Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report giving an overview of progress to date of the Transforming Neighbourhood Services (TNS) Programme, summarising the results of engagement work and consultation carried out in the North East area of the city and setting out proposals that are intended to be implemented by the TNS programme in relation to the North East area.

The Commission is recommended to note the progress made to date, feedback and lessons learned regarding the engagement activity in the East and Central area and is invited to comment on the proposals made in relation to the East and Central area.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report providing an overview of progress with the Transforming Neighbourhood Services (TNS) Programme, summarising the results of engagement work and consultation carried out in the east and central areas of the city and setting out proposals intended to be implemented by the TNS programme in relation to those areas.

Councillor Master, Assistant City Mayor for Neighbourhood Services, introduced the report.  He drew attention to the engagement and consultation that had been undertaken on the proposals for how services in the east and central areas of the city could be reorganised to achieve the required reduction in service delivery costs.  He noted that these savings should be achieved through the recommendations being made, but stressed that it was important to ensure that neighbourhood services were maintained in all parts of the city, so people did not have to come in to the centre of the city to access them.

The Head of Neighbourhood Services confirmed that consultation on the proposals had been undertaken using the methods developed when considering the delivery of neighbourhood services in other parts of the city.  For example, questionnaires had been available on-line and in printed format and also were produced in a community language. 

The number of responses to the consultation had been lower than that received in other areas, but this could have been due to fewer changes to service delivery being proposed than had been made in other parts of the city.

Members asked whether it was proposed to revisit some of the changes made to the delivery of neighbourhood services throughout the city where it was known that issues remained unresolved.  In addition, it was felt that there was some disparity between areas in which the delivery of neighbourhood services had bene reviewed.  For example, in some areas there had been a bigger impact on the provision of youth activities than in other areas, but unlike some other areas the proposals for the central and eastern areas impacted on housing services

In reply, the Head of Neighbourhood Services advised that the Council’s Using Buildings Better programme had started during the TNS programme and had expanded the range of buildings being considered.  It was recognised that some boundaries between areas were “artificial”, in that people living in one area visited buildings in other areas.  The next phase of the programme would be a city-wide survey of how satisfied users were with the services delivered through neighbourhood buildings and an important part of closing down the project therefore would be to identify what remained to be resolved.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services endorsed this, confirming that the lessons learned from the TNS programme were relevant across all Council service areas.

The following points were then made in discussion on the report:

·           The merging of services were some of the biggest changes made by the Council to service delivery, but damage had been done by a lack of understanding by some officers of communities’ perspectives of the changes.

·           Services offered from multi-service hubs should include provision of a “triage” process, so an assessment could be made of which services people needed to access for their particular situations.

·           Multi-service hubs would require a change in culture for staff, as they no longer would be working exclusively for one service area.

Reply by the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services:

Managers were very mindful of the need to ensure that staff were kept involved in the development of new service delivery systems.

·           Would there be enough space in St Barnabas Library to accommodate services relocated from the Humberstone and Rowlatts Hill housing offices?

Reply from the Director of Housing:

“Back office” Housing services would not be located at the Library, so the only space requirement would be for a small number of front-line staff.  It was anticipated that an existing room would be used and that this would not restrict other users’ access to library facilities.

·           There was concern that people would be unable to use the facilities at the Coleman Lodge Neighbourhood Centre.

Reply by the Head of Neighbourhood Services:

A range of options for the how the Centre could be used would be considered.  Officers were aware that groups using the Centre were interested in participating in these discussions.

·           The proposed improvements to facilities and access to services was welcomed.

AGREED:

1)    That the results of the engagement work and consultation carried out in the east and central areas of the city under the Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme, and the resulting proposals for future delivery of Neighbourhood Services in those areas, be noted;

2)    That the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services be asked to share the lessons learned about consultation and engagement through the Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme with other Council service areas;

3)    That the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services be asked to present a report to this Commission on the lessons learned about consultation and engagement through the Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme; and

4)    That the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services be asked to present a report to this Commission on how the Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme will be closed, this report to include information on work needed to complete issues remaining outstanding under the programme.