Venue: ONLINE via MS TEAMS
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Welcome and Apologies (Chair) Minutes: Joe welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologies were noted as above. |
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Approval of last minutes and review of actions (Rona Gold) PDF 306 KB Minutes from December 2022 meeting are attached to the notification of agenda pack email. Minutes: The December minutes
were approved as an accurate recording of the previous meeting. No amendments
or comments were received. Cllr Currie queried the lack of public attendance at
these meetings, in particular of Area Community Planning Group (ACPG) Chairs.
Rona stated that pre agenda meeting are held which chairs of ACPGs are invited
to and do attend. It was noted to look at and support attendance. From the action log,
the majority of outstanding or in progress actions were marked as complete and
Rona gave thanks to the partners for their work on these. Some points to note
were: -
Although marked as
complete, partners are still welcome to forward guidance on successes they have
had with producing graphic plans that meet accessibility needs; such as Plan on
a Page. -
Partners are assumed
to have signposted to relevant information on Warm Spaces but if any more
guidance is needed on this please contact cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk. -
Iain MacInnes advised regarding the mast resilience for Carradale within the Digital section of these minutes. -
Shona confirmed that
Ian Brodie has been advised that out of 56 possible community councils in the
area, 54 have now been formed. |
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Matters arising from Area Community Planning Groups (Shona Barton) PDF 368 KB Minutes: Meetings were held
across all four areas in February. The function is now in place to facilitate hybrid meetings and this was used for the
Helensburgh & Lomond (HL) and Mid ߣsirƵ, Kintyre and the Islands (MAKI) groups with
positive feedback. All meetings considered
an annual review of the terms of reference and membership. Appointments
included Councillor John Armour re-appointed as Vice Chair in MAKI, Reeni Kennedy-Boyle appointed Vice Chair in Bute and Cowal (BC) and Kevin Champion was re-appointed Chair for Oban, Lorn and
the Isles (OLI) until he leaves the area in August 2023. Each group was given a well-received presentation on Home Energy
Efficiency by Jackie Westerman, Home Energy Efficiency Project Officer for ߣsirƵ
and Bute Council, which highlighted the help available to households. The
report details the wide variety of great partnership working in action
considered across the Area
Community Planning Groups including the
support offered by partners at the MAKI ACPG to the Lochside
Champions. The report raised a
request by MAKI ACPG for the Management Committee (CPP MC) to discuss / take
action regarding Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS) proposals to introduce car
parking charges at a number of sites across the area. The proposals by FLS to
introduce car parking charges in an ߣsirƵ and Bute wide proposal, has been brought to the MAKI and OLI ACPGs for
discussion and both had concerns regarding lack of engagement on the proposals
and the negative effect car park charges may have on tourism and visitor
numbers. This was fed
back to the FLS representative at the
meetings. It was agreed for the community planning team to circulate the FLS
report to CPP MC members and for comments and feedback to be developed into a
response by the chair to FLS on behalf of the CPP. Ryan requested for
any communication with the FLS to highlight a lack of engagement with youth
people in the area. Robin added that car parking is a serious matter to our
communities and therefore important for the community planning partners to
address their concerns ACTION - Community Planning team to receive a copy
of the paper sent to Area Community Planning Groups. Paper to be circulated to Management
Committee members with an invitation to comment on paper (including request to
improve youth engagement). Chair to
prepare a response on behalf of the Management Committee which will be
forwarded to Forestry and Land Scotland. |
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Cross Cutting Themes |
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Climate Change (Stan Phillips) PDF 141 KB Minutes: Stan submitted a
paper for noting by members. Pippa wanted to record her thanks to Stan for all
of his work on this and pulling partners together. She also
wanted to note that the long term funding is not yet in place and it is
important to note this is a key piece of work for partners. Pippa added that
the council has achieved bronze carbon literacy status, with 65% of elected
members now trained by ACT on this and recommended the training to other
partners. Joe said it was great news to see that a Climate Officer post will be
advertised in the next few months. |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: Mandy noted that her
report to the meeting contained a summary of the framework on what is needed to
achieve implementation of the UNCRC and an action plan. She highlighted the
importance of needing to move away from the idea that this is just an issue for
child-facing departments and organisations, and requires a whole council approach. The key things to
look at in the
coming months are: - child-friendly
complaint procedures (asked
