Building Sustainable Neighbourhoods “A place to live, where people have choice, quality & aspiration” ROTHER VALLEY WEST (Draft) Neighbourhood Charter March 2006

( Village Community & Resource Centre, Pit Lane, Treeton)

What you can expect from local services in your area

This document can be made available in large print, Braille, audio tape and we will provide minicom, induction loops and text talk facilities at all our offices. We will translate all documents into different languages within 10 working days, and in urgent cases, arrange for a translator to communicate the information. We will also use a National Interpretation Service to communicate with customers whose first language is not English and provide same gender interviews where customers prefer it

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Section Content No.

1. What the Charter is

2. More about your Area Assembly Chair and Neighbourhood Management

3 Area Profiles

4. The Vision for 5. Governance Arrangements

6. Your Neighbourhood Standards

7. How to get involved

8. How we will involve you 9. How agencies work together

10. Indicative Priority Standards

11. Your Local Councillors

12. You’re Local Councillors and public meeting dates 13. Appendix

1. What the Charter is?

My name is Jon Swift and I Chair Rother Valley West Area Assembly, which covers Treeton, Brinsworth, Fence, Catcliffe, Aston, , Orgreave, , Thurcroft and Brampton en le Morthen and as the Chair of the Rother Valley West Area Assembly would like to welcome you to the first Neighbourhood Charter for your area. Area Assemblies offers one of the opportunities for local residents to become involved and influence decisions your council makes at a local level. There is a section later in this Charter that details other ways to get involved. .As a Neighbourhood leader I am committed to following your priorities and I strongly support the use of local charters to monitor how we perform as a council and drive us forward to more improvements in our services. Neighbourhood Charters will be used as a tool to formally capture the collective agreement of partners within an area assembly to deliver services in a particular way. The Charter will include general information specific to each assembly area but will also ultimately set out an agreed set of commitments by service providers, negotiated with communities through the restructured area assembly process and existing links with 2 community organisations .This will enable communities to influence service planning, the further development of neighbourhood standards and tailored actions in response to localised concerns. The process will be underpinned by an appropriate performance management framework.

This charter is also a clear guide to how the council makes decisions, how you can get involved and what you can expect from specific Rotherham Borough Council services. We have listened to what you have said already about the priorities for your area and we have fed that into our delivery of key services.

The agencies signing up to this charter with Rotherham Borough Council are pledging to be clear about the standard of services they offer and they are keen to involve you in deciding how your services are delivered. The Charter will set out how the agencies work together in new ways to address your local issues.

This Charter lays out the specific standards of service you should expect from the Borough Council in areas like waste disposal and highway repairs. In future the intention is to include standards for other services and agencies, including the Police and the Primary Care Trust.

Charters are being produced for each of Rotherham’s seven Area Assemblies and we will be working with your community to ensure the standards are achieved. This Charter includes details on how you can get involved in that process too. The Charter is a new approach and will be trialled in 2006. We would like your feedback both on the approach and also on how other services and agencies should be included in the expanded charters of the future.

We the undersigned are committed to the Charter principles and to improving the delivery of your local services.

______Rotherham Borough Council Primary Care Trust

______South Police Voluntary Action Rotherham

2. More about your Area Assembly Chair and Neighbourhood Management

The Rother Valley West Area Assembly covers the South West parts of Rotherham with areas that are both urban and semi-rural. There are a number of residential areas with a variety of properties including council estates plus a range of local amenities and facilities that service local communities.

However there are a number of changes in the area which result from its mining history and associated economic decline. There are large areas of brown field development, evidence of environmental decline and access to public services can be a problem in rural areas. The Borough Council and its partners are addressing these problems .The Objective 1 programme (European funding for economic growth in ) has invested in supporting local partnerships in the area and considerable investment is being made in the Waverley Strategic Economic Site.

3 Action is also being taken to tackle the problems of anti- social behaviour and community safety, poor health, low educational attainment and to address local environment and traffic issues.

The area enjoys the benefit of a number of parks as well as country parks such as Ulley and Rother Valley. Many of these spaces are being improved and enhanced. A new sports centre and swimming pool is coming to Aston and there are other plans to improve facilities for young people.

