Minutes for South Liverpool District Committee meeting, May 6 2009, 2.00PM official page

To provide an opportunity for members, officers and partners to declare a personal or prejudicial interest in any item on the agenda.

An opportunity was provided for members, officers and partners to declare a personal or prejudicial interest in any item on the agenda.

No interests were declared.

The remit for the Development Meeting –

To strengthen the District Committee structure by effectively supporting members and develop their capacity and understanding so that they are able to influence spend, scrutinise performance information and generally be better equipped to oversee the delivery of the South Liverpool Neighbourhood Area Agreement.

The format for the meeting will be as follows –

• Welcome and introduction – The Chair, Councillor Richard Oglethorpe

• Presentation by Rachel Flood, Neighbourhood Services

• Neighbourhood working – a discussion to be based on the draft questionnaire which is enclosed. Members are not obliged to complete the questionnaire at this stage – Rachel Flood

• South Liverpool Neighbourhood Area Agreement (draft of refreshed version) - Mike Burchnall and Christine Peach

• Community Consultation in South Liverpool – Christine Peach and a group discussion

• Next Steps – The Chair, Councillor Richard Oglethorpe

The following supporting information is enclosed –

• Report on Neighbourhood Governance (considered by District Committee Chairs, Select Committee Chairs and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

• Draft questionnaire on neighbourhood working (this questionnaire will  be circulated in the near future to all members of the City Council for completion)

• Report on the progress of Neighbourhood Working (previously considered by the Sustainable Communities Select Committee and this District Committee)  

The remit for the Development Meeting was –

To strengthen the District Committee structure by effectively supporting members and develop their capacity and understanding so that they are able to influence spend, scrutinise performance information and generally be better equipped to oversee the delivery of the South Liverpool Neighbourhood Area Agreement.

The meeting followed the following format –

Welcome and introduction by the Chair, Councillor Richard Oglethorpe

Presentation by Rachel Flood, Neighbourhood Services

The presentation focussed on –

• 2008/09 highlights
• Devolution proposals
• Neighbourhood performance
• Improvement planning
• Next steps

During the discussion which took place, the following issues were raised –

• How ward councillors can influence city wide decisions which affect their wards

• The budgetary contributions of partners

• The need for the neighbourhood agenda to address local issues

• The high number of performance indicators which have been identified

• The operation of the Councillors Call for Action initiative

Neighbourhood working 

A discussion took place on the draft questionnaire which it is intended to circulate to all members

During the discussion which took place, the following issues were raised –

• The proposed content of the questionnaire including a request for more space to be allowed for additional comments and a rewording of some of the options 

• The timing for the circulation of the questionnaire
• The need for greater publicising of successes by the Council and our partners

South Liverpool Neighbourhood Area Agreement

Members considered a draft copy of the updated version of the neighbourhood area agreement. Christine Peach introduced the report and stressed that it was in draft form only at this stage and that not all of the suggested amendments had yet been incorporated.

Detailed discussion took place in relation to each section of the agreement and the Chair and Lead Officer for each NPWG were invited to introduce the relevant sections.

All members and partners were invited to submit comments to Christine Peach within two weeks. Some of the main issues which were raised were –

• The need to ensure that all schools information is up to date, including relevant information from the City of Liverpool College, and the inclusion of schools which are on the neighbourhood boundary

• The role of the newly appointed City Safe Analysts

• The District Committee structure diagram should also include the SJAG and Task and Finish Groups

• Further information could be provided by way of links to the City Council’s web site

• Clarification could be provided on the services provided by different areas of the City Council and those provided by partners

• The method of providing figures to demonstrate the health of people

• The physical activity section could also make reference to the availability of free leisure passes

• The photographs of councillors should cover members of both political parties  

• Ward population figures

• The section of the user summary entitled “Why don’t you” be amended to read “You can”

Community Consultation in South Liverpool

A discussion took place on a draft questionnaire on community consultation in South Liverpool which was circulated by Christine Peach.

During the discussion which took place, the following issues were raised –

• Whether this questionnaire could be incorporated into the overall neighbourhood working questionnaire for all members

• The value and method of community engagement

• The need for improved advertising of events and timely feedback

• The appropriate timing and format of events

Agreed that –

a)     The questionnaire on neighbourhood working be circulated to all members of the City Council, taking account of the issues raised at this meeting;

b)     Members of this committee be invited to submit any comments on the content of the updated neighbourhood area agreement to Christine Peach by 20 May; and

c)      The questionnaire on community consultation in South Liverpool be revised, in consultation with the Chair, to take account of the discussion at this meeting.