Printed minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 6 December 2024
Back to Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership - Management Committee — 6 December 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Classification: OFFICIAL Minutes of the Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership Management Committee held online via MS Teams on Friday 6 December 2024 at 1000 Present: Joe McKay, Scottish Fire and Rescue (Chair) Morag Goodfellow, Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE) Elizabeth Prior, NatureScot Takki Sulaiman, Argyll and Bute TSI Rachel McGruer, Scottish Government Colin Buchanan, Chair OLI ACPG Gary I’Anson, Police Scotland Luke Horner, ABC Susan McRae, SDS Sarah Davies, Chair HL ACPG Saskia Schmitz, NHS Highland Iain MacInnes, ABC Samantha Campbell, NHS Highland John McLuckie, ABC Sara McLean, ACT Jean Moffat, Chair BC ACPG Chris Carr, ABC Stuart McLean, ABC David Murdoch, ABC Andy Macpherson, ACT Cllr Anne Horn, ABC Graham Bell, NHS Highland Board Cllr Mark Irvine, ABC Paul Ashworth, LiveArgyll David Love, Audit Scotland Lynsey Innes, ABC Lucy Dunbar, ABC Fergus Walker, ABC Stuart Green, ABC Milly Leggett, ABC Mo McKenna, University of the Highlands and Islands Nicola Reaney, ABC (Secretary) Apologies Pippa Milne, ABC Evan Beswick, Argyll and Bute HSCP Kirsty Flanagan, ABC Cllr Jim Lynch, ABC Derek McCrindle, Scottish Enterprise Stan Philips, NatureScot Douglas Whyte, Argyll and Bute Council Bernadette Milligan, Audit Scotland Rona Gold, ABC Iona Scott-Elliott, MSYP Shona Barton, ABC Reeni Kennedy-Boyle, Vice Chair BC ACPG Ranald Robertson, HITRANS Gill Simpson, Chair HL ACPG 1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES Joe welcomed everyone to the meeting, noting the new members who have taken up positions as Chairs and Vice Chairs at the Area Community Planning Groups. Apologies were noted. (a) New Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP) Introduction A video introduction from Iona Scott-Elliott was played to members. Joe welcomed Iona and noted the importance of youth representation on the Community Planning Partnership (CPP) Management Committee (MC), where MSYPs have been represented for the last few years. 2. NOTE AND ACTIONS FROM JUNE DEVELOPMENT SESSION AND SEPTEMBER FULL PARTNERSHIP
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Classification: OFFICIAL John provided an update on the action grids from these sessions which are contained within the meeting pack. June Development Session – Five of the seven actions from this are now complete. The outstanding actions on Community Wealth Building (CWB) and the priorities for the Outcomes Improvement Plan will be discussed later at items 6 (b) and 10. September Full Partnership in Oban – John advised all four actions from this session are now complete. There will be further discussion at this meeting regarding the action to develop a strategy for Climate Change at item 6 (a). 3. AREA COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUP (ACPG) UPDATES Stuart provided an overview of the ACPG reports from rounds of meetings held in April/May, August and November. He gave thanks to new office bearers that have taken up appointments – Gill Simpson as Vice Chair of Helensburgh and Lomond ACPG, Colin Buchanan as Chair and Julie MacKenzie as Vice Chair of Oban, Lorn and the Isles ACPG and Anne Horn as Chair of Mid-Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands ACPG. The terms of reference and membership of each ACPG will be considered at the meetings in February 2025. ACTION - CPP MC are encouraged to forward details of any applicable public sector, third sector, private sector, community organisations and partnerships operating within each locality to Stuart at stuart.mclean@argyll-bute.gov.uk for inclusion as ACPG members. MAKI ACPG have asked that their concerns regarding the negative impacts to local people and businesses due to repeated closures of the A83 are raised the CPP MC. Stuart advised that Iain Woodcock, Transport Scotland, had attended the Bute and Cowal, Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands and Helensburgh and Lomond ACPGs to give updates on the ongoing traffic management arrangements on the A83 and improvements to the Old Military Road, taking onboard the concerns of the ACPGs regarding continued disruption. Susan Donnelly, Argyll and Bute Council Resilience Manager also gave a presentation to ACPGs highlighting the importance of communities and individuals harnessing resources and expertise to prepare, respond and recover from emergencies which was of great interest to attendees and generated significant correspondence after the meetings. Joe thanked Stuart for his update and asked if there were any further updates on concerns regarding the A83 that should be raised. Stuart felt the discussions with Transport Scotland helped the communities, while still frustrated, to better understand the reasons behind the A83 closures. Stuart asked that the CPP MC note the concerns raised by the MAKI ACPG and added the hope that any further frustrations are alleviated by the details provided at the November round of ACPG meetings. Sarah felt the presentation given by Susan Donnelly on community resilience was very informative and asked if it would be possible for it to be delivered to all Community Councils in Argyll and Bute? Sarah noted there has not been a Joint Community Council meeting in some time and asked if that could be an option to deliver the presentation to all Community Councils in one place.
