Maidstone Locality Board MEETING

25 June 2012, 2.00  - 4.10 pm, Town Hall, High Street, Maidstone

Present:

 Adams

Kent Fire and Rescue Service

Cllr Beerling

Maidstone Borough Council

Bumpus

Kent Police

Butcher

Maidstone Borough Council

Carter

Kent County Council

Chell

Kent County Council

Cllr Chittenden

Kent County Council

Cllr Cooke

Kent County Council

Cllr Daley

Kent County Council

Cllr Garland

Maidstone Borough Council

Cllr Mrs Gooch

Maidstone Borough Council

Cllr Greer

Maidstone Borough Council

Hall

West Kent PCT

Cllr Hotson

Maidstone Borough Council

Cllr D Mortimer

Maidstone Borough Council

Cllr Mrs Ring

Maidstone Borough Council

Cllr Mrs Stockell

Kent County Council

Cllr Mrs Whittle

Kent County Council

Cllr J.A. Wilson

Maidstone Borough Council

MINUTES

14.         

Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Fran Wilson, Cllr Stephen Paine, Cllr Malcolm Robertson, Cllr John Hughes and Jackie Pye.

15.         

Minutes of the Meeting held on 28 March 2012

These were agreed as a true record with no amendments.

16.         

Matters and Actions Arising

All actions completed, except for two which are on this agenda.

17.         

Tackling Worklessness

Introductory presentation by Zena Cooke, Director of Regeneration and Communities, MBC

The presentation gave the current position concerning the extent of youth unemployment and barriers to employment.  It also set out a series of practical actions to address this priority.  (See presentation slides attached to these minutes.)

Comments

PC – Reminded the meeting of the £2m Kent apprenticeships scheme and of the need for linking up initiatives in a cohesive way.

http://www.kent.gov.uk/news_and_events/news_archive/2011/june_2011/new_information_technology_app.aspx?theme=mobile

ZC – MBC’s co-ordinating function is confirmed.

GC – It may be that up to 25% of the Kent apprenticeships scheme could be directed towards Maidstone.

CG – Can that 25% be confirmed?

GC – No, but we need to keep a Maidstone context.

Case Studies

1.       Supporting communities back into work – Time banking: developing the model in Maidstone (presentations) http://www.timebanking.org/about/what-is-a-timebank/

Sam Hopley, CEO, Timebanking UK and CEO HCCT, Camden Shares

Vicky Butler, SILK Team, KCC

·      Timebanking started in 1996 and has grown to over 3m hrs a year.  The principle is an hour for an hour, and is used for the co-production of community services;

·      A grant of e.g. £5,000 is good, but it is even better if it comes with 100 people hours;

·      Timebanking aims to build solutions at local level, with self-sustaining and cost neutral schemes;

·      Participants earn credits for hours worked and often find that time banking is a stepping stone into paid work;

·      Parkwood is a large scheme with over 1,000 credits currently in circulation

http://socialinnovation.typepad.com/silk/2010/09/time-banking-in-parkwood.html ;

·      Credits are ‘recycled’ around e.g. from school to Fusion Café to volunteer time;

·      Some people have made the transition in to work.  A good example is John who now runs his own handyman service.

Discussion

SH – In answer to a question on costs, start-up costs are minimal;

MR – Need one point of contact for youth, older people.  So many groups are overlapping in their work.  Accountability is needed as to where NEETS end up;

CG – Timebanking is about a long term commitment to finding work, not endless volunteering;

VB – Parkwood decided that they did not want a paid worker to promote the scheme;

DD – Need to focus down on one target – 50 work experience placements.  What return to work courses are available?  Could incentivise/contract with young people NEET;

GC – Timebanking needs more flexibility as to how to spend time credits.  Is it possible to widen the range of ‘outlets’, and add value to the time banking hour;

ZC – The Parkwood scheme could be widened to include e.g. subsidised cinema tickets, subsidised transport.

2.       Progress! Programme – supporting local people into employment – (Presentation) Kathy Melling, KCC Adult Social Services, & Lucy Anderson, Skills Training UK

LA – Skills Training UK deliver employment training across the whole south-east. 

• The programme was recently re-named Progress! http://progressprogramme.com/
• Progress! works with families to become more employable
• 530 people in 400 families have been referred in the south-east.
• Around 50% of clients enter education, employment or training.
• Progress! looks hard at the barriers to work faced by families and looks to achieve tangible outcomes e.g. achieving a first qualification

http://www.skillstraininguk.com/

KM – In answer to a query on the two Troubled Families ‘strands’ (European Social Foundation and Dept Work & Pensions), the main difference between the two is the referral route.  The referral route for ESF puts local authorities in control.  Eligibility has recently been relaxed so that only one family member has to be in receipt of a work-related benefit.

Discussion

EH – Will agencies e.g. Police, HNS, Courts give the savings from the troubled families scheme back to local authorities?

ZC – Funding is not really the problem, getting and keeping co-ordinated is.

