Title of Paper s7

Agenda Item No. HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL HERTFORDSHIRE LOCAL & LIBRARIES CABINET PANEL 3 MONDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2012 AT 10.00 AM

HERTFORDSHIRE LOCAL UPDATE

Report of the Director of Environment and Commercial Services

Author: Claire Kueh (Senior Policy Officer) 01992 556417

Executive Member: Chris Hayward, Hertfordshire Local & Libraries

1 Purpose of report

1.1 To update Hertfordshire Local and Libraries Cabinet Panel on the progress of the Hertfordshire Local programme over the past year and proposed actions for the year ahead.

2 Summary

2.1 The Panel will receive a presentation outlining progress over the past year and the Council’s planned activity to develop localism in the county between now and April 2014.

3 Recommendations

3.1 The Panel is invited to receive the presentation and comment on the activities outlined.

4 Background

4.1The Hertfordshire Local programme was launched by the Leader of the Council in 2008, long before the emergence of the big society agenda.

4.2Being recognised as the leading authority in the delivery of localism is a key ambition for the council. Over the last 18 months, a new cabinet portfolio was created for Hertfordshire Local and Libraries. An action plan was developed as part of the Hertfordshire Local Programme, with some of the individual projects feeding into this programme outlined below.

4.3 HCC’s vision for localism vision was updated in January 2012:

“To shift power from the state (in the form of the County Council and its local partners) to individuals and families, both personally and also in geographic localities in which they live. It seeks to position councillors as an indispensable resource within active communities. It aims to ensure that residents are suitably informed to allow them to influence and shape local services and take a more active part in helping them help themselves.”

of 7 5. Progress over the last year

5.1 Over the last 18 months, work on the Hertfordshire Local programme has been focused on six key areas:  Democratic leadership;  Participation and engagement;  Volunteering and Voluntary Sector  Community Celebration  Communication & Partnership  HCC Organisational culture;

6. Democratic Leadership

Supporting Members to be indispensable parts of an active community by increasing their visibility and the degree of influence over specific budgets and projects.

6.1 In a survey of 1000 residents in July 2012 (part of the Herts Omnibus Survey), 15% said that they could name their county councillor. However, of this 15%, only 1/3 got the name of the councillor correct. This means that overall, only 5% of residents could name their councillor.

6.2 Member Locality Budgets Since the beginning of the financial year 634 grants totalling £393,791.39 have been allocated, bringing the total spend for the first three years to £2,300,630.64. Following on from an internal review and user feedback, a few minor amendments were introduced on 1st April 2012 to the administration of the scheme. Allocations for this financial year need to be submitted by January 2013, so that they can be administered ahead of the 2013 elections.

6.3 Highways Locality Budget Scheme This year sees the full rollout of the Highways Locality Budget Scheme following its piloting in Broxbourne and Dacorum. Information on the decisions that members took in the pilot areas last year are up on www.Hertsdirect.org/localitybudgets and are linked to the relevant individual councillors’ pages. Details of member decisions for the current year will be published shortly. It is also intended to survey councillors to understand how they have sought to engage with colleagues and residents in their division to inform their decisions. Work is currently underway to look at how the first year of the scheme being rolled out across the county has worked.

6.4 Member Training A number of localism member training sessions have been held over the last year. Most recently ‘Indispensible Community Activist’ sessions were held on 12th June. Each of the three sessions held were well attended and positive feedback has been received.

6.4 Community information The 'Your Community' section of the County Council's website has been redesigned to provide local service information, news, events, and contacts tailored specifically to where residents live. This includes profiles for each electoral division and dedicated webpages for each County Councillor. For more information, see here. User testing has now taken place, and will be used to determine how to further develop the website.

of 7 7. Participation and Engagement Encouraging local people to become active in decision making and shaping the future of their local communities.

7.1 Statistics collated through via the residents’ survey have shown positive signs in residents’ attitudes towards participation and engagement, but with room for improvement. For example,  40% of residents have said that they feel that they can influence decisions in their local area, compared to 38% nationally.  49% of residents have said that they would like to be more involved in their local area, (no national comparator)  However 47% have said that they wouldn’t like to be more involved.

