A new focus on neighbourhoods, communities and, equalities

A year ago we set out as a new administration with a clear vision on bringing the council closer to communities…to shift our role from purely one of delivering to residents towards a role where we deliver *with* residents.

The cuts forced down from government are part of the driver, with a third of the funding we have as a council gone by 2019 we can no longer solve things by ourselves.

Even if we didn’t have cuts to contend with, evidence shows that public services needed to have a fundamental re-tuning. Too much has been lead by experts and professionals and too little by communities and individuals who also have a different kind of expertise and knowledge about how to make life better for themselves and their neighbours. To do this properly, we are going to have to let go of some budgets and decisions for areas to decide upon for themselves. Our aspiration is get to this point by 2019.

So far, we have set out a different way of working with the committee overseeing this agenda (which is cross party) by moving the committee around community venues in the city and inviting people affected by the decisions we are making to present to us before we make a decision. It’s important that people can easily access our decision making and participate .. whether formally through questions and petitions to committees or informally by meeting with me at my Voluntary Sector Surgeries (which I hold on a monthly basis and community groups can come and meet with me one to one).

Key achievements to date: 

• Launching The Fairness Commission – helping us make our city fairer for everyone which will report in late June and come to committee in July
• A road map to a more accessible and collaborative council online and in neighbourhoods – coming to committee in July. The principles are set out in this report
• Protecting funding for services in domestic and sexual abuse following a presentation on the new Portal (please share information on the Portal to everyone!) – the website is here http://theportal.org.uk/
• Launching the Power of Volunteering – taking action to increase volunteering in our city…because it is good for our city, good for people who do it – increasing health and economic benefits for individuals. Our voluntary sector also bring in over £90m of funding and hours to the city. For the first time the contribution of faith groups has been measured to.
• Work on supporting refugees through the vulnerable persons relocation scheme – we were the first council in the region to accept households and we did it through getting accommodation at local housing allowance levels which wouldn’t normally be for rent, thereby preventing anyone local in need being pushed down any queue.
• A new approach to Rough Sleeping – we have a new lead member for Rough Sleeping who pulled together a summit to produce a new strategy and action plan which have been out to consultation already and will soon be underway.
• Signed up to City Food Poverty Action Plan to tackle the impacts of increasing cost of living pressures on low income families