Highfields Area Plan 2012 - 2015
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Highfields Area Plan 2012 - 2015 www.sraltd.co.uk Supported by Spinney Hills, Castle & Stoneygate Wards Highfields Community Association. & Mayfield Children’s Centre © HAF ‐ November 2012 Highfields Area Plan 2012 – 2015 Content Page Executive Summary i 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 Demographic and Social Profile 2 3.0 Consultation 3 4.0 The Plan 4 4.1 Education 4 4.2 Local Decision Making 5 4.3 Children and Families 6 4.4 Health 7 4.5 Community Cohesion 7 4.6 Employment and Business 9 4.7 Crime and Antisocial Behaviour 10 4.8 Environment and Housing 11 4.9 Transport 11 5.0 Appendix A 12 Highfields Area Plan 2012 - 2015 Executive Summary In 2003 the Highfields Area Plan was prepared but not published. This presented both an overview of the Highfields area and a series of priorities for business and public services. However, in time this plan has been overtaken by changes in the population and the structure of local governance, in particular the independence of the Highfields Centre and the ongoing work undertaken by the Highfields Area Forum who commissioned this work. Equally, the economic climate in 2012 is considerably less prosperous than in 2003 and this is likely to have an effect on many local residents. Social Research Associates (SRA) was commissioned by Highfields Area Forum and funded by the three local wards (Spinney Hills, Castle and Stoneygate), the Mayfield Children’s Centre and the Highfields Community Association, to update the Area Plan, initially through desktop research and subsequently through stakeholder consultation. Over 60 local organisations, including the City Mayor’s team, local Councillors and Officers from the local statutory agencies and members of the Highfields Area Forum, took part in the discussions. In addition around 700 individuals were engaged via community workshops, replying to a questionnaire and participation at public events. This report presents the results of this research in terms of local priorities in key areas, as well as 46 actions to tackle these issues. Desktop Research Initially, desktop research was undertaken to update the demographic, social and economic overview of the area given in the 2003 Area Plan. Comparisons between Highfields in 2003 and 2012 are not directly possible because of the changing electoral boundaries and the lack of up-to-date statistics focusing on the area. However, many of the issues highlighted in the 2003 report remain. Highfields is still an area of high unemployment, poor health and low property ownership. On the plus side, education in the area has improved and crime levels are now lower than in 2003. Key indicators are: Highfields has a younger than average population with a relatively high turnover of residents. The majority of residents are from BME groups, particularly from an Indian sub-continent background. Children from schools in Highfields do better than the Leicester average at Key Stage 1 and 2, and have overtaken Leicester averages for Key Stage 4 in the last year. The average income is considerably below the regional average. Over 25% of the population are in receipt of benefits compared to 15% nationally. Unemployment is significantly higher than in other parts of the city. Crime has been considerably reduced in the area and it is now rated as ‘Average’ for Leicestershire. There are lower levels of drinking and smoking in Highfields than in Leicester generally, but diet is worse and obesity is at the City average. The life expectancy for both men and women is lower in Highfields than the rest of Leicester. i Stakeholder Consultation A number of different mechanisms were used to engage organisations and local people in discussing the implications of the desk top research. A voting exercise at the 2011 Highfields Festival Meetings with the Highfields Area Forum One to one interviews with Councillors and Officers from the City Mayor’s team, the police, the NHS, local Councillors and community and voluntary sector representatives A questionnaire distributed via local organisations and community meeting points Letters and emails from stakeholders such as head teachers, GPs and transport operators Workshops with local people, including targeted recruitment of young people The focus of the consultation was to identify priorities and associated programmes to address these priorities. Although these inevitably focused on problems, it was universally emphasised that there are considerable strengths in Highfields; specifically the diversity of the population and the strength of the community cohesion within this, in spite of the area continuing to receive new arrival communities. The Results The results which form the basis of the Area Plan show that there are priorities within the nine policy areas, with overall education the highest and transport the lowest. Nevertheless, it was also agreed that all issues are important in providing a joined up approach to improving Highfields as a whole. Education More local decision making Children and families Health Community Cohesion Employment and Business Crime & Antisocial