Agendas, reports and minutes

A meeting of the Chief Officers’ Group will take place in Committee Room 2, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Monday 23 February 2015 at 2.30 pm.

You are invited to attend the meeting and the business to be considered is noted below.

Business

1. Apologies for Absence

2. Presentation

Mr David Stewart, Scottish Business in the Community, will undertake a presentation on the impact of welfare reform on staff.

The Group is asked to consider the issues arising as public sector employees.

3. Chief Officers’ Group

i. Note of Meeting

There is circulated for approval Note of Meeting of the Chief Officers’ Group held on 7 November 2014.

ii. Matters Arising

The Group is asked to consider the following matters arising:-

a. Partners are asked to nominate officers to work together on designing a process for participation requests and
    asset transfers, given the new duties arising from the Community Empowerment Bill;
b. Community Planning Partnership (CPP) membership requests from the Cairngorms National Park
    Authority (CNPA) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) – in this regard, Report No COG/01/15 by the
    Head of Policy and Reform will be tabled; and
c. Gaelic Strategic Planning and Development in the Highland CPP – in this regard, there is circulated Report
    No COG/02/15 by the CEO of Bòrd na Gàidhlig and the Gaelic Development Manager which outlines the outcomes
    from the first meeting of the Short-Life Working Group on Gaelic.

    The Group is asked to submit the following to the Community Planning Board:-

• the overarching Statement of Ambition in section 3.2 of the report;
• that a Thematic Policy Group on Gaelic Strategic Planning and Development be established within the CPP, with a Remit to be drafted by the Short-Life Working Group;
• that partners identify the Lead Officers who will represent them on the Gaelic Strategic Planning and Development Thematic Policy Group; and
• that there is discussion to identify how the Gaelic Strategic Planning and Development Thematic Policy Group can support the work of the Highland Strategic Culture Board.

4. Community Planning Board

There are circulated for comment draft Minutes of the Community Planning Board held on 5 December 2014 together with, for reference, the Action Note previously circulated by email.

5. Audit Scotland Report: Community Planning – Turning Ambition into Action

There is circulated Report No COG/03/15 by the Head of Policy and Reform which summarises the key findings from the national Audit Scotland report on community planning.  It identifies the implications for the Highland CPP and considers how the CPP can take forward the recommendations in the audit report.  The COG’s view on the report will inform the recommendations to the CPP Board meeting in March.  A report will also be provided to the Council’s Community Safety, Public Engagement and Equalities Committee and its Audit and Scrutiny Committee.

The Group is asked to:-

i.  consider the audit findings and the implications for Highland as set out in the report; and
ii. agree the action arising from the audit, with proposed next steps set out in the report, and for that to be
    recommended to the CPP Board.

6. Delivery Plans – Update and Performance Reporting on SOA3

There is circulated Report No COG/04/15 by the Corporate Performance Manager which explains that the CPP Board’s remit includes ensuring and challenging the partnership’s delivery and performance against the SOA’s outcomes.  The SOA was agreed along with a development plan.  This includes performance reporting and agreement that delivery plans for the seven themes within the SOA would be updated and systems would be in place for performance data to be gathered, base-lines set, data analysed and reported as part of the new governance arrangements for the CPP.

The Group is asked to:-

i.  agree how to deal with the slippage in the action agreed at the Board;
ii. agree to identify key performance indicators along with the need to include baseline data, trends and targets for
    indicators in delivery plans where these have still to be identified; and
iii. discuss and agree the approach to developing and submitting an annual report on SOA3 to the CPP Board and the
    Scottish Government as outlined in the report, including uptake of support offered by Highland Council.

7. Local Democratic Experiments

i. Participatory Budgeting

Mr P Mascarenhas, Community and Democratic Engagement Manager, will undertake a presentation, accompanied by a video clip, on participatory budgeting.

The Group is asked to confirm whether it is interested in pursuing the approach.

ii. Local Community Planning – Forums, Governance and Community Participation

There is circulated Report No COG/05/15 by the Head of Policy and Reform which seeks to prompt discussion with partners on local community planning arrangements with a view to making recommendations to the Board on how District Partnerships might be forums for local community planning.