by the ombudsman to join a pilot), - data and evidence
on children’s rights and poverty, - staff training - work ongoing on
Quality Impact Assessments, - action plan Mandy noted some
confusion around the naming conventions of the reporting i.e. the reports
issued now will be badged as 2020 - 2023, although it covers future recommendations
to be taken forward from 2023. Mandy pointed
partners to the following key documents: -
UNCRC program update which
covers the reporting process in detail. -
Understanding child
poverty as a child rights issue. This also contains a link to UNCRC general
comment about public budgeting for the realisation of children’s rights and Mandy
can circulate a summary of what we are already doing as we are covering many of
those actions. Pippa and Robin noted
that the papers contained complex information on work that sits alongside many
other council duties i.e. island impacts, environment and social. Mandy
responded that it is her plan to hold an event once the action plan has been
firmed up, to communicate to stakeholders that the
implementation journey will need to build new skills and approaches and best
practice may take time to develop. Kirsty noted how successful the simplified
one page Child Poverty Action Plan had been given the positive feedback from
community organisations when this was circulated and although the UNCRC data is
complex, it may be possible to create the information in a similar simple,
relatable document. Fiona noted that this
new way of thinking about children’s rights needs
cultural and practical changes to how we work, who we speak to and why and how
that young voice will contribute to the way we do our business. The process of review of the Child Poverty Action Plan will begin shortly and is the first to include a target year of monitored work. Fiona is optimistic that having come close to meeting current targets, the plan will help to achieve a reduction in child poverty in ߣsirƵ and Bute. She also updated that £197,000 has been awarded from the Scottish Government for Island Support, 1,300 Love Local cards have been issued to those in receipt of council tax reduction, £5,000 has been awarded to island food banks and top up payments have been paid for school meals on islands. |
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Financial Inclusion (Fergus Walker) PDF 476 KB Minutes: Fergus provided a
paper for noting. Highlights include the range of different work around
financial inclusion, update on crisis grants, concessionary housing payment,
flexible fuel and food fund and the Love Local cards. Partners are asked to
note the section on “horizon scanning” and the potential work with the Rural
Alliance on rural poverty. Fergus can be contacted at fergus.walker@argyll-bute.gov.uk for more information. |
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Minutes: Takki advised that work is
being taken forward on a CWB audit, and following consultation the brief has
been split into separate lots. The tender is currently live and can be accessed
. The separate lots are: -
how we look at land and assets to
how we currently procure, -
identification of
relevant replicable case studies, -
development of strategy
and action, -
can business cases
and models be developed for us? There is also lots of
existing activity that needs to be mapped to prevent duplication. Takki proposed that a Learning
Action Group convenes to review tenders at the end of April and then
selects a preferred bidder by the end of May, with a report back to the December
CPP MC to consider the outcomes and agree how to proceed. Takki shared that CLD
funding has allowed a collection of groups in Oban to explore opportunities
that take advantage of CWB as a methodology and that the definition of anchor
institutions has been broadened to include the third sector. Takki asked for a steer from the CPP MC to give
consideration to the model that the working group should follow and if an
expert reference group should be set up and who should be on that. Pippa said this work
is valuable for ߣsirƵ and Bute and would like clarity on any group terms of
reference and reporting lines. She offered to meet with Takki
off-table to work on that. Joe, Anthony and Morag expressed interest in also
being part of that work. ACTION - Other partners who are interested in
joining the discussion on CWB group terms of reference and reporting lines to
advise cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk Takki concluded by advising that the TSI and Inspiralba are commissioning Social Value Lab to produce an ߣsirƵ and Bute drill down into the Social Enterprise census data from 2021 which will help an understanding of the SE sector to support the CWB journey. That report will likely be ready for June 2023. |
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Digital Communities (Iain MacInnes and LiveߣsirƵ) Minutes: Iain reported on the
significant work that has already happened on the R100 programme in the Oban area and shared the maps of completed premises that now have
access to full fibre across ߣsirƵ and Bute. Digital Scotland shows where fibre is available or when it is expected. Iain said there may now be residents in
areas that can access full fibre but they are not aware it has been installed. Rona said that the
CLD partnership are keen to help promote the availability of fibre
coverage. Areas not covered by
the R100 roll out can utilise the Scottish Government £5,000 voucher scheme to achieve fibre connectivity.
