COUNTY COUNCIL LOCAL COMMITTEE FOR COPELAND Paper No Meeting date: 2nd June 2010 From: Chief Executive 9 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY 2009/10 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 This report provides members with an overview of community engagement activity from 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010. 2.0 STRATEGIC PLANNING AND EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS 2.1 The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act (2007) confirmed a new approach to improving public services and community well being through the Local Area Agreement (LAA). This approach emphasised far more opportunity for local empowerment within an overall national and sub-region framework. The Act also imposes a ‘duty to involve’ communities on all public bodies and the ‘Councillor Call for Action’ through which community concerns can be identifies measures by which specific community concerns can be addressed. None of these duties does more than codify what any effective service public service should do as a matter of course. 2.2 Specific actions within the LAA focus on greater community influence, cohesion, confidence in the neighbourhood and strength of the third sector. The Council recognises this ‘stronger’ communities work, as a vital cross cutting approach to improvement in public services. The Community Strategy, Council Plan and specific service plans each include actions to support these priorities. 2.3 This work is at the heart of the Council’s delivery of its responsibilities to increase residents’ perception that they can influence decisions that affect them (National indicator 4). 3.0 RECOMMENDATION 3.1 Members are asked to note and comment on the report. Page 1 of 29 4.0 BACKGROUND 4.1 Neighbourhood Forums were first established in Cumbria in 1994 and, though few in numbers, their community consultative value was soon recognised. 4.2 There are now over sixty forums meeting on a regular basis and covering every electoral division in the county. 4.3 There are ten forum areas in Copeland, all of which meet a minimum of four times per year. Each has a grants budget that varies according to the number of people living in the forum area. 4.4 Over recent years wider engagement and empowerment activity has developed beyond Neighbourhood Forum activity with local issue monitoring and Together We Can events. 4.5 The mantra of “You Said …. We Did” has been adopted as a clear definition of much of the engagement and empowerment work we do. The Together We Can projects are founded on this ethos whilst with our Neighbourhood Forum meetings we must always be mindful that, as well as enabling local people to have their say on agencies plans and ideas, they are also an ideal way of capturing community issues which can be worked on and solved to demonstrate the “You said.. We Did” ideal. 4.6 Examples of this recently are the Service 6 bus route raised by the residents of Seascale; HGV problems raised by Mill Street residents in Whitehaven; Cold Fell road traffic problems. 4.7 Members regularly receive performance and monitoring information relating to engagement activity at local committee meetings but this report takes the opportunity of bringing together all that has taken place over the year just concluded. 4.8 The report takes the form of a series of appendices which cover the full range of community engagement and empowerment activity throughout the year which ended on 31st March 2010. 5.0 OPTIONS 5.1 Members may comment as they wish but as this is a report on the outcomes of past activity there are few options available to members. 6.0 RESOURCE AND VALUE FOR MONEY IMPLICATIONS 6.1 There are no budgetary implications arising from this report. 7.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 7.1 There are no legal implications arising from this report. Page 2 of 29 8.0 CONCLUSION 8.1 Neighbourhood Forums play an effective part in community consultation and participation in engaging with individual community members, community groups and county/district wide organisations. 8.2 A wider variety of engagement opportunities and techniques are utilised to enhance our ability to effectively engage and empower local people. Jill Stannard Chief Executive [14 May 2010] APPENDICES Appendix A: Summary of Neighbourhood Forum Activity 2009/10 Appendix B: Hensingham Together We Can Appendix C: Millom Together We Can IMPLICATIONS Electoral Division(s): All Copeland * Please remove whichever option is not applicable Executive Decision No Key Decision No If a Key Decision, is the proposal published in the current Forward Plan? N/A Is the decision exempt from call-in on grounds of urgency? No If exempt from call-in, has the agreement of the Chair of the relevant N/A Overview and Scrutiny Committee been sought or obtained? Has this matter been considered by Overview and Scrutiny? No If so, give details below. Has an environmental or