Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 February and reconvened on 25 February were accepted as an accurate record subject to the following amendment:

It was noted that John Mungall of NHS Argyll and Clyde was present at the meeting on 11 February 2004.

Lolita advised that the Community Planning Management Committee papers were now published on the Council’s website and that paper copies would not be issued for future meetings unless specifically requested.

Everyone that attended the DRIVESafe Launch on 13 April agreed that it was an excellent event, which was very well run and the meeting thanked Carl and Lolita for all their hard work in the organisation of this. It was noted that there had been a very good turn out of representatives from the private sector with a lot of people travelling a long way to show their support.

In Neil Wallace’s absence Andrew Campbell gave a report on the Impact of Poverty on Mental Health Seminar. He advised that the Seminar was excellent with presentations and discussion groups, which he found valuable. Tricia McCrossan who had organised the event advised that the Scottish Executive and SIP funded the seminar with involvement from the Health Trust and the Health Improvement Officer.

It was noted that the issues at the Seminar would be discussed by the Health and Well-being Theme Group with recommendations on actions coming back to the Management Committee. It was agreed that Ailsa Clark from the Employability Team should be invited to attend the Theme Group meeting.

Andrew gave feedback on the Partnerships Training Course and thanked the Council for enabling him to attend. The training was run by Chris Huxham from the Strathclyde Business School and looked at the value and difficulties of Partnership working. Through her involvement in the Community Planning Task Force, Chris was able to give valuable insight into partnership working and various issues pertaining to Community Planning. Andrew advised that 2 key phrases were constantly used, namely “Collaborative Inertia” and “Collaborative Advantage” and that Chris had stressed that you should not work in partnership if you do not need to or else “Collaborative inertia” will set in.

Following the training event Andrew surmised that Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership were doing well.

Alastair MacGregor who had been seconded from his job as Chief Executive of Queen’s Cross Housing Association in Glasgow to the post of RSL Manager to guide the Council through its Housing Stock Transfer process over the next 18 months gave a very informative presentation on this process.

He highlighted the 8 key objectives for the first 6 months, progress to date as well as the investment opportunities for Partners from the stock transfer process. It was noted that if the transfer went ahead following the ballot of tenants in March 2005, transfer of stock to the new Housing Association would take place in October 2005.

After a question and answer session the Committee thanked Alastair for his presentation and agreed to give their support. It was also agreed that if any Partnership wished to discuss any aspect of this further they could contact Alastair directly on 01546 604412. It was noted that Alastair would be happy to give the Committee further updates as and when required.

James McLellan gave a brief update on the Education NPDO Project. It was noted the Precept had been accepted as the provisional preferred bidder with the plan to build 17 campuses with an investment amount of £80 million. James advised that Bob MacKay, the former Director of Education for Perth Council, was leading on the consultation process after which a final decision on the Project would be taken at the Council meeting in July moving to financial closure in October.

The Committee discussed the report on the results on the 7^th Questionnaire to the Citizens’ Panel which had been prepared by Lowland Market Research along with a table drafted by Lolita Lavery, which compared these results with those from the 1^st Questionnaire issued 3 years ago.

Lolita advised that Jeremy Quinn from Lowland Market Research would be attending the next meeting of the Management Committee to give a presentation on the Questionnaire findings after which date the results would be published on the website. It was agreed that in the interim each Partner should take the results back to their own organisation’s Management Team for discussion and that the Communications Group should also be given the opportunity of looking at the results.

Lolita mentioned that the Working Group to draft a new brief for a Consultant to administer the Citizen’s Panel would be meeting on 23 April 2004.

Lolita advised that the Communications Group would be meeting shortly and that a draft Communications Plan would be submitted to the next Management Committee meeting.

It was noted that the Deprivation Study would be discussed at the next meeting of Theme Group 3 where key issues/actions would be identified to be taken forward by the Partnership.

After discussion it was agreed that the Deprivation Study could now be made available on the Council and CPP websites and Lolita advised that she would e-mail all Partners informing them of this. It was furthermore agreed that the Scottish Centre for Social Justice could publish the report on their website, but that the Management Committee be consulted prior to them publishing any additional reports/further analysis on the findings.

Theme Group 1

John Mungall reported that although the Group’s actions were progressing well, some of the actions would be revisited to firm up on the action plan. He also confirmed that the Group would address issues forthcoming from the Mental Health Seminar. It was noted that their next meeting on 19 April would be John’s last as he was moving to a new position within the Health Board. John advised that his successor would be Gavin Brown, Head of Planning for Lomond and Argyll and he would be attending the meeting on 19 April. It was noted that John would introduce Gavin at the next meeting of the Management Committee.

Theme Group 2

Alan Milstead reported that he was having difficulty convening a meeting of this Group and that the majority of members were not replying to his e-mails. He advised that he thought the actions needed to be revised as well as the relationship between Theme Group 2 and the Local Economic Fora. After discussion it was agreed that Brian Barker, Alan and Lolita should meet to discuss this further.

Theme Group 3

Donald MacVicar who had taken over as Lead Officer from Dougie Dunlop advised that he had met with Lolita and Dougie and it had been agreed that the priorities for the Group and the Group membership needed to be reviewed. Donald confirmed that the Group would be looking at the issues contained in the Deprivation Study and that new criteria for the Group would be determined as his aim was to streamline and simplify the Group and examine the way it was operating.

The Committee noted a letter from the Scottish Executive advising of an initiative that was being set up to develop direct contacts between members of the Executive’s Management Group and groups of Community Planning Partnerships which will support the Executive in improving their understanding of and interaction with stakeholders as part of their “Changing to Deliver” programme.

It was further noted that Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership had been grouped with the Community Planning Partnerships for Highland, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. A brief discussion ensued as to whether Argyll and Bute should rather be grouped with the Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnerships. It was agreed that Argyll and Bute would remain in the current grouping and monitor whether this grouping was relevant to the Community Planning issues facing Argyll and Bute as time progressed.

It was noted that Arlene Cullum, the Council’s Corporate Funding Officer was collating comments on the consultation paper on the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund and that a draft would be circulated for final comments on 7 May.

It was agreed to make this draft document available to Partners for comment and that each organisation would also submit their responses on the consultation paper to the Scottish Executive individually.

James advised that each Council would be audited on their approach to Best Value over the next 3 years and he asked the Committee to note that part of this audit would look at the Council’s role in terms of Community Planning.

It was noted that training on Best Value was being carried out for the Council’s Heads of Service on 7 May 2004 and this invitation was extended to any Partner who may find this training useful. Anyone wishing to take part in this training should contact Jennifer Swanson on 01546 604298 to advise of their attendance.

The Committee noted a paper by the Bute and Cowal Area Chair and Strategic Director, which would be discussed at the next meeting of the Community Regeneration Implementation Group with feedback to the next Management Committee meeting.

Sue Nash reported that £59,000 had been secured from Communities Scotland to fund the posts of 2 workers.

The Committee noted the contents of a report tabled by Tricia McCrossan which gave an update on the Statement of Readiness.

Alan Miilstead advised that Bill Sylvester from HIE who had responsibility for Community Planning and its integration in the Highlands as well as Jobs Dispersal would like to attend the next meeting of the Management Committee to give a presentation on Highland 2007, the Fesitval of Highland Culture in Inverness. It was agreed to invite Bill to the next meeting.

On the subject of Jobs Dispersal, James advised that copies of the Council’s submission to the Scottish Executive on the Relocation Policy was available fro any interested Partners and that if they wished a copy they should contact Fiona McCallum on 10546 604159.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Management Committee would be held on 16 June 2004.