Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Meeting Space, Block 1, Floor 2, County Hall, Morpeth, NE61 2EF

Contact: Rebecca Greally 

Note: No Planning Applications to be brought to committee for this meeting. 

Items
No. Item

23.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies were received from E. Cartie, B. Gallacher, K. Nisbet, M. Richardson, A. Watson. 

24.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 374 KB

Minutes of the meetings of Ashington and Blyth Local Area Council held on Wednesday 15th September and Wednesday 13th October 2021 as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED?that the minutes of the meeting of the?Ashington?& Blyth Local Area Council held on Wednesday,?15?September?2021 and Wednesday 13 October 2021,?as circulated, be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.? 

25.

DISCLOSURE OF MEMBERS' INTERESTS

Unless already entered in the Council’s Register of Members’ interests, members are required to disclose any personal interest (which includes any disclosable pecuniary interest) they may have in any of the items included on the agenda for the meeting in accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council on 4 July 2012, and are reminded that if they have any personal interests of a prejudicial nature (as defined under paragraph 17 of the Code Conduct) they must not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must leave the room. NB Any member needing clarification must contact Legal Services by email at monitoringofficer@northumberland.gov.uk Please refer to the guidance on disclosures at the rear of this agenda letter.

Minutes:

Councillor C. Ball informed the committee that she was employed by a Youth Service organization called Bad Apples North East. 

26.

LOCAL SERVICES UPDATE

To receive a verbal update from the Area Managers from Technical Services and Neighbourhood Services in attendance about any key recent, ongoing and/or future planned Local Services work for the attention of members of the Local Area Council, who will also then have the opportunity to raise issues with the Area Managers. 

 

The Area Managers have principal responsibility for highway services and environmental services, such as refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds maintenance, within the geographic boundaries of the Local Area Council. 

 

Minutes:

The Local Services Director and Local Services and Neighbourhood Services Divisional Manager were in attendance to provide verbal updates about any key recent, ongoing and/or future planned Local Services work and to respond to issues raised by members. 

 

Neighbourhood Services 

 

R. Wealleans, Neighbourhood Services Area Manager, provided an update as follows: 

 

Grounds Maintenance 

 

 Grass Cutting:

 

  • Grass cutting?is now under continuous review, we will keep cutting until?the?surface?becomes too wet. The aim being to stop just before surface?damage,?caused by our machines,?is visible.? 
  • We have seen some challenging periods this year due to?near perfect?growing conditions, we had a spell of very warm then wet conditions. The teams?recovered?well and ended the season?with?the grass at the standard we would expect.? 
  • Finished?the season?on?cut?11 in Ashington and?14/15?in Blyth? 
  • Core cuts?were achieved in all?areas,?and?we were short in the?additional?cuts?for Blyth by 2/3 in some areas?due to weather conditions at the start of the season and?requested?to carry?out?other work in June/July?with Grass cutting stood down at the?bequest?of the Town Council?to carry out other works for the partnership?which hindered progress.? 

 

Weeds:

 

  • We continue to react to?identified?areas where needed and are currently attending to various?Traffic Islands and Roundabouts within the district, please let us know of any locations you would like us to attend when resources allow during the winter period.?? 

Street Sweeping:

 

  • We are currently?working on leaf hotspot areas?to?prevent localised flooding.? 
  • Please bring any areas in need of sweeping to our attention.? 

 

 

 

Winter Works

 

  • Our winter works programme?is about?has started, please come forward with any requests at your earliest convenience?(in some areas Cllr walkabouts?and meetings?have taken place – we will?work through lists agreed with?Cllrs?during recent walkabouts).? 
  • As always, we will carry out core?works?first then?move?onto?our prioritised list of requests and make every attempt to?see what we can get through.? 

 

Waste Services 

 

  • Other than a few minor vehicle breakdowns,?staffing shortages?and covid restrictions,?Residual, Recycling and Garden waste collection services are?all?operating well.? 
  • Residual waste tonnage is still above the norm by around 20/30 tonnes per collection week.? 
  • Garden Waste collections will come to an end soon - ends?November/December.? 
  • Income from?garden waste?exceeded?target.? 
  • Income from commercial waste and bulk collections?are?exceeding?targets?to date?due?to an excellent recovery following the?initial impact caused by?covid restrictions.?? 
  • Teams will continue to review existing collection rounds in order to cope with ongoing housing growth as well as continued growth in?take up of?the garden waste service.? 

