Agenda item

            (Mrs. S. Wylie, Director of Health and Environmental Services, attended in connection with this item.)

 

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“Relevant Background Information

 

      On 22nd January 2010, the SP&R Committee was advised that the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) had begun a tendering process for the delivery of up to three community planning pilot projects in Northern Ireland.  The primary purpose of the projects was to build the capacity of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) so it could participate equally in the community planning process.  The Committee subsequently agreed that the Council should submit a bid in collaboration with the five Area Partnership Boards and Community Places. For the purposes of the funding application, this partnership was named the ‘Belfast Community Planning Consortium’ (Belfast Consortium) with Belfast City Council assigned as the lead partner.

 

      On the 19th March the Committee agreed the scope and outline project plan for the bid, agreeing to a community planning project that would focus on the single theme of health.  On the 21st May, Committee was informed that the bid had been successful and agreed to enter into a contract with the BIG Lottery to deliver the pilot.  The contract is to the value of £139,000 plus VAT and must be completed by February 2012.  The remaining two contracts were awarded to partnerships from the DerryCity and Strabane district council areas and the Fermanagh and Omagh district council areas.

 

      The BIG Lottery pilot offers an opportunity to develop and test the Council’s emerging community planning processes in advance of any future statutory model for community planning.  However, the project represents just one aspect of our approach to community planning.  Other thematic and citywide structures currently exist or will need to be developed outside of this project.  For this reason, the Committee also agreed at its meeting on the19th March to establish a Cross Party Reference Group on Community Planning to guide the project and to inform the development of the Council’s wider community planning framework.

 

      This report provides an update on progress to date and sets out the proposed next stages in the BIG Lottery project and community planning process in general. 

 

Key Issues

 

      The Pilot Project

 

      As agreed by Committee on 19th March, the pilot project focuses on the single theme of ‘health’ as this provides a manageable way to test processes and relationships whilst also securing deliverables for partners and ultimately the local community.  The pilot builds on the Council’s commitment to creating a healthier Belfast and will augment ongoing work within Council and with our partners to improve health and wellbeing, including working closely with the new Belfast Health Development Unit (set up jointly between the Council, the Public Health Agency and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust) and the new Strategic Health Partnership for the city, which will be responsible for developing a health and wellbeing plan for the City.  The pilot will inform the development of this plan, whilst at the same time provide an opportunity to test in practical ways how the VCS can participate most effectively in community planning.  

 

      The emphasis on the VCS will help inform how we engage, support and involve these important sectors in planning and delivery.  Following the pilot, BIG aims to provide a model and a toolkit of good practice that will help ensure the genuine engagement of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in the new / emerging community planning processes.  

 

      The pilot project is managed through a Project Steering Group, chaired by Suzanne Wylie, Director of Health and Environmental Services, with membership from the following organisations:

 

Belfast City Council

Belfast Area Partnerships (one from each

   of the five partnerships)

Community Places

Belfast Health & Social Care Trust:

Belfast Health Development Unit

Public Health Agency

 

      The Belfast pilot is contracted to deliver the following key elements:

 

·         Engagement and participation of Voluntary & Community Sector

 

·         Capacity building programme

 

·         Integrating emerging priorities into planning (and in collaboration with other partners informing the development of a health and wellbeing plan for the city)

 

·         Creating realistic plans and ensuring they are resourced

 

·         Informing the longer-term model of community planning

 

·         Conference and Final Evaluation Report (Dec 2011 and Jan 2012)

 

      Work to date has focused on understanding the health and voluntary and community sectors and making sense of the various health needs across the city.  A review of expressed health needs and priorities has been completed and is being checked against people’s understanding of the health issues in their local area.  Feedback to date suggests that the range of existing priorities and issues do reflect local concerns and form an acceptable basis for developing a health & wellbeing plan for the city but we also want community and voluntary sector input to action planning and delivery. 

 

      In line with the approach agreed by the Committee previously, a number of engagement sessions are planned for the coming months including a ‘mini conference’  in June to which a wider range of participants from the community will be invited to hear about the project and give their views on how community planning should develop..

 

      Work is also progressing on the development of the capacity building programme and a number of information sessions have been held with various stakeholders..  This includes plans to develop a formalised and ideally accredited short programme, with a specific Belfast focus, which will bring together participants from across all sectors to understand the potential benefits of community planning to Belfast and explore what has worked well both in other areas and in the city to date.

 

      Role of Elected Members, SP&R Committee

      and Cross Party Reference Group

 

      Elected Members, as civic leaders and local advocates, will be pivotal to community planning at both local and strategic city-wide levels.  Whilst the SP&R Committee has specific responsibility for the development and implementation of the community planning process;   all Elected Members will have a role.  Therefore the Committee was keen to ensure that this role was properly reflected within the pilot and any emerging model.  As a result it established a cross Party Reference Group with the dual role of overseeing the BIG Lottery project but also leading the development of a community planning framework for the Council.

 

      At the first meeting of the Reference Group on 12th October 2010, the Group agreed an outline programme of work and terms of reference (attached as appendix 1).  The Reference Group has met four times to date, including a joint workshop with the BIG Project Steering Group.  The Reference Group has received a number of briefings relating to community planning, the pilot project and related health theme.  The primary focus to date has been on the BIG Lottery Project, but the Reference Group is keen to consider and align other relevant work, such as the development of the Council’s Community Development Strategy, and to explore and develop models of good practice.

 

      Through the BIG Lottery pilot and other good practice learning, the Reference Group aims to develop and test:

 

·         A route map / model for community planning

 

·         Structures and processes for engagement

 

      In doing so, the Reference Group also hopes to learn and address the following key issues:

 

·         Representation

 

·         Resources

 

·         Empowering the community and voluntary sector so it can influence and participate in how we plan and deliver services

 

·         Joining up council responses /services

 

·         Joint planning among agencies

 

·         Working at both city level and local neighbourhood level

 

      The Cross Party Reference Group will need to be re-constituted following the establishment of the new Council in June.  It is also intended that Party Briefings and/or workshops with the new SP&R Committee be organised after June to update new and existing Members on community planning and to begin the process of Member engagement on community planning.  This may be done as part of a wider induction programme.

 

      Legislative Developments

 

      The DoE recently issued the Local Government Reform / Policy Proposals for consultation, which included only high level references to community planning and the power of wellbeing.  The Council will continue to seek to influence the development of formal community planning guidance.  The pilot project will assist with this process.

 

Resource Implications

 

      Financial

 

      None at present.  Support costs for managing and coordinating the project will be met from within the BIG funding. This includes the appointment of the Project Co-ordinator, Kim Walsh.

 

      Human Resources

 

      None at present. 

 

Decisions required

 

      The Committee is asked to note the above report and progress to date.

 

Decision Tracking

 

      The Director of Health and Environmental Services will bring progress reports back to the Committee as the project progresses.

 

Key to Abbreviations

 

      APBs  –  Area Partnership Boards

      BIG     –  Big Lottery Fund

      VCS    –  Voluntary and Community Sector”

 

            After discussion, the Committee noted the information which had been provided.