Agendas, reports and minutes

Note of Meeting of the Chief Officers’ Group held in Committee Room 2 on Wednesday 27 May 2015 at 2.00 pm.

Present:

Representing the Highland Council (HC):
Mr B Alexander 
Mr S Black 
Mr W Gilfillan

Representing the Highland Third Sector Interface (HTSI):
Ms M Wylie

Representing High Life Highland (HLH):
Mr I Murray

Representing NHS Highland (NHSH):
Ms E Mead 
Mrs J Baird 
Ms C Steer

Representing Police Scotland (PS):
Mr J Innes

Representing Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS):
Mr S Hay

Representing Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH):
Mr G Hogg

Representing University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI):
Ms F Larg 

Supporting the Chief Officers Group:
Ms E Johnston 
Mr P Mascarenhas

In attendance:

Mr C Howell, Head of Infrastructure, Development and Infrastructure Service, HC 
Mr J Smith, Principle Engineer, Development and Infrastructure Service, HC 
Ms F Palin, Head of Social Care, Care and Learning Service, HC 
Mr J MacDonald, Group Manager, SFRS 
Ms L Lee, Committee Administrator, Corporate Development Service, HC

Also in attendance:

Mr N Wilding, The Scottish Government 
Ms E Lynch, The Improvement Team, The Scottish Government

Ms F Larg in the Chair

Business

1. Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr S Barron, Ms Michelle Morris, Mr D Yule, Ms C McDiarmid, Mr M Johnston, Dr H van Woerden, Mr K Oliver and Mr J Pryce.

2. Chief Officers’ Group – Note of Meeting

The Note of Meeting of the Chief Officers’ Group held on 26 March 2015 had been circulated and was APPROVED subject to correction of a minor typographical error.

3. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

4. Enabling Collaborative Leadership

At its meeting on 26 March 2015, the Chief Officers’ Group agreed to accept an offer of support for collaborative leadership from Workforce Scotland. The offer of support had been re-circulated for information.

In that regard, Mr Nick Wilding, Scottish Government, was in attendance to assist the COG in agreeing a focus for its collaborative leadership challenge. At its previous meeting, the COG had suggested the following themes as a collaborative question to work on:-

• Effective community engagement and community led initiatives
• Reducing inequalities
• Climate change
• Joint resourcing and prevention

Mr Wilding explained that the support on offer was generally facilitative in nature; participants would be expected to allocate staff time. It was hoped that those taking part would improve their collaborative leadership skills, and learn from each other. Collaborative leadership was seen as being particularly effective in finding solutions for“wicked” questions (i.e. long term challenges/intractable issues which if solved in one area tended to reappear in another). Mr Wilding facilitated a brief workshop aimed at assisting the Group in coming to a decision as to which of the four questions should be selected, and at provoking thought on underlying issues such as broad aims and objectives, and the need to perhaps disrupt usual patterns of working and think more widely in order to achieve this.

The Group gave an assurance that they were already strongly committed to the principles of collaborative working; however support would be welcomed in relation to processes and means of resolving difficult issues. In discussion of the four questions, points made included:

Joint Resourcing - this involved all the Group’s priorities; there were already groups looking at the other questions; however, picking one specific area might be easier as it would provide a more concrete set of issues to work with 
Climate change – this had implications for all four questions 
Reducing Inequality – this was the main purpose of the CPP.

Consensus on the choice of question not having been reached, the Group AGREED that the matter be considered at the Joint Resourcing Group and fed back to the next meeting; with the decision and the outcomes the Group wished to see then being forwarded to Mr Wilding.

It was so AGREED that Mr Wilding’s slide presentation be emailed to the Group.