 

Additional Information 

 

  • The?kerbside glass recycling scheme?trial has been extended by a further 12 months to?help us gather more data on?volumes collected, servicing efficiency and participation rates etc.?? 

27.

YOUTH SERVICES PROVISION

To receive a presentation giving an overview of the Youth Services Provision within Ashington and Blyth.

 

Minutes:

S Pearson, Senior Manager - Specialist Services and G Younger, Accommodation Lead, were in attendance to provide Members with information on the Youth Service. A copy of the power point presentation would be filed with the signed minutes and circulated to Members after the meeting.    

 

Northumberland Adolescent Services (NAS)?was made up of services to meet the needs of all adolescents across Northumberland and included:  

 

  • Youth Service Participation & Advocacy and Prevention/Detached  
  • Sorted Substance Misuse Service  
  • Youth Justice Service, Missing & Exploitation  
  • 14+/18+ Teams One & Two  
  • Accommodation Team  
  • Business Administration Team 

 

An explanation was provided on the role and function of each of the services and how they supported young people in?Northumberland around three distinct strands:? 

  • Prevention? 
  • Participation and Advocacy? 
  • Early Help/Missing? 

The provision of universal youth services?were?developed and delivered across Northumberland working in partnership with the Voluntary Sector and it was through data analysis and feedback from partners it was decided in which area to deploy resources.? 

 
The following comments were made in response to questions: 

 

  • Youth services employ 35 members of staff on varying contracts. Many of the staff are on part time contracts. 
  • It was acknowledged that the Youth provision was limited but also highlighted that it was the only provision in the North East. The provision took a targeted approach. Youth Services worked with Adolescent Services to add provision where needed.  
  • Referrals to the Youth Service came from an array of sources. Generally, they were referred from Care team but could have also been through front door referrals. The young person who had been referred would have been offered an advocate to speak to them if they wanted to. 
  • Quarterly meetings are being introduced to share information and advice with the Voluntary Sector Youth provision.  
  • It was advised that the Neighbourhood Police would be a good way to report any potential concerns. 
  • Missing from Home service had a strong procedure and systems were in place. The service was made aware daily of any missing children. Measures were in place to ensure that every young person was safeguarded to an appropriate level. Escalation of cases were done when needed.  
  • Information would be passed on regarding numbers of referrals from different areas and members of staff by hour. 
  • It was assured that there was plenty of provision for young people through the Youth Service and Local Communities. 

 

28.

NORTHUMBERLAND COMMUNITIES TOGETHER

To receive a presentation on the work of Northumberland Communities Together.

Minutes:

M. Taylor, Executive Director and E. Richardson, Senior Manager Specialist Services – Poverty Lead were in attendance to present to Members information on Northumberland Communities Together. It gave an overview of the service and future objectives. A copy of the power point presentation would be filed with the signed minutes and circulated to Members after the meeting. 

 

Northumberland Communities Together was an inclusive community and multi-disciplinary team approach that responded to the specific and emerging needs of residents and communities by fully optimising the knowledge, capability and capacity that existed within the community and amongst local networks and partnerships. 

 

It outlined the aims of the service which included; reducing health inequalities and protecting the most vulnerable. The process for the response hub was outlined with the differing roles within the team. It was important that personalized solutions were found for those in need. 

 

Community engagement and enrichment was explained which involved identifying and supporting partnerships within the community. Its aim was to make the best use of the assets and expertise already available within the community and to add complementary resources to enrich them.  

 

The community hub investment team were working to create community hubs throughout the County. The hub design would be dependent on the needs of the community. The flagship hub was in Cramlington and members were invited to visit it.  

 

The following comments were made in response to Member’s questions:- 

 

  • Members thanked the Officers and their teams for the hard work they have undertaken during the pandemic. 
  • Members noted that Northumberland County Council were leading the way with discretionary funding.  The Household Support Fund was not means tested and it was confirmed that every penny would be used to help the front end of the service.  
  • Members noted that the Community Hub investment team would be looking to establish hubs throughout the County. Hubs were to be created in local areas where there was a need. Officers welcomed ideas from Members for potential Hub locations. 
  • Members noted there was a contact number that was for everyone; residents, Councillors and GP’s etc.

29.

LOCAL AREA COUNCIL WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 241 KB

To note the latest version of agreed items for future Local Area Council meetings (any suggestions for new agenda items will require confirmation by the Business Chair after the meeting)   

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED members noted the updated Work Programme. 

30.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 15 December 2021 (Planning only)

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED members noted the date of the next meeting was Wednesday 15th December (Planning only)