IC – How many potential clients are there in Kent?

LA – There is an allocation of 2,600 in Kent, the largest allocation in South-East.  The aim is to identify them by June 2014.  There are 222 indicative clients in Maidstone, and 73 individuals have been referred so far in Kent.  Kent is rolling out the scheme local authority by local authority – 6 Councils so far referring into the scheme;

JW – Is the referral criteria the same as for the DWP scheme?

KM – There is no attachment fee, only payment by results on progress measures.  DWP have set a target of 30% of clients in sustained employment.

JW – What is the cost?

LA - £14m in the South-East, but will find the figure for Kent;

CG – Do we know where the NEETS are?

ZC – Yes – Connexions track them;

JAW – How are we joining up?

LA – Intensive family intervention in the home ¢ then work with Skills Training UK to get into employment;

ZC – The two strands are:

ü  DWP ¢ ESF ¢ employment based

ü  DCLG ¢ Troubled Families;

PC – The two streams have potential for massive overlap, well intentioned silos;

GC – There is a need to keep it simple, add clarity

• The Priorities Focus Group can keep an overview
• MLB needs to be kept informed as to progress
• The co-ordinating function is needed
• Need to engage with employers.

PC – KCC will recruit 12 local authority co-ordinators;

JT – Employers have barriers to employing people – reasons why they might not recruit – need to talk to employers to gain real understanding;

PC – If 10,000 Eastern Europeans can find work, why can’t our unemployed – the attractiveness of work should increase as the welfare/benefits regime changes;

JT – Youth unemployment is high, but are they prepared for work?  Abilities and attitude;

ZC – There are sufficient vacancies;

The co-ordinating function applies not just to the public sector, but to the private sector as well;

Work placements do lead to permanent employment;

PC – Is it possible to circulate the profile of those vacancies;

GC – Maidstone’s Core Strategy 2026 pledges jobs growth, we must build a model that ensures the ‘supply’ of NEETS is cut of;

CG – Proceed to vote.

Agreed:  The Proposed Actions in the Director of Regeneration & Communities’ presentation were agreed:

     i.        Invite Job Centre Plus to join the Maidstone Locality Board;

    ii.        Establish a co-ordinating function within MBC;

   iii.        Identify and engage with 10 local employers to support and mentor young people NEET;

  iv.        Secure 50 work experience placements by December 2012;

    v.        Use Connexions data to identify 30 NEETs and work with them into employment within 6 months;

Present the findings of barriers to employment and make further recommendations at the next meeting.

18.         

Local Board Priorities

Update by Councillor Gary Cooke, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education, Learning and Skills, KCC

GC updated the meeting as to results from the Priorities Focus Group meeting 28 May where Members concentrated on differentiating between:

Population Accountability – concerns the wellbeing of whole populations

Performance Accountability – concerns the wellbeing of customer populations, and thereby moving from ends to means, turning talk into action.

Agreed: The full results of the Priorities Focus Group 28 May to be circulated with these Minutes.

19.         

Any Other Business

Update on Transforming Youth Services in Maidstone (verbal update), Cllr Gary Cooke, Kent County Council

GC gave a summary of the results of the Transforming Youth Services Focus Group meetings held in April & May.  The PQQ and ITT/Work Specification had been considered in detail, youth facilities in Lenham would remain, and questions regarding the funding of building maintenance raised with KCC property. 

PB raised the issue that young people themselves seemed not to have been very involved with the Youth Service Transformation, and that KALC would seek to meet with KCC to address the gaps in provision.

Agreed:

i) MLB to note the report

ii) KALC will seek to meet with the relevant KCC cabinet member.

Maidstone Integrated Local Area Workforce Strategy (InLAWS) (verbal update), Zena Cooke, Maidstone Borough Council

InLAWS is a long-term strategy for the health and social care workforce.

Agreed:  Actions arising from the report to be considered in greater detail at the next MLB meeting (1 October).

KCC Consultation: Draft Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2012-17 (paper), Cllr Gary Cooke, Kent County Council and Zena Cooke, Director of Regeneration and Communities, MBC

ZC introduced the Draft Commissioning Plan and highlighted its main proposals for Maidstone, including the provision of temporary classrooms and new schools.

GC clarified that the Draft Plan was based on standard class sizes of 30 in primary schools, 33 for juniors.

Agreed:  To note the consultation document Draft Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2012-17 and that MLB member organisations will respond individually to it as appropriate.

Maidstone Locality Board Logo and Website (paper), Sarah Robson, Maidstone Borough Council

Agreed:

i) The MLB logo design was accepted without change.

ii) The Board agreed to the website as it is developed.

Broadband – Make Kent Quicker campaign (verbal update), Abi Jessop, Kent County Council

MLB members were asked to encourage to people to register for this campaign (Maidstone has the second highest request rate in the County at 13.3%).

A query was raised regarding DEFRA grant.  To be followed-up with relevant KCC/MBC officers.

20.         

Duration of Meeting

2.00 p.m. to 4.10 p.m.

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