29 March 2019
Updates on the highlights from Communities Committee
Council Plan
Councillors approved the delivery plan for the Communities Committee actions in line with the Council Plan.
Issues raised were the difficulties in measuring some of the factors, such as hidden poverty. There was also debate about encouraging active lifestyles and councillors were assured that measures are in place to ensure that each measure can be reflected in ongoing reports to committee to give them assurances.
Future reports will come back to the committee, and the member will also have a future workshop.
Child Poverty Action Plan
The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 places a statutory duty on local authorities and health boards to submit an annual “Local Child Poverty Action Report”. The report considered today made clear what action has been taken in the previous 12 months and what action will be taken in the future to reduce child poverty.
The Aberdeenshire Action Plan has been developed based on the voice of those with lived experience, making it a true reflection of what we need to do in the best of interest of our young people. The plan was considered by members during the meeting, for discussion and debate.
A positive debate followed on fuel poverty and the knock-on impacts it can create, work to ensure that pockets of poverty in areas where the figures look positive can be tackled locally and directly, and the role of teachers and school nurses in supporting families. Area Committees will get details at a local level about actions being taken on the ground. Having an evidence-based plan was underlined as a real credit to the plan and linking up with housing colleagues. Officers were also commended for pilot projects on community planting and cooking lessons.
Next, the recommendations from the Committee will go forward to Full Council for formal agreement before it is submitted.
Tenant participation
Work has been taking place to revise models of how we engage with Council housing tenants, as members heard at Committee.
The Tenant Participation strategy is being revised and will result in new participation models and best practice being proposed to refresh the role our tenants play in the Housing service.
Work so far has led to the development of a number of key themes which will form part of the new strategy:
• Developing a clear link between tenants, Communities Committee and Council Officers to ensure an enhanced level of scrutiny of services.
• Ensuring a strong community focus, engaging with Community Councils, Community Planning Officers and others to ensure that tenants have a stronger voice in the delivery of local services
• Widening the remit around tenant participation to allow participation by all residents of the mixed tenure estate, where appropriate, in order to build community interest and sustainability
• Utilisation of technology in order to ensure that the Housing service can communicate and engage with a wider tenant and resident base
The timescale for developing a new strategy should be clarified by the middle of 2019 and will come back to committee for endorsement.
IJB charging paper
A new charging policy for non-residential care and support in 2019/20 has been agreed.
The Integration Joint Board decide the rates which should be applied on behalf of the Health and Social Care Partnership, and the decision is formally implemented by the Communities Committee. It is in line with the objective to make the charges cover the cost of delivering services. Aberdeenshire Council want to help people live at home independently, safely and for as long as possible.
Today, councillors agreed to the ongoing process of charging with inflationary increases, supporting any rise through communication with users and maximising annual billing and online processes to minimise administrative costs. The policy details a range of services from personal care, self-directed support, end of life care, and aids and adaptions.
Once the new policy is available online, it will be shared through a range of channels for awareness.
Chair of the Committee, Cllr Anne Stirling, said: “Today we had a great debate on a range of topics, showing how important our role is across all of our Communities. The topic of child poverty was particularly important and helped underline how our role in moving towards eradicating poverty in the lives of our young people. We want Aberdeenshire to be a world-leading place to grow up by breaking down barriers and being innovative.
“We also spent a lot of time on matters relating to our council housing estate and our tenants, and our focus on the Council housing stock remains as strong as ever. Our scrutiny role helps us to pick up if and when problems emerge and we can step in to support before trends become issues.
Vice-chair Cllr Iris Walker said: “What became clear to me today was the range of work taking place across Council services to support our communities. I commend officers for their hard work and can assure them that it is appreciated by the people of Aberdeenshire.”