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Classification: OFFICIAL ACTION – Off table discussion to take place between Joe, Pippa, Sarah and Stuart to see if a Joint Community Council meeting can be arranged (to include the presentation on community resilience). 4. CENSUS / POPULATION UPDATE David Murdoch gave a presentation to update on the work on the population and census data from the census / National Records of Scotland (NRS). The population in Argyll and Bute had been gradually declining since 1989 (93,990 people) then post-COVID saw a positive trend increasing the net inward migration to the area (however it is too early to forecast if this increase will continue in an upwards trend in the future). David also explained how the difference in population estimates from 2011 and 2022 were largely due to changes in how the naval personnel at HMNB Clyde were included, or not, in the 2011 and 2022 census figures respectively. It is important that the population in HMNB Clyde is properly accounted as it does impact the area in terms of services being used by the naval personnel – schools, health services etc. Sarah noted that the Helensburgh and Lomond Community Wealth Building group have been looking at the economic impact of HMNB Clyde in the local area. Cllr Anne Horn asked if it is possible to obtain information on the number of placement requests for school places in Argyll and Bute from service personnel. David said that in 2043 the projected population in Argyll and Bute would be 73,500 people. The projections also showed an increase to the average population age (46 – 76 years) and the mortality rates of that aging cohort have been reflected in those figures. The age of the working age population is also declining in all four administrative areas. David noted the variance by area of the population under 16, and how the rate of child poverty in Argyll and Bute is 19.4% which is more positive that the Scotland average of 21.8%. However, there are areas in Argyll and Bute were the proportion of children in low income families is higher that the Scottish average, such as Rothesay. This is something that is trying to be addressed by the welfare and benefits teams engaging with households to maximise uptake of benefits, grants and allowances. David advised how it is important that the population projection for the area is correct as these figures are used by the Scottish Government to allocate funding. He was happy to report that the NRS were preparing a new set of projections for population in the area, as their previous projections have not accounted for the increase in net migration post-Covid. David hoped this would lead to a more positive population projection. Increasing population was a priority in the last 10 year Outcome Improvement Plan and Joe gave thanks to all partners for their efforts to make Argyll and Bute an attractive place to work, visit and live. Joe thanked David for his very informative presentation. Morag agreed the data was thought provoking and asked how we can use these statistics to inform what we do differently? David responded that there is already work ongoing with the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) to use the data to look at provisioning on care
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Classification: OFFICIAL support and residential care spaces to account for an increase in service demand from an aging population. Rachel commented in the meeting chat that this was a really interesting analysis, and as a Scottish Government official working on social care she definitely agreed with the need to look at social care provision based on the population. Joe thanked David for his interesting presentation. ACTION – David to share the existing high level information from NRS relating to HMNB Clyde with cppadmin to share with CPP MC members. ACTION - David to ask NRS to provide more detailed information on the HMNB Clyde population and provide to Sarah for work of the H&L ACPG. ACTION - David to speak to Education to ask if they can provide information on service personnel school placements in Argyll and Bute to share with Cllr Horn. 5. JOINT STRATEGIC NEEDS ASSESSMENT (JSNA) 2024 PRESENTATION Saskia gave a presentation on the JSNA which detailed the expected future needs of the local population. Saskia detailed the data sources used to produce the JNSA, noting these are publicly available and can be included in the published document. Sam encouraged members to listen to the presentation while considering the social determinants of health in Argyll and Bute: 20% - health and social care 30% - health behaviours such as alcohol use, tobacco use etc 10% - the environment (air quality, housing and transport) 40% - socio economic factors (deprivation, education, income, employment etc) Sam also asked members to consider what the JSNA intelligence means for us and how we can deliver in relation to the Outcomes Improvement Plan going forward. Saskia provided further detail on the aging population in Argyll and Bute. In our area 27.8% of people over 65 are affected by multiple health conditions. The most common health concerns are cancer, arthritis, coronary heart disease, asthma and diabetes. This will likely lead to a rise in care needs of increasing complexity. The rate of Adult Care home residence in Argyll and Bute is higher than the Scottish average. The highest prevalence condition for those in long-term residential care is dementia and there is an increase in the number of deaths in a homely setting due to dementia. Saskia noted it is difficult to accurately record the number of unpaid carers in our area as not all are registered with carer centres, although recent awareness raising campaigns have shown an uptake in the number of people registering. Currently most unpaid carers are in the age group 35years and over, although a quarter of all carers are aged 65 and over, showing there may also be a need to provide more support to unpaid carers in the future to support the aging population.