In Rotherham we consider that neighbourhood management is a way of working that can be effective in reshaping services at a neighbourhood level, helping to close the gap between the most deprived communities. Neighbourhood management will help partners;

• Target actions and tailor services so that no-one is disadvantaged by where they live. • Transform the nature of service delivery to reflect the specific needs of communities. • Measure perceptions about the change in the quality of life within neighbourhoods.

We will use the experience and knowledge gained through our neighbourhood management process to;

• Enable better joint research and commissioning of services. • To inform strategic planning exercises • And inform resource allocation across the borough.

This will be possible because we will collectively gain a better understanding of need through the involvement of our communities.

We want you to help the council make sure standards are maintained and improved and to make your views known. So help us make a difference and get involved in the Area Assembly process, change our area for the better.

Signed Cllr John Swift ______Date ______

Your Area Assembly meets every second Monday in the month at local venues. Contact Adrian Cheetham your Neighbourhood Manager on 01709 823488 or see your local council website www.rotherham.gov.uk

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3. Area Profiles

Rother Valley West covers the south-west of the Borough, covering an area of 14.5 square miles.

The Area Assembly covers the three wards of Brinsworth & Catcliffe, Holderness and Rother Vale. The population of 34,088 is concentrated in the main urban areas of Aston, Aughton, Swallownest and Brinsworth and the smaller communities of Catcliffe, Treeton and Orgreave.

Rother Valley West is ranked the 1st area assembly (out of 7 assemblies) for people achieving 5 or more GCSEs grades A* to C.

Rother Valley West is the 6th ranked area assembly (out of 7 area assemblies) for vehicle crime and for domestic burglary.

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NEIGHBOURHOOD PROFILE

2001 Census Statistics

Area Profile Rotherham Profile Population 34,088 248,175 Males 16,617 120,694 Females 17,471 127,482 Aged 0-4 5.79% 6.05% 5-17 17.07% 17.60% 18-29 13.42% 13.27% 30-59 43.68% 42.27% 60 + over 20.04% 20.82% Ethnicity White British 97.8% 96.9% Black and Minority Ethnic 2.2% 3.1% Health People not in good health 11.3% 12.1% People with Long-term Illness 21.0% 22.4% Economic Status Economically Active 49.20% 64% Unemployment rate 2.7% 3.94% Long term sick/disabled 7.0% 7.90% Qualifications People with no qualifications 36.0% 36.8% Housing Vacant household spaces 13.5% 3.39% Detached/Semi-detached 96.1% 69.3% Terraced 16.2% 20.2% Flat 6.8% 10.4% Owner Occupation 60.9% 65.3% Council Rented 28.7% 23.2% Other Rented 10.4% 11.4% Overcrowding 3.0% 3.9% Households with children 32.1% 31.8% All pensioner households 22.1% 23.8%

In Rother Valley West, men can expect to live until they are 76 years old (the Rotherham average is 75) and women can expect to live until they are 79 years

old (the Rotherham average is 79).

4. The 2010 Vision for Rotherham

By the year 2010, we believe that the many challenges facing us can be tackled, and in some cases overcome completely, by organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors listening to local communities, agreeing common goals and developing realistic, practical ways of achieving them. 6 These are also the 5 main themes of Rotherham Community strategy which guides the work of all service providers across the borough and lays out the principles of our partnership working which are

Rotherham Achieving A Prosperous place, with a vibrant, mixed and diverse economy and flourishing businesses. Rotherham Learning Local residents will be recognised as being informed, skilled, creative, and innovative and constructively challenging. Rotherham Alive Rotherham will be a place where people feel good, are healthy, active and enjoy life to the full. Rotherham Safe All our Neighbourhoods will be safe, green and well maintained. Rotherham Proud Rotherham will be a caring place, where the most vulnerable are supported, achievements and diversity will be celebrated.

5. Governance arrangements

The Borough Council is made up of 63 elected Members who meet every six weeks, and the meetings are chaired by the Mayor. The Council sets the budget and council tax and determines major issues of policy, such as the community strategy and corporate plan.

The Council has adopted the Leader with a Cabinet form of executive. The Cabinet is made up of ten elected Members chosen by the Council, each with an assigned area of work and is chaired by the Leader of the Council. It meets on a fortnightly basis and is responsible for most day to day decision making on Council functions. Decisions are made in accordance with the Council’s overall policies and budget. Major decisions are publicised in advance insofar as they can be anticipated.

