Agendas, reports and minutes

Note of Meeting of the Chief Officers’ Group held in Committee Room 3, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Friday 22 September 2017 at 10.00 am.

Present:

Representing the Highland Council (HC):
Mr S Barron
Mr B Alexander
Mr D Yule
Ms A Clark
Ms C Campbell (Substitute)

Representing Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE):
Mr D Oxley

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

Representing High Life Highland (HLH):
Mr I Murray

Representing NHS Highland (NHSH):
Ms C Steer

Representing Police Scotland (PS):
Ch Supt G Macdonald

Representing Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS):
Mr J MacDonald

Representing Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH):
Mr G Hogg

Representing Skills Development Scotland (SDS):
Mr A Standing (Substitute)

Supporting the Chief Officers Group:
Ms E Johnston

In attendance:

Mr J Robertson, Programme Manager - City Region Deal, Highland Council
Supt P MacRae, Police Scotland (Chair of the Community Justice Partnership)
Miss M Murray, Committee Administrator, Highland Council

Mr S Barron in the Chair

Business

1. Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr G Moir, Ms M Morris, Mr S Black, Mr W Gilfillan, Mr J Gibbs, Ms E Mead, Ms J Baird, Prof H van Woerden, Ms D Mackinnon, Ms S Campbell, Ms D Rawlinson and Mr P Mascarenhas.

2. Chief Officers’ Group – Note of Meeting

The Chair having reminded partners of the interim role and purpose of the Chief Officers’ Group as set out in item 8, the Note of the meeting on 2 February 2017 was APPROVED.

3. Community Planning Board – Minutes and Action Sheet

The draft Minutes and Action Sheet of the Community Planning Board held on 28 June 2017 were NOTED.

There were no matters arising.

4. City Region Deal

The Programme Manager - City Region Deal, Highland Council, gave a presentation on the projects and the model supporting the City Region Deal.

The Chair highlighted that the deal appeared to be one of the best in Scotland and it was important to make the most of it.  He added that the Programme Manager was happy to give a similar presentation to any partner organisation.

Following discussion, particularly in relation to what scope existed to bring in new ideas and the need to shape the programme and its outcomes in such a way as to optimise the opportunity for a second phase, the Group: 

i. NOTED the presentation;
ii. AGREED that, particularly given the links in terms of employability/recruitment, the possibility of the Programme Manager giving a presentation to NHS Highland’s Senior Management Team be explored with the Chief Executive; and
iii. AGREED that the presentation be circulated to partners for information, together with contact details for the Programme Manager.

5. Supporting more community action and community-run services: following up the actions agreed by the CPP Board

There had been circulated Report No COG/05/17 by the Head of Policy and Reform, Highland Council, on behalf of the Community Action Subgroup.

The Acting Head of Policy, Highland Council, highlighted that it was now intended to present a report to the Board in December or in the new year when the prototype gateway and app had been developed, not October as set out in report.

Following discussion, particularly in relation to the need to change the culture within partner organisations and for better engagement and collaboration by partners, the Group:

i. NOTED that a check-in event with the original group engaged with, plus others in the HTSI network, had been held in August 2017 and those participating had found common ground and developed thinking on the Gateway idea further as set out in paragraph 5.2 of the report;
ii. NOTED that scoping sessions had been organised in October 2017 between the Council and HTSI to take forward digital solutions.  These were a web based Gateway as a way of finding out what information was available and how to get it and an App matching volunteers to volunteering opportunities (initially for Caithness and Inverness).  Prototypes were intended to be developed for the COG and Board early next year and they would be informed by referring to event participants and other community bodies identified;
iii. NOTED that the quality improvement process in use by NHS Highland was not seen as suitable for understanding the extent of duplication/overlap across all support providers but the HTSI had been offered facilitation to apply the methodology if interested;
iv. NOTED that a report would be presented to the CPP Board in December or in the new year and AGREED that partners should feedback ideas and offers of support to the Community Action Subgroup in order that the report could set out a range of actions that would advance the community action agenda.  It was further AGREED that the report should include the outcomes the CPP would wish to see in five years’ time;
v.  AGREED that officers raise the importance of the community action agenda, and the need for better engagement/collaboration, within their respective organisations.  In particular, it was AGREED that the Director of Business and Sector Development, HIE, ensure that HIE was represented on the Community Action Subgroup;
vi. AGREED, in relation to enabling advocacy support and mentoring, that the Director of Business and Sector Development, HIE, would liaise with Strengthening Communities colleagues to ensure that the advice/support available from HIE was better publicised; and
vii. AGREED that the conclusions of the HIE Strengthening Communities National Conference on 21-22 September 2017 be fed back to the COG on 7 November 2017

6. Highland Outcome Improvement Plan (HOIP)

There had been circulated Report No COG/06/17 by the HOIP Subgroup.