5. Presentation: Inverness West Link

Colin Howell, Head of Infrastructure, Highland Council, gave a presentation on the Inverness West Link, providing information on progress and timescales for the project, and illustrating the route of the proposed road, the bridges, traffic flow on the A82, the location, size and design of sports facilities, and the changes to the Golf Course. He also advised that the link was expected to reduce the volume of traffic through the City Centre by 20%, and that funding was being sought from the UK and Scottish Government towards the costs of the sports hub - it was hoped that the hub would be an impressive facility and would attract people to the area. Mr Howell was working with the Council’s press office to emphasise the positive outcomes for the City and area; media coverage to date had been largely negative.

In discussion the need for sufficient car parking was stressed - there was a risk otherwise that the facilities would not be used. In response, HC officers drew attention to the proposals for public transport and active travel.

The Group NOTED the presentation; and that the Council’s Principal Engineer would be in touch with Police, Fire and Rescue and Ambulance Services with regard to project specifics, road closures, etc.

6. Local Democratic Experiments and Community Empowerment

The Group AGREED that items 6i and 6ii be taken together.

i. Participatory Democracy and Community Empowerment
ii. Progress with Local Discussions on Reviewing Local Community Planning Arrangements and Council Area Committees

There had been circulated Reports by the Head of Policy and Reform, numbered: COG/12/15, which summarised the findings of the Strengthening Local Democracy Commission and other drivers for supporting participatory democracy and community empowerment within the Highland CPP, and which would be submitted to the Board on 3 June. The Group was asked to agree any amendments to the report, and identify any specific issues they would like raised; and

COG/13/15 which provided an update on progress being made with reviewing Local Community Planning arrangements and Area Committees and advised that initial discussions had been underway in the last round of District Partnership meetings, and had also started in 10 Wards with Elected Members. The Group was asked for its views on the report, which would be submitted to the CPP Board on 3 June 2015 and then reported to the June Council. It was intended that decisions would be made by the Council in the September 2015. Mr Mascarenhas summarised the main points of the report and advised that the culture change would take around 10 -15 years to implement fully, and would promote the rights and responsibilities of communities. The Community Empowerment Bill would require the Council to consider how it supported the less able communities.

In discussion of both reports, the Group was generally minded that rationalisation of meetings and community empowerment/ local decision making were the right way to go, but flagged up a number of areas of concern:

In relation COG/12/15:

• whichever style of democracy was in place, there would be difficult decisions to make - resources were decreasing whilst demand was increasing
• a partnership approach would need the agreement of all partners, it could not be just a decision made by HC, notwithstanding that HC would be driving the change
• community empowerment was exciting might be too experimental; the situation was fast moving and no guidelines were in place; the situation would be uncertain and therefore potentially difficult for several years yet
• an impact assessment of budgets and decision making was required - budgets and targets needed to be agreed and in place before the changes were embarked on; previous attempts at similar changes had failed because this had not been in place
• there were inequalities between communities –some communities had able people, others did not; support would be required
• there were decreasing numbers of staff / time / resources.

In relation to COG/13/15:

• care must be taken with regard to governance issues at joint meetings; it would need to be made clear as to which people were participating in a scrutiny capacity, and which were responsible for taking decisions
• the timescale (June to September 2015) for developing proposals for local experiments to improve community planning was short
• there had to be certainty that District Partnerships wanted to move towards becoming decision-making bodies; their views, and the views of others who might be involved, must be ascertained in early course. Partners would welcome sight of the proposals before the Council made decisions. The implications on all Partners of any proposed way forward needed to be taken into consideration by the Council.

In response to discussion on the need to co-ordinate projects in Merkinch, which had received funding from many different sources, Ms Wylie stressed the importance of communities helping themselves, rather than agencies doing things for them.

The Group NOTED:-

i. that Scottish Government speakers would be attending the CPP meeting on 3 June and would focus on new approaches to participation and supporting people to be involved; 
ii. the progress being made in early conversations regarding the review of Local Community Planning/District Partnership and Area Committee Arrangements; and 
iii. that no agreement was sought at this time to change arrangements locally but that a progress report would be provided to the Board in June with decisions likely to be sought in September. This provided three months to develop acceptable proposals for local experiments in some areas to improve community planning. It was the Group’s view that this timescale might prove too short.

