Your Councillors

Locality Board Priorities and Performance

AGENDA ITEM 3

MAIDSTONE LOCALITY BOARD

Locality Board Priorities and Performance

December 2012

Debra Exall, Strategic Relationships Adviser, Kent County Council,

Abi Jessop, Community Engagement Officer, Kent County Council, Zena Cooke, Director of Regeneration and Communities, Maidstone Borough Council, Sarah Robson, Community Partnerships Manager, Maidstone Borough Council

1. Setting the Priorities

1.1�� The Priorities Task and Finish Focus Group met on 2 March 2012 and following consideration of the evidence, three priorities were agreed and endorsed by the Maidstone Locality Board at the June meeting:

� Community Budgets

� Reducing worklessness and poverty

� Local environmental improvements

1.2�� At the October meeting, the Board considered extracts from the detailed Locality Dashboard which related to the worklessness and poverty theme, agreed the Scorecard for that theme and asked for a similar Scorecard to be developed on Environmental Improvements.

1.3�� For each of these priorities, the Board has agreed that it will establish a sub-group to drive them forward and identify and monitor the key performance indicators that will evidence impact. ��

1.4�� Troubled Families is a separate item on the Board�s agenda, and it is proposed that this programme is now incorporated within the Community Budgets priority, so the priority becomes �Community Budgets (Troubled Families)�.� The sub-group overseeing this priority will therefore effectively become the Project Board for the Troubled Families programme.

2.�� Three priorities; seven outcomes

�� Underpinning the three agreed priorities, seven long-term outcomes are set out below for the Board�s consideration. These could be identified for the period to 2020:

2.1 Maidstone is a great place to do business with higher levels of investment and business growth: Through business support services, planning and skills development, we will have made Maidstone an attractive borough to establish a business. We will have supported economic growth and encouraged development and regeneration of sites across the borough. This will provide the safe, welcoming and attractive environment that businesses need to thrive. We will have increased the overall employment rate with a significant number of new jobs created across a range of industries and commercial sectors and in a wide variety of locations.

2.2 Greater wellbeing for households through higher numbers of residents in employment: Maidstone will have a much higher employment rate. This will be achieved by ensuring all our communities have access to seamless education/training opportunities, which will in turn provide Maidstone residents with the right skills to gain employment. Further, this increase in employment will also help to lift vulnerable people out of poverty and enable them to play an active role in their community.

2.3 Even more children and young people are on the path to success through the provision of good quality education, training and jobs which reduces the risk of exclusion and offending: More of our children will be on the path to success. We will ensure this is the case by helping them to be happy, healthy and safe. Services for children will be seamless and responsive to their needs. Early intervention and effective partnership working will ensure the safety and welfare of children. Attainment, skills and qualifications will continue to improve with more of our young people having the right qualifications to succeed in adulthood. Services for children and young people will increasingly be co-designed with more effective engagement of children, young people and families � particularly those from vulnerable and seldom heard groups.

2.4 Safe and cohesive places where people are empowered and have the confidence to play active roles in their communities: Maidstone will be an even more desirable place to live. Our diverse communities in Maidstone will be safer and stronger. In addition, our communities will continue to be highly cohesive, with people getting on well with one another. People in Maidstone will also play an active role in their local area through a variety of means such as volunteering.

2.5 Improved health and wellbeing of people which enables them to live active and independent lives: We will have facilitated the creation of active, healthy and independent communities where the gap in health inequalities within the borough have been reduced. In addition, health services within Maidstone will be equally accessible to all members of the community. Health and social care services will be based around enabling independence, providing choice and promoting control. This will be achieved through increased personalisation of social care services and greater patient choice around the health care services they receive.

2.6 Lower levels of poverty and social exclusion in Maidstone by helping more of our socially excluded adults into employment, education and training: Maidstone will have lower levels of poverty and social exclusion by tackling the barriers which stop people actively participating in society. This will ensure all our communities have equal access to services and opportunities. The most vulnerable members of our community will receive tailored support services that help them access training, education, employment opportunities and the welfare benefits they are entitled to.

