Agenda item

8.1

The Committee received a report of the Executive Director, Communities, which explained what the Council’s new Cohesion and Integration Strategy and Action Plan was, why it was necessary and what it would do.

8.2

The report, which summarised the issues that would be contained in a report to be submitted to Cabinet on 23^rd November 2016, was introduced by Angela Greenwood (Locality Manager - Cohesion).  Also in attendance for this item were Councillor Jack Scott (Cabinet Member for Community Services and Libraries) and Maxine Stavrianakos (Head of Neighbourhood Intervention and Tenant Support).

8.3

Angela Greenwood indicated that the Strategy adopted a local approach taking account of issues such as age, ability, class, race and religion, and setting out what the Council could do to enhance cohesion.

8.4

Members made various comments and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided as follows:-

·                Councillor Jack Scott, together with Councillors Jackie Drayton (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families) and Jayne Dunn (Cabinet Member for Housing) were members of the Cohesion, Migration and Integration Strategic Group. 

·                The PREVENT Strategy was linked to safeguarding and focused on those at risk of radicalisation and, as a part of this, a PREVENT Working Group had been formed.

·                The £30,000 fund for groups to apply for, to undertake prevention work and create new innovative projects that aided cohesion and integration, came out of the Council’s main Grant Aid budget.  Access to this funding would commence on 1^st April 2017. 

·                Training with regard to the Strategy could be extended to Hate Crime.

·                An entire section of the Action Plan related to children, young people and families.

·                Work was being undertaken to combine the PREVENT Strategy with cohesion, with some funding being available to such fora as women’s groups.

·                Suggestions for prioritising areas, having trained and paired mediators and holding ESOL (English as a Second or Other Language) courses in University premises were welcomed as positive suggestions.

·                No decision had been made yet as to how the Roma health needs assessment would link with the Roma network, but officers were looking to engage with Roma organisations and local Members.

·                The Police were looking at ways to improve the ‘101’ service and the new Anti-Social Behaviour/Community Safety Team would be briefed in November 2016.

·                The Anti-Social Behaviour/Community Safety Team would be resourced from the Council’s Community Safety Team and it was hoped that efficiencies would be gained from this.  Local Members would be kept informed of any developments.

8.5

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       thanks Councillor Jack Scott, Cabinet Member for Community Services and Libraries, and the attending officers for their contribution to the meeting;

(b)       notes the contents of the report and the responses to questions; and

(c)        notes that a report on the Council’s Draft Cohesion and Integration Strategy and Action Plan was to be submitted to Cabinet in the near future.