all under-5s advising them of this. Take up is low and developing a greater awareness amongst parents was seen as being a crucial factor in increasing take-up.
81 Ulverston Victoria High School has no direct form of Government grant support, and that Barrow and Dalton Secondary schools receive significantly more grant funding each year, giving them a clear advantage over Ulverston. Despite this the school was doing well by league table standards, with one of the highest levels of performance in the south of the County. However, it was felt that the school did have a core of children with lower aspirations.
82 The School offers an extended school service facilitated through the Adult Education Service, working with all partners in the area such as the police. Also under the First-Step programme the school can offer courses under adult education for free, these courses are aimed at 18+ year olds who are out of school, with an aim to encourage them and give them basic qualifications in a subject they enjoy - this service may be of benefit to the Ulverston East Ward - the venues for these classes were planned to be located near to schools in the Ward, as this would support access.
83 Specialised Diplomas will be available from 2008 for all 14 year olds. These would run alongside standard GCSE options and will be similar to apprenticeships. They will be available in subjects such as leisure and tourism and it is hoped that 20 courses will be running over the next five years. It is hoped that these options will encourage more students and adults to gain a range of higher-level qualifications, as the need to travel in order to study was a barrier for some due to cost.
84 The numbers of young people moving into higher education could possibly be increased through the establishment of the University of Cumbria. Also the Aim Higher programme which encourages young people to visit Lancaster University and consider undertaking degree courses. In addition the number of young people entering the Modern Apprentice scheme was increasing.
85 The task group also briefly considered access and public transport provision in Ulverston East. Car ownership levels are low and residents are more reliant on public transport. The current very limited bus provision in Ulverston East was funded by the Local Committee rather then the County Council. Improved public transport may help break down barriers to accessing education and skills training.
16 Crime
86 The task group met on 27 April 2007 to discuss crime and disorder in Ulverston East. Police Sgt Rupert Johnson and PCSO Patsy Blakeborough delivered an informal presentation and led the discussion.
87 Between April 2006 to February 2007 there had been 909 incident logs reported in the East Ward. Of these 120 were crimes – 15% less than for the same period in the previous year. Offences against the person (which includes violent crime, harassment and other behaviours which cause alarm and distress) had reduced by 23%, however criminal damage had increased by 15%. There were 52 incidences of criminal damage and the major problem is damage to vehicles. There had been only one burglary in a dwelling, and nine others in sheds and garages. There were no recorded sex offences. There were two thefts from motor vehicles and three motor vehicles were stolen.
88 Crime levels are higher than the average across the District, however they are relatively low compared to figures for the County as a whole, especially with crimes such as burglary and thefts of and from vehicles. Within the East Ward there were 70.9 crimes per 1000 population. The figure for the District was 55.5 crimes per 1000 population and for the County as a whole 81.0 per 1000 population.
89 The biggest problem is anti-social behaviour. Reported incidents had increased by 124% compared to the previous year. Home Office categories for incidents classed as anti-social behaviour changed in April 2006 and the classification covers three areas – street problems, nuisance neighbours and environmental issues – and included a range of issues such as abandoned vehicles, litter and dumping rubbish, vandalism, graffiti and fly-posting, hoax calls, misuse of fireworks, inappropriate use of public space, inappropriate vehicle use, street noise, rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour, street drinking, etc. The largest number of complaints In Ulverston East related to ‘rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour’ and complaints of this nature increased by 114% last year. There had also been an increase of 124% in reports of neighbour issues. Incidents of anti-social peaked in July and September 2006, which is probably due to hot weather encouraging people to spend more time outside. This is mirrored with incident logs involving young people, overall they are relatively low but peak in the summer months.
90 There is a Community Police Officer for the Ulverston East Ward and a Police Community Support Officer for the Town and East Wards and some support comes from a new PCSO who covers the North and East Wards. The current Review of Police Resources has led to some reorganisation and relocation of some specialist staff (e.g. firearms) to Penrith. There is no guarantee that current vacant Police Officer posts would be filled. However the Community Police Officer and PCSOs covering the East Ward would remain.
91 In summary overall crime is relatively low, but with increased levels of anti- social behaviour. There are relatively low levels of incidents with young people but incidents do peak in summer months. There are a small number of repeat offenders who have a significant impact on the quality of life for many people.
17 92 The task group felt that improved community policing and multi-agency working and targeting key offences and offenders should have an impact and reduce crime and improve people’s quality of life.
93 PCSOs engage with the public which can lead to an increased reporting of incidents. They also have a reassuring effect and their presence reduces crime. They are a foot patrol and are a very good first point of contact for the public and together with partners can help resolve many problems at the grass roots level, e.g. they have recently undertaken a dog fouling enforcement exercise in the East Ward with officers from SLDC. PCSOs do not have the power to arrest, but may be granted the power to detain in future.
94 The Police have developed an action plan for Ulverston in conjunction with others under the UPACT (Ulverston Partnership Action Community Team). The multi-agency partnership could access funding. Anti-social behaviour is often related to a few individuals in an area who have a disproportionate impact on people’s lives. Two Police Officers have set up a Friday night football aimed at attracting young people from the East Ward and several young people who have been a concern turn up to the football.
95 The three StreetSafe surveys on the Honeypot had highlighted three priorities for residents. These are - youth disorder, litter and dog fouling. Feedback indicates there has been an improvement over time.
96 Summer is the peak period for anti-social behaviour and it would be reassuring for residents to have a visible Police presence during that period. Last summer (2006) had been difficult for many residents at times, with loud music being played, fires lit and street drinking. Many residents reported feeling intimidated. One problem with legislation on street drinking was that unless people actually drink in front of a Police Officer the Police can’t arrest the person. If the person is underage the Police can and do confiscate the alcohol. In future letters will be sent out warning offenders that repeat offences will result in prosecution. The Police now have the power to issue an £80 fine for street drinking.
97 As a result of last years problems on the Honeypot Estate three people may be subject to Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and one young person placed on an Anti-Social Behaviour Contract’ (ABC). In addition the Police have worked with South Lakes Housing and together they have discussed removing tenancies for anti-social behaviour with several tenants. There is some feeling amongst residents that the Council had caused some of the problems by housing problem families in the area. Obviously where people own their own homes this sanction does not apply and neighbour nuisance such a s noise becomes an Environmental Health complaint - the Police still log such reports as anti-social behaviour incidents.
