Agenda item

Consider report by Service Director Customer and Communities.  (Copy attached.)

6.1         With reference to paragraph 7 of the Minute of 27 August 2020, there had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Customer and Communities presenting the outcomes of each Area Partnership’s review in relation to the report from the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC).  The report explained that at its meeting on 27 August 2020, Council agreed that each Area Partnership establish a mechanism to review the findings of the SCDC Report regarding the future of Area Partnerships and to make recommendations for further public consultation within each locality.  It was agreed that arrangements in each locality were to be developed at a grass roots level using a bottom up approach. The report presented proposals for wider public consultation and supported the empowerment of each Area Partnership to discuss, agree and implement further improvement mechanisms within each of their localities. The report also proposed the requirement to build community capacity in order to support the further development of Area Partnerships.  The Council was continuing to respond to the current Covid-19 pandemic and working with communities through the Community Assistance Hubs.  The learning from this work would be taken into account in regards to how ongoing arrangements evolve.  Appendix A to the report detailed the approach suggested by each of the Area Partnerships.  There were a number common proposals including:-

·                The majority would like to see Area Partnerships remain a committee of the Council, although some see this as an interim position until further capacity can be built to take on more of the Area Partnership functions in the future.

·                A consideration to be given for all Committee Members to have equal voting rights or the flexibility to establish a separate entity or body at a future date which focuses on strategic issues.

·                A revision and refreshment of Locality Plans & Action Plans to ensure that they are fit for purpose and reflect local needs and demands.

·                The flexibility to set up sub-groups or sub-committees in the future that could take on specific tasks or projects.

·                A desire to become more involved in setting the Area Partnership Agendas and to include other partners and agencies in relation to service updates.

·                Being consulted on the appointment of Area Partnership Chairs, and the flexibility of rotating Chairs or sharing Chairing responsibilities in the future.

·                The flexibility to hold Area Partnerships on different days and times and promotion of Area Partnerships to a wider audience.

It was proposed that public consultation was undertaken on all of the above within each locality from April-June 2021.  This would include as wide engagement as possible with Community Councils, Community Planning and other third sector partners, access groups, other key organisations and stakeholders.  A report would then be brought back to Council which would detail the outcomes of the consultation for further discussion.  Alongside the consultation, officers would give further consideration to the proposals and how these could be implemented given the types of models in operation in other areas.

6.2         Members discussed the report and highlighted the need to involve greater numbers of people in Area Partnerships from more areas of the community.  Some Area Partnerships were more successful than others and it was felt that unless they could demonstrate value to communities people would not take part.

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)       to note the emerging common proposals from the recent review by each Area Partnership as detailed in the report and the ongoing evolvement of the current arrangements in line with community empowerment and the findings of the SCDC report;

(b)       that the outcomes of the review were taken forward for local public consultation in each locality to be held from April – June 2021, with a further report being brought back to Council in the autumn;

(c)       to note that community capacity building requirements would be needed to fully support the further evolvement of Area Partnerships within each locality; and

(d)       to note that digital requirements would be needed to fully support the further evolvement of Area Partnerships within each locality, and that these would be addressed through the Council’s Digital Strategy.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillors H. Anderson, Moffat, Paterson and Tatler declared an interest in the following item of business in terms of Section 5 of the Councillors Code of Conduct and left the meeting during the discussion.