7. Redesign of Community Justice

There had been circulated Report No COG/14/15 by the Director of Care and Learning which set out the requirement for new governance and planning arrangements for Community Justice Services (CJS). Options for local arrangements were outlined and it was recommended that they be considered by the Community Planning Partnership.

From April 2017, Community Planning Partnerships would be responsible for Community Justice – the existing NCJA (Northern Community Justice Authority) would close. A way needed to be found for partners to work together to plan services. The Council’s ECAS (Education, Children and Adult Services) Committee had considered a number of options, and were minded that the best way forward was to build on the existing ECAS Criminal Justice sub-committee, broadening it to include the representation from the bodies who formerly worked with the NCJA – i.e. (NHS Highland, Police Scotland and the Prison Services).

Having been provided with clarification as to the governance of the new Community Justice arrangements, the Group NOTED the planned changes and that the matter would be discussed at the CPP Board meeting on 3 June. The Group AGREED to support the ECAS proposals that the existing sub-committee be built on, to provide for input by Police, Health, and the Prison Service.

8. Presentation: National work on progressing outcome profiles for CPPs and the development of a performance framework for SOAs

Ms E Lynch, The Improvement Service (Scottish Government), gave a presentation about the national work on progressing outcomes profiles for CPPs, evidence gathering, and the development of a performance framework for SOAs as part of the national benchmarking project. She tabled handouts providing information on a) background to the Outcomes, Evidence and Performance (OEP) Board, what it was aiming to do, why, and the implications for CPPs; b) Initial Profile Measures (suggestions for things that could be measured, which would give an idea of how well communities were doing in terms of health, safety, environment etc.); and c) where there were gaps in data.

The purpose of the Programme was to provide a tool which could be used to demonstrate the progress being made by Community Planning. It was in its early stages of development – input was being sought from the Group to help improve the data and develop the outcomes profile. The next steps would be to test the proposals out on a small number of Boards.

In response to questions, she advised that:

• it was hoped to launch the national measures in the spring of 2016;
• the Initial Profile Measures would not be performance measures, but a tool available to CPP Boards to help with their reporting functions; they could also be used as a way for Boards to learn from each other.

Comments raised during discussion included that:

• further thought was needed as to how to score environment – amenity was an important part of people’s wellbeing; the proposed method was not great
• inequalities were not well measured by the proposed data; it was important to take account of rurality also; different service models were needed for rural areas
• the CPP had been considering 5 key performance indicators, far fewer than the number listed in the Initial Profile Measures -limits to staffing resources must be borne in mind
• data collection must be consistent if comparisons were to be fair and meaningful.

The Group NOTED the presentation, the points made in discussion, and that any further comments should be forwarded to Ms Johnston for forwarding to Ms Lynch.

9. Deprivation and Inequalities – Rural Analysis

There had been circulated Report No COG/15/15 by the Head of Policy and Reform, Highland Council, and the Head of Health Improvement, NHS Highland, which provided an update on the work of the Health Inequalities Group to develop a joint understanding of deprivation and inequalities in rural Highland.

Data sets from HC/HIE fragile areas, the SIMD and SEP had been combined. This allowed factors such as health, and communities with fewer than 10,000 to be included in the analysis. Whilst it would be possible to expand the criteria to include fuel poverty and seasonality of employment, the Group was of the view that the analysis done to date was reasonably robust and therefore sufficient.

Whilst there had been some overlap in the data sets, the combined results had identified 16 communities, including a number of rural towns previously excluded. The Group discussed how the data should be used, including in focussing community consultation and building from grass roots; lobbying the Scottish Government; and supporting funding applications.

The Group AGREED that a report be taken to the June Board incorporating the figures shown in tables 3 and 4 of the report, i.e. the 16 locations and small rural towns identified.

