SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL Report for North East Community Assembly C

REPORT OF North East Community Assembly Manager

DATE 21 st April 2010

SUBJECT North East Community Assembly Funding Proposals 2010/11

AUTHOR OF REPORT: Alison Rayner e-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 0114 203 7584

The North East Community Assembly has been given a SUMMARY discretionary budget allocation of £468,000 for 2010-2011.

This report proposes that, based on the priorities identified in the Community Plan, an allocation of £222,800 should be set aside to fund Assembly-wide activities, and that the £245,200 remaining should be allocated to fund activities based on specific ward priorities.

The report proposes the following allocations to wards, based on population: Burngreave ward, £70,329, Firth Park ward, £64,583, Shiregreen/Brightside ward, £56,375, Southey ward, £53,913.

The report outlines initial proposals for Assembly-wide activities at a cost of £185,686, which includes the provisional allocation of £71,686 for Activity Sheffield workers agreed at the meeting of the North East Community Assembly on 10 February 2010.

The report proposes initial allocations of £175,817 for ward based activities, specifically £49,018 for Burngreave ward projects, £41,257 for Firth Park ward projects, £45,618 for Shiregreen/Brightside ward projects and £39,924 for Southey ward projects.

This represents a total allocation of £361,503.

That the North East Community Assembly: RECOMMENDATIONS: (1) regard having been had to the Sheffield City Strategy and to the relevant Secretary of State’s guidance, confirms its belief that the granting of funding as envisaged in this report is likely to achieve the promotion and improvement of the economic, social and environmental well-being of residents of the wards of Burngreave, Firth Park, Shiregreen/Brightside and Southey;

(2) agrees the proposed allocations of funding particularised in section 3 of this report, subject to the Director of Neighbourhood Renewal and Partnerships being authorised to vary the amount of these grants by not more than ten per cent in each case if funding is available;

(3) requests and authorises the Director of Neighbourhood Renewal and Partnership - in consultation with the Chair of the North East Community Assembly and having regard to recommendations made by Ward Councillors - to allocate funding from:- (a) the Community Festivals and Events Grants, (b) Burngreave ‘Youth Chose’ and Community Chest (c ) Shiregreen/Brightside and Southey You Choose and Community Chest , (d) Firth Park Children and Young People’s Activities grants in accordance with all relevant Council policy and guidance.

(4) authorises the Assembly Manager to:

(a) in consultation with ward councillors, approve the allocation of funding to projects from the Southey and Shiregreen/Brightside Rapid Response budgets

(b) approve expenditure from the Communication and Consultation budget

(d) approve expenditure from the ‘Streets in Bloom’ funding

(5) requests and authorises the Director of Neighbourhood Renewal and Partnership, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services to agree the terms upon which the funding recommended within this report is made available and complete the funding agreements and any other related documents that she considers appropriate. .

BACKGROUND PAPERS None

CATEGORY OF OPEN REPORT: This report is open, the public can see it all and it will be published OPEN/CLOSED on the Council’s website.

- 2 - 1. Outcomes and Sustainability

The funding identified in this report will contribute to the delivery of the priorities in the North East Community Plan, thus benefiting residents in the North East Community Assembly Area. In particular –

• Clean Tidy ‘Streets to be proud of’ - NEAT Teams, Bring Out Your Rubbish Days, Streets in Bloom, street tree pruning, mobile surveillance cameras, extra street cleaning, Shiregreen bus stop litter bins, Burngreave Street Champions • Improved Parks and Green Spaces – NEAT teams, Warden patrols, Southey allotments and food growing project • Community Support and People getting on together – community festivals and events grants, community chest and You Choose projects, festive lights, Burngreave community communications and networking, Burngreave cohesion project, Burngreave Library Saturday afternoon opening, Assembly communication and consultation project • More things for Children and Young People to do – Additional Activity Sheffield workers, Firth Park activities for Children and Young People projects, Burngreave Youth Choose, Burngreave Library Saturday afternoon opening • Neighbourhoods Where People Feel Safe – Shiregreen/Brightside and Southey Rapid Response projects, Additional Activity Sheffield workers, Neighbourhood wardens • Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Older People - Services and activities for Older People • Providing local people with the opportunity to influence local decision making - You Choose Community Chest