2.7 Mixed and sustainable communities with an increased supply of new homes, improved existing dwellings and a high quality physical environment: We will have helped more people to access affordable high quality housing and reduced the number of people living in temporary accommodation. In addition, the quality of our environment will be improved with cleaner streets and high quality green spaces. Further, Maidstone Locality Board will play an active role in neighbourhood action planning helping to address local issues and improve the quality of life for residents by developing a common understanding of issues within areas of high need, including environmental improvements, but other crossing cutting issues such as health inequalities, low levels of educational attainment, skills and qualifications, high unemployment and low economic activity.

2.8�� It is proposed that these outcomes should drive the development of performance measures for the three priorities to ensure tangible actions are identified and delivered.

2.9�� The vision of building and maintaining strong communities presides over the priorities and outcomes supported by the Maidstone Locality Board. Community strength flows from the characteristics and actions of people, equipped and enabled to influence decisions that affect their lives within their neighbourhood, town centre or borough. Our priorities will be reviewed over time, at least every three years, to make sure that we are flexible, build on our success and respond to changing needs.

3.�� Identifying actions and performance indicators for the priorities and outcomes

��

3.1�� Priority 1: Community Budgets (Troubled Families)

�� Actions in relation to the Troubled Families programme will be identified in the separate item on the agenda, or subsequently by the Project Board for Troubled Families.

3.2�� Priority 2: Reducing worklessness and poverty

�� This priority closely links to the Troubled Families priority, but includes broader actions to reduce worklessness, poverty and health inequalities across all groups. At the last meeting the Board agreed the following actions:

� Create a matching website for skills training, volunteer and apprenticeship opportunities;

� Work with business to create a starter guide to setting up your own business;

� Identify and prioritise employment, education and training needs with young people and business;

� Identify and secure external funding for projects that improve access to employment;

� Investigate issues around transport costs � set up a task and finish group.

� Review and evaluate all services and projects for unemployed or NEET young people � align (do once and properly) or stop (take action if no/poor outcomes)

� Develop a better understanding of employers� requirements and the local job market by working directly with Maidstone employers

� Commission the Business Partnership and Financial Inclusion Partnership to deliver/co-ordinate the programme.

� ��Support hosting a Self Care Event as part of Self Care Week (12-18 November);

� ��Support an initiative to inform housing, leisure and other public facing service staff about community support for vulnerable adults;

� ��Support a �We Care in Maidstone� initiative to recruit and incentivise young people into social care (apprenticeships, work experience, work with young people�s community services).

3.3�� The key objectives that relate to this priority are:

� Maidstone is a great place to do business with higher levels of investment and business growth.

� Greater wellbeing for households through higher numbers of residents in employment.

� Even more children and young people are on the path to success through the provision of good quality education, training and jobs which reduces the risk of exclusion and offending.

� Improved health and wellbeing of people which enables them to live active and independent lives.

� Lower levels of poverty and social exclusion in Maidstone by helping more of our socially excluded adults into employment, education and training.

3.4�� The Sub-group on Reducing Worklessness and Poverty will need to identify a programme of work, associated actions and performance measures to report back to the Board.�

3.5�� Priority 3: Local Environmental Improvements

�� The draft Environmental Improvements Scorecard, drawn up following the Priorities Sub-Group workshop, included the following actions relating specifically to the local environment:

� Make recycling more available.

� Identify and work with key litter-producing businesses.

� Link up with the outcomes of KCC�s review of household waste recycling centres and future service delivery.

� Review street furniture provision.

3.6�� However, the sub-group needs to have a broader focus, to include community development considerations, infrastructure and so on. Maidstone�s natural beauty and its attractive historic town centre and parishes are rightly admired. The challenge is to ensure the borough and its communities continue to prosper, whilst maintaining the health of our environment and communities, which itself contributes to that prosperity and which is now clearly recognised as being essential to our own wellbeing.

3.7�� The task of regenerating Maidstone�s most deprived neighbourhoods is a complex task demanding a range of interventions around social capital, improved local services, skills, housing, crime and infrastructure as well as economic opportunity. Focusing on large-scale economic renewal can only achieve so much. Maidstone borough still has neighbourhoods which are facing social challenges, often characterised by poor quality environments. Investing in the local environment can help support a renewed sense of pride in a neighbourhood and can go some way towards rejuvenating its economic base. Investing in the environmental and social infrastructure in a locality can deliver measurable economic gains.

