Agenda and minutes

(Director of Governance)  To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

The Panel noted there were no substitute Members appointed for this meeting.

(Director of Governance) To declare interests on any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview and Scrutiny members are asked to pay particular attention to paragraph 11 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub-Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub-Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 11 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

To agree the notes of the meeting held 22 June 2015 (attached).

The notes from the last meeting on 22 June 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

The Community, Health and Wellbeing Manager, G Wallis advised the Panel that in relation to the notes of the last meeting and the Parish and Town Engagement with the Youth Council; G Wallis handed the Panel copies of the Loughton Town Council and Theydon Bois Parish magazines that the Youth Council had contributed to and advised that the Youth Council would welcome Town and Parish Councils getting in touch if they would any input in their local magazines.

To note the Terms of Reference. (attached)

The Panel noted the Terms of Reference.

To consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director (Community Services and Safety), J Chandler presented a report on the Council’s Community Services and Safety teams work that was  considered youth engagement. This included the Youth Council and other activities and projects that were delivered through sports, arts, dance, community and the Museum Service. J Chandler explained to the Panel the breadth of these initiatives, in order to give an  understanding of the scope of local provision provided for children and young people. Although, she also stated that not all the activities were deemed as Youth Engagement specifically, as there was less opportunity to receive structured feedback from participants.

The activity provisions comprised of Mountain Biking; Football and Boxing Projects in Super Output Areas; Street and General Dance Programmes;Netball Clubs; Horse Riding and Horse Care; Boot Camps; Inclusion programme; ‘Six For All’ funded through Sport England Inclusive Fund to engage young people aged 14 and over with local sports clubs and activities in order to provide them with easy access to sports activities over the longer term; Holiday Programmes; Youth Volunteering Programme; Museum Programmes including ‘Takeover Days’ which enable young people to create an exhibition, develop education activities and deliver an event at the museum. The majority of these activities were supported by external funding secured from Sport England, Police and Crime Commissioner, Active Essex and Essex County Council.

The Panel were also informed of the more formal Youth Engagement initiatives  provided through the Community Services and Safety Team to promote key health, safety and wellbeing messages, which included Crucial Crew, which had been running for approximately 15 years and was targeted at all children in Year 6 within the primary Schools in the District and several schools in Brentwood, who brought into the programme. Crucial Crew involved support from a range of key statutory partners from Essex Police, NHS, Essex County Council and Fire Service, as well as voluntary sector partners including drug and alcohol advisers and experts from the field of bullying and domestic abuse. The sessions included;

·         Online safety & Cyber Bullying – Essex Police

·         Healthy relationships, in order to raise children’s awareness of what a normal family should be like – Safer Places

·         Road safety awareness  - Essex County Council

·         Water safety - RNLI

·         Alcohol and drug awareness - AlcoHelp

·         Bullying – Red Balloon

·         Anti-social behaviour and recycling – EFDC

·         Healthy living/smoking cessation – Ace

·         Fire safety – Essex Fire & Rescue

·         Construction site safety - Mears

J Chandler advised that the Reality Roadshow initiative was introduced following the success of Crucial Crew, to develop a similar awareness programme for pupils in secondary schools in order to reinforce safety messages at a further critical point in their lives. Reality Roadshow was therefore designed by the Council in consultation with partners and  provided an excellent resource for young people aged around 14 years old, in Year 9 at state secondary schools during curricular time. It focused on 6 key subjects including;

·         Drugs, in particular, “Legal highs”

·         Alcohol misuse

·         Sexual health

·         Consequences of crime,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

(Edward Nkwelle, District Youth and Community Commissioner) To report on Essex County Council Services for Young People.

The District Based Youth & Community Commissioner, Edward Nkwelle from Essex County Council (ECC) Youth Service advised that he had recently reported to the Youth Strategy Group for Epping Forest (EFYSG) about the Districts Youth Services. This Group was attended by dual hatted members of ECC and Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) which included Councillors C C Pond, J Knapman, M McEwen, R Gadsby and J Whitehouse and was chaired by Councillor V Metcalfe. M Tinker advised that three Youth Councillors also attended the Youth Strategy Group.

E Nkwelle advised that three members of staff co-ordinated the Youth Services provisions across the West Essex area, which helped to enable, develop and support Partnerships, Voluntary sector and other Stakeholders deliver services to young people across the District. The EFYSG had around £16,000 per annum, which could be bidded for in order to help support schemes and groups in the District.

The Panel felt that better communication between ECC and the EFDC was required to try to provide the services required by young people. The Panel agreed that the EFYSG report mention by E Nkwelle was required and that it should be circulated to members in order for them to understand the YSGEF.

J Chandler advised that officers within the Community Services and Safety Teams and Ward Members were in a much better position to advise ECC about the needs of the community and were keen to improve communication needed to improve and enable the services to be delivered. The general public were not always aware of who individuals were representing which had resulted in complaints to EFDC.

Louisa advised that (ECC) Youth Service could provide training to support volunteers to lead projects in their communities if that was what was required.

The Panel agreed that;

(a)  the Youth Strategy Group - Epping Forest report should be circulated to the Panel;

(b)  a request be out forward for District Members to be included as observers in the Epping Forest Youth Strategy Group; and

(c)  Communication between Essex County Council and the District improved to help deliver services that are no longer provided by ECC.

To consider items for the next agenda.

Agreed that the Panel would consider and draft the recommendations to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at the next meeting.

To note that the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 11 August 2015 at 19.00 in Committee Room 1, Civic Offices, Epping.

The Panel noted that the next meeting would be Tuesday 11 August 2015 at 19.00 in Committee Room 1.

The Panel noted that the final meeting date would be Monday 14 September 2015.