Following discussion on the proposed amendments to the HOIP, the areas of feedback from the consultation where it was proposed there was no immediate amendment, and the focus of the proposed action plan, the Group AGREED the proposed amendments and action plan for final presentation to the Community Planning Board on 4 October 2017, subject to:

i. the Board being asked to consider whether Environment should be added as a cross-cutting theme.  In this regard, it was NOTED that the Board would also need to consider how the environment linked to tackling inequalities; and
ii. it being remitted to the HOIP Subgroup to undertake further development work, prior to presentation to the Board, on the proposal for a “Locality Plan” specifically for people with a disability as a community of interest.

It was further NOTED that there were already partnership actions underway which would contribute towards meeting the outcomes of the HOIP, eg the Green Health Partnership, and these would be captured as part of the action planning process.

7. School Leaver Destinations and the Participation Measure

The Head of Operations, North Region, Skills Development Scotland (SDS), provided an update on the Participation Measure which, it was explained, had been developed as a key measure of success in relation to the National Performance Framework indicator “Increase the proportion of young people in learning, training or work”.  It was a national local authority level measure and a summary of the 2017 Annual Participation Measure for the Highland Council area was tabled.  Further information was available on the SDS website (http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/) and it was confirmed that data could be broken down by gender, geographical area etc.

Following discussion, during which it was suggested that the decrease in participation in education, the variation in overall participation between March and October each year, and the high rate of participation in employment as opposed to training merited further exploration, the Group:

i. NOTED the update;
ii. AGREED that a report be presented to a future meeting of the COG highlighting the issues on which the CPP might focus; and
iii. AGREED to raise awareness of the SDS data hub and the capacity to break down data by geographical area at the Community Partnerships Development Day.

8. Community Justice Plan

The Director of Care and Learning, Highland Council, provided an update on the Community Justice Plan, during which he tabled the Terms of Reference of the Community Justice Partnership (CJP) and reminded relevant partners of their commitment, at the CPP Board on 15 March 2017, to consider what decision-making responsibilities they would devolve to it.  In addition, it was necessary to consider where the CJP sat within partner organisations’ governance structures – for example, within the Council it reported to the People Committee.

Supt P MacRae, Chair of the CJP, added that the Community Justice Plan was embryonic and, whilst it contained actions, further development work was required to deliver practical outcomes.  Progress would be made at the next meeting of the CJP, scheduled to take place on 27 September 2017.  The Plan aimed to achieve a great deal in terms of joint working and the need for it to be fully embedded within partner organisations was emphasised.

The Group NOTED the update and AGREED that the Chair of the CJP raise the issues of what decision-making responsibilities would be devolved to the CJP and where the CJP sat within partner organisations’ governance structures at the next meeting and report back to the COG on 7 November 2017.

9. Developing Community Partnerships – Update

There had been circulated Report No COG/07/17 by the Acting Head of Policy, Highland Council, on behalf of the Community Partnerships Subgroup.

Following discussion, particularly in relation to the content and stage of the various Community Partnership plans and the need for support, both at Community Partnership and CPP level, the Group:

i. Resolving Conflict: AGREED the process for resolving conflict as set out in section 2.2 of the report;
ii. Inequality Impact Assessment: AGREED that Community Partnerships use the tool set out in Appendix 1 of the report to help assess the impact of their plans.  NOTED that the Equality and Diversity Group would provide support to Community Partnerships in using the tool;
iii. New Locality Areas: APPROVED the request by the East Ross Community Partnership as set out in section 2.4 of the report;
iv. Accountability: NOTED the complexities and interconnecting issues regarding this matter and AGREED that further discussion was required.  The Community Partnerships Subgroup would take this forward and report back to the next meeting of the COG;
v. Resources: NOTED the issue of capacity as raised by Community Partnership Chairs and the importance of each partner organisation prioritising and committing to Community Partnerships; and
vi. Community Partnerships Development Day: NOTED the draft programme for the Community Partnerships Development Day as set out in Appendix 3 of the report and AGREED that it be reviewed to ensure that there was an opportunity for areas of concern to be raised and discussed.