98 Intimidation is a major concern, because it may lead to under reporting. The visible presence of PCSOs will provide the reassurance necessary for people to come forward and report incidents. However intimidation can be difficult to tackle, especially in a small town where people know each other.
99 A more visible Police presence would help improve matters and would probably make the greatest single difference, at the moment work pressures tended to reduce foot patrols.
18 100 There were few if any facilities for children and young people in the Ward so they play football outside in the street, which annoys other residents. An active community centre or facility that could offer a range of constructive activities for children and young people would help. The PCSOs could possibly be based at the centre, within the community. This would facilitate access and help build community relationships.
Housing
101 The task group met on 1 June 2007 to consider housing issues in Ulverston East. Tony Whittaker (Principal Strategy Officer, Community and Housing Group, SLDC) and Helen Lawler (Policy Co-ordinator, South Lakes Housing) delivered presentations on housing issues in the Ward and representatives from three registered social landlords attended and joined the discussion.
102 The District wide Housing Need and Market Assessment 2006 shows a significant need for affordable housing in Ulverston - 300 affordable home are required by 2011, which equates to 60 per year. The survey highlighted a particular need for young people moving into their first homes. However whilst there are some one bedroom homes in the Council’s housing stock the supply is limited. There were less than 20 properties suitable for single people in the East Ward. The tenant profile in Ulverston differs from the rest of the District – the age range is younger people, families are larger, a higher percentage of households are in receipt of benefits and there is a higher turnover of properties.
103 The Private Stock Condition Survey 2003 found 4.25% of properties in Ulverston were unfit for human habitation. This is the highest figure in the District where the average is 2.7%, but is lower than the national average of 7%. So whilst the overall figures are low within the District, unfit properties are concentrated in Ulverston.
104 The Ulverston Canal Masterplan identified a number of potential sites for housing, some owned by the Council and some privately owned. Planning permission has already been granted for development on Schooners Wharf, one of the privately owned sites. The Council’s Interim Planning Approach to Housing Development (IPATH) requires 50% affordable housing provision on any private development of 10 or more units in Ulverston.
105 An area of land owned by SLDC behind the North Lonsdale Road Depot has been earmarked in the Masterplan for affordable housing. The Masterplan suggests that the Depot will be relocated which will make the site more attractive. There has been interest in this site from the Ulverston Eco-Homes Group and Fairoak Housing Association had wanted to develop the site for housing for people with learning difficulties – however neither scheme could be progressed. The Council will consider developing this site in the near future.
106 The Council works closely with three registered social landlords (RSLs) in the area, these are Two Castles, the Home Group and Impact Housing Associations. However there has been little development in the last 5 years in the East Ward other than upgrades or Impact Housing Associations development at Quay Street.
19 107 The Council also gives renovation grants for privately owned empty properties in need of renovation in return for nomination rights (generally for five to ten years) and affordable rents. This scheme had generated some affordable housing provision in Ulverston but mainly in the Town Centre area above shops. However the Council’s renovation grants scheme for private landlords may not always take people in greatest housing need. The properties are renovated to a high specification and landlords can veto proposed tenants, which leads to the possibility of them cherry-picking. This means that ‘acceptable’ tenants may jump the queue and get housed even if they are a lower priority than others on the list.
108 However affordable housing need had changed over time. Because of the increased housing costs people in higher income brackets now find themselves in need of affordable housing – the renovation grant scheme may help meet some of the needs of this intermediate market.
109 Achieving the Decent Homes standard was a central part of government housing policy, particularly for those considered vulnerable. Improving energy efficiency is a key issue in the social rented and private sector housing stock in the District. The Council’s energy efficiency scheme was being rolled out across the District area by area and the Honeypot Estate in the East Ward had already been covered.
110 The Council’s Warmcard scheme targets vulnerable and hard to reach residents – particularly in rural areas – and provides grant and energy efficiency information. The scheme uses partners who do home visits – the partners leave the cards and encourage residents to contact the Council for help and advice. Ulverston East could be targeted early in the Scheme’s rollout.
111 SLH can only let housing to people living in the District. Demand for housing in Ulverston has to be met within the area. The option of referring people in need to Barrow BC has reduced as Barrow’s properties are becoming full. Applicants to SLH for housing are varied, but a lot come from the private rented sector seeking a more secure tenancy – which suggests this may be an issue.
112 There is a need for a range of properties and there is currently a poor supply of properties for single people, which means that many rely on family and friends for somewhere to live. It is possible that some people do not register on waiting lists because they feel there is little chance of them ever being offered a home. Homeless people do not have an automatic priority to housing. Prevention – negotiation with landlords and families to prevent eviction – is a large part of the role of staff working with homeless people.
113 Migrant workers entitled to register for housing in the UK have the same rights to housing as anyone else on the waiting list, providing they have satisfied a two year residency requirement. There been an increase in migrant workers applying for housing and SLH have an interpreter service.
20 114 In the Ulverston area there are up to 1500 applicants on the waiting list. There are not enough homes to meet the need and this is compounded by the fact that so few existing homes become available. During 2006 only 18 two or three bedroom houses became available in Ulverston. This means a potentially long wait on the waiting list. Currently homes on the Honeypot Estate are low on the list of preferred locations but there is still a waiting list of three years and rising. Croftlands has a waiting list of seven years and rising. Around 35% of homes on the Honeypot Estate are in private ownership compared with 75% on the Park Estate.
115 There is a clear need for more properties in Ulverston to meet the identified housing need. However sites for new build are limited, not just in Ulverston but across the District as a whole. The Council’s emerging Local Development Framework (LDF) should contain sites allocated for affordable housing and work on identifying suitable sites has started. The Council is also recruiting an Affordable Housing Officer who will work with local communities to identify sites.
116 Home Housing Group have started a positive action scheme in Whitehaven. This is a neighbourhood management approach and involves going into communities and discussing needs and involving other partners in this, including the private sector. For example Network Rail own a lot of land in the area and are involved in discussions about potentially funding neighbourhood wardens for their own and the wider communities benefit. The idea is to approach problems holistically and try to build community spirit and confidence. Community policing is very important part of this approach as it helps build community confidence. The project has also involved work with schools and extended schools (pre and post normal school hours activities) and the Youth Service.
