Issue - meetings

A report is attached on the Performance Reward Programme. There will be a short presentation from a representative from Regenerate.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson addressed the Panel. She said that she thought that one weakness of Re:Generate was the amount it depends on personal activity for its success. She added that she had met of range of staff over the years with each one apparently re-inventing the wheel and not passing on any information to their successors.

She stated that she felt that £106,000 was an awful lot of money to achieve a community feel good factor and that Radstock in Bloom could tick all the boxes in the report for £16,000. She added that currently on a budget of around £12,000 donated by Radstock Town Council, Radstock Traders, Radco, individuals and voluntary bodies we achieve a far higher level of community involvement.

She said that in earlier reports the Council had been told about ‘300 pledges’ made on the doorsteps of Radstock, but she was unaware that any had come to fruition. She added that a lot of promises have been made that simply could not have been delivered.

She concluded by strongly urging that the contract for Re:Generate be terminated immediately in relation to Radstock.

Councillor Charles Gerrish referred the Panel to section 5.4 of the report which mentioned Keynsham South but not Keynsham North although he was sure work had taken place in the area. He added that feedback on projects had reduced quite considerably recently.

The Group Manager, Partnership Delivery replied that work had indeed taken place in Keynsham North and apologised for the omission.

It was noted that Andy Thomas – Group Manager Partnership Delivery would contact Councillor Gerrish with information regarding feedback on the Re:generate work done in Keynsham.

The Chairman invited Nick and Rob from Re:Generate to give their presentation to the Panel. A copy of the presentation can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book and is also available online as an attachment to these minutes. A brief summary is set out below.

Re:Generate began in 2008 working in Whiteway. We developed the following two projects.

Changes - A community group leads children and young people's activities in an area where YP and families were disengaged from Council services.

Doorstep - A social enterprise that addresses fly-tipping and works with Council partners.

Big Local, Radstock - Shared headline needs from listenings to be mapped onto their findings to inform spending. Supported on Steering Group, now the Partnership.

Foxhill - Helped set up facebook page and website for community engagement and information sharing. Plans are also underway to hold a Sports Day for young people on 30^th August.

They aim to empower, inform and influence people and organisations and provide a lasting legacy.

Councillor Roger Symonds commented that he felt there was a need for staff within Re:Generate to stay in post for a longer time to complete proposed projects. He added that Curo had done a lot work locally in Combe Down and didn’t necessarily feel the Council were getting value  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21