3.8�� We want Maidstone to be a place where people enjoy living and a key part of this will be having access to affordable and decent housing. We understand that good housing promotes educational attainment, better health outcomes and employment opportunities. The provision of choice and affordability in housing for the citizens of Maidstone, including rural communities, which meets their needs and aspirations are addressed within this outcome. Decent means housing that meets residents� needs in terms of availability and size as well as meeting the national decent homes standard.

3.9�� The key objectives that relate to this priority are:

� Maidstone is a safe and cohesive place where people are empowered and have the confidence to play active roles in their communities.

� Mixed and sustainable communities with an increased supply of new homes, improved existing dwellings and a high quality physical environment.

3.10 The Task and Finish Priorities Group also agreed the following as part of Maidstone Locality Board�s role to engage all business sectors:

�� Communication and engagement with the business sector

�� The Maidstone Locality Board must ensure that businesses and local employers are engaged with locally agreed key priorities, and that it enables economic development by addressing barriers to growth.� The Maidstone Locality Board will lobby at the highest political level on behalf of those living and working in the Borough.

3.11 Appendix 1 lists the indicators from the Locality Board Dashboard which are relevant for each of the three priorities.� The Board now needs to establish the three Sub-Groups to drive forward these priorities.� Those Sub-Groups will further develop the action plans and performance measures and provide regular reports back to the main Board on progress.

4.�� Task and Finish Groups

4.1�� In addition to the Sub-Groups, it is proposed that the Maidstone Locality Board will set up Task and Finish Groups as and when required, to tackle emerging issues as they arise. Examples include:

� Establishing the Locality Board�s Priorities Sub-group

� Youth Services Transformation )� The Task and Finish Groups to replace

� Future Kent Libraries Provision )� the current Sub-Groups

� Kent Commissioning Plan for Education Provision (proposed elsewhere on the agenda)

5. Recommendations

5.1�� The Maidstone Locality Board:

� Approves the proposed outcomes against the agreed priorities and appoints chairs to oversee the establishment of each of the three priority sub groups, their membership and work programme, to develop action plans and performance measures accordingly.

� Agrees to the principle of Task and Finish groups being established to tackle emerging issues as they arise.

�

Appendix 1

Full List of Indicators from the Locality Board Dashboard which relate to each priority

Priority 1:� Troubled Families and Community Budgets

� Youth unemployment rates and absolute numbers

� First time entrants to the Youth Justice System

� Number of Troubled Families supported, and the outcomes achieved

� Teenage conception rate

� Number of children permanently excluded

� Percentage of children permanently excluded

� Persistent absence

� Looked After Children (LAC) per 10,000 aged under 18

� Percentage 16-18 year old NEETs

� Number 16-18 year old NEETs

� KCC Apprentice starts��

Priority 2:�� Reducing worklessness and poverty

� Worklessness

� Percentage workless

� Unemployment numbers

� Newly unemployed

� Unemployment rates

� Unemployment rates by age

� Percentage unemployment by duration

� Employees (workplace)

� Percentage employee change

� Industrial structure

� Median full-time resident earnings

� Median full-time workplace earnings

� Gross value added

� Resident workforce

� Percentage with no qualifications

� Percentage with NVQ4+

� Percentage adult smokers

� Male life expectancy at birth

� Female life expectancy at birth

� Percentage claiming disability benefits

� Incidence of malignant melanoma

� Cancer mortality

� Infant mortality rate

� Adult obesity

� Percentage obese children - year 6

� % achieving level 4+ English & Maths

� % achieving 5+ A*-C including English and Maths

� Number of schools below the KS2 floor

� Percentage of schools below the KS2 floor

� Number of schools in category (special notice or notice to improve)

Priority 3:�� Local environmental improvements

� Housing starts

� Housing completions

� Housing waiting list

� Waiting list as a proportion of all households

� Homelessness - those in temporary accommodation

� Section 106 Agreements - Money received

� All crime offences

� Burglary (dwellings)

� Robbery offences

� Theft offences

� Violence against the person

� Road traffic collisions

� Waste tonnage

� Percentage waste recycled/composted

� Carbon emissions per capita