Iain is also engaging with industry to scope projects to provide fixed line
fibre to these locations. More information on this can be provided by Openreach when they attend the June CPP MC. ACTION - Rona and
Iain to meet to discuss the wider communication of the for residents to explore if / when full fibre is available and information Regarding the
resilience of the Carradale mobile masts, Iain
advised that the network coverage by EE is very good in that area whereas other
networks have poor signal. Iain confirmed that each ESN mast has power outage
resilience via wind, solar or generator power as they must be active at all times. Iain is happy to
provide information to partners on any signal / resilience levels in any other
areas. The contract has just
been signed to provide IT equipment to the island hubs (Islay, Coll, Jura and Tiree) and the
equipment is due to be installed in late April 2023. The average spend on
equipment per site is £20,000. Funding has been applied to extend this work
further into 2023/24. Alex Edmonstone is covering some work previously carried out by Nicola Hackett. He advised that the CLD
Partnership will reconvene next month and that the digital sub-group has been
working with Takki on digital mapping to review
existing activity and identify the support need to deliver essential skills to
communities. An external consultant has been appointed and they will review
that mapping, with an action plan to be put in place to support their recommendations. ACTION - Alex to provide a paper and update to June CPP MC meeting on the digital working group and on how communities can be supported to access digital in order to undertake Community Learning. |
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Building Back Better (Kirsty Moyes and Takki Sulaiman) PDF 247 KB - Community Engagement (Kirsty Moyes) - Volunteering (Takki Sulaiman) Minutes: Community Engagement Kirsty advised that
the Community Development Team has provided support to the non-digital and hard
to reach groups to
support participation in the ABOIP
consultation and she will detail this in the presentation. A further update
will be provided around progress on wider Building Back Better matters to the
June CPP MC. Volunteering Takki provided a and gave an overview of the key points: -
106 responses to the
survey covering 40 organisations and individual volunteers. -
qualitative and quantitative
findings aligned to national research by SCVO on the cost of living crisis and its
impact on volunteering, -
many organisations are struggling to recruit to volunteering roles -
further conversations
needed by TSI on how to provide support to volunteers -
volunteers and
organisations are interested in incentive schemes (discount cards etc). -
results suggest that
the cost of living crisis has not directly impacted volunteer
behaviour but it has directly impacted volunteer families, -
the response
regarding having
a single volunteer system to on-board
volunteers was inconclusive. Takki and Alex will
continue to look at that. Takki acknowledged the
small sample size but the results were great conversation starters. The next
volunteer conference is scheduled for later this year and there may be a
different survey issued around that time. Takki said the proposed
volunteering framework brought to the CPP MC in 2020 needs to be updated. The Scottish Government action plan from 2022 puts the onus on TSI to
lead on this and produce a local strategy and action plan which Takki is keen to take forward. A great volunteering
event took place in Hermitage Academy, Helensburgh,
where Community Councils and 60 groups got together and matched those organisations with a surplus of volunteers to those
with shortages. This was a family friendly event that was well received and Takki noted that this model may be replicated in the
future. Rona thanked Takki for running the volunteer conference and asked Takki if there was any support the partners can provide to
future surveys. She noted that during the pandemic response, volunteers of the
community response groups were offered access to the Council Employee
Counselling service and noted that although the take up rate was not high, the
offer and peer to peer download opportunities were appreciated by volunteers.
Rona was happy to work with the TSI to support peer to peer opportunities. Takki replied that any
partner involvement to provide support to volunteers is valuable. |
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ABOIP Consultation Results and Next Steps (Rona Gold, John McLuckie and Kirsty Moyes) Minutes: Rona presented information on the survey methodology and participation
rates, highlighting that over 1,900 responses had been
received, over 1,000 paper copies of the survey were issued, with
230 posters
and 500 fliers placed across ߣsirƵ and Bute to advertise the survey. The survey was also
promoted via ebulletins, the CE podcast, twitter and Facebook. The team
monitored the incoming survey results and then targeted promotion to increase
participation across geographical areas and protected characteristics. Kirsty presented highlights on the support by the Community Development
team to engage potential non-digital and hard to reach groups to participate in the survey. Paper survey forms were widely distributed and interactive sessions
were provided to support the completion of the forms, adapting to the audience
with easy to read resources, different voting methods including QR codes and
bucket voting. Central collection points and prepaid envelopes were also
provided to ensure no costs were associated with the return of completed paper
surveys. Over 40 community groups were supported to participate covering approximately 520
individuals and a video showcasing the engagement was played to the attendees. Lucy presented the work undertaken to engage young people, noting that it
was important to hear from youth voices in the survey. Promotion included church
groups, young carers, development trust, youth cafes, schools, scouts and
guides. A further 18 youth organisations were contacted directly
and there was also work with the LiveߣsirƵ Youth
Work team and CLD Partnership. Feedback received after targeted promotion was
that young people were not engaged by the online survey, so an adapted single
