Agenda and minutes

Welcome from the Chair

The Chairman welcomed members.  The apologies were read out.

Papers: Minutes and Matters Arising                                                                5 mins

Review of minutes of last Board meeting and outstanding items

John Houston

Minutes of the last meeting (17^th December 2009) were agreed as a true record.

JH reported on matters arising.

The Mini Observatory on the One Epping Forest website was discussed. CT reported that he had used it and it was very good. A link to the Mini Observatory will be sent out with the minutes.                                                                                                                                                                              Action 01: CR/ DW

The Stakeholder Conference report is near completion. Feedback from workgroup leads on their sections is awaited. Once this has been received a draft will be made available.

It was noted that the last Steering Group meeting was cancelled because the Board Away Day was the next day.

JH reported on the Future Jobs Fund.  Of the 79 opportunities in the first group, 33 have now been appointed, the remainder are either awaiting start dates or are being interviewed.  The scheme is receiving good feedback from employers.  JF reported that the standard of VAEF applicants has been very high, with one person being offered a position and one signposted to EFDC.

JH reported that the next tranche is awaiting approval and will have 95 posts.

SW reported that this scheme is presenting an excellent opportunity for young unemployed people and that the West Essex Partnership (WEP) is the best example of partnership working she has seen.  She also noted that Jobcentre Plus is looking at ways to improve its recruitment processes and is introducing a young person’s award.

JH also noted that one key role of the WEP is to support raising aspirations of children and to acknowledge the achievement of young people in the area.  To this end, the WEP is creating a primary school prize offering book tokens of up to £100 for winners in participating schools.  It was proposed that the award programme is jointly funded by WEP members (£3,000) and Essex County Council (£4,000) and the Board was asked to agree that the One Epping Forest proportion of £1000 be approved.  The Board welcomed the proposal. BS asked that thought be given to awards in the primary part of special schools.  This was agreed.

Other matters arising were reviewed. The only one requiring attention was item BO-02/26 -13, update LSP constitution which would be completed before the next Board meeting.                                                                               Action 02: JH

Update on Audit Commission review of natural resources use                     15 mins

and implications for partners

Report from John Preston – Director of Planning and Economic Development

DM spoke to a report contained in the meeting pack.  District Councils are to be inspected by the Audit Commission on activities and services that impact on the natural environment.  This covers areas such as reduction of carbon footprint of the Council and in the district as a whole.  To this end the Council has already:

signed up to the Nottingham Declaration on climate change,

adopted Safer, Cleaner, Greener initiatives,

improved recycling facilities in the district.

Key areas of focus will increasingly cover:

reducing carbon emissions,

better use of water,

improving biodiversity and

preservation of the natural environment.

DM suggested that a Task and Finish team be set up within the Sustainable Communities Theme Group to look at reduction of the impact of services that all partners deliver on the natural environment. JH agreed to bring this suggestion to a future SCS Theme Group meeting.

                                                                                                            Action 03: JH

Oral report on opportunities for joined up responses to risk management    10 mins

Derek Macnab

DM sought the Board’s view on the desirability of a Joint Risk Management Register.  Again, the Audit Commission is promoting a cross services/shared approach to risk management. The District Council has a corporate risk register which is reviewed and has recently been updated with items such as potential impact of the Olympics on the tube network, car parking and District Council services.  Partners were asked if they are interested in adopting this shared approach to risk.  This was agreed DM to write to key partners inviting their participation in the programme. Action 04: DM.                 

JH reported that the WEP is currently establishing a Task and Finish team to look at ‘Shared Services’ across the three districts.  A seminar is planned for late May to look at how this might be developed.  The recent Board Away Day agreed that a single practical opportunity for a ‘shared service’ should be identified by the Task and Finish team to focus on as a pilot project.

Report on the Prevent Strategy and delivery of the recently adopted            15 mins

Action Plan

John Gilbert – Chair Epping Forest SCP,

Director of Environment and Street Scene

The Action Plan was approved at the recent EFDC cabinet and endorsed at the recent Safer Communities Partnership (SCP) meeting.  JG asked that the LSP adopt the plan and its recommendations which include:

·               Map Faith Groups & BME Communities

·               Engage and build positive relations with faith communities

·               Through appropriate training, develop capacity of key individuals to understand and deliver the Prevent Strategy

·               Deliver a balanced message which proportionately reflects the diversity and cohesiveness of the local Community

·               Establish suitable governance arrangements for delivery and evaluation of NI 35.

This was agreed and the Board delegated responsibility for taking this work forward to the Safer Communities Partnership                                                                Action 05: JG

GE and BS asked that the Multi Faith Forum (MFF) be given an opportunity to provide feedback.  This will be discussed at the next MFF meeting                                                                           Action 06: JG.

