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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings. East Sussex, TN34 3UY
Contact: Democratic Services on 01424 451484 email: democraticservices@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Welcome and Apologies for Absence (Chair)
Minutes:
Councillor Paul Barnett welcomed members and speakers.
Last week was extraordinary for any town. Thanks was given to the emergency services for their response and the town can be proud of its response. A review of last week will be held with the emergency services, and there will also be an internal review by Hastings Borough Council.
The group discussed the possibility of a meeting with all the businesses affected. The Council will be convening a meeting with Southern water and also meetings with the town centre management and owners of Priory Meadow.
Minutes and Matters Arising (Chair) PDF 112 KB
Minutes:
Minutes of the meeting 17th October 2022 Accepted as an accurate record.
HBC Budget and corporate plan consultation
Cllr Paul Barnett and Jane Hartnell – HBC
https://www.hastings.gov.uk/my-council/consultations/budget-consultation-2023/
Minutes:
Item 4 was moved to be heard last - Sean Dennis chaired this item
Councillor Paul Barnett explained there are two key issues to focus on this year. Firstly, the housing crisis and the priority of tacking homelessness are having a substantial impact on Council Budgets. We are now providing accommodation for more than 1000 people. That's a very high percentage of people in Hastings who are now having to be in temporary accommodation, the cost of which has rocketed as there's not enough housing available. There has been a housing task force set up with the latest proposal for the Council to buy more properties in Hastings.
The other key corporate priority is tackling the climate emergency.
Because housing and the climate emergency are so important, we're going to have to make a significant difference with both if we're going to save money in other areas.
Slides were shown showing the budget headlines. Council Tax will be increased by 16p a week for a band D home. Fees and charges have increased by 10%. Some examples of spending reductions were shown including reducing the cost of temporary accommodation.
The group discussed the funding for housing migrants. Councillor Barnett explained that there are several different funding streams. Also discussed was the lack of affordable accommodation.
The group discussed the impact on the private sector and tourism. Councillor Barnett explained tourism is up over the last two years. There is a strong case to promote Hastings as Hastings with some recent press articles supporting this.
Councillor Barnett reminded everyone that the consultation continues to noon 3rd February
Cost of living crisis - lived experience update and impacts
Steve Manwaring - HVA
Minutes:
Steve Manwaring presented and reflected on the work of the Community Hub for Hastings. Some resources from the Community Renewal Fund were secured which enabled us to look at several domains where we felt activity was important. These were building volunteer capacity, making referrals and data sharing more effective, publishing trends and issues analysis, creating opportunities for cross sector learning and problem solving and strengthening skills at the front line.
Steve explained there has been several knowledge exchange events and one event was run as part of the Winter Readiness preparedness. This was attended by over 50 organisations. There was a strategic level approach which meant that problems could be resolved at the most local point
Tracey Dighton presented explaining that if you're in a cold home, if your home is below 18 degrees C, the blood thickens and it exacerbates health conditions such as respiratory circulatory conditions and it affects people's mental health. Tracey explained about helping vulnerable people get onto the priority service register.
Thanks to the chamber of commerce for paying for printing.
The group discussed what the next priorities will be. Tracey answered worry is debt and thinks it will be a summer of debt. Steve answered the difficulty for people to focus on long term problems with so many short-term issues now. There are 10 key trends which we think are important for the town, ranging from spaces and the way in which services are rolled out, the way in which we need to get much more sighted on information sharing, to making sure that people don't have to tell their story multiple times.
Updates and inputs to strategic projects:
UK Share Prosperity Fund update and next steps PDF 209 KB
Pranesh Datta - HBC
Minutes:
Rosie Leech presented. There is £1m funding to spend by 2025. Most of the fund is allocated for year 3. The investment area will be targeted at Broomgrove estate as one of Hastings most deprived areas. The fund includes a mix of revenue and capital funds and the Council is responsible for the management and government of the Fund.
The next steps are to set up an investment panel which will help achieve the aims of the fund, providing strategic fit and deliverability and ensuring that we've got genuine positive impact in Broomgrove. Individuals have been invited to join this based on their expertise, interest and or knowledge. Years two and three of the program will use the data that we've gathered and expertise from the panel to deliver the strategic and long term aims.
The group discussed the rationale of focusing on Broomgrove. Pranesh answered that Broomgrove is one of the most deprived areas and focusing on one area would have a better impact than a thin spread across a few different areas. Rosie explained the focus is on Boomgrove but not restricted to that area.
The group discussed food growing in the area and a co-op structure for buying fruit and veg.
Universal Health Care Update
Peter Aston - Universal Health Care Strategic Lead NHS
Minutes:
Peter Aston, Universal Healthcare Strategic Lead, presented. Following on from the update in October, work continues in the delivery of the Universal Healthcare Proposition. This seeks to influence how NHS services can be designed in the future in a way that improves population health and reduces health inequalities.
A second workshop was held at the end of October. This month saw us entering the prototyping phase of the proposition. This phase commenced with a workshop on 18 January, which focused on finalising proposals before a six-week process of testing and refining of prototypes begins. Following prototyping, the PDGs will be supported to develop proposals for how their initiative will be embedded into an existing service or programme or included within a business case for further testing at a larger scale during 23/24. The prototype ideas that have been developed show promise in addressing inequalities. However, the conversation regarding primary care funding is too complex to be completed within the time we have left in the delivery of the Universal Healthcare proposition. As a result, it has been separated from the prototyping process.
The group discussed GP surgeries and how the learning will be passed to the front line. Peter answered we do have the clinical director of Hastings and St Leonards, PCN as a member of the design team, but also involved in those ongoing workshops. And that's how we expect amplification of the work to happen across primary care in the town.
Peter answered regarding feedback on the workshops and explained further surveys have been sent to participants.
The group discussed the sense of scale of the prototypes. Also discussed was the issue of work force and the need for a work force summit in possibly May or June.
Action – Invite Peter to next meeting
Equalities Charter implementation
Minutes:
To be discussed at the next meeting
Action – To be first item on next Agenda
Climate Emergency
Minutes:
To be discussed at the next meeting
Action – To be second item on next Agenda
Next Meeting Date
24th April at HBC Council Chamber
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