Meeting documents

Community Partnerships Board
Monday 18 October 2010 9.30 am



iii
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP BOARD

Monday 18 October 2010, 11.00am
Council Chamber, Town Hall, Maidenhead
    Present:

    David Coppinger WMVA
    Claire D’Crail NHS Berkshire East
    Tim De Meyer Thames Valley Police
    Linda Evans JobCentrePlus
    Carolyn Finlay NHS Berkshire East
    Paul Jacques RBFRS
    Sally Kemp Berkshire East PCT
    David Knowles-Leak FSB
    Martin Miranda WDCC
    Vivienne McCann Transaction Town Maidenhead
    Ian Nixey Maidenhead CAB
    Kostas Panagiotou Victim Support
    Karnail Pannu WAMCF
    Tim Parry Community Council for Berkshire
    John Petitt Maidenhead District Housing Association
    Lynne Saint Berkshire College of Agriculture
    Ganesh Sehvaragah Business Link
    Fiona Winrow WMVA


    Ian Trenholm (Chairman) RBWM Chief Executive
    Cllr Mrs Bateson (Vice Chairman) RBWM
    Cllr J Evans RBWM
    Nicola Davidson RBWM Partnership Co-ordinator
    Andrew Elkington RBWM Head of Policy & Performance
    Liz Hornby RBWM Democratic Services
    Harjit Hunjan RBWM Community & Business Partnerships Manager
    Brian Martin RBWM Community Safety Co-ordinator
    Robina Shafiq RBWM Home School Liaison Officer

    Apologies

    None were received.

    Welcome by Chairman

    Ian Trenholm welcomed members to the forum.

    The Importance of Partnership Working

    Councillors Mrs Bateson welcome members to the forum and commented that until the present the Board had been concentrating on delivering the local agreements. It was reported that 90% had so far been achieved due to Officers’ and Partners’ hard work. By March 2011 the Borough would be informed as to how much money would be received. However, everything had now changed with a new coalition government who thought differently especially in relation to Community issues.

    The Changing National Context

    Ian Trenholm commented that there were big challenges in the future and asked whether the Community Partnership Board was still viable in its present state. There were several initiatives, principally de-regionlisation; de-quangoing; NHS, moves and transfers; Academies, Free schools etc. and the Big Society of which the Royal Borough was a vanguard. In relation to the NHS, it was noted that there was to be a 40% decrease in management overheads. In relation to the Academies and Free schools, details were still uncertain at this stage although it was noted that it would make schools more independent from the Local Authority.

    Ian Trenholm commented that there would be more transparency in the future and more public judgement.

    It was noted that it would be important to listen to the minority as well as the majority in relation to vulnerable people. It was also noted that voluntary organisations would be given the opportunity to take on more responsibilities and that any hurdles should not be under-estimated.

    In summary, Ian Trenholm commented that there were fundamental changes to come.

    The Local Context

    Andrew Elkington, Head of Policy & Performance, introduced the Council’s perspective on the Big Society which was recently announced by the new coalition government. The definition given was of fostering a culture of voluntarism and philanthropy – support people and empowering communities. The Board noted that Big Society was not about the Council undertaking more activities despite the cynical press reaction to the announcement.

    There were opportunities to develop projects with residents and communities, for example – devolution to Parishes, prototype incentive scheme for residents to earn points to then ‘trade in’ for vouchers to be spent at local shopping centres or with local businesses. This scheme was the same as the present RecycleBank scheme in place in the Royal Borough. Another example was the Guildhall Museum which would welcome local volunteers to assist in the running once it was open.

    Andrew Elkington posed two questions to the Board –
      1. Within this new world, what is the role of the Community Partnerships Board?
      2. How can the Community Partnerships Board support development of Big Society?

    Partnership Challenges and Opportunities

    Harjit Hunjan stated that there would be many challenges to face in the future that would impact not just nationally, but locally. He also posed the question of what was the role of the Community Partnerships Board? Does the Board need to change or should it remain in its present form? It was noted that there was a possibility of replacing the Ambition Groups due to the LAA’s not existing any further.

    It was noted that there were challenges for those working in the Public Sector and that there were many professional who worked in the Private Sector. However, concern was raised that whilst the Borough was engaging with residents, that it should not overlook the business sector within the area as it was believed that businesses should have a voice too.

    Incentivisation was a delicate area. It was noted that should volunteers who were in receipt of unemployment benefits, receive a benefit for carrying out voluntary work, that they could potentially be taxed on benefit in kind. However, it was stated that the Civil Servants and central government had indicated that if this should become an issue, that approaches could be made and some solution found.

    Feedback and Next Steps

    Following the Workshop feedback was sought from the 3 groups –

    Nicola to complete!

    Summary and Close

    Ian Trenholm thanked all those who had attended the meeting and noted –
      Ø Community was at the forefront and building community confidence was clearly a target, particularly residents communities.
      Ø Nicola Davidson and Harjit Hunjan would summarise the feedback from the working groups and circulate with the Minutes.
      Ø In relation to the Big Society, it was noted that the Council could be player / coach / groundsman and would attempt to merge the three together.
      Ø To create a Community Partnership Board that would survive in the future.

    Next meeting

    The next meeting of the Community Partnership Board is –