The Cabinet member for Community Services and Culture is invited to present his priorities and areas over the coming months and to answer questions from the Committee on progress towards achieving the priorities within his portfolio.
Minutes:
The Chairman invited Mr Briscoe, Cabinet Member for Community Services and Culture to address the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Mr Briscoe informed the Committee of the work undertaken by teams within his portfolio during the Covid 19 pandemic and how they have adjusted to the challenges faced over the last year.
Communities Team
· Tackling crime and disorder and low level anti- social behaviour. To do this the team are supported by;
o the Community Safety Partnership a statutory partnership (chaired by Mr Briscoe) which focuses on Domestic Abuse, Acquisitive Crime and Road Safety;
o the Community Wardens;
o CCTV cameras.
· Working with the voluntary sector to help them access both services and grants, and ensure residents can access the support necessary to help them achieve fulfilling and productive lives.
· Choose-work service targets the long term unemployed who require additional support to either get back into the workplace or be ready for the next leg of their employment journey.
· Grants and Concessions Panel; administering the discretionary grants programme and New Homes Bonus scheme, as well as S106 contributions for community buildings and public art.
· Leading on safeguarding; delivering regular training to staff and Members, facilitating the internal safeguarding working group and supporting the county wide safeguarding agenda.
· Raising the awareness of issues around exploitation and modern slavery. They are also a lead partner in the Arun and Chichester Serious Organised crime group which is focussed on Organised Immigration Crime, Extremism and drug related harm.
· Supporting Sussex Police in responding to unauthorised encampments, making immediate contact with the Gypsy Travellers to identify any welfare issues and establish the probable length of stay. They also set some ground rules around behaviours and littering, to help mitigate the impact of encampments on the wider community
Wellbeing Team
Mr Briscoe explained that 2021/22 was the final year of the current 3-year contract with WSCC Public Health (PH); however, discussions were currently in place regarding a new contract.
He explained that the team was currently providing a telephone-based service, with a new 15 min telephone wellbeing check in, to encourage people to engage with the service.
The team provide the support the following services;
· Weight management programmes
· Pre-diabetes information and advice
· Smoking cessation service and free nicotine replacement therapy
· Support to reduce alcohol consumption
· Support for CDC staff and workplaces to stay healthy and well during this
· Falls prevention service
· Home Energy service,
· Family Wellbeing, working with families to help the children maintain a healthy weight through healthy cooking and increased exercise
· The NHS health checks programme and Heart Smart Walks have currently been suspended, but will resume once lockdown restrictions
Support during Pandemic
Mr Briscoe informed the Committee that a small response team had been established during the first lockdown. Team members had been appointed specific roles including;
· taking the referrals directly from the WSCC Community Hub
· collecting and delivering essential food to those residents in the district shielding
· collating offers of voluntary support
In addition the response team had taken it in turn to be on call at weekends throughout the first lockdown, the model worked very effectively and delivered support to well over 100 residents.
The Covid Recovery grants were established to help voluntary groups and local business that were economically impacted by Covid 19. Applications were open from August 2020 until late January 2021.
Mr Briscoe informed the Committee that the team were also working in partnership with Arun District Council and local voluntary food providers via a newly formed Food Partnership looking to tackle food poverty.
Sport and Culture
Mr Briscoe informed the Committee that the Covid Pandemic had forced many of the Culture and Sport services to close, which has impacted on sports pitches; land hire and events; leisure centres; the museum and wider cultural partners. However, even though services were impacted, staff continued to work hard behind the scenes to support the local community and the work of the council.
The Novium Museum
· Before the pandemic the Museum was on target to exceed the annual visitor number target of 55,000, the highest number to date. During February 2020 with The Mystery Warrior Exhibition, there were 6,481 visitors which is an increase in attendance of 116% for February 2019 and a 73% increase on February 2018 figures.
· Museum staff were redeployed during the pandemic to support other council services including; Public Relations, Revenues and Benefits and Economic Development, some staff also assisted Stonepillow with the preparation and delivery of food for the homeless during the first lockdown.
· There have been six successful grant applications totalling a sum of nearly £40,000. The funding will be used by creating new online services and physical measures to protect staff and museum visitors.
· Staff continued to share Chichester’s history during lockdowns, as well as expanding and updating the Virtual Museum content, and allowing museum resources and exhibitions to be accessed online. Highlights from the museum collection have also been posted on social media every Saturday since the start of the pandemic as part of ‘Spotlight Saturdays’ and monthly ‘Changing Times Articles’ which have been produced for Chichester Observer.
· Three new field trip films have been created and launched as part of the learning programme, including a competition that generated 179 nominations from schools from as far as Kent, Swindon and Coventry.
· A new exhibition funded by the South East Museum Development Fund, curated by our museum staff marked the 30th anniversary of the closure of the cattle market. A city trail looking at markets and reminiscence activities is also being developed as part of the grant.
· Funding has been received from the South Downs National for a project looking at sustainable farming in the South Downs. We have recently finished filming with local farmers and organisations for a short documentary and are in the process of developing a small exhibition to display at the museum.
· The team have delivered their lecture series with five online lectures. A total of 327 tickets were sold
· There have been a number of successful partnership projects over the last year including; the Friends of the South Downs and Chichester Community Development Trust.
· A series of short films were released on social media during February half term these tied with the Dark Skies festival.
· Father Christmas visits were able to go ahead with sold out events spread across 2 Saturdays.