The projects and activity within this report contribute to all six of the Council’s ambitions as indicated in the Corporate Plan – • Leading Sheffield’s Transformation • Vibrant, Safe and Strong Communities • Protecting and Enhancing the Environment • A Better Life for Children and Young People • Supporting People to be Healthy and Independent • Putting the Customer First and Achieving best Value for Money

2. Summary

The 2010/11 Discretionary Budget for the North East Community Assembly is £468,000.

This report provides recommendations regarding the initial allocation of the 2010/11 budget, which represents an allocation of £361,503.This will ensure the services, partner agencies and community organisations which receive funding will have up to 12 months to deliver services / spend the money. Proposals to allocate the remaining budget allocations to Assembly-wide and ward-based projects will be brought to the July and October Community Assembly meetings.

All allocations will need to be spent by any recipients by 31 st March 2011.

- 3 - 3. Full Proposal

Background

The North East Community Assembly has been allocated Discretionary Budget for 2010/11 of £468,000.

During spring and summer 2009, community assembly officers met with, consulted and listened to a wide range of residents, partners and groups though events, public meetings, roadshows, e-mail, newsletters and other means, which resulted in the drafting and adoption of a Community Plan in October 2009. All the proposals for Assembly Discretionary budget spend are anchored to the priorities identified in this Plan, which are:

• Clean Tidy ‘Streets to be proud of’ • Improved parks and green spaces • Community support and people getting on together • More things for children and young people to do • Neighbourhoods where people feel safe • Improved roads and transport • Improve local housing • Reducing health inequalities • Getting people out of poverty and into work • Build on improvements in educational attainment, improve aspiration and reduce school exclusions

The provisional allocations for 2010 - 2011 were discussed at public meetings in all four wards in March 2010.

Proposed Activity to be funded in 2010/11

Assembly-wide projects

Proposed Project Proposed Information allocation Neighbourhood £26,000 The North East Assembly has been funding a NEAT team since Environmental Action October last year. This is a responsive team, made up of young people who are gaining training and work skills, which can be Team (NEAT Team) – requested to undertake environmental work and improve ‘grot half-time team for 12 spots’ in our area. It is proposed to fund half a team for a further 12 months. months to provide a responsive service to residents requests. Communication and £15,000 This funding will support the purchase of equipment, promotional consultation project [to materials, venue hire, publicity etc for the ward public meetings, You Say roadshow events, You Choose events, and other fulfil Involvement Plan] involvement activity, and the running of the mobile consultation vehicle. The Assembly Manager will be responsible for this budget. Community Festivals £20,000 This funding pot helps to support neighbourhood festivals across grants the Community Assembly area. Groups organising neighbourhood festivals can request up to £500 per event. Bigger festivals expecting to attract 2000 people or more can apply for up to £2,000. A proportion of the funding will be put aside for winter community festivals, to take place in conjunction with switch on events for festive lights at neighbourhood centres.

- 4 - Local community events are known to improve community cohesion and quality of life, and provide opportunities for the Community Assembly to attend community events to undertake consultation and increase levels of participation. This fund will be managed by the Assembly Manager in consultation with ward members. Streets in Bloom £30,000 Summer floral features are an important means of demonstrating investment, developing neighbourhood identity and encouraging civic pride in local public spaces. This funding will continue to provide a range of floral features across neighbourhood centres in all wards, and extend floral features to include new sites in Shirecliffe Rd and Halifax/ Southey Green shops. This budget will be managed by the Community Assembly Manager. Festive lights £23,000 This project builds on popular demand to extend the provision of Christmas trees and festive column lighting in key neighbourhoods across the Assembly area, building on the success of existing projects at Firth Park, Burngreave and Wincobank. The project offers opportunities to link with investment in local centres, carry out consultation on local services, improve cohesion and identity, and involve children and young people. This budget will be managed by the Community Assembly Manager. Activity Sheffield workers £71,686 This funding continues the project which was funded in 2009-10 to provide three additional full-time posts on top of the basic mainstream staffing provided by Activity Sheffield for the Assembly area, enabling each ward to have a dedicated worker. The workers provide a range of out of school and holiday activity for children and young people, as well as encouraging older people to engage in physical activity. This project contributes to meeting a number of key priorities in the community plan, including tackling ill-health caused by obesity and lack of physical activity, and reducing anti- social activity. The continuation of this funding in 2010-2011 was approved in principle at the Assembly meeting in February 2010.

