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Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Council Chamber - Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings TN34 3UY. View directions
Contact: Jenny Ling
Items No. Item Notification of Urgent Items
Minutes:
None
Declarations of Interest
Minutes:
Steve Manwaring declared that he sits on the Board of the Hastings Academies Trust and Sea Change Sussex with reference to agenda item 9 (Education and Accountability Conference).
Minutes and Matters Arising
Minutes from the last LSP meeting on 28 April 2014 to approve PDF 37 KB
Minutes:
The notes of the last meeting were agreed as an accurate record.
Matters arising
Minutes:
Matters Arising:
(5) – Carole Dixon reported that Tsai Tenn from the Baird Primary Academy has agreed to take up a place on the board to represent the town’s primary schools.
(8) Lynne Potter from Job Centre Plus reported that no further news regarding the future of Heron House had been received from the freeholder so the Job Centre facilities will operate from here for the foreseeable future.
Big Local and Update on Activities in East Hastings
Minutes:
Ron Bennett and Jan Papworth were in attendance to inform the board of the work of the Big Local project in East Hastings. This funding amounts to £1m over a ten year period which began in 2012. The Big Local group is a resident led partnership made up of 13 elected people who live or work in the area as well as coopted members from statutory bodies such as HBC, AmicusHorizon and Orbit housing associations.
Ron Bennett gave a presentation to the Board outlining some of the initiatives the Big Local programme has undertaken, areas of particular focus and the goals it’s working toward. Issues of particular focus include the current bus service consultation which has proposed to reduce the number of services throughout the area especially after business hours. This will have a considerably detrimental effect on residents needing to travel to or from work outside of traditional 9-5 hours.
Cllr Birch queried how the project will be evaluated to know if it’s been successful in making a lasting difference. Ron replied that a wide variety of both qualitative and quantitative data will be monitored as the project progresses utilising, amongst other tools, the Council’s Bi-annual Place Survey to canvas the perceptions and opinions of residents.
The Board thanked Ron for the information. It recognised that there are a number of positives to celebrate in the East Hastings area including the provision of a number of educational successes such as the College in Ore Valley and the new Hastings Academy. Community facilities are plentiful although more work to improve housing stock provision is needed.
Ron expressed the need for closer working with partners and better links with businesses. Help in problem solving would be most welcome as well as the ability to disseminate the work of Big Local throughout the town. The Board pledged to support in any way it can.
It was suggested to hold the next meeting of the LSP Board in the Downs Farm Community Centre in order to members to become more aware of the area and its residents. This was agreed and further details will be distributed closer to the time of the October meeting.
Discretionary East Sussex Support Scheme Update PDF 1 MB
Minutes:
Naomi Ridley from Hastings Furniture Service gave a presentation on the Discretionary East Sussex Support Scheme (DESSS). Her accompanying report outlined how support to those in need is threatened as a result of the Government decision to discontinue local welfare assistance funding.
A number of protest lobbies have been made by partners and MPs at Westminster regarding this decision and these representations will continue over the coming weeks.
Community Network representatives acknowledged the importance of this service and the enormity of the challenge ahead. Identifying other small charities that work with vulnerable people needing this type of support could provide a way to pool resources and a meeting was proposed to discuss between Steve Manwaring, Marc Turczanski and Naomi Ridley to begin this process.
The funding administered by County Council was underspent last year and this may therefore still be available. Cllr Birch agreed to look into this further.
It was requested that the situation be closely monitored by the Board to keep abreast of developments. Thanks were extended to Naomi for her report.
Strategic Transport
Minutes:
Jonathan Wheeler, Strategic Economic Infrastructure manager at East Sussex County Council was in attendance to give an update on transport developments to promote economic growth throughout the region. In particular, updates on the Bexhill Hastings Link Road, A21 developments and the possibility of high speed rail links coming to Hastings.
Comments from the Board concentrated on the aforementioned proposed bus timetable reductions. This service is a lifeline for many and any restrictions could have a serious negative economic impact especially on those needing to travel to or from work.
Submitting a response to the consultation on behalf of the Board was proposed. The end of the consultation falls before the next meeting of the Board so a response will be drafted and distributed by email. Partner organisations are already responding individually.
Jonathan committed to pass back comments to County colleagues and investigate the best way to continue the dialogue with particular reference to supplying statistics regarding bus usage figures where these are not available as a part of previous reports submitted to committees.
Education and Accountability Conference PDF 77 KB
Minutes:
Each quarter, the Community Network hold an event focussing on an issue nominated by its members. The last one was dedicated to Education and organised in partnership with the University.
Steve Manwaring reported that a variety of educational providers and users attended and a number of key issues for the town:
· Clear information on the admissions policies of education providers is needed for the public
· The high rate of ‘in year’ admissions is of concern and needs to be closely monitored
· Links between schools and community organisations need to be strengthened
A full report will be drawn up and distributed to the Board.
In addition, the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny panel have identified ‘engaging with academies’ as one of their reviews for 2014/15.
Reports for Information PDF 23 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Reports on the following issues were noted:
- Seawater Bathing Quality
- Regeneration Update
- Family Keywork Update (formerly families with multiple problems)
- Executive Delivery Group notes 24th June 2014
- East Sussex Strategic Partnership notes 29th April 2014
Urgent Items
Minutes:
Monica Adams-Acton reported that a review of the Community Cohesion Strategy has resulted in the framework being amended and a change of Steering Group membership. This group still needs representatives from the Health and Business sectors. The Board are asked to consider any potential nominations.
Closer working between the steering group and LSP Board is planned including a twice yearly report to advise the Board on emerging issues and any gaps or barriers to achieving the strategy’s objectives.
Mark Turczanski raised the concerns of HCN regarding GP First - a change some surgeries have implemented to the GP bookings system to make assessments over the phone. It was considered that this may exclude vulnerable people or those whose first language is not English.
Marc will report back to the Board.
Next Meeting Date: Monday 20th October 2014
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