Agenda item

Find out about how residents and the council will work together to improve environmental services in the ward.

3.1    Kristina Davey – Neighbourhood Management Unit Project Officer gave an overview and the background information about community contracts.

3.2    The Neighbourhood Management Unit has been trialling a 12 month area-based working approach in six wards in the West of the city since October 2010.  This is due to be rolled out across the rest of the city from October 2011. A key output of area-based working is to improve service delivery at a local level. Community contracts will offer the opportunity for residents to engage with service providers to improve services based on the needs of communities.

3.3       A community contract will provide a framework for residents to:

·        Influence service delivery in their wards.

·        Monitor the performance of service providers in wards.

·        Hold service providers to account, identify gaps in service delivery and identify and help deliver solutions to those gaps.

·        Have the opportunity to be included in the process regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality or socio-economic background in a way that suits their needs.

3.4       The key functions of a community contract will be to:

·        Create a partnership between residents and service providers in each ward committee area.

·        Provide residents with clear information on what services they can expect in their ward.

·        Provide details of the outcomes of negotiations with residents on their responsibilities.

3.5       Community contracts will have vital impact on building community spirit and bringing cohesion to the community. ‘Snow Wardens’ initiative was brought up as an example.

3.6       York has a history of developing agreements on service delivery between service providers and residents. Bell Farm's estate agreement was the first in the country (launched in 1995) to be set up and is the longest running. Foxwood Neighbourhood Agreement was developed in 1998 and monitored by FCAG (Foxwood Community Action Group). Clifton Pride Neighbourhood Agreement was developed on the back of the Clifton Regeneration Project in 2004 and monitored by the Clifton Partnership.

3.7       Neighbourhood Management Unit will begin the process in the 3 ward committee areas. Residents will be recruited to form Ward Action Groups (WAP’s). WAP’s will identify problems,  opportunities and monitor services delivery. Training for residents involved in WAP’s will be provided by Neighbourhood Management Unit.

3.8       Environment Services to be the first service area to be included in a community contract.

At this point Kristina Davey addressed the meeting with four questions regarding community contracts. Residents were able to cast their answers with the aid of OptiVote.

Q 1   How do you think Community Contracts would benefit your ward the most?

A.  Give residents information about service standards         1 vote

B.  Improve service delivery                                             1 vote

C.  Encourage residents’ influence in service delivery1 vote

D.  Encourage community involvement                          2 votes

E.  All of the above                                                            9 votes

F.   I can’t see a benefit                                                     1 vote

G.  Other                                                                                      0 votes

Q 2   Would you go to regular meetings?

A.  Held locally                                                                            14 votes

B.  Held in the city centre                                                 0 votes

C.  I don’t want to go to regular meetings                       2 votes

Q 3   Would you send in regular monitoring information by:

A.  Going to Ward Committee meetings                         3 votes

B.  Email                                                                                      7 votes

C.  Facebook                                                                    0 vote

D.  Twitter                                                                           1 vote

E.  Telephone                                                                    0 votes

F.   Post                                                                               1 vote

G.  All of the above                                                            2 vote

H.  I do not wish to monitor                                               2 votes

Q 4   How would you like to get feedback information?

A.  At Ward Committee meetings                                    1 vote

B.  Your Ward / Newsletter                                               9 votes

C.  Blog                                                                               1 vote

D.  Facebook / Twitter                                                       2 votes

E.  Web page                                                                     2 votes

F.   Poster                                                                           0 votes

G.  Other                                                                                      1 vote

Residents were the given opportunity to ask questions.