JG reported that a monitoring process is still to be agreed, but once this was in place progress against the plan would be reported at LSP Board meetings.

JH asked whether there was a requirement to score the plan.  JG replied that a self assessment report is required and this would be undertaken by SCP.

BS noted that this could be an area that is impacted by the upcoming election, with a possibility of inflammatory literature being circulated.  It was reported that this has not been such an issue recently, but any such literature is as a matter of course passed very quickly to the police.  Any flyposters that appear are also removed very quickly by the District Council.

Oral report on the status of the revised SCS                                                 20 mins

John Houston

JH introduced a discussion on the outcomes of the Awayday and its impact on the developing SCS.  It was generally agreed that the session was a success, although some members suggested that it could have been slightly longer to facilitate a longer debate on key issues.  It was also agreed that the facilitator, Marilyn Taylor, was very good and helped push along discussions in a very effective manner.

JH summarised his understanding of the outcomes from the session, namely that the draft SCS needs to be more strategic, more cross-cutting and have around 10 objectives instead of the current 20 in the latest draft.

             An SCS drafting group has been agreed. JH will revise the draft based on the outcomes of the Awayday and send this second draft to the Board members for any comment.  These comments would then be passed to the drafting group to complete the document before the final round of consultation.  Action 07: JH

             There is a target of May 2010 to produce a draft for stakeholders to review. Other issues for development covered in the session were around engagement with London partnerships and strategies, and expansion of the role of the WEP particularly around economic issues, without losing local focus.

It was agreed that the current LSP structure adopted last year is working well but should be reviewed regularly to make sure it is still fit for purpose.

Year Review

Overview of annula report to be approved by the Board                                10 mins

John Houston

The draft annual report was circulated prior to the meeting.  JH said the report tries to capture key outcomes achieved by the partnership over the last year.  It had been a busy and successful year for the LSP.

The Annual Review idea had been recommended by the Communications Task and Finish team as an opportunity to share information and celebrate success.  JH asked that members let him know if there are any items/key successes particularly from the theme groups that should included.  Members agreed to provide further comment by 6 April.                         Action 08: All

DC noted that there needed to be a clear list of all the partners involved in the LSP to better reflect multi-agency working. It was agreed to add a page showing current partners                                                                  Action 09: JH

The report will be published on the One Epping Forest website.  DM suggested that this be accompanied by a press release, which could act as an executive summary for the website entry and this was agreed. JC suggested achievements such as Future Jobs Fund could be featured in an article in the Forester.                                                                                                                      Action 10: JH

SW reported that Jobcentre Plus is now working in Loughton Children’s Centres and are actively developing links with the community in a number of areas.

JH stated that it was important that all LSP supported activity continue to carry the OEF logo.

Oral report on discussions, key activities and decisions from the                 20 mins

Four Theme Groups

Julie Chandler             Children’s Partnership

John Gilbert                 Safer Communities Partnership

Anne Grigg                  Sustainable Communities

Pam Hall                     Healthier Communities

8.1 Children’s Partnership.

            JC reported that the EFCP incorporates 12 different public and voluntary services across the district.  Since Nov 2009, it has reviewed and revised priorities and will be focusing on mental health, KSI and domestic violence (with SCP), and health – particularly obesity (in collaboration with the Healthier Communities Theme Group.)  EFCP has a number of PRG funded projects in progress, namely:

Ignite. A ‘drop-in’ centre in Loughton providing positive activities for over 250 young people

Trampolining.  A ‘referral’ project designed to improve self esteem and confidence of primary school children.  This has received excellent feedback and some schools are extending the project from their own funds.

Positive Activities.  ‘Hands On’ Project at Lambourne Outdoor Centre - an integrated programme of farm, environmental and adventure activities, targeted at 11-16 year olds not in formal education, to build young people’s confidence and self-esteem.

The Box.  Open access programme and after school diversionary youth project.

Pedestrian awareness project.  A project to raise awareness of dangers to child pedestrians, particularly in rural areas, through performance work and installations.

Enjoy and Achieve.  A range of activities, operating straight from school 4-6pm.

JC reported that there was a strong feeling in the EFCP that partners are willing to work together to achieve results.  JH attended the last EFCP meeting and was very impressed with the number of practical activities being delivered and the way in which the group worked together.