Scrutiny is responsible for holding the Cabinet to account, reviewing and scrutinising performance and assisting policy development.

Area Assemblies exist to engage local communities in the workings of the council and give residents the opportunity to comment and express their views on public services and issues in their area. The Assemblies consist of representatives who can exercise control over services and they are supported by council officers and partner agencies such as the Police. The Assemblies will help in monitoring the standards of service contained in this Charter and are linked to other initiatives such as Parish Council Charters.

Planning and Licensing Committees take decisions on planning and licensing applications across the borough.

The Standards Committee is responsible for ensuring high standards of conduct. The Audit Committee considers all internal and external audit issues and reviews the effectiveness of risk management.

Officers of the Council implement the decisions made by the bodies above. Senior officers also have delegated powers to make certain decisions. Each service area of the Council develops its own service plan which lays out its priorities for the year, in line with the Council’s overall priorities.

7 6. Your Neighbourhood Standards

Neighbour hood Standards mean that we have a commitment to ensure that everyone in the Borough has an excellent quality of life and the standards reflect key areas of priority for the Council and local people e.g. “Rotherham Safe” - A place where neighbourhoods are safe, clean, green and well maintained, with good quality homes for all, and accessible local facilities and services”.

All our communities have different priorities to address in achieving improved enjoyment of living but there are a number of core expectations, services and customer standards that are recognised across the Borough; these are the minimum standards that residents and businesses can expect. We need everyone to be clear what these neighbourhood standards are, as these will be the framework on which we will develop future improvements, provide a modern service and be judged on how well we are performing.

The standards at the moment are set out in local priority order with key standard one being most important in Rother Valley West, they relate to the clean and green agenda and are detailed in full at the end of this document. It was decided to include these standards specifically because they relate to the key community priorities of having a better local environment and improved community safety.

Key standard 1 You’re Neighbourhood – Safer People in your neighbourhood will be safer and feel safer in their homes and communities

Key standard 2 Your Neighbourhood- Clean We will ensure that your Neighbourhood is clean, tidy and free of graffiti

Key standard 3 You’re Neighbourhood – Housing All public sector homes in Rotherham will be fit for living in and will be improved to ensure good quality living standards

Customer Care

We promise that we will provide equal access to all our services and listen and respond to all our customer’s needs. We will be fair and unbiased, treat all customers equally, no matter what their age, sex, disability, race or sexuality. Our services and offices will be made accessible to everyone.

7. How to get involved

Our intention is to consult you at least annually on reviewing on the standards laid out in this document. At the very least Area Assemblies, Community Partnerships and other service agencies such as the police and Primary Care Trust will be involved in the consultation. Each year more standards will be added from ourselves and from our partner agencies. There are

8 a variety of ways you can get involved in the process of setting the standards. You can make suggestions, comments, complaints or compliments through a variety of mechanisms.

There are a number of ways you can get involved in the process of reviewing and monitoring the Area Plan. These include:-

• Neighbourhood Manager - This is the local manager who is responsible for coordinating the delivery of services in the area.

• Direct contact with local people via customer suggestion schemes, phone calls and elected members surgeries. • Council Elections • Use of the intranet and the council’s web site on www. rotherham.gov.uk

• Area Assemblies - Your Area Assembly will hold meetings about the monitoring and delivery of Neighbourhood standards and Area Plans.

• Community Planning - This is a locally owned process which identifies priorities and needs in your area. The Community Plan document is produced by a Community Planning group and illustrates the aspirations of a community. The plans are important because they develop and strengthen relationships with other organisations at a local level plus they ensure local involvement in a much larger picture.

• Community Partnerships - Many areas of the borough have Community Partnerships and they can supply information and opportunities to get involved. Community Partnerships are groups of people who come together to improve the quality of life in their area and drive regeneration forward. They have May different legal structures, for example a trust or a charity, and are at different stages of development but all have a common goal of local improvements and plans for tackling their local issues. Partnerships work with other agencies and funders to deliver local improvements.