117 Currently, there are no active residents groups in the Ulverston East. Despite extensive leafleting by the SLH Tenants Committee and arranging public meetings no one attended. The task group felt that it might help by starting small, and even trying to set up associations on a street-by-street basis, rather than a whole estate or area. It is important to deliver visible results, as this helps build confidence and reinforces the concept that people can come together and make a difference.
21 Visit to the Salterbeck Estate, Workington
118 On 3 June 2007 the task group visited the Salterbeck Estate in Workington. Their visit was hosted by Anne Payne from Impact Housing Association and members of the Salterbeck Residents Association. The task group would like to express their thanks to Anne and the members of the residents association for sharing their knowledge and expertise and for all their help and assistance. The task group were extremely impressed by the achievements of the residents association and Impact Housing Association and their partners.
119 Salterbeck is an estate of 1,148 houses which lies at the South end of Workington. It has clear geographical borders giving a strong sense of “place”. Generations of the same families have lived there. Salterbeck was built in stages from the 1930’s onwards. Salterbeck remained very much the way it was originally built up to the 1990’s. The properties were originally predominantly two and three bedroom family houses. Before the 1990’s there were only eight, one bedroom bungalows on the estate and eight 2-bedroom flats. There were a large number of one bedroom flats based in the main at The Oval, which have since been demolished to make way for The Oval Community Centre and replaced over the last 10 years with modern, 2 bedroom bungalows for the elderly and physically impaired.
120 Before 1981, the estate was entirely owned by Allerdale Borough Council. With the advent of the Right To Buy in 1981, approximately one third of the houses have since been sold to sitting tenants. The current tenure split is 724 Social rented Housing and 424 privately owned. In March 1997, Impact Housing Association acquired Salterbeck estate from Allerdale Borough Council after the sitting tenants voted for a Stock Transfer, which transferred ownership of the properties and land to Impact from the Local Authority. An intensive 5-year programme was then begun to demolish, rebuild and then refurbish every house in Impact ownership. Impact originally acquired approximately 800 properties in 1999, the Right To Buy was retained by the sitting tenants and continues to be exercised on a regular basis.
121 The reason for the investment in Salterbeck was that the estate was on a downward spiral. People were leaving, there were higher than average levels of crime and the estate was seen as run down and an undesirable place to live. The economic and social factors which caused this included high unemployment, isolation and the breakdown in the traditional family unit.
122 Prior to, and during, the 1990’s, Salterbeck was in the upper reaches in the measurement of deprivation, not only locally and regionally, but also nationally.
123 Salterbeck has now gone from an estate with up to 70 empty properties, no Waiting List and people leaving, to an estate that is fully occupied with a Waiting List of over 100 Applicants and people returning to the estate and wanting to stay. Impact can now leave empty properties awaiting occupation by an incoming tenant to remain unsecured either with steel shutters or alarms in the knowledge they will not be vandalised. The Police have played a significant part in this turnaround.
22 124 Impact has an Estate Management Agreement with the major service providers on the estate including the Police, Local Authority and the County Council. Regular Police liaison meetings are held with Residents and Impact Staff and a wide range of social events are promoted. Staff are employed to promote youth activities and run young people’s events and activities for all age ranges. Involvement includes work from mother and baby and toddler activities through children and youth projects right through to groups, events and activities for the elderly.
125 The Oval Centre is the hub of this work. Work surrounding health issues is already taking place and the involvement of Health professionals and organisations is seen as a crucial part of the holistic approach to the well being of the residents of the estate as a whole.
126 The Oval Centre is owned by the community through a Board of Directors, consisting of Residents Association members and officers from Impact HA. In order to ensure that the Oval Centre is a true community centre it caters for all ages. There are mother and toddler groups and healthy lifestyle days and smoking cessation classes where health promotion work can be undertaken. In addition courses have been run aimed at helping people gain entry into employment, education or training. There is also a gym, cafe with internet access and a range of interest and leisure groups, such as a history club, rugby club, bingo, etc. Impact hope to do more work in partnership with Cumbria Primary Care Trust to improve health on the Estate. Deprivation is associated with poor health and Impact would like to see Community Health Workers operating from the community centre and the PCT divert resources for this.
127 The construction of the Oval Centre was funded from the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) grant and a matching lottery fund bid. From the outset the intention was to have a community facility that provided a comprehensive range of community facilities and activities and that generated income from room hire, the café, bar, gym, etc. The centre is run on a commercial basis and needs to break even. Impact HA lease some of the office space and this was agreed at the start of the project to guarantee some income. In addition the Salterbeck Residents Association have the contracts from Impact for grounds maintenance and painting on the Estate.
128 The Residents Association was established in 1995. At that time the Estate was in a very poor condition and there were high levels of crime, anti-social behaviour and intimidation. The members of the Residents Association told the task group that stolen cars were being raced around the Estate and then set alight nightly and that the electricity substation was vandalized on several occasions, plunging the Estate into darkness. The situation got so bad that some residents approached the Council to discuss how to tackle the problem. A meeting was called on the Estate, guarded by the Police, and despite threats and intimidation over 100 people turned up and the Salterbeck Residents Association was born.
23 129 A core group of residents received some training and support from Allerdale Borough Council. Between 1997 and 2000 the SRB funding supported a major investment programme to improve housing and the local environment. The Estate was secured by design and the Oval Centre built, all with the support and involvement of residents. Funding has been limited since the SRB ceased in 2000. Central to the success of the whole project was the community development work and the development of the Residents Association.
130 In order to ensure continued effective working with partner organisations when the SRB funding ceased, the Salterbeck Community Agreement was drawn up. The Agreement sets out a commitment to partnership working and formalises meeting and other arrangements. Signatories include Allerdale Borough Council, the Police, the County Council, Impact HA, PCT and others.
131 Impact HA appointed a Community Development Officer to support the developing Residents Association and build a sense of community. The members of the Residents Association emphasised that it was very important to have full-time professional support.
132 The members of the Residents Association and Impact staff also emphasised the importance of establishing a Residents Association as the first step towards building a sense of community – the association becomes a voice for the community and of crucial importance, can engage with organisations. Without an association it can be very difficult for partner organisations to engage with the community.
