Agenda and minutes

Councillor Mrs S B Morris

T Maccabe (Oadby & Wigston Borough Council)

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 10 April 2019 be taken as read and confirmed.

This item was moved to the end of the agenda in order for Members to experience the Forum before being asked for feedback on its direction going forward.

Members requested more service providers to be invited to attend future meetings, and would encourage members of the Youth Council to be present where possible. The Forum should also have a greater steer by the input of young people.

Likewise Members expressed a desire to be invited to attend a future meeting of the Youth Council. In light of this M Smith provided a brief overview of the Youth Council’s Terms of Reference around attendance by Elected Members, and agreed to raise the matter at a future Youth Council meeting.

R Lobel and L Pettitt from Leicestershire County Council’s Children & Families Wellbeing Service (CFWS) introduced themselves to Members, and provided an overview of the CFWS’ work as per the minutes of the previous meeting for the benefit of new Forum Members.

Following this overview Members enquired about the recent work of the CFWS’ IMPACT Team in the Borough. It was confirmed that Glen White is the IMPACT Coordinator, and that he represents the team at the Borough’s JAG meetings. It is through the JAG meetings held across the County that the IMPACT Team’s services are directed.

The Forum heard that the IMPACT Team had been running sessions in or around Bell Street, Wigston since November 2018, and at Blaby Road Park, South Wigston, since January 2019. Overall the team had engaged with 36 young people aged between 10 and 17 over 28 sessions, all taking place between 6pm and 9pm.

The IMPACT Team also provided 3 ‘twilight sport sessions’ during this period, engaging with 26 young people within the same age range as above.

The current IMPACT Team referral for the Borough is now coming to an end, and a full report covering the work undertaken during it by the team is awaited. The current success measures for the IMPACT Team include a reduction in reports of anti-social behaviour, and ‘soft intelligence’ from business owners, partner agencies, etc. Members expressed a keen desire for an update on the IMPACT Team’s outcomes when available.

Members also heard that in terms of ‘Family Work’ undertaken by CFWS, every piece of work is assessed and creates a baseline for comparison. Case studies will be made available as part of the assessment of this work.

Members of the Forum raised that much of the work that CFWS undertakes in the Borough takes place in either Wigston or South Wigston, with very little taking place in Oadby. With this in mind Members asked if the background to this could be explored further, breaking away from the ‘Bigger Picture’ data of ‘Oadby & Wigston’. It was noted that the County Council should be able to drill their datasets right down to Ward level, but that staff capacity is a barrier to doing so.

Part of the interest in looking at the three settlement areas in the Borough in isolation is that the student population of the Borough travel between school catchment areas more, and that reports are not always accurate for the areas’ population because of this.

The Forum was informed that CFWS is organising a number of summer events across the County, including an event taking place on 31 July at Parklands Leisure Centre. This will be a free, family focussed event. Additional events are being organised by the IMPACT Team, with details to be shared once available, and both CFWS and the IMPACT Team will be represented at Supersonic Boom in August 2019.

In terms of working locations for the CFWS team, Members heard that the team will be utilising  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Due to new Members joining the Forum, M Smith provided a brief explanation to those present on what an Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC) is, and how it fits in to the Incremental Approach to anti-social behaviour the Council subscribes to.

Members also heard a positive example of the use of an ABC regarding how the current Young Citizen of the Year had been involved with anti-social behaviour, voluntarily agreed to an ABC, and has turned his life around to such a degree that his work with other young people through the KICKS Project contributed to his nomination for the civic award.

Members asked if Oadby had any specific issues with anti-social behaviour. M Smith advised that Oadby’s issues differed from those faced in other areas of the Borough, although youth related anti-social behaviour is still noted, and that any specific enquires should be brought to the attention of Tom Maccabe, the Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Officer, via the Members Enquiry system.

Members were provided with an overview of the Borough’s Youth Council, and the route through which it reports into Full Council.

Members heard that there are currently 21 young people on the Youth Council’s mailing list, and that this is following several removals following the implementation of GDPR legislation, and requiring consent from the individual, or their parents / guardians, to store their contact information.

Recruitment continues to be a primary goal of the Youth Council, with younger members sought in order to retain membership as older young people head off to university and employment. Ideally the recruitment process will see young people join who represent a cross section of the Borough’s youth population. Membership is open to any young person who lives, works, or schools in, or routinely visits, the Borough aged 11-19, although in practice the lower age tends to be 14 years old.

Members also received an overview of the Youth Council’s current campaign work, and heard of the large improvements concerning mental health support that have been made at Beauchamp College through Youth Council work.

The ongoing work of the Youth Council will be in part directed by feedback received through a dedicated Young People’s Survey it has put together, and an overview of this survey was provided to Members. This work is likely to include knife crime as a topic, as well as a ‘Curriculum for Life’ which this Council adopted as a motion in 2017, and was the first Council in the UK to do so.

Votes at 16 will also continue to be a major work area for the Youth Council.

Members asked about the recruitment process for the Youth Council, and heard that M Smith and Cllr. Morris will be meeting with school councils, as they have done so with Wigston Academy, in order to forge a stronger relationship between them and the Youth Council. Due to staff changes within schools some of these relationships have weakened and require revitalising.

It is very easy to attract academic, ‘high flying’ young people to the Youth Council but these only represent one small part of the Borough’s youth population. The CFW Service and other partners are now key to attracting ‘hard to reach’ young people to join the Youth Council. The Council’s Marketing and Insight Manager, P Fisher, is another key contact in this process.

Sponsorship of the Youth Council by a local business is also being explored, and will be looked at more closely at a future meeting of the Youth Council.

For Members unaware of Supersonic Boom, a background to the event was given broadly explaining its 18 year history, and how the event has evolved to have a young person and community focus.

This year’s event is taking place on Wednesday, 14 August, 1pm – 5pm at Blaby Road Park, South Wigston.

So far to date there are 9 confirmed performers, including students from the Youth Education Project, and 30 stalls. Ideally 14 performers and 40 stalls are sought.

Advertising is progressing, with paid promotion on Facebook targeting all users within South Leicestershire. Advertising is also running on Takeover Radio, and 5 large banners have been purchased and placed around the Borough. The website for Supersonic Boom is also online.

M Smith invited Members present at the Forum to assist in marshalling the event if available to do so, and asked that anyone interested contact him directly.

None raised.