• Parish Councils -Your local Parish Council is made up of locally elected members and is legally obliged to hold at least one meeting a year. Most meet on a monthly basis to discuss council business and hear from local residents. In addition they have sub- committees that deal with specific subjects and must hold regular open meetings where members of the public can speak. Many members of the Borough Council are also members of their local Parish Council. Parish Councils undertake a number of duties that benefit local people for example provision of allotments or maintenance of flower beds and recreation areas.

• Safer Neighbourhood Teams – Safer Neighbourhood Teams describe how the police, partners and communities will work together to solve the problems of disorder & crime; improve neighbourhood conditions, confidence and feelings of security. There are seven dedicated Safer Neighbourhood Teams and they provide communities with a named point of access and are made up of Police Officers, Police Community Support Officers, Neighbourhood Wardens and Champions. These officers meet daily at a daily briefing where they share intelligence and work on tasks together, by using problem solving methods and expertise and knowledge of their areas. Aligned to each Safer Neighbourhood Team is a Neighbourhood Action Group, this group meets bi-weekly and has representatives from the operational Safer Neighbourhood Team as well as other partners and organisations which will be brought together to solve a community problem e.g. Social Services, Education, Fire Service. This list is not exhaustive, but again uses a problem solving approach.

9 The Safer Neighbourhood Teams will find out what their Neighbourhoods see as their priorities and direct their work specifically to this. There will be regular feed back to communities, by various means e.g. Area Assembly meetings, newsletters, partnership meetings and general media coverage. The feed back session allows the citizens of that area to highlight changes in their neighbourhoods, which they may escalate as a priority.

• Heads of Service are ultimately responsible for their service area’s performance. If the priorities and actions that we are outlining here are not being met in your area the senior contact will be the Head of Service. The contacts for these people are available from your Area Assembly or your Neighbourhood Manager.

8. How we will involve you

The Community Information Unit and Neighbourhood Service Centre in Maltby will be a Rotherham wide tool for identifying hotspots of crime and antisocial behaviour.

Regular consultation surveys are also being carried out through Rotherham Reachout which is the Council citizen’s panel.

The Council are also devolving budgets where possible. The Area Assemblies hold a local Streetpride budget and the elected members have a local Community Leadership Fund.

Information that comes into the council will be fed through from Area Assemblies and other local sources to the planning of services and the review of the Community Strategy. In this way services should change to meet local needs more effectively. We will come back to you through Area Assemblies to give choices about service delivery.

9. How agencies will work together

The council will be looking for improved coordination and performance through Neighbourhood Charters and Neighbourhood Management. There will be mechanisms in place to monitor progress on the standards, for example the Area Assemblies will have protocols and agreements with partner agencies on how issues are to be reported and tackled in partnership. Through local monitoring and performance appraisal data will be collected and we will work together to improve local services.

Joint working will produce efficiencies, which will be fed back to area budgets and how they will be controlled will be considered; to give more local control in the future. Over time standards will be amended to reflect local concerns more effectively too. For instance your area may prefer to devote more of the available budget to removing graffiti and less to dog fouling .Different agencies will be joining up their actions to work more efficiently within Rotherham and service providers will be held to account.

10. Rother Valley West – Indicative Priority Standards

Neighbourhood Quality Our Neighbourhoods will be clean, tidy and free of graffiti. 1 Litter will be removed within 7 days of a request and return Council – Streetpride littered streets to a high standard of cleanliness. All kerbed 01709 336003 roads will be mechanically swept at least 4 times per year. 2 In addition to weekly emptying, overflowing litter and dog fouling Council – Streetpride bins adjacent to the highway will be emptied within 4 hours of 01709 336003 notification