133 Establishing the Residents Association was a slow process. It took time to build a sense of community spirit and to help the community feel some degree of ownership of the community centre. This was difficult in an area where residents had become used to being ‘done to’, rather than doing for themselves. Open days were held where residents were encouraged to come along and action plans were developed – the action plans delivered some early tangible benefits which helped build confidence and support for the association.
134 Residents Association members explained that they arrange ‘nosh and natter’ evenings three or four times per year. These are informal events where people gather to eat and chat, the informal setting supports better engagement and discussion. In addition there are fetes and open days. The Residents Association members emphasised the importance of making events informal and fun to encourage turnout and participation.
135 In addition some residents volunteer to act as area representatives and they may be approached any time to raise issues or problems with the Residents Association. The area representatives go on walkabouts with Impact staff to check that faults reported have been addressed and identify areas requiring maintenance.
136 The Residents Association meets monthly and the Operations Manager from Impact HA attends and discusses progress on the action plan and deals with issues raised.
24 137 Police Liaison meetings are held at the Oval Centre where residents can raise issues. The Residents Association members explained that these issues are often relatively minor, but that minor issues can have a significant impact on the quality of life for residents.
138 Residents Association members and Impact staff meet with prospective tenants and there is a six-month introductory lettings policy. This is based on an assured six-month shorthold tenancy agreement, which provides the option of eviction if deemed necessary. Also residents holding full tenancy agreements may be placed on shorthold tenancies of they engaged in anti- social behaviour or are served with an ASBO. The meetings with prospective tenants act as a screening process and only one tenant had been evicted since the scheme was introduced.
139 Impact staff in partnership with the Police do use acceptable behaviour contracts for young people engaging in anti-social behaviour. Impact then provide support for the young person - the support package is very important to help reduce anti-social behaviour. In addition Impact will enter into partnership with schools and agree acceptable behaviour contracts for children and young people and the support that will be provided.
140 The task noted the high level of support available and asked how many support staff worked on the estate. Impact have two Housing Officers, two Housing Assistants an Estate Manager and a Community Development Officer. In addition there are three part-time youth intervention workers funded by partners.
141 Young people may meet with the youth intervention workers in the Oval Centre but the workers also go out on to the street to talk to and engage with children and young people, they run a youth club and run projects on sex education, drug prevention, etc. Also activities are organized on the Estate during school holiday periods to engage children and young people in positive activity. This activity is all undertaken to try to prevent anti-social behaviour by children and young people on the estate. A ban on on-street alcohol consumption is also being pursued.
142 The task group found the visit to Salterbeck inspirational, and were very impressed at the community development work that had been undertaken and the clear benefits it had delivered. The Oval Centre was a true community facility and was central to much community life. Some of the key lessons learned include:
o the importance of establishing a residents association to act as a voice for the community and providing professional support; o the importance of a joined-up approach involving partners and the community working together; o a long-term commitment by partners, recognising that progress can be slow.
25 Health
143 The task group met on 7 September 2007 to examine health issues in Ulverston East. Carole Wood (Associate Director of Public Health South Cumbria, Cumbria PCT) and Charlotte Williamson (Health Improvement Specialist, Cumbria PCT) delivered a presentation and led the discussion.
144 Carole Wood chairs the South Lakeland Local Strategic Partnerships Health and Well-being Group and sees benefit in marrying the work of the task group with the LSP Health and Well-being group. Most of the LSP groups work has addressed District-wide issues, the scrutiny task groups work provided an opportunity to drill down and look at disadvantage at the Ward or super output level.
145 Charlotte Williamson explained that health is a result of a range of determinants or influences. These start with age, gender and constitutional factors, which are influenced by lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, smoking, etc. Wider influences include social and community networks and general socio-economic and environmental conditions, such as education, work, housing quality, healthcare, the economy, and so on.
146 Most of the determinants of health are outside of the control or direct influence of the healthcare sector, for example housing quality and income levels. Health and life expectancy are linked to the influences on health in childhood and adulthood and that the health gap between the top and bottom of the social scale can be considerable. For many people these inequalities mean poorer health, reduced quality of life and avoidable early death.
147 A Department of Health report notes that health inequalities are the result of a complex and wide-ranging network of factors. People who experience material disadvantage, poor housing, lower educational attainment, insecure employment or homelessness are among those more likely to suffer poorer health outcomes and an earlier death compared with the rest of the population. This disadvantage reinforces health inequalities and helps sustain these inequalities across the generations. For example, educational attainment at age 15–16 is significantly associated with coronary heart disease (CHD), according to an analysis of over 100 local education authority areas (Tackling Health Inequalities, DOH, 2005).
148 Health reporting for Ulverston from the 2001 census showed that 68% of the population of the Ulverston East Ward reported that their health was good, with 10.63% reporting their health as not good. Two other wards in Ulverston had higher numbers of people reporting that their health was not good, these were Ulverston Town at 11.31% and Ulverston Central at 14.67%. This may be linked to the age profile of those wards, with higher numbers of elderly people reporting poor health. Self-reporting of health correlates well with medical evidence.
149 Life expectancy at birth data for 1999-2003 shows that life expectancy in Ulverston East is 77.7 years. This is very similar to the Ulverston Central, North, South and Town wards. The highest life expectancy in Ulverston is in the Ulverston West ward at 80.7 years. The highest life expectancy in Cumbria of 91.3 years is found in the Greystoke ward in Eden and the worst of 71.8 years in the Moss Bay ward in Allerdale. The 9-year difference in life expectancy in Wards across the District is not statistically significant.
26 150 The Standard Mortality Rate data for England (all causes, all ages, persons 2001-2005) shows that there are 3 wards in Ulverston with higher mortality rates than the national average. These are the Central, East and South Wards. In addition the North Ward is right on the average. The Central Ward has the highest mortality rate.
151 Comparison of crude mortality rates between areas which may have different age structures would be inappropriate, because the age structure of the population can affect the number of deaths and thereby the crude death rate. To overcome this problem, the common approach is to adjust or standardise the mortality rates to take account of differences between the age structure of the populations. The fact that 3 wards in Ulverston have standardised mortality rates higher than the national average is significant and indicates underlying health problems in the community.