8.2 Safer Communities Partnership.

JG tabled a paper with the latest crime statistics and highlights of recent activity from the SCP.  While crime figures are down year on year, a number of indicators are still red because they are not meeting the challenging targets set but they did mirror the national spike in crime figures.  JG highlighted one figure, a 24% rise in Attempted Burglary (domestic) saying that while this looks bad it refers to failed burglaries, indicating that crime preventative measures taken by householders may be having an impact.  Other SCP highlights included securing funding for the cross border post, the Reality Roadshow which was taken to Davenant and Roding Valley schools and the possibility of taking a Reality Roadshow event to Chigwell School with other private schools attending.  A new Strategic Assessment is being considered to direct activity and based on the latest data coupled with information on public priorities. It emphasises three single point issues (antisocial behaviour, burglary and domestic violence) and three cross-cutting issues (prolific offenders, cross-border crime and fear of crime).  JG reported that Simon Williams has just been appointed acting-Chief Superintendent and was unable to attend today.  A formal constitution has now been updated and agreed.  CDRPs have now been renamed Community Safety Partnerships.  JH pointed out that the latest violent crime figures showed that people were most likely to be hurt at home rather than in the street.  DM referred to a recent District Youth Council where inter-school gang violence was raised as an issue.  JG said that the police  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Update on the end of year report and preparations for the                             10 mins

Essex Partnership forum on 23 March 2010

David Wright

DW gave an update on the end of year PRG report which had been circulated and preparations for the Essex Partnership Forum on 23^rd March.which will be reviewing the projects.  All eight PRG funded projects are on track, however, extensions of 3 months have been requested to the EPP5 (supported volunteers) and EPP14 (community transport) projects.  The Essex Partnership Performance Management team will be recommending the extensions to the Forum.  Output from two of the projects (EPP 8 – access to the Arts for the Learning Disabled and EPP 11 - After School sessions) will be displayed on ‘market stalls’ at the forum. 

It is also proposed to extend the scope of the Community Transport project.  Approval is being sought at SC theme group to extend the schemes to include other primary schools and other secondary school clubs, other educational related activities (e.g. courses for gifted children) and extend the use by Children’s Centre Services.  Colleagues at ECC have been consulted on these changes with broadly positive responses for the changes that are proposed.  The Board noted the good progress that was being made, and supported the suggested changes to improve take up on the transport project.  The proposals will be put to the Sustainable Communities Theme group for final approval.                                                                                                          Action 11: JH

Oral update on the CCTV project related to NI 17                                          15 mins

Caroline Wiggins

CW presented an update on the project to enhance CCTV (EPP15) in the district funded by PRG and asked members to agree a refocus of the remainder of the project to the installation of new cameras in Epping.  The current sole focus of the project is for the update of existing antiquated CCTV systems.  Two sites, Oakwood Hill and Upshire, have already had digital video recording equipment installed but a survey of the current CCTV provision in the district has revealed that the most pressing need is for Epping High Street which is not covered at all.  Instances where CCTV footage would have been useful were related to the meeting.  The initial intention was to cover the High Street from the Civic Offices to St John’s Church with 10 main cameras supplemented by static cameras covering alleyways etc funded with PRG and resources from SCP.  It is a listed area with a number of listed buildings so the planning department is being consulted on the siting and method of fixing (sides of buildings, poles, ornate poles being options considered).  Wireless cameras are to be used to reduce the disruption caused during installation.  The main cameras cost up to £2.5k while fixed cameras cost from as little as £300 but the installation costs vary according to method of fixing.  EFDC is contributing £22k and agreement was sought for money from the PRG fund to be used towards this provision.  The meeting agreed the proposal.  BS asked whether businesses in Epping would be contributing.  CW replied that the Town Council and Town Centre Partnership were being consulted.

Discussion on the results from the Board meeting webcast pilot                 5 mins

JH reported that today’s meeting was not being webcast because the equipment was being set up for use at the Civic Awards.  This, however, presented the opportunity for members to express their opinions on the trial which had been run over the last year.  JH said that since  the December Board meeting webcast had been viewed 53 times (this compares with 232 views of the Council meeting) and the September meeting 97 times compared to 117 cabinet meeting viewings.  The cost was £300 per meeting though this would be reduced if the LSP administration team were to do it.  Members felt the pilot had been broadly positive, and hadn’t negatively impacted on discussion while giving a lot more people the opportunity to see the LSP in action.  Accountability and transparency were important.  YW suggested that this figure should be compared to the cost of holding the meetings in a venue where the public could attend.  Following discussion the Board agreed to continue with webcasting for the remainder of the year and review the situation again.                             Action 12: JH

DC thanked partners who went along to support Epping Forest College during its Ofsted inspection.  It was clear that there had been a dramatic improvement in partners’ perception of the college and the job it was doing.

BS asked, in future, for the Board papers to be sent as a single pack and CT asked those producing reports to avoid using large blocks of colour on paper as this was expensive to print.

CT congratulated the PCT on its high ranking in the recent survey of Health Trusts.

Dates of future meetings

17 June           2-4       Committee Room 1                Civic Offices, Epping

 7 October       2-4       TBC

16 December  2-4       TBC