To endorse the full implementation of the Place Programme across the Borough.

That the full implementation of the Place Programme across the Borough be ENDORSED.  

68.1           The report of the Deputy Chief Executive, circulated at Pages No. 123-130, set out the approach taken within the pilot that had been ongoing in the east of the Borough and asked that Members endorse the place programme approach and its implementation across the whole Borough.    

68.2           The Deputy Chief Executive explained that the place programme had been a concept for a while and was part of the ‘culture of people’ strand of the Council’s transformation programme to make it a more effective organisation. The Council, in common with the whole of the public sector, faced reduced funding over coming years and it was felt that there was a need to build capacity and resilience within communities to support them in an age of those continuing reductions. The place programme was really an internal change project which would broaden Officers’ understanding of the communities in the Borough as well as enhancing support to Councillors in their community leadership roles. It was felt that the Council had many resources to offer communities such as skills, capacity, information etc. and these could be better provided to enable community action.

68.3           The pilot in the east of the Borough had shown a different way of thinking; Officer meetings, across service areas, were held to discuss projects, problems, planning applications etc. in the area and also Member meetings were held on a quarterly basis to share information and raise relevant concerns. There had been a lot of positive feedback received from the Members engaged to date. Officers had also spoken to the Council’s partners about the approach and many had expressed a wish to participate; it was intended that the approach would become ‘business as usual’ at some point but this was a change in culture amongst the workforce which may take some time to embed across the whole authority. Members were asked to endorse the approach so that it could be rolled out across the Borough.

68.4           During the discussion which ensued, Members offered their congratulations on the way the project had worked so far. They indicated that the pilot had done a lot of excellent work and they were looking forward to the roll out so that the rest of the Borough could benefit. One Member expressed the view that people from outside of the Council did not seem to know what the place programme approach was and he felt that there was work to do with Parishes in that regard. In response, the Deputy Chief Executive explained that this was an internal approach to how the Council could do things differently. It was hoped that people outside of the Council would see a difference but it was not something that had necessarily been ‘advertised’. Presentations had been made to Parishes at the Parish Seminars/Clerks events and more could be done if it was felt necessary. The three Community Development Officers had been working within the Parishes in each of their areas to build links and this would be further strengthened once the place programme approach was rolled out. Other Members confirmed that this was what had happened in the east area where the Community Development Officer was well known to the Parishes she worked with. They reiterated that the project had been excellent and they felt that all of the initiatives introduced, i.e. Member meetings; local working; community support etc., had been fantastic.

68.5           Accordingly, it was