152 Data from the Ulverston GP practices showed that the most significant health problem is hypertension (high blood pressure). Hypertension is associated with smoking, poor diet, low levels of exercise and persistent hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks and heart failure. The second most significant health problem is depression, the third is obesity, fourth is asthma and the fifth is Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). Hypertension, obesity and CHD are all associated with lifestyle risk factors such as smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise. Nationally the incidence of CHD is highest amongst the obese.
153 Health services in Ulverston were based at the Ulverston Community Health Centre on Stanley Street. Three GP practices based there and a wide range of services are available, including outpatient clinics, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, health visitor clinics, midwifery, audiology, podiatry, counselling, smoking cessation advice and drug and alcohol counselling. Do people in the East Ward know what health support is available and can they access these services?
154 The wider determinants of health model and the links between health and factors such as housing, employment and income levels and the local environment, may explain high levels of depression in deprived areas such as Ulverston East. Other significant health problems in the Ward are associated with lifestyle risk factors, primarily poor diets, low levels of exercise and smoking. These lifestyle issues are closely associated with low incomes and in a deprived area raising income levels can be difficult to achieve.
155 In order to address health issues in the Ulverston East a health improvement plan could be developed. However given that there were health problems in other wards in Ulverston the health improvement plan would need to cover those other wards as well. Effective solutions would require a multi-agency task group to address the wider determinants of health and solution would need to be holistic. There would need to be a strong community engagement element in order to understand the barriers to accessing services and living healthier lifestyles.
156 The task group felt that any community centre or facility developed in the Ward could provide a location for the local delivery of health services, similar to the Oval Centre at Salterbeck.
27 157 Cumbria PCT is seeking to provide more health services in local communities and a community centre project would offer the potential for co-location. The PCT and CCC are working closer together and looking at co-location and locality based needs analysis and service provision.
158 The new Children’s Centre for Ulverston may be based in Ulverston East and possibly at the Dale Street Community Centre. It is hoped that the health visitors will also provide services from the Centre. There is a perception that people from the East Ward do not visit and use the services of the health centre on Stanley Street.
159 Note: The new Ulverston Children’s Centre will be located in the Dale Street Community Centre, which will be modified. The National Children’s Homes (NCH) charity won the copntract to managed and deliver services from April 2008. These services will be dlievred from a number of lcoaltions until the building works at Dale Street are completed.
160 The task group had previously discussed the perception that people living in Ulverston East do not see themselves as part of the wider community of Ulverston and do not access services and facilities, or participate in social and cultural activity to the same extent that as the rest of the community. The fact that for some time is everything appears to be closing down in the Ward, for example the community centre and Dale Street School, may have something to do with this.
161 The task group noted that the Salterbeck community took some time to feel any ownership and become actively involved at the Oval Centre, there was some scepticism at first. Agencies involved in community development need to commit and be there for the long haul. Participatory appraisal was a useful health assessment technique as it involved considerable community engagement. Charlotte Williamson has considerable experience of participatory appraisal health assessment from work undertaken in Barrow and could possibly help in Ulverston.
162 Carole Wood suggested that the LSP Health and Well-being task group would be very interested in this initiative. The LSP group had recently been discussing deprivation within the District and this was very relevant.
28 Building communities
163 The task group next met on 23 November 2007 to discuss possible approaches to developing a sense of community and building stronger communities in Ulverston East. Anne Payne (Salterbeck Community Development Officer, Impact Housing Association) led the discussion.
164 Anne Payne explained that perhaps the most important lesson she has learnt is that only people who live in and are part of communities can change them. The key to community development is to support communities and help them to achieve their goals, and to work closely with key partners to help them do this. The starting point is to begin building links with the community and this takes time, trust has to be earned and relationships built. It important to consult on the small issues as well as the big issues and social events and other informal community events get people involved and provide an opportunity to raise issues in an informal setting.
165 Residents may be reserved about getting involved in formal Residents Associations and informal social evenings were alternative ways of getting people involved and talking to them to find out what their concerns and priorities are. Informal events also provide an opportunity to identify people who may be prepared to come forward and encourage them to get involved. At Salterbeck on occasion local issues have been spread over a table and residents asked to stick post-it notes on those they feel to be most important.
166 Estate community walks, where residents walk around the estate with Impact staff and point out any issues and the Area Rep Scheme, where residents take responsibility for small areas of the estate, meet with housing officers and pass on any problems and issues, repairs that have not happened, problems with fly tipping, and so on, all enable people to get involved without having to formally become involved with the Residents Association with the associated time commitments. With both schemes it is important to be clear on what action will be taken, provide feedback to residents and be honest and realistic about what can and cannot be achieved.
167 Social events and fun events encourage people to get involved. The Oval centre hosts ‘feel good days’, food tasting, healthy eating and cooking demonstrations, aromatherapy days, stop smoking groups, and so on, again local issues arise from these days. In addition skip drives (for household rubbish), energy efficiency days and dog chipping events are held.
168 The Community Agreement between key agencies (Police, Cumbria County Council, Allerdale BC, Salterbeck Residents Association, Impact, Salterbeck ACE) clearly sets out what each partner will do. The partners meet 4 times a year and discuss issues and areas of concern and agree how the agencies can work together to resolve them. Partners also agree an annual action plan. One current key issue is the lack of facilities for young people. The SRB funding has enabled engagement with young people through youth workers for 10 years. This is building a legacy of community involvement that will pay dividends in future. Other key issues for the future revolve around employment and income levels, difficult issues to address. More also needs to be done to improve health and education.
29 169 The key organisation is the Residents Association supported by the Community Agreement. The Residents Association has monthly meetings and Impact HAs Operations Manager attends and reports on progress.
170 New tenants are given a welcome pack which tells them about the events at the Oval Centre. There are supported tenancies for 16/17 year olds. Support workers help manage the property, help the young tenants with benefits and resolve any anti-social problems. This requires dedicated staff.
171 The task group thought that the Oval Centre was a wonderful facility for the Salterbeck community and wondered a centre could be funded in Ulverston East. Salterbeck received funding from a variety of sources. Salterbeck received Single Regeneration Status in 1997, which had paid for the Centre. In addition Impact obtained funding from the Housing Corporation for environmental improvement works
172 Different organisations can access different sources of funding. Impact Housing, ACE, Salterbeck Residents Association and Allerdale Borough Council can all access different funds.
