Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 To provide Executive members with an update on progress made on producing a Community Strategy for Bath and North East Somerset.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 The Executive requests officers to work with partners to develop revisions to the draft Community Strategy based on the feedback received following consultation, focussing on the key issues as set out in Paragraph 4.6 and any other issues identified by the Executive

2.2 That officers be requested to ensure all appropriate links are made in the Community Strategy to emerging planning frameworks, including the Corporate Plan and Town and Parish Plans, as set out in Paragraph 4.10

2.3 That the Panel endorse the process for adopting the Community Strategy set out in Paragraph 4.11, and that a revised draft be brought to the Executive at its meeting of 5^th November

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 A sum of £32,000 is available in the Financial Plan for 2003/4 to provide for the development and production of a Community Strategy for Bath and North East Somerset. Delivery of the Community Strategy over the longer term will depend on a wide range of partners and agencies aligning their financial planning with the aspirations contained in the final document.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 The Local Government Act 2000 places a duty on councils to produce Community Strategies for the promotion of well being in their areas and to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the UK. This links in with new powers for councils to promote social, economic and environmental well being. An effective community strategy should:

· Allow local communities to articulate needs and aspirations over the long-term

· Co-ordinate the actions of the Council and public and voluntary organisations to meet these needs, including the shaping of future activity; and

· Provide for monitoring and review

4.2 In Bath and North East Somerset a Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) was established in June 2002 to develop a strategy and promote partnership working. LSP partners, with the Council as a leading contributor, have worked to develop a draft Community Strategy. The detailed draft documentation was endorsed as a framework for consultation by the LSP on 24^th June and the Council Executive on 9^th July. As a reminder, the draft strategy is built around the following themes

Priority Themes:

BE There on Time: Transport

BE At Home: Housing

BE Better Off: Economy

BE Inspired: Learning and Skills

BE Green: Environment

BE Assured: Health and Social Care

Common Themes:

BE Safe: Building Safer communities

BE Inclusive: Working equitably and inclusively across communities

BE Sustainable: Delivering actions and priorities sustainably

BE Dynamic: Creating living communities through the land-use planning system

BE Creative: Making better use of our resources by working together

4.3 The draft has now been tested through an extensive consultation exercise which formally ended on 15th September, although - where appropriate - arrangements have been made (for example, with some Town and Parish Councils which have not met in this period) for views to be fed in after this date. This consultation has used the BE: Better for Everyone branding to promote the draft strategy, the LSP and the benefits to be gained by improving partnership working. The aim has been to improve the strategy and ensure it is sufficiently robust to reflect the diverse concerns, issues and communities in Bath & North East Somerset. For example, it is particularly important that the strategy reflects equalities issues and in particular the duty on public bodies under the 2000 Race Relations Amendment Act positively to promote race equality. The consultation comprised:

· Wide distribution of a pack of materials on the draft strategy to key stakeholders, including Town and Parish Councils. The pack has also been sent to all Bath & North East Somerset Councillors.

· A series of 9 Community Roadshows in the following locations: Bath - Guildhall / Snowhill / Twerton, Keynsham -Queen's Road and Ashton Way, Peasedown St John, Bishop Sutton, Pensford and Midsomer Norton.

· A dedicated website www.beintouch.org.uk detailing the full strategy and providing a questionnaire for feedback

· Use of the I-Plus on-street kiosks to allow for instant feedback

· Use of roadside hoardings, back of bus and inside of bus advertising to promote the strategy and invite comments

· Use of display literature and a summary leaflet in key council and partner buildings which are accessible to the public

· Wide circulation of postcards with a reply address to seek comments

· An advertisement and feedback form within Council News

· Editorial coverage in the local press - linked to Press "Theme Weeks" for the priority themes of the Strategy- alongside radio interviews and associated publicity

4.4 In addition, the Overview and Scrutiny Corporate Issues and Partnerships Panel discussed the Community Strategy at its meeting on 4th September, and resolved to:

4.5 Following this consultation phase, the results have been subject to initial analysis and a summary of the outcomes is attached as an Appendix to this report.

4.6 Generally, the consultation feedback has endorsed the key theme areas and will allow for the focus of the themes to be developed in more detail. In particular, there is substantial support for the emphasis on improving access to affordable housing, transport (tackling congestion and improving public transport) and the quality of the public realm (for example, improvements to roads and pavements, cleaner streets, reduction in neighbourhood nuisance and the fear of crime). At the roadshows, in particular, local residents stressed affordable housing and local traffic concerns. This feedback will be used to strengthen and provide focus for the document- for example, the Community Safety Partnership have provided a detailed response outlining their proposals to strengthen the aspirations across the theme areas. In addition, however, the feedback shows significant interest in providing greater overall emphasis in the strategy on:

· Protection and promotion of the built and natural environment and heritage of the area

· Supporting and developing the culture of the area, in its widest sense

· Focussing on key development projects, such as Western Riverside

· Ensuring that accessibility and inclusion are incorporated into all themes

· Strengthening references to the evening economy and its impacts

· Maintaining and enhancing access to local services and facilities, particularly in rural areas

4.7 It will be important to consider how best to build these issues into the strategy- for example, whether to create new theme areas, or refine and adapt existing themes. There is clearly potential for improving links between emerging issues and existing themes of the Community Strategy, sharpening the focus of the strategy. The aim throughout will be to ensure that the Community Strategy and LSP genuinely "add value", assisting with service improvement and partnership working and reflecting local concerns.

