Issue - meetings

To consider a joint report of the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy, Finance & Devolution and the Cabinet Member for Reform & Governance.

In Autumn 2016 the Cabinet set out an ambitious vision to work differently with communities in Stockport. Building on previous working papers published throughout 2017 this report gives an update on the significant progress made to implement this vision, and recommends that Cabinet invest up to £1.0m to implement a radical new approach to community investment.

The report restates the vision for Working with Communities, gives examples of impact and learning to date – including from the ‘beta phase’ of the community investment fund, the work to develop a new model of engagement in the Heatons and the development Stockport Local – and sets out plans for how the Cabinet will continue to empower and support our local communities.

The Cabinet is recommended to:-

·                     Note the update on work underway to progress the working with communities ambition since Cabinet’s decision in October;

·                     In line with this decision in principle, agree the proposal relating to the Stockport Local Fund, including:

·         the overview of the Fund and the rules by which it will work;

·         the recommendation to pilot this Fund over a two year period using reserves;

·         to allocate  £1m from reserves in line with the reserves policy which will be updated following the 2017/18 outturn position.

Officer contact: Holly Rae, 0161 474 3014, holly.rae@stockport.gov.uk

A joint report of the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Reform & Governance was submitted (copies of which had been circulated) updating the Cabinet on the previously agreed Working with Communities programme – including the ‘beta phase’ of the community investment fund, work to develop a new model of engagement in the Heatons and the development of Stockport Local – and setting out plans to continue to empower and support local communities.

The Cabinet Member for Reform and Governance welcomed the proposals coming forward as one of the Cabinet’s long term aspirations to give greater emphasis to early intervention and prevention.

The Leader of the Council emphasised that grants from the fund would be used to support savings as part of the Council’s budget setting process, which was a positive and constructive response to the challenges of funding austerity.

RESOLVED – That in relation to the Working with Communities work:-

·         the update on work underway to progress the working with communities ambition since Cabinet’s decision in October be noted;

·         in line with this decision in principle, the proposal relating to the Stockport Local Fund be approved, including:

-       the overview of the Fund and the rules by which it will work;

-       the recommendation to pilot this Fund over a two year period using reserves;

-       to allocate  £1m from reserves in line with the reserves policy which will be updated following the 2017/18 outturn position.

To consider a joint report of the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy, Finance & Devolution and the Cabinet Member for Reform & Governance.

In Autumn 2016 the Cabinet set out an ambitious vision to work differently with communities in Stockport. Building on previous working papers published throughout 2017 this report gives an update on the significant progress made to implement this vision, and recommends that Cabinet invest up to £1.0m to implement a radical new approach to community investment.

The report restates the vision for Working with Communities, gives examples of impact and learning to date – including from the ‘beta phase’ of our community investment fund, our work to develop a new model of engagement in the Heatons and the development Stockport Local – and sets out plans for how we will continue to make empower and support our local communities.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to:

·         note and comment upon the update on work underway to progress the Cabinet’s working with communities ambition;

·         note the agreement in principle reached by the Cabinet in October;

·         in line with this decision in principle, note and comment upon the proposal relating to the Stockport Local Fund, including:

- The overview of the Fund and the rules by which it will work;

- The recommendation to pilot this Fund over a two year period using reserves.

Officer contact: Steve Skelton / Holly Rae 0161 474 3174 / 3014, steve.skelton@stockport.gov.uk / holly.rae@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Scrutiny Committee to consider further detailed proposals on the Cabinet’s Working with Communities Programme, in particular the proposal to invest £1m for the Community Investment Fund.

The Cabinet Member for Reform & Governance (Councillor David Sedgwick) attended the meeting to answer councillors’ questions.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         Further information was sought on how the Investment Fund would be communicated to residents and community groups. In response it was stated that a communications strategy would be developed, but the focus of engagement would be the Stockport Local website. There was also a role for area committees.

·         Clarification was sought on the reasons for choosing the Heatons as the focus for pilot work. In response it was stated that this was largely due to linkages with the work to develop the Stockport Together new models of care and would allow the learning from the pilots to be scaled up to all parts of the borough.

·         Assurance was sought that there was a robust evaluation mechanism in place to determine the effectiveness of the use of £1m of reserves. In response it was stated that as the Investment Fund was a pilot, part of its evaluation would consider how well it could be monitored. For any individual bid or scheme, the ability to measure outcomes would determine whether it received funding, as there was an expectation for savings being realised through reductions in demand on health and social care services.
The Stockport Local and digital approach had enabled this project at this scale proposing as without it the administrative burden would be unsustainable. Manchester Metropolitan University were also involved in developing the evaluation methodology and once complete this would be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee.

·         Clarity was sought that no councillor would be involved in the award of grants and on the expected level of funding awards. In response it was confirmed that no councillor would be involved in the decision making and the expectation was that most would be less than £10,000 as anything above this may become something akin to a commissioned service.

·         Further information was how this process dovetailed with the work of Business Support Advisers. In response it was stated that there was no formal relationship as the fund was not aimed at profit earning organisations. There was nevertheless a role for business involvement to provide advice and peer support, as well as the possibility of aligning resources between the Council and companies’ Corporate Responsibility Funds.

RESOLVED – (1) That in relation to the Working with Communities,

·         the update on work underway to progress the Cabinet’s working with communities ambition be noted;

·         the agreement in principle reached by the Cabinet in October be noted and that in line with this decision the proposal relating to the Stockport Local Fund be noted.

(2) That the Deputy Chief Executive be requested to submit an update report to the Scrutiny Committee on 30 October 2018.