7.2 Take Part Hertfordshire Over the past two years HCC has worked with district councils to run a programme of activities and training to help people get more involved in local decision making. Initially pathfinders were conducted in Stevenage and Borehamwood where more than 600 individuals took part.

Similar activities have subsequently taken place elsewhere in the county. A Take Part event was held on the 17th May in County Hall, with over 50 members of the public attending as part of two public participation projects being led by Hertsmere Borough Council and St Albans City & District Council. As part of this, John Wood spoke the role of the county council. Delegates also had the chance to meet some of their local county councillors (Seamus Quilty, Bernard Lloyd and Allan Witherick) and there were stalls with information about services.

7.3 Local Democracy Week Local Democracy Week was held on 15-19th October. As part of this week, county councillors have been encouraged to visit their local schools in order to give a talk on their role. A youth conference organised by Youth Connexions was held on the 20th October, where the Youth Parliament presented their manifesto to Council members.

8. Volunteering & Voluntary Sector Encouraging people to become volunteers and supporting a thriving voluntary sector

8.1 Volunteering with the County Council Over 500 people already volunteer with the County Council, in a wide range of roles which help improve life in our local communities. A guide to volunteering with the County Council and a volunteering charter have recently been developed.

8.2 Slivers of Time Using the latest technology to make volunteering more accessible HCC has supported the groundbreaking use of the web-based Slivers of Time timebanking system which enables volunteers to self-manage their time, for example by "booking" volunteering opportunities. The Council has supported the creation of two volunteering pilots – North Herts Timebank and Watford Timebank.

8.3 Countryside Management Service Countryside Management Service has been awarded the national Investing in Volunteers Standard (IiV) for its work in involving volunteers in the services it delivers.

In 2011/12 CMS volunteer leaders led 1,977 health walks. CMS has trained almost 200 volunteer Health Walks leaders with over 130 being currently active, leading walks for the CMS.

Overall, the CMS volunteer activity in hours is estimated as 12,000 hours for Land Management Volunteering, and 7,000 hours carried out by Health Walks Leaders.

8.4 National Citizenship Service Youth Connexions Hertfordshire recruited 133 young people onto the National Citizenship programme this year, of those 40 identified a learning difficulty or disability. 6 were leaving care, 27 were known to Targeted Youth Support Teams and 2 were children looked after.

Each young person completed two consecutive 5 day/4 night residential activities and engaged in 50 hours of volunteering for their social action project.

8.5 Olympics The Olympics provided an excellent opportunity for people to get involved in volunteering. A framework with the County’s Volunteer Centres was established in 2011/12 and was awarded the Inspire Mark by London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. The framework facilitated preparations for the Olympic Torch relay which visited ten communities across the county over the weekend on 7 and 8 July 2012 at which over 1,000 local people volunteered as stewards to help the celebrations as they move through the county. In addition, the Paralympic Flame was hosted at an Inclusive Sport festival in St. Albans on 25th August 2012.

Following on from this, an event is being held on the 15th November for all Hertfordshire Olympic/Paralympic volunteers to recognise their efforts and offer signposts to local opportunities to encourage them to continue to volunteer in the local community.

9. Community Celebration Work to encourage residents to celebrate local and national events.

9.1 Street Parties Hertfordshire was officially re-confirmed as the street party capital of the country after residents across the county celebrated the Queens Diamond Jubilee weekend (2 - 4 June), with over 450 street parties taking place in the County. As with the Royal Wedding last year, HCC waived road closure fees for residents wishing to hold street parties and provided a toolkit to help residents plan parties.

9.2 Environmental projects Through the Hertfordshire Ready For Winners partnership and environmental charity Groundwork Hertfordshire, the County Council delivered 17 environmental projects nominated by town and parish councils, schools and local communities. These projects provided training and development opportunities for local unemployed young people.

10. Communication & Partnership Work to clarify the County Council’s position on localism to other stakeholders and the wider public

of 7 10.1 Over the last year, discussions have been had with key stakeholders across the county – including district councils, the police, health and town and parish councils - to clarify collective positions and identify common ground on localism.

