Agenda and draft minutes

1.1

Councillor Talib Hussain, Chair of the Local Area Committee, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2.1

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jayne Dunn and Mark Jones.

3.1

No items were identified where resolutions may be moved to exclude the public and press.

4.1

There were no declarations of interest.

5.1

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 22 November 2023 were approved as a correct record.

6.1

The Committee considered a report of the Community Services Manager that advised each Local Area Committee had a £100,000 budget to address local priorities, identified within their respective Community Plans. The report set out details of the spend in respect of the £100,000 that had been authorised by the Community Services Manager, in consultation with the Local Area Committee Chair and in accordance with the delegation granted in September 2021.

6.2

The report showed funding allocated to the North East Local Area Committee for 2023/24, and set out proposals for its allocation and expenditure in line with the North East Local Area Committee Community Plan.

6.3

The report described the proposals for the use of the remaining funding allocated for the cost of living work in the North East area, to a sum of £45,000.

6.4

RESOLVED: That the North East Local Area Committee:

(i)              notes the expenditure made in 2023/24 against the £100,000 budget (including agreed underspend from 2022/23) to address local priorities in the North East LAC; and

(ii)              notes the expenditure made in 2023/34 against the North East LAC cost-of-living budget.

7.1

Helen Lomas, Service Manager from Children and Young People’s Directory, presented an update on Family Hubs in Sheffield. She explained that there were seven Family Hubs and three link sites (Burngreave, Brightside and The Meadows) in Sheffield. The Service had been created to provide local support to families and individuals, and was now in its third year of funding. The vision was to make a welcome space for all families, offering the earliest help and support to keep those families engaged, connect people, and signpost where necessary. 

There were currently over 6000 families registered with the service, which offered them multi-agency support in areas such as safeguarding, mental health, and speech and language, thereby reducing the need for social care or NHS involvement. Sensory spaces were available for families to use at each of the hubs, free of charge.

Ms Lomas noted that Sheffield Directory booklets were available to members of the public present at the meeting for them to peruse. The booklets would also be shared within the anti-natal packs of anyone having a baby in Sheffield from March 2024. Details contained in these booklets were also available on-line, and the directory would be regularly updated with information and would, along with the service, be sustainable.

7.2

Councillor Talib Hussain thanked Ms Lomas for the presentation and asked if anyone had any questions: -

(a)  Margaret Hill from Burngreave TARA 

Where are the Family Hubs were situated?

Ms Lomas listed these as being located in the First Start Family Hub at Firth Park, Early Days Family Hub covering Parson Cross and the Southey area, Shortbrook Centre in the South East area, Darnall Family Hub, Primrose Family Hub on Infirmary Road, Sharrow Family Hub in Highfield Library and Valley Park Family Hub covering Gleadless, Lowedges and the Jordanthorpe area.

(b)  Lynne Brandon from Burngreave

How does the service link with voluntary organisations and young people, and how do they cover any gaps in services identified in the city?

Ms Lomas explained that they had signed up 12 Family Hub Network Champions as they recognised that the service could not cover the community needs in isolation. They worked with other organisations and acted as a connection between these services, enabling other services to deliver their support. The Family Hub teams worked predominantly with children under the age of five, and in conjunction with other agencies and the voluntary sector, were working to increase the age range they could offer support to. 

(c)   Gareth Slater, a local resident

Do you offer support for Young Carers?

Ms Lomas informed him that there was a Young Carers Service that the Family Hub teams linked into.

8.1

Dan Whittaker, Community Services Officer for the North East Local Area Committee, gave a presentation which outlined the four priorities relevant to the Community Plan. These were:-

• Business, Employment and Skills
• Environment
• Children, Younger Residents and Families
• Parks and Open Spaces

He explained that a 12-week programme was developed for six young people, which included working with a supervisor from Amey, and assisted with clearing sites, grass cutting and health and safety training. During the programme, the young people worked with Lifelong Learning in English and Maths.

He shared some photographs to demonstrate some ‘before and after’ results of site clearances on Lytton Street, Chaucer Road, Longley Hall Road and Wincobank Lane playground project. It closed with two positive reviews about the project from a young person and an Amey supervisor.

Mr Whittaker then invited questions from members of the public present.

(a)  Mick Daniels

Is any of this land on contract to Amey and are they fulfilling their contract?