10. Presentation: Developing the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Strategic Plan 2016/19

Mr Scott Hay, Area Manager –Service Delivery, and Mr John MacDonald, Group Manager, gave a presentation on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Strategic Plan 2016/19.

The SFRS was seeking preliminary input from partners into the development of its new Strategic Plan. Mr Hay outlined the areas that would be included in the Plan including resources, stations, staff numbers, and changes as a result of new legislation. Funding had been cut by 11% over the past 3 years – the new Plan would need to take account of ongoing reductions in resources.

Comments made by the Group in response to four questions being asked by SFRS included:

The key strengths of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service:

emergency response to fires; health benefits; having a presence in all communities; being a trusted body; having responsive leadership; significant input to emergency planning processes.

Shared challenges and opportunities as a local partner:

As set out in the SOA; although part-time, retained fire fighter employment often made the difference in enabling people to remain in a fragile rural area; prevention and health, particularly in relation to identifying vulnerable persons and sensory disabilities work; providing a service appropriate for Highland notwithstanding that decisions were centrally based; engaging with a dispersed rural community e.g. in relation to wild fires, at a time of reducing resources; joint resourcing/co-location; working with young people;

How Scottish Fire and Rescue Service could help improve matters at local partnership level or nationally:

with decisions now being nationalised/ centralised, SFRS must recognise that: communities had concerns regarding the removal of an asset/closure of a fire station; services did not always meet a cost per case business measure, they were there because they need to be in that locality; and that response times were longer in the Highlands.

What really matters to our local communities:

Being visible; length of time taken to reach an incident; making people safe, and feel safe; engagement with the 3rd Sector/voluntary groups; keeping stations open.

Mr Hay informed the Group that a review of emergency cover was being undertaken. Whilst currently no station closures were planned, there was potential for the review outcomes to impact on where fire stations were sited. There would be wide consultation on any proposed changes.

The Group AGREED the above comments be fed back to the SFRS; and following further discussion NOTED the support provided locally by the Fire Service to the Scottish Ambulance Service; and that as part of the rationalisation of its depots and stores, the Council would be in touch with appropriate officers from Police, Fire and Forestry.

11. Locating Public Access Defibrillators in Highland

At its meeting on 4 March 2015, the Community Planning Board agreed that a mapping exercise be carried out in relation to the provision of defibrillators in local communities. In that regard, there had been circulated Report No COG/16/15 by the Director of Adult Care and the Director of Public Health, NHS Highland which provided an update on progress. The report listed a number of local groups who provided defibrillators in the Highlands, and drew attention to national initiatives for gathering and holding information on the location of this equipment.

The Group AGREED the proposals as set out in the report that:

i. the information gathered by the CPP be shared to inform the national work, but that no further locally targeted work would be of added benefit at this stage; and 
ii. the national project be made aware of the Lucky2bhere initiative and the considerable impact it had had on local communities across Highland, not only by supporting the purchase of defibrillators but by providing vital training.

12. Employment of Care Leavers

There had been circulated Report No COG/17/15 by the Director of Care and Learning providing background information, in relation to the proposal by Chief Officers to offer employment to Highland’s care leavers, either within their own organisation or with partners in their network. There were currently 67 care leavers in Highland, with about 25 new care leavers each year. The Council’s Employability Team would assist in the task.

In discussion, the Group was advised that the initiative stemmed from the Partners’ corporate parenting legal responsibility. The Lead Professional Social Worker and the Employability team would work with individuals to identify career aspirations and would take account of what each individual could cope with. It would be useful if Partners could identify potential employment opportunities, and provide a named contact person to ensure that care leaver applications were processed through the appropriate channels.

The Group AGREED that this matter be raised at the CPB under approval of the March minutes – a separate report was not required.

