Agenda item

To provide an update on community projects relating to education, health and wellbeing and community safety, and to ask Cabinet to endorse these projects.

That:-

a)     Cabinet endorses the listed projects as those which will continue to be delivered in 2018 in support of the Corporate Plan priorities; and

b)        the currently identified projects be monitored through the Council’s Performance Plan together with future projects agreed with the Health and Education Portfolio Holder.

During the consideration of this item when the discussion touched on Teen Talk, Councillor G V Guglielmi declared a personal interest insofar as his wife (Councillor V E Guglielmi) held a position of general control and management in Teen Talk.

There was submitted a detailed report and appendices by the Portfolio Holder for Health and Education (A.3) which provided an update on community projects relating to education, health and wellbeing and community safety, and sought Cabinet’s endorsement of those projects.

Updates on specific projects were reported under the following headings –

Education

1)         Tendring Children and Young People Strategy 2017- 2020 & Delivery Plan 2017/18

2)         Gt Bentley Primary School – Wellbeing Hub

3)         North East Essex Teacher Training (NEETT)

4)         TeachFirst

5)         IntoUniversity

6)         Tendring Scouting & Youth Services

7)         TDC Education Newsletter

8)         School Places

9)         Benefits Leaflet

10)      Junior Warden Project

Health and Well-being

1)         Sport England Local Delivery Pilot (LDP)

2)         Tendring Health and Wellbeing Strategy

3)         Housing and Health

4)         Junior parkrun

5)         Livewell

6)         Parkeston Welfare Park – New community site for development

Community Safety

1)         Tendring Hub – Stay Safe for Summer Event

2)         Tendring Community Safety Partnership – Street Action Days

3)         Task & Finish Groups

4)         Daily Hub Tasking Conference Call

5)         Tendring Problem Solving Group

6)         Operation Valour

7)         Project Mercury

8)         Crucial Crew

9)         Gangsline

Cabinet was informed that the projects identified above would continue to form the subject of regular updates to the Portfolio Holder and at All Member Briefing sessions.

Cabinet was aware that engagement in these areas was supplemented by the work of the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee which provided overview and scrutiny of these sectors as part of its work programme.

The Health and Education Portfolio Holder (Councillor McWilliams) made the following statement to Cabinet:-

“Looking at this report and going back in my thoughts as to how it was with all the partnership areas referred to in the report and when there was little or no interest to work with, or alongside, the local council it is now really great to see how everything has turned around and greatly improved through working together with our external partners. This update now makes me realise how much there is working out there for our community and how much better it is for our residents because we now share information and communicate with each other on a regular basis.

I just would like to mention a couple of recent events, one being the invitation we received to attend a health conference around the Sustainable Transformation Partnership (STP), when we were supporting the Health and Well-being Hub at one of our Primary Schools; the Executive Head gave a presentation on the work that had been carried out over the last year for her students; we have supported the school with its work. It was interesting to note that we were the only Council present at the conference and I was the only Councillor. We have all pulled together on this one and the report received the highest percentage on the day for the STP to take forward. A really good effort by the school and our officers.

Another recent event started with conversations we had with Anglia Ruskin University around helping our young people. We were nicely surprised when Anglia Ruskin came back to us with an offer of £1.5million to set up a scheme with IntoUniversity to last for five years in the District. There was a heavy officer involvement to get up the scheme up and running. We were given to understand at the launch that of all the ventures that IntoUniversity had started none had actually closed down. The official launch was held in April; during its run up to the launch it has already proved to be very successful with the focus around primary and secondary schools to help youngsters to establish what their ambitions are.

We have certainly moved on a pace in so many areas and it is really great the amount of work that is going on now and how proud we should be as a District with what is being done to help our community and to be achieving so much more through our working relationships with our partners.

There have been many, many officers and many partners all working together in all these various areas and I am so very grateful to them all for their hard work and dedication in making this area so successful.”

In response to concerns raised by the Leader of the Labour Group (Councillor I J Henderson), the Leader of the Council (Councillor Stock) requested Officers to investigate the apparent intention of Essex County Council to charge community groups and charities (such as Teen Talk) to use rooms and other facilities at public libraries.

Having considered the information provided in the report:-

It was moved by Councillor McWilliams, seconded by Councillor G V Guglielmi and:-

RESOLVED that

a)     Cabinet endorses the listed projects as those which will continue to be delivered in 2018 in support of the Corporate Plan priorities; and

b)        the currently identified projects be monitored through the Council’s Performance Plan together with future projects agreed with the Health and Education Portfolio Holder.