10 3 The risk to public health and safety from drug litter will be kept to Council – Streetpride a minimum by removing any left in public areas within 2 hours of 01709 336003 notification. 4 Racist and obscene graffiti will be removed within one working Council – Streetpride day of notification, and other non offensive graffiti within 2 weeks 01709 336003 of notification. 5 Fly tipping on public land will be removed within one working Council – Streetpride day of notification and enforcement action taken where 01709 336003 possible. 6 Reports of stray dogs will be responded to on the day of Council – Streetpride reporting, with the Council’s Dog Wardens attending as soon as 01709 336003 possible. 7 Dog fouling on highway areas will be removed within 2 days of Council – Streetpride notification. Enforcement action will be taken where possible. 01709 336003 8 Your recyclables/waste bin will be collected on your scheduled Council – Neighbourhoods day so long as it is put out for collection by 7.00am. Bins that are 01709 336003/33 missed will be emptied within 1 working day of the Council being told. Bulky waste items will be collected within 10 days of receiving payment for removal. Neighbourhood Safety Everyone in our neighbourhoods will feel safer in their homes and communities. 9 Complaints of anti-social behaviour will be acknowledged within 2010 Rotherham Ltd. one working day. Where the referred case is assessed as Contact district office urgent, interviews will take place within 24 hours, in other cases the complainant will be interviewed within 5 working days of making the report. 10 Operational to target Neighbourhood priorities, including Council - Neighbourhoods underage sales of alcohol and fireworks will continue to be 01709 824522 implemented annually 11 All noise complaints will be responded to within 5 working days. Council - Neighbourhoods Advice on all types of noise will be given, and where the law 01709 823198/72/18 gives power to intervene, actions will be carried out in a fair and consistent manner. 12 Traffic signal failures will be repaired either within 4 hours or, if it Council – Streetpride is a single bulb failure reported on working days, within 24 01709 336003 hours. 13 Dangerous defects and potholes on roads and footways will be Council – Streetpride made safe within 4 hours of notification. 01709 336003 14 Missing drainage covers etc. on the highway will be made safe Council – Streetpride within 4 hours of notification. 01709 336003 15 Blocked gullies on the highway will be signed and guarded within Council – Streetpride 4 hours of notification then cleared within one working day. 01709 336003 Home Quality All homes in Rotherham will be fit for living in and be improved to ensure good quality living standards. 16 All urgent repairs in 2010 Rotherham Limited homes will be 2010 Rotherham Ltd. carried out with 5 working days 01709 336009 Consumer Protection Our neighbourhoods will have businesses that operate safely, fairly and comply with laws that protect the customer’s health and rights. 17 Complaints about food and other consumer/trading standard Council - Neighbourhoods issue will be responded to within 5 working days. 01709 823161 Customer Care We promise that we will provide equal access to all our services and listen and respond to all our customers needs. We will be fair and unbiased, treat all customers equally, no matter what their age, sex, disability, race or sexuality. Our services and offices will be made accessible to everyone. 11 18 Staff will always wear official identity badges, and will be polite Council Wide Standard and friendly, giving their name, whenever they speak to you. Provided by all Services 19 All telephone calls will be answered within 7 rings and letters Council Wide Standard replied to within 10 working days. Provided by all Services 20 All complaints submitted to the Council as a formal complaint Council Wide Standard will be dealt with according to the Complaints procedure, which Provided by all Services identifies that all complaints will be dealt with within 15 working days of receipt (stage 1 of the process) and 30 working days at Stage 2. Similarly issues referred to Councillors in the Surgery procedure will be dealt with within 5, 10 or 20 days depending on the complexity of the issue.

11. Contact Numbers for Key Service Providers In addition to services provided by the council other local services are available from partner agencies these can be contacted at the following