page survey was created in a more youth friendly format and language. Live
ߣsirƵ supported Dunoon Grammar School engagement with the survey and over 100 students responded to the survey through
this. Lucy pointed out how worthwhile this engagement with young people in the
survey process had been as the priorities you might assume for this age group
were not reflected in the results. John highlighted the responses by categories
including administrative area, age and sex. The overall
top 3 priorities for ߣsirƵ and Bute are Transport Infrastructure, Housing and
Community Wellbeing. A fourth priority theme of Financial Inclusion was also identified. It was noted that the survey would be closing on 31 March. Rona advised the next step will be for partners to analyse the survey results in more depth
at a development day. Joe
thanked everyone involved in the survey for their work to monitor, react to and
review these results as they came in. He was pleased to see the focus on
protected characteristics and the support to involve all groups. Joe felt this
was a great example of best practice that should be shared with other Community
Planning Partnerships. He also thanked partners for their support with the
survey. Pippa
echoed the thanks to the team for the fantastic job with the survey. The
priorities found are representative across other groups and there is existing
evidence for evident themes like housing. She said it would be interesting to
deep dive into the themes and suggested the definition of wellbeing could
include financial inclusion. Pippa was keen that although climate change had
not emerged as a priority that we still recognise the good work being done on
that. She stressed the importance of the data from this survey and how it can
be used in a much wider context than the ABOIP. Morag
thought this was a really interesting piece of work and was keen to share and
cross reference the data with existing intelligence gather by HIE last year -
some of the data was similar but the substantial participation size for the
ABOIP survey may better inform their activities. Morag was also looking forward
to the development day and seeing how this work develops over the next year. Takki agreed it was a phenomenal piece of work and looked
forward to using the data produced to advise his own organisational plans. He
asked for the timescale for production of the final ABOIP and if there would be
any further consultation. Rona advised that John is currently preparing a key
and handbook for the anonymised data, and other steps include: -
sending
thanks to all participants with an outline of next steps, -
holding
CPP development day (May / June dependent on diaries), -
deep
dive with online / offline groups over summer / autumn, -
definitions
of housing, community wellbeing and transport are agreed, -
identify
what needs to be improved, -
long
term actions agreed, -
re-consult
with stakeholders to ensure our understanding of the priorities and the actions
proposed to address these matches those of our communities, -
draft
report published (with consultation at this point required under legislation), -
plan
published. Rona advised that ‘you said, we did’ analysis will be conducted as per best practice and welcomed partners to share their thoughts at the development day on how best to ensure ongoing conversations with participants before a 10 year plan is set. |
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AOCB |
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Response to Survey on Parliamentary Consultation on Community Planning (Chair) PDF 40 KB Minutes: Joe asked partners to
note the response submitted on 13 January 2023 on
behalf of the CPP MC for this survey. |
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Response to Scottish Government Community Wealth Building Consultation - Comments by 6 April 2023 (John McLuckie) Minutes: John noted that
partners have been emailed this week requesting comments on this consultation
by 6 April 2023. The Community Planning team will then form a response on
behalf of the CPP MC. Joe asked all partners to make the effort to provide a response
by the required date for inclusion. Action - CWB consultation responses, and queries,
to be forwarded to lucy.dunbar@argyll-bute.gov.uk by 6 April 2023. |
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ߣsirƵ and Bute's Children Strategic Group (Rona Gold) Minutes: Rona advised that
this group sits under the existing Outcome 4 in the current governance of the
ABOIP. The group are currently reviewing their priorities and are interested in
synergies with the resulting priorities of the CPP MC and how we can work on
that moving forward. The group will update on their progress to the June CPP MC
with recommendations on the role of CPP MC around governance of the group. This
may also be the case for other groups linked to the current ABOIP such as the
Community Safety Partnership (under Outcome 6). Takki said the data from
the ABOIP consultation on young people may be of use to the CSG and it is
important to work together with them where we can. He also noted the CSG has
many feeder groups including the Corporate Parenting Board, the TSI and other
staffing groups. Pippa agreed that
once the ABOIP findings’ deep dives, there will be a need to look at the
governance of all the structures and the main partnership. As priorities are
shifting those groups may need to be updated, may no longer needed or may sit within a different governance sphere and it
will be useful to map that out, like with CWB, to get to the point where we have a one
page governance structure.. Fiona, the current
CSG Chair, supported the comments by Takki and Pippa
adding that some associated groups have come about as a direct response to
pieces of work or government directives, and it is important to get to a point
where all the groups align with the new ABOIP priorities for the next 10 years
with simplified and streamlined processes. |
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Date of Next Meeting and Close (Chair) Date of the next meeting is Thursday 22nd June 2023 at 1000. Minutes: Joe thanked everyone for attending and their contributions. He also
reiterated the thanks to the Community Planning and Development team on the
work on the ABOIP survey. The date of the next meeting is Thursday 22 June 2023 at 1000. |