Mr Whittaker confirmed that the land in question belonged to either the Parks and Countryside Service or Housing Services.  Pockets of this land did not have a maintenance plan so had not been maintained, which is why the Local Area Committee had intervened. He also explained that, moving forward, they planned to link with Amey, the Parks and Countryside Service and Housing Services to discuss sustainability.

Mr Daniels enquired when Amey’s contract was due to end, and asked if some of the money they were receiving would be allocated to support some of the initiatives the Local Area Committee were involved with.

Mr Whittaker stated that the Local Area Committee would continue to liaise with Council services on how problem sites were maintained in the future.

Councillor Peter Price advised that the Council contract with Amey was for highways work and did not cover housing land.

(b)   John Cross, resident from Halifax Road

Mr Cross commented that when entering Sheffield from the North, the area was not as well maintained as it used to be and described it as a ‘disgrace’. He felt that the grass cutting service was poor.

(c)   Margaret Hill, Burngreave Tenants and Residents Association

Ms Hill asked if the Local Area Committee team would go to her area to neaten their green spaces.

Dan Whittaker stated that he would liaise with Ms Hill and Mr Daniels in the breakout session.

Councillor Talib Hussain announced that Dan Whittaker had a new role and would be moving to another Council service. He thanked him for his hard work in recent years with the North East Local Area Committee.

Councillor Hussain also thanked Councillor Peter Price for his 52 years’ service to the people of Sheffield as a Councillor, as he was due to retire in May.

Councillor Hussain wished Councillor Abtisam Mohamed all the best as she was standing down from her position as Councillor for Firth Park in May 2024 to stand as a parliamentary candidate. He thanked her for all her hard work in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.1

The live webcast was paused in order for the public in attendance to participate in a Roadshow Interactive Session. There were information stalls situated in the building which contained information relating to the different priorities of the North East Local Area Committee Community Plan. 

10.1

The Committee received the following questions from members of the public:

(a)  Paulene Collier (Ms Collier was not present, so Dan Whittaker read out her question)

In Parson Cross, we have no community space that can be used across all age groups. I would like to know why Adlington Community Centre has not been returned for community group use since the Parks and Gardens department used it for social distancing during COVID. What exactly have they been using it for since?

Councillor Fran Belbin responded, reading out a response supplied by Facilities Management:-

‘To confirm, our Parks staff are still using Adlington Community Centre as a community base. 

The council was reviewing several operational sites in 2020 that were in a severely dilapidated state. We were particularly concerned about the future of Concord depot, which had been subjected to weekly break-ins and was in an appalling condition. Initially, we had planned to relocate to Ecclesfield with the assistance of Amey. However, Amey had changed their operations and co-location was no longer a viable option. Adlington Road Community Centre had remained unused during the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore a decision was made to relocate our Parks staff to Adlington Community Centre.

Following concerns being raised, we have begun a review of Adlington Community Centre. We have gathered the requirements of the Parks and Youth Services, and we are currently in the process of evaluating the space to determine if it can become a multi-use area, including community space and what other community facilities the council or voluntary sector have within the area.

Upon reviewing our use of the building, it’s evident that there were shortcomings in communicating the plan to utilise Adlington Community Centre as an operational base. Our forthcoming review of community buildings will seek to engage with local Councillors and Community Groups in order to prevent this from happening again. We will provide an update on the review of Adlington Community Centre as it progresses. In the meantime, we will contact Ms Paulene Collier to review other facilities in the area.’

Councillor Belbin added that Councillors had been pursuing this matter for some time and would continue to do so. The space was a well-used community centre. She stated that there has been investment into the Parson Cross park pavilion, which may be available for use in the meantime.  

Mick Daniels asked who the building belonged to, and stated that the community should be able to use it.

Councillor Belbin replied that it belonged to Sheffield City Council. She added that the Flower Estate Tenants and Residents Association (TARA) had folded, but she hoped that it would be starting up again soon. She noted that Facilities Management had acknowledged in their answer that the situation could have been handled differently.  

(b)  Flower Estate Tenants and Residents Association (Councillor Talib Hussain read out the question)

Members of the Flower TARA are very concerned and disappointed about the Post Office issue at Firth Park.

The community were promised that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.1

Date and venue to be confirmed.