Organisation Contact Person Telephone Email address Number South Yorkshire Police 0114 202020 Domestic Violence 24 Hour helpline 01709 832670 Rotherham Primary Care Trust Caroline Simpson 01709 302097 Voluntary Action Rotherham Debbie Heath 01709 829821 [email protected] Streetpride 01709 336003 Rother Valley West Community Nicola Hacking 01709 721190 [email protected] Support Officer Rother Valley West Community Janice Curran 01709 721190 [email protected] Planning Officer Rother Valley West Neighbourhood Adrian Cheetham 01709 823488 [email protected] Manager RMBC Safer Neighbourhood Team Janet Greenwood 01709 832726 [email protected] Manager RMBC – Community Involvement Martin Hughes 01709 336961 [email protected] Unit Brinsworth Parish Council Mr Greg Pacey 01709 364199 Catcliffe Parish Council Mrs S Kilcommon 01709 Ulley Parish Council Mr A Pashley 01709 548436 [email protected] Aston – Cum Aughton Parish Mr A Hodkin 0114 2879008 Council Treeton Parish Council Mr C J Brown 0114 2421316 Thurcroft Parish Council Mr A West 01709 373211 Orgreave Parish Council Yvette Senior 0114 822012 Treeton Partnership Nic Marshall 0114 2540583 [email protected] Waverley Community Connects Steve Ruffle 0114 2540583 [email protected]. uk Catcliffe and Brinsworth Lynne Richardson 01709 829821 [email protected] Partnership Maltby, Thurcroft and Hellaby IDP John Clephan 01709 702897 [email protected] Team Play and Learn Bus Trish Bates/ Julie 01709 829821 Saul Thurcroft Action Group Carrie Mackenzie 01709 702897 RMBC Skills and Knowledge Co- Steve Morrell 01709 336972 [email protected] ordinator RMBC – Learning Network Julie Roddis 01709 336696 [email protected] Manager RMBC’s Extended Schools Co- Lynne Bruce-Minetti 01709 822463 [email protected] ordinator RMBC’s Neighbourhood Warden John Parks 01709 33 6935 [email protected] Manager RMBC’s Young Peoples Service Ian Whitehead 01709 822638 [email protected] RMBC’s Sports Development Chris Dyson 01709 82 2450 [email protected] RMBC’s Housing Market Renewal Paul Benson 01709 334389 [email protected] 12 Team RMBC’s Economic Development Services - Ken Wheat 01709 822953 [email protected] Highways Women Aid 0845 7023468 Refuge Helpline 0875 995443 Samaritans 01709 361717 Child line 0800 1111 NSPCC Helpline 0800 800500 Age Concern 01709 829621 Choices and Options 01709 838400 Apna Haq 01709 552121 Victim support rape Crisis 0114 2447936

12. Your Ward Councillors

The Rother Valley West Area Assembly has 9 elected councillors (three for each ward) they are as follows. Holderness (Ward 6)

Councillor Hilda Jack (Labour) 2 Church View, Aston, , S26 2FE [email protected] Telephone 0114 287 9103 Mobile 07717 423450

Councillor Jane Austen (Labour) 24 Southlands Avenue, Aston, Sheffield, S26 2FA [email protected] Telephone 0114 2873485

Councillor Gerald Smith (Labour) 4 Brook close, Aston, Sheffield, S26 2GB [email protected] Telephone 0114 2879599 Mobile 07815 560392

Brinsworth and Catcliffe (Ward 3)

Councillor Reg Littleboy (Labour) 6 Fairburn Gardens, Brinsworth, S60 5PF [email protected] Telephone 01709 3711459 Mobile 07748 142724

Councillor Fred Wright (Labour) 112 Manor Road, Brinsworth, Rotherham, S60 5HJ [email protected] Telephone 01709 366837 Mobile 07717 423484

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Councillor Alan Jackson (Labour) 42 Orchard Way, Brinsworth, Rotherham, S60 5LZ [email protected] Telephone: 01709 367305

Rother Vale (Ward 11)

Councillor Georgina Boyes (Labour) 78 Moorgate Road, Rotherham, S60 2AY [email protected] Telephone 01709 366837 Mobile 07717 423484

Councillor John Swift (Labour) Area Assembly Chair 4 Lymington Lane, Treeton, Rotherham. S60 5UG [email protected] Telephone: 0114 269 6992 Mobile 07748 142 710

Councillor Geb Nightingale (Labour) 22 Ivanhoe Road, Thurcroft, Rotherham, S66 9PZ [email protected] Telephone: 01709 549746

13. Appendix

The council is also guided by the policies it sets and this Charter directly relates to several key council policies as summarised below ;

The Customer Access Strategy – building on the Council’s existing contact with its customers and its priorities.

Best Value - Consulting with the citizens of Rotherham, service users and the wider business community on how the service can be improved

Communication and marketing Strategy – informing customers of the services that are available and at what standard

E Government – by improving services and making them more accessible through the range of channels described in the strategy

Equalities – by providing equality of opportunity and choice through open and accessible services

People and Service First –The Charter has been assessed for plain English and is part of more customer friendly services

Performance Management Framework – standards are clearly laying out levels of performance that the public can expect and are more accessible through the Area Assembly and involvement procedures 14