4.8 More generally, there has been strong interest in the consultation feedback in ensuring that the final strategy is clear and focussed, using plain language and showing linkages diagramatically where possible. In particular, it is acknowledged that there is a need for greater clarity of expression in the drafting of the theme area aspirations. The feedback received will help ensure that these are more focussed and defined. However, the LSP's Community Strategy Task Group - when it begins the detailed task of re-drafting the document- will need to strike a balance between ensuring comprehensive coverage of issues whilst maintaining emphasis on improvement priorities. It will also need to see the consultation feedback in the context of the outcomes of other consultations that have taken place on the community strategy including the Citizens' Panel and work with local forums, such as the Disability Equality Forum and the Community Development Forum. Similarly, the performance information contained in the draft will be re-focussed, updated and re-tabulated to make it more relevant and attractive to potential users of the document. Further work remains to be carried out on the layout, style and exact content of the finalised strategy. It is intended, for example, that the finalised documentation will seek to receive a Crystal Mark award for Plain English and can be made available in a range of formats.

4.9 This is Bath and North East Somerset's first community strategy. Officers and partners have been learning from other areas which are already preparing their second or even third strategy. All report that building a Community Strategy is a complex piece of work but that the potential benefits are significant. The aim, in essence, is to provide clarity and focus for local agencies and to reflect the concerns of local communities. If it is to be "fit for purpose", it must provide an overall planning framework that can allow groups to work together around shared goals, whilst ensuring that there is genuine impact on the ground.

4.10 For this reason, it is important that clear "signposts" are set out in the strategy to other planning frameworks and partnerships. These include documents such as the Children and Young People's Services Plan, the World Heritage Site Management Plan, and the Cultural Strategy, as well as links to the plans of partners and to Town and Parish Plans. As the Council is a major partner in the LSP, it will be expected that the Corporate Plan will also show clear linkages to the Community Strategy. The Government recently announced that councils will in future have discretion to incorporate a number of plans into Community Strategies, so long as the requirements of these plans are reflected in the content. It will be important to treat these proposals on their respective merits and- above all- to ensure that that the planning framework is driven by the service improvements to be gained by joint working. Other planned changes, such as the introduction of Local Development Frameworks, will mean that proposals for review of the Community Strategy will require careful consideration.

4.11 The process for adoption of the Community Strategy is currently as follows:

· Executive requests working up of revisions - October 1st

· LSP Task Group examines detailed drafting issues - October

· Executive considers revised draft of Community Strategy and recommendations to Council- 5th November

· LSP considers re-drafted Strategy- 11th November

· Corporate Issues and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Panel receives update report - 13th November

· Council determines Community Strategy- 20th November

4.12 The adoption of a robust Community Strategy and the development of an effective Local Strategic Partnership are central to modern local government and to the community leadership role of elected members. The Community Strategy must reflect an understanding of the aspirations for improvement of local communities. Bath & North East Somerset chairs the LSP and is the partner which provides the widest range of services, as well as having a broader remit to adopt a community leadership role and to work in partnership. Partnership working will become increasingly important to address a range of "structural" issues - such as affordable housing for "key workers" and skills shortages- which affect local well-being. A soundly-based Community Strategy will also provide a good basis for local partners to raise concerns and issues with central government and- increasingly- with Government Regional Offices.

APPENDIX: Summary of Feedback from Consultation on Draft Community Strategy

1. Introduction

By the 15^th September (the close of the consultation period), the Corporate Projects Team had received 136 responses from named individuals and organisations to the Be: Better for Everyone Campaign. From these responses, and from a number of individuals who gave feedback without leaving details through I-Plus points, the website and postcards, a total of 607 separate and substantive comments have been logged. These responses were of a very high quality, ranging from preferences on the themes to detailed comments on the wording of aspirations and indicators. Much of the feedback also makes a wide variety of general points about the priorities contained in the draft strategy. Each point made has either been recorded against the draft community strategy priorities or categorised as a general comment on the strategy itself.

The wide range and high quality of response is of great value to the Council and the Local Strategic Partnership, and thanks are due to all of those who responded. The draft Community Strategy contains a "Consultation Guarantee" which sets out a commitment to "offer feedback on the results of the consultation and on how these results have been used to inform decision-making, once the consultation is complete".

People and organisations who responded to the consultation will therefore be contacted to explain how their comments have been taken into account in shaping the final document and setting out the rationale for actions taken. This will contribute to accountability and transparency of decision-making.

Every attempt will be made to consider any responses received following the 15 September date.

2. Comments on Theme Areas

Whilst there is general support for the proposed theme areas contained in the draft, a number of proposals for additional areas have been put forward. These include "Be Modest", "Be Thrifty" and "Be Proud". Comments have also been made about the need for Culture, Heritage and the Natural Environment to be reflected in the priorities. A late response received by Action for Pensioners has requested a review of the targets contained in the draft strategy on behalf of older people.

Key issues raised in relation to the common themes are set out below

Key issues raised in relation to the priority themes are set out below

3. General comments

Whilst there have been positive comments about the impact and style of the "Be: Better for Everyone" campaign and publicity materials, more work needs to be done to clarify the document, make it relevant and concentrate on practical, feasible measures. Whilst there is general support for the idea of a community strategy, it is clear from the consultation that local residents and groups wish to see substantive progress on the issues that matter to their communities, and need to be convinced that the document will lead to improvement.