Issue - meetings

Community Building in Gloucester

Meeting: 05/12/2018 - Cabinet (Item 62)

62 Community Building in Gloucester pdf icon PDF 384 KB

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods concerning plans for the medium and long-term delivery of community building activities in Gloucester and gain Cabinet’s support for the project.

Decision:

RESOLVED to:

 

(1)  Agree the vision, mission and principles for a longer-term approach to community building in Gloucester.

 

(2)  Approve the establishment of a formal partnership agreement with Barnwood Trust to deliver community building in the short-term and to delegate authority to the Corporate Director (Partnerships) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods to finalise arrangements.

 

(3)  Note the budget, financing and the longer term financial approach to deliver community building in Gloucester.

 

(4)  Authorise the Corporate Director (Partnerships) to work towards setting up a separate legal entity such as a Community Interest Company (CIC) to undertake community building and to bring a further report back to Cabinet.

 

(5)  Authorise the Corporate Director (Partnerships) to explore the feasibility of transferring the Gloucester Lottery into a future CIC.

 

(6)  Commit the ‘Your Gloucester’ budget (£10k pa) to the project for two years

(7)  Commit £5k per annum of the Gloucester Lottery central fund to the project for two years.

 

(8)  Acknowledge that fundraising continues, but agree to cover any shortfall for the first two years as set out in section 8 of the report.

 

(9)  Undertake a piece of work on what input the community can have on community building

(10)         Organise a development session for Elected Members to explore Asset Based Community Development and Community Building more fully and that endeavours are made for it to include all Members.

 

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods that outlined plans for the medium and long-term delivery of community building activities in Gloucester and sought Cabinet’s support for the project.

 

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods described the background to the report.  She gave examples of how engagement with local people and communities had already changed the ways in which activities were delivered, made a positive impact and enhanced individual people’s lives but advised Members that continued evaluation was needed in what was a long-term process.  She further emphasised the importance of strengthening the partnerships with other organisations including the Barnwood Trust, Police and Crime Commissioner, and County Council.  She commented that Gloucester was already pioneering practices recommended in the government’s recent Civil Society Strategy well ahead of other councils in order to improve the lives of its residents.  The Cabinet Member for Environment reminded Members of the continuing legacy from the community builder in Kingsway with successful local community initiatives such as Men’s Shed, Parkrun and the Big Lunch.  The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economy noted that these bold community building plans complemented the regeneration plans for the city.

 

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods drew Members’ attention to the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 3rd December 2018 that a piece of work be undertaken on what input the community can have on community building and that a development session be organised for all Elected Members to explore Asset Based Community Development and community building more fully.  Concerning the former, the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods reiterated that the achievements so far had been due to communities being fully engaged and endorsed the recommendation provided that the methodology of the work to be undertaken was right.  Regarding the latter recommendation she stated that as partner organisations would attend a development session it had to be positive and well attended with at least 20 out of the 39 Elected Members.  The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources advised Members that she was prepared to chair the development session provided that these conditions were met.

 

RESOLVED to:

 

(1)  Agree the vision, mission and principles for a longer-term approach to community building in Gloucester.

 

(2)  Approve the establishment of a formal partnership agreement with Barnwood Trust to deliver community building in the short-term and to delegate authority to the Corporate Director (Partnerships) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods to finalise arrangements.

 

(3)  Note the budget, financing and the longer term financial approach to deliver community building in Gloucester.

 

(4)  Authorise the Corporate Director (Partnerships) to work towards setting up a separate legal entity such as a Community Interest Company (CIC) to undertake community building and to bring a further report back to Cabinet.

 

(5)  Authorise the Corporate Director (Partnerships) to explore the feasibility of transferring the Gloucester Lottery into a future CIC.

 

(6)  Commit the ‘Your Gloucester’ budget (£10k pa) to the project for two years  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62


Meeting: 03/12/2018 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 120)

120 Community Building in Gloucester pdf icon PDF 384 KB

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods that outlines plans for the medium and long-term delivery of community building activities in Gloucester.

Minutes:

120.1              Councillor Jennie Watkins, Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, introduced the report and welcomed the Chief Executive Officer of Barnwood Trust and Chief Inspector Of Gloucestershire Constabulary to the meeting.

 

120.2              Councillor Watkins explained the Council’s journey to and through Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) which Barnwood Trust was leading. She stated that ABCD involved bringing about a cultural shift in how communities and agencies interact.

 

120.3              The Chief Inspector gave a presentation and provided an overview of research conducted. He cited that Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) had decreased and that ABCD had a role to play in achieving such outcomes.

 

120.4              The Corporate Director thanked the Barnwood Trust for their thought leadership, support as well as training and mentoring. She also stated that the establishment of a community interest company was under consideration and presented an outline of a ten year budget.

 

120.5              Councillor Pullen stated that he saw the value in potentially pooling resources for community building. He noted that numerous community organisations were struggling with gaining grant funding and questioned whether it would be preferable to directly support already existing groups. Councillor Pullen also asked what outcomes were being attempted and what a healthy community looked like.

 

120.6              Councillor Watkins stated that outcomes were not necessarily linked to what organisation support came from and that outcomes involved community activity and not simply services. The Corporate Director explained that the Council’s contribution would be £15k per annum and that staffing would be generated by partnerships. She further stated that it would give good opportunities for fundraising and secondments from Barnwood Trust and the County Council. She advised Members that if fundraising proved to not be possible, the company would not be set up.

 

120.7              Councillor Ryall welcomed Members’ suggestion of a Member Development session to explore ABCD and Community Building in more depth. She questioned the worth of the evaluation of this form of Community Building being conducted by the agencies that were carrying out the work. The Chief Executive of the Barnwood Trust agreed but highlighted that it was a matter of making the most of resources and that there were always difficulties in assessing impact.

 

120.8              The Chief Inspector, in response to a query from Councillor Finnegan questioning whether the police had taken on too much, stated that such a community building approach was a positive way of working and built trust and intelligence in neighbourhoods.

 

120.9              Councillor Haigh stated that ABCD worked best when communities did it themselves. She further stated that communities would like previous funding levels to be returned by way of grants to fund services they required.

 

120.10            Councillor Watkins highlighted that it was important to change relationships and how the Council worked with communities.  She advised Members that a number of organisations had changed and employed community builders.

 

120.11            The Chair stated that community organisations were still competing for money from the same pool of money and that the approach had the appearance being ‘to-down’.

 

120.12            Councillor Lewis informed Members that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120