sustainability impact assessment been N/A undertaken? Has an equality impact assessment been undertaken? N/A N.B. If an executive decision is made, then a decision cannot be implemented until the expiry of the eighth working day after the date of the meeting – unless the decision is urgent and exempt from call-in and the Head of Member Services and Scrutiny has obtained the necessary approvals. Page 3 of 29 PREVIOUS RELEVANT COUNCIL OR EXECUTIVE DECISIONS [including Local Committees] Communities Budget: Copeland Local Committee 13.03.2009. Local Committee Action to Increase Community Influence: Copeland Local Committee 31.07.2009 CONSIDERATION BY OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY Not considered by Overview and Scrutiny. BACKGROUND PAPERS No background papers. Contact: Jonathan Marriott, 01946 505042, [email protected] . Marilyn Pritchard 01946 505023 [email protected] Mary Kipling 01946 [email protected] Page 4 of 29 Appendix A End of Year Report on Neighbourhood Forum activity 2009/10 The table below gives an overview of the planned Neighbourhood Forum meetings held during this last 12-month period. Forum Neighbourhood Numbers Average meetings Organisations Forum attending attendance held Arlecdon & 4 104 26 13 Frizington Bransty & 4 147 37 13 Harbour Bootle & 4 120 30 13 Seascale Cleator 4 106 27 16 Moor Egremont & St 4 93 23 14 Bees Gosforth & 4 149 37 11 Ennerdale Hillcrest & 4 113 28 14 Hensingham Millom 4 190 48 11 North West 4 143 36 11 Copeland South 4 114 29 12 Whitehaven Total 40 1,279 32 128 The total number of programmed Neighbourhood Forums held this year was 40, representing 4 per Forum area. The total number of attendees at the regular forums was 1,279 giving an overall average attendance of 32, however, it must be noted that the figure of 1,279 does not represent 1,279 individuals, as many people attend more than one meeting in their area. Page 5 of 29 PROGRAMME OF NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUM MEETING DATES FOR 2009/10 FIRST ROUND FORUM AREA DATE OF MEETING TIME VENUE OF MEETING BOOTLE & SEASCALE Tuesday 16th June 2009 7.00pm Bootle Station Village Hall GOSFORTH AND ENNERDALE Monday 22nd June 2009 7.00pm Gosforth Public Hall BRANSTY & HARBOUR Tuesday 23rd June 2009 7.00pm Bransty Legion ARLECDON AND FRIZINGTON Monday 29th June 2009 6.30pm Adams Recreation Hall, Arlecdon EGREMONT & ST. BEES Tuesday 7th July 2009 6.30pm Egremont Parish Church Hall CLEATOR MOOR Thursday 9th July 2009 6.30pm Copeland Bowls & Sports Centre SOUTH WHITEHAVEN Wednesday 15th July 2009 7.00pm West Coast Fitness Centre HILLCREST & HENSINGHAM Thursday 16th July 2009 6.30pm Sneckyeat Community Centre MILLOM Monday 20th July 2009 7.00pm Millom School NORTH WEST COPELAND Wednesday 22nd July 2009 7.00pm Parton Village Hall SECOND ROUND FORUM AREA DATE OF MEETING TIME VENUE OF MEETING BOOTLE & SEASCALE Thursday 3rd September 2009 7.00pm Muncaster Parish Hall GOSFORTH & ENNERDALE Monday 7th September 2009 7.00pm Lamplugh WI Hall ARLECDON AND FRIZINGTON Monday 14th September 2009 6.30pm St Joseph’s Community Hall BRANSTY AND HARBOUR Tuesday 15th September 2009 7.00pm United Reformed Church, Market Pl MILLOM Monday 21st September 2009 7.00pm Alexandra Hall, Millom School EGREMONT & ST. BEES Tuesday 22nd September 2009 6.30pm Orgill Primary School, Egremont SOUTH WHITEHAVEN Wednesday 30th September 7.00pm Greenbank Community Centre 2009 HILLCREST & HENSINGHAM Thursday 1st October 2009 6.30pm Copeland Athletics Stadium NORTH WEST COPELAND Wednesday 7th October 2009 7.00pm Moresby Sports & Social Club CLEATOR MOOR Thursday 15th October 2009 6.30pm The Celtic Club THIRD ROUND FORUM AREA DATE OF MEETING TIME VENUE OF MEETING BOOTLE & SEASCALE Thursday 12th November 2009 7.00pm Seascale Methodist Church Hall GOSFORTH AND ENNERDALE Monday 16th November 2009 7.00pm St Mary’s Church Hall, Gosforth ARLECDON AND FRIZINGTON Monday 23rd November 2009 6.30pm Adams Hall, Arlecdon BRANSTY AND HARBOUR Tuesday 24th November 2009 7.00pm Bransty Legion EGREMONT & ST. BEES Tuesday 1st December 2009 6.30pm St Bees Village Hall CLEATOR MOOR Thursday 3rd December 2009 6.30pm Cleator Moor Civic Hall HILLCREST & HENSINGHAM Thursday 14th January 2010 6.30pm St John’s Hensingham Church Hall MILLOM Monday 18th January 2010 7.00pm Millom Network Centre NORTH WEST COPELAND Tuesday 19th January 2010 7.00pm Lowca Village Hall SOUTH WHITEHAVEN Wednesday 20th January 2010 7.00pm St Peter’s Church Hall, Kells FOURTH ROUND FORUM AREA DATE OF MEETING TIME VENUE OF MEETING CLEATOR MOOR Thursday 4th February 2010 6.30pm Cleator Moor Sports & Bowling Centre GOSFORTH AND ENNERDALE Monday 8th February 2010 7.00pm Shepherds Arms Hotel, Ennerdale BOOTLE & SEASCALE Thursday 11th February 2010 7.00pm Silecroft Village Hall ARLECDON AND FRIZINGTON Monday 15th February 2010 6.30pm The Lingla Centre, Frizington BRANSTY & HARBOUR Tuesday 16th February 2010 7.00pm United Reformed Church, Market Pl EGREMONT & ST.