The Group is asked to:-

i.  share views on current local community planning arrangements as far as they are aware of them;
ii. describe how they see their area of responsibility operating in a partnership context locally – whether with other
    service providers, with community representatives or with communities themselves. It would help to know if our
    approach to local community planning by theme has been helpful or not;
iii. consider the drivers for re-thinking local community planning and to note that the Council will be reviewing its
    current Area Committee structure;
iv. consider the pros, cons and implications of District Partnerships evolving to become forums for local community
    planning;
v. agree how that consideration of the pros, cons and implications of District Partnerships evolving to become forums
    for local community planning can be made with others locally; and
vi. agree the proposals for the March Board meeting.

8. Proposal for a City Deal for Inverness

The Director of Development and Infrastructure will provide a verbal update on a proposal for a City Deal for Inverness.

9. Delivering Partnership Outcomes

Confirmation is sought that progress reports will be provided for the March Board, by 24 February 2015, on the following items:-

i.  Economic growth and regeneration (Martin Johnson, HIE)
ii. Employability – (Stuart Black, HC)
iii. Early Years/children (Bill Alexander, HC)
iv. Safer and stronger communities (Julian Innes, Police Scotland) – progress report circulated (p 42) for noting
v. Health inequalities and physical inactivity (Cathy Steer, NHSH)
vi. Outcomes for older people (Jan Baird, NHSH)
vii. Environmental outcomes (George Hogg, SNH)
viii. Community learning and development (Bill Alexander, HC)
ix. SOA Development Plan (Carron McDiarmid, HC)
x. Maximising collective resources, shifting to prevention and re-allocating resources between partners for best value
    (Bill Alexander/Derek Yule, HC)
xi. Workforce planning and skills development (Martin Johnson, HIE)

10. National Public Health Review Consultation/Engagement – Highland Community Planning Partnership
      Response

There is circulated Report No COG/06/15 by the North of Scotland Public Health Network Co-ordinator, the Head of Health Improvement and the Director of Public Health and Health Policy, NHS Highland which sets out the background to the National Public Health Review and proposes that the Public Health Directorate of NHS Highland coordinate the Community Planning Partnership’s response to the consultation in accordance with the timetable set out in the report.

The Group is asked to consider the following:-

i. Does the CPP COG/Board wish to engage with the development of a response or just comment on a draft?
ii. Should anyone wider than the CPP COG/ Board Members be involved in the consultation?
iii. Are there any groups that must be included in the process?
iv. Any other comments.

11. Community Planning Conference – Request for Input

There is circulated email from the Scottish Government regarding a potential Community Planning event in summer 2015 to celebrate the exciting improvements taking place and continue to boost momentum for change.

The Group is invited to consider its response.

12. Future Agenda Items – Community Planning Board

Agenda items proposed for the Community Planning Board on 4 March 2015 are listed below:-

i. Quarterly progress reports against SOA delivery plans and partnership priorities (as per item 9 above)
ii. Presentation on the value of Gaelic to the Highlands and a proposed partnership approach to Gaelic language
    planning
iii. Audit Scotland report on Community Planning - actions proposed for the Highland CPP
iv. Local Democratic Experiments (as per item 7 above):-

     a. Participatory Budgeting
     b. Local Community Planning – Forums, Governance and Community Participation

v. CPP membership applications from CNPA and SDS
vi. National Public Health Review Consultation/Engagement – Highland Community Planning Partnership Response

13. Future Agenda Items – Chief Officers’ Group

Agenda items proposed for future meetings of the Chief Officers’ Group are listed below:-

i. Responding to the recommendations in the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report
ii. Proposals for conference on CPP anti-poverty strategy – end May 2015
iii. Future Model for Community Justice in Scotland – HC lead
iv. Re-launch of the Highland Compact - HTSI lead
v. Local Democratic Experiments and Community Empowerment:-

    a. Proposal for learning from community groups – what works and what would make it even better? – joint paper
        by HC and HTSI
    b. Planning time with Oliver Escobar and Fiona Garven (SCDC) at June Board

vi. Update on partnership action to tackle digital exclusion in Highland
vii. CPP view of “fragile” areas – recommendations from the Health Inequalities Group
viii. Partnership approach to improvement methodologies
ix. Care Experienced Champions Board – report by Director of Care and Learning
x. Co-located Community Safety Team in Inverness – evaluation and roll-out

14. Future Meeting Dates

Group Members are reminded that the following meeting dates have been notified for 2015:-

Thursday 26 March, 2.00 pm
Wednesday 27 May, 2.00 pm
Thursday 13 August, 2.30 pm
Wednesday 11 November, 2.30 pm