Behaviour Environment and Housing Transport The results have been used to write this Area Plan which includes 46 actions - a copy is available by email from the Highfields Centre (email: [email protected]). Highfields Area Plan Workshop – March 2012 ii The Actions with target timescales Policy Implementation Date(s) Education 1) Support opportunities for travel and outdoor education 2) Enhance careers advisory services within the area and include life skills advice 3) Set up a mentor programme to support and increase the aspirations of young people especially via an accredited arts programme 4) Provide parents with support to help children with homework 5) Provide more out of school activities and study support 6) Provide more opportunities to learn English Local Decision Making 7) Encourage more people to volunteer for local projects 8) Offer incentives for volunteering including training and qualifications 9) Liaise with other voluntary groups especially nearby areas such as St Matthews 10) Use statutory duties such as Equality Impact Assessment at access resources and challenge some funding cuts 11) Work towards more partnership between the Council and Highfields including devolving more decision making and budgets to the community and local Councillors All of these actions are Children And Families intended to be achieved by 12) Use the informal networks and voluntary groups within the community to encourage self-help 2015, with a 2013 start date 13) Make it easier to get help anonymously for some actions, subject 14) Face up to and tackle the dysfunctional aspects of cultural differences to appropriate funding 15) Increase the role of the voluntary sector in providing services for families being identified/received. 16) Provide more out of school family activities Actions For The Plan: Health A regular quarterly update 17) New partnerships with local GPs and the voluntary sector about progress on the 18) Options of accessing health advice and support outside the Highfields area actions will be provided to 19) Healthy cooking at community events the Highfields Area Forum 20) Provide child care so women can attend exercise and yoga classes meetings, with the Actions for Community Cohesion Secretariat charged with 21) Ensure there is good access to Highfields from London Road and the redevelopment of Leicester coordinating the Station necessary actions. 22) Set up exchange visits between people in Highfields and other areas 23) Hold an annual arts festival promoting the vision of “Diversity and Unity” 24) Protect important buildings 25) Make better use of public and funded premises including sharing premises 26) Market Highfields as a place to visit Employment And Business 27) Liaise with banks and credit unions to fund business start-ups 28) Provide targeted support to small businesses including mentoring 29) Set up a business support service to support businesses, especially small enterprises 30) Carry out a skills audit to inform training programmes and career choices 31) Set up entry to work projects targeting unemployed young people 32) Set up incubation units with cheap rents Crime And Antisocial Behaviour 33) Community mentors and programmes to support and inspire young people at risk 34) Family focused programmes on addiction prevention 35) More co-operation between the community and police and encouragement to report crime including anonymously through Crimestoppers 36) Appoint Community Ambassadors to support neighbourhoods in challenging unsocial behaviour Environment And Housing 37) Introduce community recycling points 38) Local community schemes to ‘adopt’ and support neighbourhood parks 39) Neighbourhood clear up and rubbish reporting schemes 40) Set up a scheme for joint apprentice/private sector to buy and renovate housing 41) Stop the creation of more hostels. Transport 42) Encourage car clubs 43) Encourage shared taxi trips 44) Better co-ordination of existing social transport via a social enterprise management project 45) Continue to find an acceptable solution to parking in the wider area 46) Encourage more walking and cycling especially at ‘hot spots’ such as mosques on Fridays iii Highfields Area Plan 2012 1.0 Introduction In 2003 the Highfields Area Plan was prepared but not published and this presented both an overview of the Highfields area and a series of priorities for business and public services. However, in time this plan has been overtaken by changes in the population and the structure of local governance, in particular the independence of the Highfields Centre and the ongoing work undertaken by the Highfields Area Forum who commissioned this work. Equally, the economic climate in 2012 is considerably less prosperous than in 2003 and this is likely to have a considerable effect on many local residents. Social Research Associates (SRA) was commissioned to update the Area Plan through desktop research and stakeholder consultation. This report presents the results of this research in terms of local priorities and key actions for the Plan. 2.0 Highfields Today: Demographic and Social Profile Defining the area Highfields is not a distinct area in terms of electoral boundaries.