10. National Developments across Child Protection and Adult Support and Protection – Impact on Chief Officer Group Structure

There had been circulated Report No COG/08/17 by Detective Chief Inspector V McLaughlin, Police Scotland, asking the Group to review current Chief Officer Group structures within the CPP model as they related to leadership, governance and accountability of public protection theme groups, and to consider the development of a Public Protection-specific Chief Officer Group for Highland within the CPP model.

Following discussion, during which the Chair, in his role as Chief Executive of the Council, commented that he would welcome more regular and structured involvement, the Group AGREED that Ch Supt Macdonald convene a meeting with the Chief Executives of the Council and NHS Highland to discuss the matter further with a view to coming back to the COG and Board with working recommendations.

11. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Transformation

The Area Manager and Local Senior Officer, SFRS, gave a presentation, accompanied by a short video, on SFRS transformation.  It was explained that the presentation formed part of an extensive engagement exercise with partners, communities and staff, and there would be a full public consultation in the coming months. SFRS was committed to delivering in partnership and partners’ views, ideas and insights would help shape delivery.  

Having commended the Area Manager and Local Senior Officer and his team for the partnership work already taking place in Highland, the Group NOTED the presentation.

12. Breakthrough Achievements

There had been circulated an update on the “Reach Out” campaign to reduce social isolation and loneliness.  In particular, it was highlighted that discussions had taken place regarding how the campaign might be evaluated in the coming year and how to capture the partnership activity taking place.

In relation to the proposal to offer employment to Highland’s care leavers, it had been recognised that there was a need for a fresh approach to fulfil the commitment made by the CPP and discussions were underway in that regard.

The partnership approach to the recruitment of retained firefighters was a good news story, partners having delivered on their commitment and an unprecedented number of applications having been received.

Following discussion regarding potential proposals for 2018, during which it was suggested that consideration be given to a breakthrough achievement relating to mental health, the Group:

i. NOTED the updates;
ii. AGREED that further discussions take place regarding how to define a breakthrough achievement relating to suicide prevention; and
iii. AGREED that partners consider other potential areas for a breakthrough achievement.

13. Future Agenda Items

Community Planning Board – items proposed for 4 October 2017

The Group NOTED the proposed list of items, as follows, and that this would be revised to reflect the changes agreed during the course of discussion:

• Developing Community Partnerships – Update
• Supporting more community action and community-run services
• Highland Outcome Improvement Plan
• The impact of the Fort William smelter development on the locality and the issues to be addressed at CPP level – report by new CPP Subgroup as agreed at the Board on 15 March 2017
• Community Justice Plan
• National Developments across Child Protection and Adult Support and Protection – Impact on Chief Officer Group Structure
• Presentation: Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Transformation
• Breakthrough Achievements
• Delivering Partnership Outcomes – Annual Performance Reports 2016/17

Chief Officers’ Group – 7 November 2017

The Group NOTED the following and AGREED that officers notify the Committee Administrator of any further suggested future items:

• Apprenticeship Levy

14. Date of Next Meeting

The Group NOTED that the next meeting was scheduled to take place at 2.00 pm on Tuesday 7 November 2017 in Committee Room 1, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness.

It was further NOTED that the Committee Administrator would liaise with partners regarding potential COG and Board dates in 2018 in early course.

15. Any Other Business

The Head of Health Improvement, NHS Highland, explained that she had been approached by Paths for All seeking the CPP’s participation in an expression of interest to the Big Lottery Fund (Scotland) Early Action System Change Fund on the theme of Healthy Diet and Active Lifestyle.

A briefing paper had been prepared and, given that the deadline for expressions of interest was 2 October 2017, it was suggested that it be circulated to partners for comment.

The Group so AGREED.

The meeting ended at 1.00 pm.