173 The Honeypot Estate is the most deprived area in Ulverston. The school on the Honeypot Estate has been threatened with closure. This has generated a groundswell of opposition and residents are getting involved. This could provide a springboard to establishing a resident association. There is a need for action in the East Ward. There is a real need for facilities for young people, particularly play facilities for children. The new Children’s Centre is welcome news, but more is required.
174 The success of the Salterbeck scheme is inspiring. Some development work was going on in Kendal, for example the youth shelters, and similar action needs to take place in Ulverston. The role of RSLs could be the key to the success of such schemes. Impact had played a significant in securing funding for Salterbeck, could South Lakes Housing could access funding and does it have the skills to deliver?
175 Anne Payne reminded the group of the importance of quick wins, these show that something is happening and help build support. Youth provision is very important, it came later on at Salterbeck and with hindsight should have happened earlier.
176 The task group felt that the key to success was establishing an effective residents association, which may then as a community voice to approach funders and other organisations. Anne Payne agreed but emphasised that residents associations will need a lot of support – and that it should be fun as well to encourage people. It is important to work with people to help them achieve their aims, unless this happens there will be no little progress and this is a key to success. There has to be community development, and communities need to be supported to help them achieve change.
30 Conclusion and recommendations
177 The IMD 2007 data and evidence from partners gathered during the review shows that the Ulverston East Ward has the highest levels of deprivation in South Lakeland and the data highlights several areas of concern.
178 A relatively high proportion of the community is experiencing income deprivation. Of particular concern is the fact that Ulverston East is the most deprived Ward in the District and is the 13th most deprived Ward in Cumbria, on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), which represents the proportion of children aged 0-15 living in households experiencing income deprivation.
179 Related to this is the fact that a greater proportion of the population is involuntarily excluded from the labour market in Ulverston East than in any other Ward in the District and that levels of educational attainment amongst children and young people and skills and qualifications amongst working age adults are low.
180 The Standardised Mortality Rates for Ulverston East is higher than the national average, which means that taking age into account, the number of deaths across the population is greater than expected. This indicates underlying health problems in the community. The most significant health problems, are, hypertension, depression, obesity, asthma and coronary heart disease.
181 There is a shortage of affordable and social housing to rent which has led to some degree of overcrowding. Car ownership is low and public transport links poor, which present barriers to accessing services, such as health services, supermarkets and education and training facilities. These barriers to access may restrict employment opportunities and contribute to social exclusion.
182 Crime levels are higher than average within the District. The most significant problem is anti-social behaviour, peaking in the summer months. The largest number of complaints falls into the rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour category. Youth disorder is the number one Policing priority for residents identified during StreetSafe surveys.
183 The task group believe that there is a degree of social exclusion present in Ulverston East, and that this is largely linked to economic factors, i.e. the high proportion of households, particularly households with children, with low incomes present in Ulverston East, which acts as a barrier to wider participation in social and cultural events. The task group also believe that there is a need to undertake community development work within the Ward to help build stronger communities.
184 During the review, the task group regularly discussed the best approach to tackling deprivation in Ulverston East and other parts of the District. It soon became apparent that in order to tackle deprivation effectively, partners need to join together and co-ordinate their work at the local level. Local joint working will not, on its own, solve the problems of deprived neighbourhoods - but the task group feel that it is a necessary condition.
31 185 Supporting evidence comes from the work of the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU), responsible for overseeing the Government's neighbourhood renewal strategy. The NRU established Policy Action Teams to examine neighbourhood renewal issues and provide guidance to support the delivery. One team examined best practice in local strategic planning to tackle deprivation and social exclusion and the most effective ways of linking in other agencies and organisations at the local level.
186 The Policy Action Teams report -‘Joining it up locally’ (2000) - notes that the problems affecting deprived neighbourhoods – high levels of crime, low levels of educational attainment and poor health, are acute. But they are also related, or “joined up”. At the same time, no single organisation holds the key to addressing these problems. A combination of public, private, voluntary and community sector effort is needed to address them.
187 The report comments that this means that only a joined-up response will be effective in tackling the problems of deprived neighbourhoods. The need for this is particularly strong at the local level (i.e. the local authority level). It is at this level that many core public services do their operational planning, and at which many decisions about allocation of resources are made.
188 ‘Joining it up Locally’ states that if frameworks for co-operation are to be effective, they need to reflect the whole needs of communities, and be seen to reflect the priorities of local people rather than being externally imposed. This important statement confirms a lesson learnt by the task group from its visit to the Salterbeck Estate. It was clearly stated that the most important lesson learnt from attempts to build a sense of community was that only people who live in and are part of communities can change them. The key to community development is to support communities and help them achieve their goals, and to work closely with key partners to achieve this. The starting point is to begin building links with the community, which can take time as trust has to be earned and relationships built.
189 The problem of deprived neighbourhoods is not a new one. Successive governments have tried to address it in various ways and attempts to encourage local joint action have often been part of this. There have been some successes, but some initiatives have failed to generate effective joint working. Past attempts at joint working have commonly failed because:
o communities were not adequately involved or empowered; o initial joint strategies were not translated into sustained joined-up working; o too much action was driven by central funding rather than local needs; and central government policies and practices made local joint working difficult.
32 190 The report identifies several principles for effective joint working in deprived areas:
o Empowerment. Unless the residents of deprived communities are partners in joint working, nothing will change;
o Leadership and commitment. Partnership can be an excuse for everyone to do nothing. The most successful joint-working has strong leadership, and involves real – rather than token – commitment from all partners;
o Prevention is better than cure. Joint action should be focused on spotting problems some way off and addressing them before they are serious enough to require a more intensive and expensive response.
o A radical change of culture is needed. Public service culture needs to move away from focusing on the inputs and outputs of particular services, towards achieving shared outcome targets – like improving people’s health, and reducing crime.
o All levels of government need to be involved. Neighbourhoods cannot be expected to find solutions to all their problems. Some factors – like structural economic decline – can only be dealt with elsewhere.
191 The task group believe that these principles should be at the core of any initiative developed to tackle deprivation within the District.
192 A mechanism is needed at the local authority level to enable core public services to work with each other, local residents and community, voluntary and private groups to improve outcomes in deprived neighbourhoods. ‘Joining it up Locally’ suggests that this role could be played by Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs).
193 The task group feel that this an option that Cabinet should consider and this approach does match current Government thought on LSPs and neighbourhood renewal. However the task group are unsure as to whether or not this is a role the South Lakeland LSP would be prepared to undertake or whether the LSP has sufficient capacity to do so.