13. Realigning Children's Services - Scotland's Strategic Commissioning Support Programme for Children's Services

There had been circulated documentation referring to a new Scottish Government programme, Realigning Children’s Services (RCS). This aimed to improve local planning and commissioning of children’s services through a combination of existing and new data sources linked to indicators of how children used services.

CPPs interested in taking part in RCS were asked to make contact as soon as possible and consideration would then be given to the nature and timing of any subsequent engagement.

Albeit that children’s services planning was well advanced in the Highland partnership, the For Highland’s Children Leadership Group believed that there might be added value in being part of this programme, perhaps involving other local research partners, and sought the endorsement of the Chief Officers Group to take it forward.

Having been advised that feedback from other Councils had been very positive, and that the Director of Public Health was keen that CPPs take up the offer, the Group AGREED to take up the offer of support, noting that there would be a resource requirement in terms of staff time.

14. Invitation to participate in U.Lab Scotland

There had been circulated letter from Mr K Hogg, Local Government and Communities Directorate, The Scottish Government, which invited Community Planning Partners to participate in the U.Lab Scotland programme, details of which had been provided.

The Group AGREED to:-

i. accept the offer to participate; and 
ii. disseminate the opportunity within their organisations as appropriate.

The Group NOTED that NHS Highland had already linked into the programme and would feed back to the COG.

15. Future Agenda Items – Community Planning Board

The Group AGREED the following list of agenda items for the Community Planning Board on 3 June 2015:-

i. Quarterly progress reports (Q4 2014/15) for all CPP themes (from all responsible officers) 
ii. Enabling Collaborative Leadership Proposal 
iii. Local Democratic Experiments and Community Empowerment:- 

a. Dr Oliver Escobar, Edinburgh University, and Fiona Garven, Chief Executive, Scottish Community Development Centre
b. Progress with Local Discussions on Reviewing Local Community Planning Arrangements and Council Area Committees 

iv. Redesign of Community Justice 
v. Deprivation and Inequalities – Rural Analysis 
vi. Presentation: Developing the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Strategic Plan 2016/19 
vii. Locating Public Access Defibrillators in Highland 
viii. Breakthrough Achievement for the Highland CPP 2015/16 – proposal that every care experienced young person in Highland have at least one job offer from a CPP partner or an organisation within partners’ networks 
ix. Presentation on Local Biodiversity Action Plan 
x. Highland Local Policing Plan

16. Future Agenda Items – Chief Officers’ Group

The Group AGREED that concerns raised regarding the length of that day’s agenda be fed back to the Head of Policy and Reform; and that the list of items for future meetings of the Chief Officers’ Group be as follows:-

i. Proposals for Conference on CPP Anti-Poverty Strategy – recommendations from the Health Inequalities Group 
ii. Developing a Partnership Approach to Participation Requests and Asset Transfers 
iii. Partnership Approach to Improvement Methodologies 
iv. Update on Partnership Action to Tackle Digital Exclusion 
v. The Future of the Highland Compact –recommendations from the short-life Working Group 
vi. Food and Drink – how it cuts across a number of SOA themes 
vii. The scope for a salary sacrifice scheme for HLH Membership 
viii. Briefing on Child Sexual Exploitation 
ix. Potential Breakthrough Achievements

17. The Group NOTED the following meeting dates for 2015, as previously notified:-

Thursday 13 August 2015, 2.30 pm – Chair: Ian Murray 
Wednesday 11 November, 2.30 pm

18. National Community Planning Conference – 26 June 2015, Glasgow

There had been circulated correspondence dated 26 May 2015 from the Scottish Government advising that the National Community Planning Conference would be held on 26 June 2015, in Glasgow: “Changing Lives, Delivering Success: Turning Ambition into Action”.

The conference would be attended by the Head of Policy and Reform and the Community and Democratic Engagement Manager; nominations for four further places were sought.

The Group AGREED that Ms Murray at Highland Council’s Committee Services be advised of names.

The meeting ended at 5.00 pm.