Agenda item

Councillor Una O’Halloran, Executive Member Community Safety was present and accompanied by John Muir, Head of Community Development, and made a presentation to the Committee, a copy of which is interleaved

During consideration of the presentation the following main points were made –

·         Working to the Council’s VCS strategy, the Communities Team has contributed and informed a range of corporate strategies to enable communities to thrive, connect and give. The Communities Team focuses on building communities and strengthening the voluntary and community sector by strategy, community networks, places and spaces, funding and investment, capacity building and volunteering, and communications and digital development

·         Grants programme – Council new programme started on 21 January 2021 running until 31 March 2024, and there is a commitment to protect levels of grant funding to the local and voluntary community sector. The current budget is £2.7m per annum, and has been designed around the Council’s Corporate Plan. Residents Impact Assessment identified new positive aspects of the new grant programme – 19% increase in the funding of BAME organisations compared to previous grants programmes

·         Reviews are being carried out under 3 strands Capacity building and volunteering, Equalities and Cohesion Networks, with a focus on the needs of the Black/Afro Caribbean community and residents with disabilities

·         Organisations can access independent, impartial advice on welfare benefits, debt, housing and immigration issues. Discretionary rate relief, food connection grants, grant funding programmes and payment of LLW are strategic priorities

·         Small grants programmes include Community Chest, Local Initiative Fund

·         Ward Partnerships are a forum for community engagement, and all wards have had WP meetings throughout 2020/21. Work is taking place to evolve the Ward Partnerships, and will be set out in a community plan, which has leverage to influence delivery in the area

·         Estate based community centres – work taking place to improve some centres. COVID has restricted activities in community centres. It is proposed to deliver a 3 year community centre strategy

·         Estate based Active Space Programme – this includes Arts on Estates, Estate Environment, Active Spaces and these activities are free and advertised specifically through estate based and local media

·         Community Development and Partnerships in Finsbury Park and Caledonian Wards are taking place

·         Equality events taking place and EU nationals supported with targeted work to support vulnerable EU residents

·         COVID service offer and We are Islington – worked with VCS partners providing guidance, engaged network organisations and individual organisations to ensure lock down compliance, established a COVID service directory as part of the We are Islington helpline. 14 community conversations undertaken on COVID 19 with communities on testing and public health messaging, worked with Islington’s mutual aid groups providing flexible support. VAI delivering the volunteering programme for the borough, and an additional 20 volunteer roles specifically to support COVID 19 have been identified, and advertised

·         VCS Funding and well-being – contact made to VCS grant funded organisations, London Community Response Fund, National Lottery Coronavirus Community Fund. Advice sessions to ensure organisations are supported in writing funding bids, developing income etc. assisting organisations to apply for additional Government grants during the pandemic

·         Supported 23 community food projects, and Andover Food Project scaled up to meet increasing needs of Finsbury Park residents. Also work to increase social connectedness, and established a social connectedness network. Noted that going forward there is a need to improve social connectedness, and to use organisations such as the Food Poverty Alliance in this regard. There is also a plan to use outside activities to assist with mental health and loneliness issues, and to encourage more use of Council services

·         Members congratulated the Executive Member and officers for the excellent work that they had undertaken during the pandemic

·         Reference was made to the digital divide in the borough, and that this may deter a number of residents from utilising Council services, and there needed to be consideration given to this

·         A Member stated that the work carried out in Caledonian Ward had been excellent, and was a good example of a resident led approach to community development

·         In response to a question it was stated that the issues of engagement with TRA’s was being looked at, in conjunction with the recommendations of scrutiny on TRA’s, whether TRA’s are representative, and the future possible relationship to Ward Partnerships

·         Reference was made to some TRA’s not being contacted in regard to estate based active services, and it was stated that details should be supplied to the Executive Member in this regard for investigation

The Chair thanked Councillor O’Halloran and John Muir for attending