194 The alternative would be for the Council to take the lead and set up a project team to develop an action plan to address the problems affecting Ulverston East. This team should contain officers from the District Council and the County Council, Ward Members from the Town, District and County Councils, the Police, Cumbria PCT, South Lakes Housing and other partners as appropriate. The task group feels that at present this is the preferred option.
195 The following recommendations made by the task group are essentially based on the premise that Cabinet will support the establishment of a project team involving a range of partners to develop an action plan to tackle deprivation in Ulverston East.
33 196 The majority of the recommendations could, and the task group strongly feel should, still be implemented without the establishment of a project team. However the task group do feel that there is a clear need for a co-ordinating body at the local level to ensure that joined-up solutions are developed to address cross-cutting issues, and to develop and implement an action plan to tackle them.
197 The main objective of the project team would be to agree an action plan and co-ordinate and drive the delivery of local services provided by partners in order to tackle deprivation within Ulverston East. As the main services provided by the Council that potentially may address some of the principal causes of deprivation in Ulverston East come under the remit of the Regeneration and Housing Group, the task group feel that it would be appropriate for this Group to take the lead in establishing the project team.
198 Potential partners would need to be prepared to discuss a long-term commitment to the project and consider committing resources. Any resource commitment would become clear as the project team had agreed its action plan which would then need to be agreed by each partner organisation.
Recommendation 1
199 That Cabinet agree that appropriate officers from SLDC should meet with partner organisations, such as the LSP, to discuss establishing an Ulverston East project team. The purpose of the project team will be to develop and agree an action plan - based on the principles for effective joint working in deprived neighbourhoods set out above - and co- ordinate and drive delivery of local services provided by partners to tackle deprivation in Ulverston East.
200 During the review the task group repeatedly heard the importance of community engagement, consultation and empowerment and ownership when developing plans to tackle deprivation. The action plan developed by the project team should reflect the needs of the community, and be seen to reflect the priorities of local people rather than being externally imposed.
201 A key element to building a stronger community in Ulverston East is the establishment of a residents association. An effective residents association will become the voice of the community and may seek funding and engage with partners, including the project team. Establishing a residents association would also support the establishment of any future Community Agreement between the key partners. The task group believe that establishing a residents association should be a priority for the project team. The task group envisage that once established, the residents association will join the partners on the project team, and over time become the lead partner.
Recommendation 2
202 That Cabinet agree that a priority for the project team should be to develop a residents association in Ulverston East that will become a voice for the community and a body able to engage with partners.
34 203 Developing a residents association can be a slow process and members of the Salterbeck Residents Association emphasised the importance of support they receive from their Community Development Officer. The task group feel that this is a key role and were inspired by the achievements of the Community Development work undertaken on the Salterbeck Estate.
204 The Community Development Officer could report to the project team and manage the delivery of the project on a day-to-day basis. The task group feel that the project team should examine how such a post may be resourced in Ulverston – would partners be willing to contribute towards the cost of employing someone to support the development of the community and develop and deliver community initiatives on the ground with partners to achieve the aims of the action plan? Whether or not this should be a permanent post or temporary post (and if so the period of the appointment) should be determined by the project team.
Recommendation 3
205 That Cabinet agree that the project team should consider how to resource the appointment of a Community Development Officer, to support the development of the residents association and local community, and support the delivery of the any action plan agreed by the project team.
206 During the review the task group discussed the idea of establishing a community centre that would offer a range of social events for the whole of the community, offer advice and support, skills and knowledge training, and could host a range of services. The task group were impressed by the community centre on the Salterbeck Estate, the range of services it offered and the central role it plays in community life and felt that this captured their vision.
207 During the review some partners indicated that they would be consider co- location or use the community facility as a base for delivering services to the community. In order to become a real focus for the community, the community centre should also hold lot of social events and activities for children and young people, particularly during school holidays.
208 The task group were impressed by the demonstrable impact providing social, cultural and sporting activity has had on the quality of life for residents and particularly in helping reduce anti-social behaviour amongst children and young people on the Salterbeck Estate and would like to see similar development activity undertaken in Ulverston Etas. This could be a role for the Community Development Officer or could perhaps be undertaken an existing team within the Council.
209 Ideally the centre should try to generate sufficient income to be self-funding/ Room hire could help and if partners were willing to co-locate, as Impact have done at Salterbeck, then some income could be generated.
35 210 The planned closure of the Dale Street School may offer an opportunity to provide a location for a new community centre based on the Salterbeck model. The closure of the school is a significant loss to the community and the establishment of a new community centre may help the community feel that it is not all bad news. The school is owned by the County Council, which could retain ownership, or could perhaps transfer the building(s) to the community to be run by a board of directors based on the residents association or other model. The use of the well-being powers would potentially allow the County Council to transfer the asset to the community at no cost.
Recommendation 4
211 That Cabinet agree that a priority for the project team and Community Development Officer should be to work with the residents committee to establish a centre in the heart of Ulverston East, within redundant buildings which can provide a wide variety of services for the community. These services should include skills training and education and access to professional services including social services, the Police, South Lakes Housing, outreach health services together with other community services as decided by the community. And that this facility should be owned and managed by the community as a social enterprise.
212 During the review the task group explored key themes of neighbourhood renewal with partners and considered evidence relating to Ulverston East. As part of this process potential solutions were considered and some of these are set out below. However the task group are aware that community consultation by the project team as part of the development of their action plan may reflect different priorities, which should take priority.
213 The recent announcement of significant job losses at the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) manufacturing plant in Ulverston is a major blow to the local community and threatens to have a major impact on the local economy. Local politicians and others have already started discussing how to ease the impact of redundancies through re-training programmes and means of attracting new businesses to locate in the town. The announcement of job losses at GSK followed the recent news that Ulverston would lose its Jobcentre Plus office.
214 The Ulverston Canal Head and Canal Corridor Masterplan is a very significant document that offers considerable potential to regenerate the area and increase job opportunities. It is the framework for the regeneration of Ulverston. The GSK announcement reinforces the significance of the Masterplan and makes its implantation even more of a priority.