Ward projects: Burngreave

- 5 - Community £18,000 This project funds the provision of contact points for the communication and Community Assembly at three strategic geographical locations in the ward at Fir Vale, Spital Hill and Shirecliffe. The host networking organisations, Pakistani Advice and Community Association, Burngreave Community Action Forum and Shirecliffe Forum have agreed to provide sign-posting to Assembly events and meetings and to facilitate networking between the Assembly and local groups and residents. Street Tree pruning £4,000 Local residents have complained about the problems caused by overgrown trees which cannot be dealt within existing maintenance priorities. Building on the success of the pilot project in 2010-11, the funding will continue a rolling programme of extra street tree pruning on the worst affected roads. Cohesion project £6,000 This will provide matched funding to develop an inter-generational, multi-agency project based at Parkwood School, to build links between communities, encourage ‘non-traditional’ volunteering and promote pride in cultural heritage across all cultures. Street Champions £2,000 The Assembly will invite expressions of interest from appropriate local organisations to host this project which will re launch and support the Burngreave Street Champions, a group of volunteers who monitor and report environmental issues in their neighbourhood. The Community Assembly team will undertake work to identify a suitable provider to deliver these activities. Officers will then report back at the next Assembly meeting Mobile surveillance £1,000 This funding provides on-going revenue costs for the two mobile camera surveillance cameras bought by the Assembly in 2009-10 to monitor hot-spots for enviro-crime. This project will be managed on behalf of the Assembly by Environmental and Regulatory Services Burngreave Library, £800 This funding builds on the success of the pilot project funded by the Extension of opening Assembly in 2009-10 to extend the opening hours of the Burngreave Library to 3.30 on Saturday afternoons. Following a hours review of the effectiveness of the pilot, it has been agreed to extend the opening hours for a further six months pending a further review. The majority of the funding needed for the additional hours will come from current mainstream rental income at Firth Park Library. Neighbourhood Wardens – £3,600 This funding will continue to extend the Neighbourhood Wardens shared with Firth Park and project run by Sheffield Homes to provide patrols four times per week to the following parks and neighbourhood centres within the Southey wards Burngreave ward: Busk Meadow Park, with the possibility of extending the service to Parkwood Springs and Little Pear Tree wildlife reserve. The warden team report crime and anti-social behaviour, contribute to the maintenance of the parks and provide and gather information for the users of these spaces.

Ward projects: Firth Park

- 6 - Neighbourhood Wardens – £11,100 This funding will continue to extend the Neighbourhood Wardens shared with Burngreave project run by Sheffield Homes to provides patrols four times per week to the following parks and neighbourhood centres within the and Southey wards Firth Park ward: Herries Road shops, Longley Four Greens shops, Parson Cross Park, Longley Park, Longley Four Greens green space The warden team report crime and anti-social behaviour contribute to the maintenance of the parks and provide and gather information for the users of these spaces. Children and young 8,000 Bids will be invited from local community organisations for grants people’s activities grants to provide equipment, materials and one-off events and activities for children and young people in the ward to be delivered between April 2010 and March 2011. The allocation of funds from this budget will be made by the Director of Neighbourhoods Renewal and Partnership in consultation with the Community Assembly Chair.

