Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Sweeney

To receive Declarations of Interest, from Members, on items contained within the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest stated.

Members received a presentation from the Council’s Partnerships Manager explaining the purpose and scope of Locality Action Partnership Schemes.  A copy of the slides would be forwarded to Members for information.

Members agreed that the aim of this Panel should be to ensure that:

·       the support offered by the Borough Council assists the Council to meet its’ objectives of becoming a Co-operative Council;

·       the level of support contributed by the Borough Council in terms of Officer and Member time is appropriate;

·       the support contributed by the Borough Council in terms of Officer and Member time is cost effective;

·       the support could be delivered in an alternative way to achieve the same results.

In addition to the above, the Panel needed to consider the added benefits that LAPs give.  It was agreed that it would also be useful to establish the views of Newcastle Partnership partners regarding the arrangements for the LAPs

A discussion took place and Members agreed that the following would be useful information to receive at the next meeting:

1.     An estimate of Council expenditure to support the LAPs.

2.     A report of what services VAST  provides for the £12,000 grant contribution they receive from the Borough Council

Members were advised that an update report from each of the LAPs would be prepared and presented to the Cabinet in the New Year. After this date, this Cabinet Panel can begin looking at the activities of the LAPS and identify any gaps in the process.  In addition the Panel could find out what the LAPS do; what support is given to the Chairs; what could be learned from the LAPS; how to get the residents better involved and which LAPS share good practice.

The Partnerships Manager stated that it could be useful to look at how this fits into the Newcastle Commissioning Partnership and also to get the Partnership Commissioning Delivery Group involved.

The Chair summed up and stated that the following actions were required for the next meeting:

a.     An estimate of Council expenditure to support LAPs

b.     An update on the LAP progress for 2015 to compare and contrast against the previous report produced for 2014 LAP activity, to include examples of the ‘softer’ outcomes and added value delivered.

c.     An update of what services VAST provide for the grant contribution received from the Borough Council.

d.     Feedback following research with other stakeholders regarding views of LAPs.

Resolved:              That the information be received and the comments noted 

The Member Training and Development Officer and The Partnerships Manager would liaise with the Chair regarding possible dates for the next meeting to be held in mid-February, 2016.