215 The Masterplan is based on a phased re-allocation of land use, primarily focussing on the Canal head area but also taking into account the whole length of the corridor. The Council is currently bidding for NWDA funding to develop sites at Ulverston Canal Head and North Lonsdale Road. The Canal Head site will be an employment site whilst North Lonsdale Road – owned by the Council - will be a mixed development incorporating some affordable housing.
36 216 The Canal runs through the Ulverston East Ward and the implementation of the Masterplan offers significant potential to create new job opportunities for local people. The Ulverston Canal Masterplan is the key regeneration project offering the potential to reduce the high proportion of households experiencing income and other forms of deprivation in Ulverston East.
217 The Council is aware of the need to develop prosperous communities and raise income levels within the District as a whole. Supporting the development of Prosperous Communities was a theme within the Council’s Corporate Plan 2007-10 with the outcomes sought ranked at priority 6, 11 and 12.
218 The new Corporate Plan 2008-11 strengthens the Council’s commitment to develop prosperous communities within the District and the outcomes sought have been raised to priority 2 and 3:
o Priority 2 ‘Economic growth achieved and incomes are increased through the development of key business sectors’ – the achievement of this Priority will be supported by the delivery of a range of projects, including two that are very relevant to helping alleviate deprivation in Ulverston East – the development of employment sites and to contribute to enhancing skills training in areas of local skills shortage;
o Priority 3 ‘Our towns become vibrant centres for enhancing employment, local services, retail and community facilities’ – this priority will be delivered through the delivery of action plans for major regeneration projects in Kendal, Grange, Ulverston and Windermere.
219 The task group strongly supports the Council’s commitment to developing prosperous communities and its commitment to contributing to enhancing training in areas of local skills shortage and urges Cabinet to continue to seek the implementation of the Ulverston Canal Masterplan as a priority.
220 To add further weight to this recommendation the implementation of the Ulverston Canal Masterplan will deliver some affordable housing. The District wide Housing Need and Market Assessment Survey 2006 reveals the need for 60 affordable homes per year to 2011. The implementation of the Ulverston Canal Masterplan will provide affordable housing on the North Lonsdale Road site and may offer the potential for more.
Recommendation 5
221 That Cabinet continues to seek the delivery of the Ulverston Canal Masterplan as a priority.
222 A greater proportion of the population is involuntarily excluded from the labour market in Ulverston East than in any other Ward in the District, there, relatively few are employed in higher paid jobs and levels of educational attainment amongst children and young people and skills and qualifications amongst working age adults are low.
223 The implementation of the Ulverston Canal Masterplan offers opportunities to create employment for local people, however in order to ensure that the local community is in a stronger position to benefit from the opportunities that may
37 be available, the task group believe that education and skills training should be provided that matches the predicted demand from potential employers. The Ulverston Canal Masterplan contains proposals for a technology park and mixed use developments, ideally education and skills training should be provided that complements the type of development.
224 In addition the project team should identify local skills shortages and seek to provide training that meets those shortages in order to create opportunities for local people to get jobs. Because of the known barriers to access existing further education and skills training available (low car ownership, infrequent public transport, course fees, etc) the project team should ideally seek to ensure that training is provided at the community centre.
Recommendation 6
225 That Cabinet agree the project team should ensure that education and skills training provided meets identified local skills shortages and complements the type of development proposed in the Ulverston Canal Masterplan.
226 The task group were concerned to hear evidence that taking age into account, the number of deaths across the population is greater than expected. This indicates underlying health problems in the community. The task strongly feel that the Primary Care Trust (PCT) must be a key partner in the project team and are heartened by their interest. The task group are strongly supportive of the idea of the PCT undertaking a participatory health appraisal and developing a health improvement plan. The task group would like to see the health improvement plan this delivered from the proposed community facility where possible and envisage that the health improvement plan would become an integral part of the project teams action plan.
Recommendation 7
227 That Cabinet agree that the PCT should be a key partner in the project team and should be encouraged to develop a health improvement plan for Ulverston East. Where practicable the plan should be delivered locally from community facilities.
228 Crime levels within Ulverston East are higher than the District average. The most significant problem is anti-social behaviour, peaking in the summer months and youth disorder is the number one Policing priority for residents identified during StreetSafe surveys.
229 The Police are already undertaking a series of initiatives in Ulverston and have developed an action plan for the Town – the Ulverston Partnership Action Community Team. In addition Police Officers have established a Friday night football which has attracted young people from Ulverston East and the task group would like to commend the commitment to the community shown by there officers. The task group consider the Police to be a key partner in the project team and hope that they would use the proposed community centre for Police liaison meetings with the local community, and perhaps consider using the centre as a base for the PCSOs.
38 Recommendation 8
230 That Cabinet agree that the Police should be a key partner in the project team.
231 The task group feel that the perceived social exclusion in Ulverston East is linked to some of the previously identified barriers to access, principally low household incomes, low car ownership and infrequent public transport. Unfortunately such barriers may mean that the potentially most vulnerable children and young people are those least likely to participate.
232 The task group is pleased to note that the introduction of a leisure pass scheme is retained within the Council’s new Corporate Plan 2008-11 and feels that the introduction of such a scheme will help improve access to and participation in sports and leisure activities. Transport barriers could potentially be overcome to some extent by the use of the Community Bus Scheme and other initiatives and this should be addressed by the project team and Community Development Officer.
Recommendation 9
233 That Cabinet agree that the project team address social exclusion and barriers to access and that the leisure pass is introduced into Ulverston East as a priority.
234 Finally, the task group feel that the project team need to address local environmental quality. There is a direct link between the quality of life in communities, and Cleaner, Safer, Greener public spaces. There is a clear continuum from litter to more serious environmental crime. Left unchecked, dirty streets and neighbourhoods affect the perception of the local community, which can lead to anti-social behaviour and crime. This is reflected in the Council’s new Corporate Plan 2008-11 under Priority 6, ‘Safer, Cleaner, Greener, Stronger.’
235 The task group feel that the project team should work with key partners to develop joint working to improve local environmental quality, and in particular to improve the quality of road surfaces, drainage and flood protection, green spaces, play areas, the old abbatoir site, the appearance of council owned land along North Lonsdale Road, and so on. An environmental improvement plan could be developed in conusltation with the local community.
Recommendation 10
236 That Cabinet agree that the project team should develop a plan to improve local environmental quality.
Report ends.
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