· A successful stage 1 grant application was made to The Pilgrim Trust for a project to remove remaining corrosion on the sword from Mystery Warrior burial; work has now commenced on the stage 2 applications for funding.
· A further grant application has been made to ICON Collections Care Stimulus Grant to conserve the museum’s 18th century wallpaper samples
· Major conservation work is being carried out on the museum’s Roman lead coffin.
· The Novium has provided content for the ART UK Project to Catalogue Sculptures within museums across the country.
Even with reduced numbers of visitors the average transaction value has increased, and with donations this year to date the museum has generated £4000 through in person donations and nearly £2,700 through online donations (based on 6,835 visitors). Following feedback from some Councillors an additional donate button has been included on the website.
Leisure Centre
Mr Briscoe informed the Committee that the Council had continued to support to Everyone Active over the past year to ensure there provision of sport and leisure activities at the three Council leisure centres.
· A successful application was made to Sport England for £210k from the National Leisure Recovery Fund.
· Everyone Active developed EVERYONE ON DEMAND, which provided an at-home solution to maintaining activity and fitness levels throughout the pandemic and during lockdown periods.
· All sites were re-opened a number of times throughout the year with Covid secure measures in place. To date there have been no reports of Covid-19 transmissions within any of the three leisure centres.
· The online app and website have been adapted to enable all customers to book all activities online.
· The leisure centres supported key services including; Nursery provision at Westgate, access and facilities for education at Bourne and a revised Library Service at The Grange, Midhurst.
· There is a Covid mobile testing unit in the Midhurst Car Park and Westgate Leisure Centre is currently being used as a mass vaccination site for the NHS.
Sports and Events
Staff have advised many sports clubs and organisation on grant funding opportunities and continued to share government guidance on requirements for operating under covid restrictions.
· The team have processed 11 successful grant applications totalling almost £47k for local sport and leisure organisations. As well as awarding S106 funds to four community projects.
Due to national and local restrictions there has been reduced activity on the Council’s sports pitches, and many planned events were also cancelled. However, bookings are now been taken for pitches and staff are working with event organisers on rebooking and considering what measures will need to be in place in the coming months and year to deliver safe, compliant and successful events.
Season of Culture 2022
The summer of 2022 marks major anniversaries for a number of Chichester's key cultural organisations including:
· Chichester Festival Theatre (60th);
· Pallant House Gallery (40th);
· Chichester International Film Festival (30th)
· The Novium Museum (10th),
· Festival of Chichester (10th).
£5000 of funding has been allocated from the Vision Budget, Chichester Festival Theatre and Pallant House Gallery to appoint a Freelance Project Manager to help shape and drive the season forward. .
Chichester Festival Theatre and Pallant House Gallery
Support was given to both CFT and PHG during lockdown. Both undertook much community work during the last year and we worked closely with CFT on the planning and delivery of the outdoor Cinema in partnership with New Park Road Cinema and The Outdoor Theatre in Oaklands Park.
Visit Chichester
Mr Briscoe informed the Committee that Visit Chichester’s request for additional financial support from the Council was agreed, staff are working closely to agree targets for next years’ Service Level Agreement.
Visit Chichester successfully launched the new brand ‘The Great Sussex Way’ and new website. The Council is working closely to help promote their free membership scheme to encourage future partnership working within the industry.
Mr Briscoe, supported by Mrs Bushby, Mrs Thomas and Mrs Peyman responded to members’ comments and questions as follows;
· The NHS will be the lead agency in the management of long Covid and its effects. However, it is likely that referrals to both the Social Prescribing and Wellbeing teams will start to include people suffering from Long Covid, and in these instances the teams will work closely with NHS partners to ensure the best service provision. In addition, Mrs Bushby informed the Committee that a new health partnership had been established – the Local Community Health Network, the partnership was in the process of agreeing priorities.
· The telephone service provided by the Wellbeing team supports the NHS; the team are able signpost referrals to aid in recovery. The team also help relieve pressures on the NHS by supporting those who are suffering from less severe mental health issues and preventing them from worsening.
· On the matter of dangerous on street parking in the Witterings, Mr Briscoe acknowledged the Committee’s concerns. He informed the Committee that he had spoken to the Chief Inspector and extra officers had been made available to patrol the area when resourcing allowed. Unfortunately, there are other pressures on the Police which prevent them from being able to patrol the popular coastal locations within the District as often as some may like. Support has been provided and will continue to be by the Community Wardens and Parking Enforcement Officers. In addition, Mrs Bushby agreed that she would raise the issue of on street parking at the next partnership meeting.
· Mr Briscoe confirmed that Chichester District Council were responsible for the removal of litter and issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices. In addition he informed the Committee that he had been liaising with Mr Carter, CCS, Divisional Manager who is currently in the process of establishing a partnership group to tackle the issue of Flytipping within the district.
· On the matter of accessing GP services during the pandemic, Mrs Bushby informed the Committee that she was unaware of any specific issues. In addition, Healthwatch have not been made aware of any specific issues, nor have they raised it as a priority at the Local Community Health Network.
· Mrs Bushby confirmed that the funding for Choose Work had been extended until 2023. In addition, a successful funding application had been secured enabling a youth hub to be established which would support 16-25 year olds into employment.
· Mr Briscoe informed the Committee that the cost of Flytipping to the authority was currently in the region of £200,000 - £300,000 per annum.
The Chairman thanked Mr Briscoe and commended officers on all their work, especially during the Covid 19 Pandemic.