To present comments from the Scrutiny Committee on the work of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Services Team.

Scrutiny Recommendation: That the City Executive Board agrees that the review of priority areas draws on the findings of the Inequalities Scrutiny Panel, as well as the latest social and demographic research data.

The Scrutiny Officer submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which detailed the comments from the Scrutiny Committee on the work of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Services Team.

The City Executive Board resolved to AGREE that the review of priority areas draws on the findings of the Inequalities Scrutiny Panel, as well as the latest social and demographic research data.

The Go-Active Co-ordinator presented the report. She outlined the range of projects to tackle isolation being funded by the Council.

Jane Johnson spoke to the Committee. She felt there was not enough activities provided for disabled people and as such, the Council was not meeting the spirit of the Equalities Act 2010.

The Committee noted

That the 1 mile health walks are wheelchair friendly and suitable for the visually impaired.

There is a women only evening run every week at the Barton pool

Officers work closely with Oxford Mind to combat isolation – however there is always more that can be done.

Constant feedback on the programmes run is sought by user and leisure groups to improve services.

Funding and training is available for faith and other groups interested in setting up activities.

The Committee made the following recommendations:

To the Head of Finance:

Does the Council regularly conduct an audit of service provision against legislation? And if so, can it circulate the latest audit to members and to Jane Johnson.

The Communities Specialist Officer to contact the Sweet Memories club about their concerns with the potential closure of the Gladiators Club.

The Communities and Neighbourhoods Manager presented the report. She outlined the work done by the team to build strong community partnerships with local groups and relevant agencies.

The Council has 7 priority neighbourhoods which the team focuses on.

Cllr Fooks said that although community partnership working sounds good in theory, in Cutteslowe, it didn’t work in practice. She asked for more support from officers. Officers agreed to follow this up outside the meeting.

The Committee made the following comments

·         A range of data sets are used to provide the make-up and needs of the different communities, these include the index of deprivation and the quality of life survey. The full reports and the performance indicators are available for members to download.

·         Monthly updates are sent to Councillors that represent priority areas. The last one was in December 2014.

·         The team works closely with the elections department to encourage voter registration.

·         Improved IT access and support has been provided to the Blackbird Leys and Barton community centres, Wi-Fi is available at all community centres.

·         A review group is working to streamline community centre leases.

·         Priority areas were last agreed in 2013 – unsure when review is due.

·         Community Development fund will end after 2014/15 year.

Scrutiny recommendations:

To encourage a review of the priority areas (last done in 2013).

Retain the Community Development (formerly Social Inclusion) grant in the budget

Officers to provide to Members:

A summary of the number of computers and usage rate of the IT hubs.

The performance indicators and quality of life survey to members.