Ward Projects: Shiregreen/ Brightside

Proposed Project Proposed Information allocation Bring Out Your Rubbish 3,618 This funding will provide three additional Bring Out Your Rubbish Days Days in the ward, in addition to the days provided to each Assembly by Streetforce. This will support the Community Assembly’s commitment to reduce fly-tipping and keeping the streets tidy. Ward councillors intend to work out a timescale for covering all streets in the area on a rolling programme. Lengthsman Project £20,000 The funding will continue with the successful project which (Street Cleaner) – shared provides extra street cleaning at litter hotspots identified by the public at shopping centres and around schools in Shiregreen and with Firth Park ward Wincobank Street Tree pruning £5,000 Local residents have complained about the problems caused by overgrown trees which cannot be dealt within existing maintenance priorities. Building on the success of the Burngreave pilot project in 2010-11, the funding will pay for extra street tree pruning on the worst affected roads. You Choose/ Community £10,000 ‘You Choose’ events are based on the principle that local people Chest should have a say in the allocation of small grant funding, rather than it being decided privately, as in a traditional Community Chest. Last year the Assembly held both community chest and You Choose grant rounds in all four wards. There were a number of learning points to improve the process in future. In 2010 -11, Shiregreen/Brightside councillors would like to work in conjunction with partners Sheffield Homes, Sanctuary Housing and South Yorkshire Police to set up three You Choose events in the three key neighbourhoods within the ward, Shiregreen, Wincobank and Grimesthorpe/Brightside. The allocation of funds to projects from the ‘You Choose’ and Community Chest budget will be made by the Director of Neighbourhoods Renewal and Partnership in consultation with the Community Assembly Chair. Rapid response project £5,000 Members of the public often identify local problems at Assembly, ward and PACT public meetings, which a small amount of money would rapidly resolve. A good example of this would be the funding agreed in Southey ward in 09-10 for palisade fencing to prevent open access to flats on Dryden Way. The project would allow ward councillors to agree funding for a ‘rapid response’ to similar issues raised by the public during the year. Litter Bins £2,000 This project will complement the investment currently being carried out though the Shiregreen Streetscene project to upgrade the quality of streets on the estate by installing litter bins at bus stops on Shiregreen, following a review of litter hot spots. - 7 - Ward Projects: Southey ward

Proposed Project Proposed Information allocation Bring Out Your Rubbish 4,824 This funding will provide four additional Bring Out Your Rubbish Days Days in the ward, in addition to the days provided to each Assembly by Streetforce. This will support the Community Assembly’s commitment to reduce fly-tipping and keeping the streets tidy. Ward councillors intend to work out a timescale for covering all streets in the area on a rolling programme. Neighbourhood Wardens – £15,300 This funding will continue to extend the Neighbourhood Wardens shared with Firth Park and project run by Sheffield Homes to provide patrols four times per week to the following parks and neighbourhood centres within the Burngreave wards Southey ward: Margetson Crescent shops, Cookson Park, Wolfe Road Park, Foxhill Park. The warden team report crime and anti- social behaviour, contribute to the maintenance of the parks and provide and gather information for the users of these spaces. Tree pruning £4,000 Local residents have complained about the problems caused by overgrown trees which cannot be dealt within existing maintenance priorities. Building on the success of the Burngreave pilot project in 2010-11, the funding will pay for extra street tree pruning on the worst affected roads. You Choose/ Community £10,000 ‘You Choose’ events are based on the principle that local people Chest should have a say in the allocation of small grant funding, rather than it being decided privately, as in a traditional Community Chest. Last year the Assembly held both community chest and You Choose grant rounds in all four wards. There were a number of learning points to improve the process in future. In 2010 -11, Southey councillors would like to work in conjunction with partners Sheffield Homes and South Yorkshire Police to run a joint ‘You Choose’ event in the ward. The allocation of funds to projects from the ‘You Choose’ and Community Chest budget will be made by the Director of Neighbourhoods Renewal and Partnership in consultation with the Community Assembly Chair. Rapid response project £5,000 Members of the public often identify local problems at Assembly, ward and PACT public meetings, which a small amount of money would rapidly resolve. A good example of this would be the funding agreed in Southey ward in 09-10 for palisade fencing to prevent open access to flats on Dryden Way. The project would allow ward councillors to agree funding for a ‘rapid response’ to similar issues raised by the public during the year.. Allotments and food £800 This project provides a small amount of funding for an innovative growing project to explore ways of bringing under-used land in parks, green spaces and development sites into use for community food growing.

