Agenda item

Allison Westray-Chapman, interim Assistant Director for Place, Communities and Enterprise, summarised the first parts of the report and highlighted several salient points.

COVID restrictions had been lifted in Q4, meaning the doors of the Old Town Hall had been reopened, with 5 sold-out performances and average attendance of 69% at live shows.  Highly positive feedback had been received from customers on a satisfaction survey.

In Community Partnerships, positive results had been achieved in respect of the Healthy Hub, particularly in terms of vaccine updates.  Just under 2,500 patients had been called, and nearly 300 vaccines delivered with a further c.170 with vaccinations scheduled.  400-plus individuals had been referred to the Healthy Hub, especially through online mechanisms.

A virtual Community Grants ceremony had been held, with a link provided in the report to the Facebook page.

Karen Proudfoot, Interim Head of Community Safety and Children’s Services, then summarised the remainder of the report.

Work continued to maintain consistent numbers in relation to the safeguarding service. 

Work was also continuing to tackle antisocial behaviour (ASB), in partnership with multiple organisations across the Borough.  A community trigger had been received, through which members of the community had requested a review of the handling of their ASB complaint, to identify if the response to this particular complaint had been appropriate or whether further action needed to be taken.  In this case, it was decided that the process would be reviewed due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the case.

Adventure playgrounds across the Borough had benefitted from improvement works and continued to see increasing attendance.  One playground had also benefitted from a grant from the Digital, Cultural, Media and Sports Investment Fund of £45,000.

The report was noted, and the floor was opened to questions.

Cllr Harden queried whether KPIs were available within the report.  EW responded that KPIs were not currently used for quarterly reporting.  However, it was pointed out that work was underway to examine which KPIs could be used for such purposes going forward.

Cllr Adeleke welcomed EW and KP.  In response to a query, it was reported that recruitment for the positions detailed in the report remained ongoing.

Cllr Adeleke then asked how many event tickets were expected to be sold in total.  Cllr Banks clarified that around 200 tickets had been sold in previous years.

On the adventure playground funding of £45,000, Cllr Adeleke asked whether similar funding could be applied for in relation to other playgrounds.  KP pointed out that further bids would be submitted in future for any funding made available. 

Cllr Adeleke also thanked those involved in relation to the community trigger mechanism, which was highly effective and well-received by residents.

Cllr Imarni was very pleased to hear that the Old Town Hall was reopened and was being used.  She then asked for an update at a future time in relation to potential refurbishment works. 

ACTION– update to be provided at a future meeting in relation to funding for Old Town Hall refurbishment works.