10.2 Localism Network A network of localism representatives from each of the Districts has been set up, with the meetings chaired by the Executive Member for Hertfordshire Local and Libraries. The network gives an opportunity for the representatives to discuss how localism is being enacted in their area. Two meetings have now taken place, and the group has committed to meeting again in December.

10.3 Parish and Town Councils A scrutiny topic group recently examined into the relationships between town and parish Councils and HCC, and opportunities for further developing localism. The recommendations primarily focus on ways in which communications lines could be strengthened.

10.4 External Communications An external communications strategy is has been developed to communicate key localism messages to Hertfordshire residents. Activity has included:  Horizons o Spring 2012: encouraging people to hold street parties, a double page spread ‘meet your county councillors’, a page encouraging people to volunteer. o Summer 2012:your community pages on Herts Direct, locality budgets. o Autumn 2012: planned articles include: Volunteer horseback patrols, Highways Locality budgets, Christmas volunteers

 Press releases: o Your local county council is at your “online” service o Timebanking comes to Hertsmere o Want to learn new skills, make friends and improve your employment prospects? (National Volunteering Week) o Have your say on local highways spending o Volunteer lollipop lady does her bit for safe school journeys o Hertfordshire named as street party capital for second year running o Weather fails to dampen Hertfordshire’s party spirits o Happening Hertfordshire is 2012 party hub

 A letter from the Executive Member of Hertfordshire Local and Libraries about Hertfordshire’s street parties printed in the national Municipal Journal magazine.  The development of a new guide to volunteering with HCC.  Street parties – developed flickr pages and encouraged people to submit their photos via Twitter and press releases. Many of these were subsequently published on Facebook , and residents were able to comment on them.  Organised volunteer stand for County Show.

11. HCC Organisational Culture

Work to embed localism into service delivery and organisational culture.

of 7 11.1 A comprehensive programme of internal communication activities is underway to raise staff’s awareness of localism. Specific Hertfordshire Local pages have been developed on the council’s Intranet. Lunchtime briefings were held with staff in March 2012, which were attended by approximately 120 people. Work has been done with learning & development to embed localism into relevant staff training programmes, such as the LEAP programme.

12. Hertfordshire Local - Next Steps

12.1 An away day was held in July to identify Hertfordshire Local projects for the next year, at which there was representation from across the organisation. In the light of the up and coming county council elections, it is proposed that the main focus between now and May 2013 is putting in place appropriate arrangements for new and re-elected county councillors for after next year’s elections.

12.2It is proposed that future Hertfordshire Local work is condensed into two strands: democratic leadership and participation and engagement. Proposed areas of focus include:

1) Democratic leadership; a) Member induction - ensuring that localism ideas are embedded into the member induction process for newly elected county councillors following next year’s elections and that further support mechanisms are developed to support new and old members

b) Cross tier member working - developing ways in which elected members from across the tiers of local government in Hertfordshire can work together to deliver localism. This will include developing the way in which county councillors’ can interact with their counterparts in district and town and parish councils in regards to neighbourhood planning.

c) Strengthening members influence over local services – exploring ways in which members can get involved and influence service delivery in their local areas such as community payback and countryside management

2) Participation and engagement: a) Public Engagement – further developing ways to engage Hertfordshire residents in local issues. This includes taking forward a Take Part equalities project to encourage hard to reach groups within the community to engage.

b) Volunteering –developing to further initiatives to encourage residents to get more involved in their communities. This could involve establishing a ‘Count on Me’ scheme with the aim of encouraging rural parishes to develop a list of volunteers who are willing and able to help in the community in emergencies: e.g. shovel snow, deliver a meal to a vulnerable person. It is also proposed to establish a Localism “You are a star” award scheme which would enable councillors to recognise contributions made residents in their local area.

c) Young people – identifying further ways to engage young people in localism issue including building on this year’s successful pilot of the National Citizenship Programme and exploring ways of working with Youth Councils to get young people involved in local volunteering projects.

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