4. Mitigation of Risk

The risks relating to this proposal have been considered by the North East Community Assembly Team. These risks will be regularly reviewed and monitored.

Financial and Performance Management – The Accountable Body Team within the Neighbourhood Renewal and Partnership Service, SCC, will administer the distribution of funding and ensure agreed targets and outcomes are being met. They will do this through the receipt of monitoring forms from providers and by visiting projects / activity on the ground in conjunction with the Community Assembly Planning and Performance Officer.

- 8 - 5. Financial Implications

The current budget proposed for the North East Community Assembly for 2010/11 is £468,000. This proposal will utilise £361,503 of the budget leaving £106,497 to be allocated subsequently at Assembly meetings in July and October 2010. This will be monitored according to Sheffield City Council financial procedures.

6. Legal Implications

The Community Assembly has the executive power to allocate the proposed funding from its discretionary budget.

If the Community Assembly takes the view that the funding of the projects mentioned in this report is likely to achieve the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental well- being of its area or any persons present or resident within it the Council will have the power to make this funding available pursuant to section 2, Local Government Act 2000. In exercising this power, the guidance issued by the Secretary of State has to have been considered: the proposals in this report are not at variance with this guidance.

In exercising the Section 2 power regard must also be had to the Council's Sustainable Community Strategy ("the Sheffield City Strategy") prepared pursuant to section 4, Local Government Act 2000. The outcomes of this project are supportive of all five aims of the Sheffield City Strategy: Strong Economy, Successful Neighbourhoods, Inclusive, Healthy Communities, Great Place to Grow Up and Environmental Excellence.

As set out within this report, delegations will have to given to the relevant officers by the Assembly to ensure that the grants can be distributed and managed in the manner that is proposed.

7. Human Resources

The Lengthsman, NEAT Team and Activity Sheffield proposals will provide the option for continuing employment within Sheffield City Council. The other proposals will have no impact on human resources within Sheffield City Council.

8. Environment and Sustainability Implications

A number of projects which will be funded through the discretionary budget will contribute to improving the environment work in the North East Community Assembly area, including the Lengthsman, Street Tree pruning, Southey Allotments and food growing and Shiregreen Litter bin projects, the extra Bring Out Your Rubbish Days and the work of the NEAT Team.

9. Economic Impact

The work of the Lengthsman and the NEAT Team, Streets In Bloom, Festive lighting will contribute to the thriving district and local centres policy by maintaining the attractiveness of the areas covered as places to live and work.

- 9 - 10. Community Safety Implications

The allocations for the Neighbourhood Wardens programme, Activity Sheffield and Rapid Response projects all have positive community safety implications.

11. Equality of Opportunity Implications

These proposals have been developed based on a need for equality of opportunity. Any equality of opportunity issues arising from this will be reported to the meeting.

12. Recommendations

That the North East Community Assembly:

(1) regard having been had to the Sheffield City Strategy and to the relevant Secretary of State’s guidance, confirms its belief that the granting of funding as envisaged in this report is likely to achieve the promotion and improvement of the economic, social and environmental well-being of residents of the wards of Burngreave, Firth Park, Shiregreen/Brightside and Southey;

(a) the Community Festivals and Events Grants, (b) Burngreave ‘Youth Chose’ and Community Chest (c) Shiregreen/Brightside and Southey You Choose and Community Chest , (d) Firth Park Children and Young People’s Activities grants

in accordance with all relevant Council policy and guidance.

(4) authorises the Assembly Manager to:

(a) in consultation with ward councillors, approve the allocation of funding to projects from the Southey and Shiregreen/Brightside Rapid Response budgets

(b) approve expenditure from the Communication and Consultation budget

(d) approve expenditure from the ‘Streets in Bloom’ funding

- 10 -