Agenda item

CF and DW said a new Ward Committee needed to be established and budgets decided in consultation with residents.   DW gave a presentation on the new Neighbourhood Working model and the ward budgets.

Listening to Residents: Ward Committees: - this was a new approach to community engagement through working with local neighbourhoods and the establishment of revised ward committees.

The Council’s approach to neighbourhood working aimed to empower local residents and to support ward members so that they could:

·         Work with local communities to develop local priorities and help deliver on these

·         Help empower local communities and devolve more budgets to residents

Ward Committees:

What are Ward Committees and what do they do?

·         tackle local issues in partnership with residents

·         improve the Council’s accountability to residents

·         provide opportunities to influence services

They can do this by:

·         Talking to residents on issues affecting the ward and the city

·         Prioritising local issues

·         Agreeing how to allocate ward budgets

·         Supporting local projects that help address ward priorities

·         Working with communities to help inform what local services are needed

There are 21 Wards in York.

Meetings will take place up to four times a year with a formal meeting at the beginning of the financial year (Autumn 2015).   Further meetings can be in other formats depending on the need of the ward e.g. walkabouts, stalls at fairs, drop-in, consultations etc.  This means that a wider range of residents can engage.

Ward Teams

Ward Teams are led by Ward Councillors, ward-based partners will hold regular meetings to:

·         Set priorities based on data, local intelligence

·         Work on projects that address the ward priorities

·         Liaise between ward partners (police, estate managers, voluntary groups, businesses, parish council)

·         Supported by a ward co-ordinator

Devolved Budgets

These are additional budgets to wards in order to create a pot that wards can use flexibly to help to address their priorities and develop community initiatives which benefit local residents and reduce reliance on council services.   They are made up of:

General Ward Budget £10,179 – this could be spent in two ways. 

·         Grants for funding projects from this fund should be made via an application form.  They can be made from constituted groups and must show a benefit to the local community.  Citywide organisations cannot apply to multiple wards

·         Alternatively should a group or organisation want to commission a particular piece or work.   Or both

Pride in York Fund (one off) £23,140 –this money is allocated to wards, based on current grounds maintenance spending and could be used to provide grants to partner, community and voluntary organisations to develop initiatives that benefit the community and help reduce the reliance on Council services.

Pride in York Fund (recurring) £13,572– this fund is to commission projects and initiatives that improve the local environment and street level issues in the ward.   It could be spent on council services if the ward wished and is allocated to wards based on a per capita basis

Community Care Programme £5,089

·         To support through community activity the prevention or delay of people needing to access formal care packages and statutory support

·         Key areas identified which can help achieve this:

·         Reducing social isolation/loneliness

·         Prevention of falls

·         Nutrition

·         Transport

·         Practical support/handyperson services

·         Support for carers

Highways Programme £16,965

·         Highways improvements

·         Reprioritising using local knowledge

·         Resurfacing

·         Footpaths/PROW          

·         Cycle way improvements

·         Street lighting: improvements to existing lamp standards

DW said that the money needed to be spent wisely and carefully.  In total there was an ongoing ward budget of £28,840, with additional one off funds of £23,140 for the Pride in York Fund and £16,965 for the Ward Highway Programme.   

BB said that it was often difficult to get information to people.   She asked that the residents attending this meeting help to spread the message to other people within the ward.   Information was available on the Council website, through social media and could also be found in various publications.  Information was also displayed on community notice boards and she encouraged people to get involved in their Resident Associations.  It was important that residents engaged in identifying the ward priorities. She asked residents to spend some time discussing amongst themselves what they considered their priorities were for ward spending and give their views either tonight or get in touch through the website or Facebook page.

General Discussion on Priorities of the Ward Budget

DW invited residents to make any comments or suggestions on the budgets.

In response to a question from a resident Mary Bailey (MB) said that the money was for the coming financial year, but that it would be unreasonable to expect all the ideas for spending to be identified immediately.

CF said that this was a big change in the way the Ward budgets worked and she understood that it had not been fully worked through within the Council and that they did not want to raise people’s expectations.   DW asked residents to familiarise themselves with the ward spreadsheets which was on the tables.

Anna Bialkowska (AB) said that the Tang Hall “Big Local” Partnership had received a £1,000,000 grant to be spent at £100,000 a year over ten years to make Tang Hall a better place to live and work and she was happy to discuss any issues of interest with residents.

A resident said that as we were seven months into the financial year did that mean that there were only five twelfths of the budget left?

MB said that money was available for this financial year.  The figures presented this evening represented the full amount of the devolved budget for the next financial year spending.

CF suggested that money could be used for the lunch club or to help older people who want to attend a lunch club.

Residents’ priorities for Heworth Ward were :

·         Rubbish bin needed outside Burnholme School

·         Glen Garden Park Café

·         Fruit trees in the park

·         Cutting the hedges back in Heworth Village, especially by the Walnut Tree.

·         Re-positioning the ‘A’ boards from the Walnut Tree

·         The ward planning panel needs to be aware of change of use from residential to business

·         Puddle on corner of Burnholme Drive/Hempland Lane

·         Who is responsible for clean up and clear footpaths and grass verges after the fibre optic cable work has finished?

·         General road improvements

·         Maintenance of footpaths

·         Resurfacing of the pavement at the junction of Heworth Green/Eastern Terrace – there is a huge puddle when it is wet and this prevents people crossing the road safely.

·         Eastern Terrace Improvements

·         Bus shelter outside the shops on Fourth Avenue

·         Improve the No. 11 bus service.  They don’t run on Sundays or bank holidays.  Couldn’t we have at least one in the Summer months?

·         Repair holes in Cinder Lane please

·         Community Payback to work in the park

DW thanked everyone for their suggestions.