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Classification: OFFICIAL Argyll and Bute Council was one of the first to declare a housing emergency. The high cost of homes means only 25% of the population can afford housing here (based on the standard affordable housing ratio of 3.5 x household income). There is a high amount of second homes and ineffective housing stock and the pressure on the market for available homes is highest on our island communities. For social housing, every available property has at least four applicants. Homelessness was reducing, however it has been rising again and may put increasing pressure on our housing / homeless services. Colin commented in the chat that the need for single and/or worker accommodation is a significant issue on the islands and this impacts care service as well as other sectors. Sam drew attention to the amount of valuable data that is included in the JSNA. She highlighted the aspiration in the new Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP) to build co-production with partners to work towards place-based building of social capital to make the area a better place to live, work and visit. The data in the JSNA gives us the intelligence to apply valuable approaches like CWB and asset based approaches to deliver these. Sam thanked all involved in creating the JSNA. Joe thanked them for the informative details on the JSNA and noted how the data provides a base to monitor improvements over the period of the LOIP. Saskia advised the JSNA is expected to be published early in 2025. 6. PROJECTS (a) CPP Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan Andy pointed to the extensive information available in the meeting pack and gave an overview of where the work is on the strategy, priorities and next steps. The Climate Strategy is broad ranging, including mitigation and adaptation. It is a real strength that the CPP MC is leading on this, and that approach sits efficiently with how the Scottish Government is looking to distribute climate change funding. The strategy has been streamlined, and Andy is continuing to work on making the document shorter and simpler. In developing the strategy, Andy engaged with multiple stakeholders using the UK Climate Risk profiles, Adaptation Scotland, Sniffer and the Sustainable Scotland Network. Outlines were also presented to the Climate Change Steering Group, the Community Resilience team and the ACPGs. This allowed feedback and to reflect and build on good practice where available. Andy said a key principle of the strategy was to align it to the three LOIP priorities and to focus on what the CPP MC partners are able to achieve, or influence. Andy will continue to develop the action plan over the next year and bring that back regularly to the CPP MC to engage, take remedial action, identify strengths and direct as required. The intention is that by the end of Andy’s post in November 2025 this work will be incorporated into business as usual, although there will be work required to continue updating the data and providing information to partners. Andy asked the CPP MC to endorse the approach to the strategy. Andy also asked for approval to divert project resources to more work on risk assessment, to get more on what the Community level climate impacts are and what are the unique risks facing particular areas.
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Classification: OFFICIAL Joe thanked Andy for his presentation. The CPP MC were happy to endorse the overall approach of the climate strategy and the diversion of project funds towards work on risk assessment. Mo was happy to see that skills development was a high priority action and noted the work by UHI Argyll on the Rural Growth Deal and the Rural Skills Accelerator Programme which looks to include climate action in engineering and construction courses. ACTION - Andy to talk with Mo on the Rural Skills Accelerator Programme which looks to include climate action in engineering and construction courses. (b) CPP Community Wealth Building (CWB) Short Life Steering Group Takki’s presentation gave a recap on the five pillars of CWB, which is an established economic methodology and many CPPs across Scotland are planning for the introduction of this legislation. The twenty general recommendations for action have been split across the five pillars and are contained in the presentation. Takki gave a recap of actions to date. There have been good discussions on CWB at the eight ACPG meetings in April/May and August, and it was discussed at the September CPP Full Partnership. A shared ownership informal best practice group has met 4 times to look at the mechanics of how his could look in terms of community energy / renewable energy schemes. The Council procurement team has also provided excellent information and they are producing a new procurement strategy in early 2025. Good news is that currently 38% of council spend is local, compared to the 28% national average. Takki is keen for the CPP to look at partner spend and explore how we can engage with local supply chains and build capacity in them. In February 2025 the CWB Steering Group will host an in-person workshop to produce a summary position statement with a “hyper localised” vision and mission. The group will prioritise recommendations and deliver action plans and explore linkages and opportunities with other strategies. An infographic will be produced to explain how CWB fits with other activities and highlight what role partners can play in the delivery of CWB. Takki advised that the Economic Development Association Scotland have received funding to set up a CWB best practice hub, and an online CWB tool has been set up by the Improvement Service. Joe thanked Takki for his presentation. He advised how the Fire Service is now actively employing local tradespeople for maintenance, and encouraged all partners to look at how they can contribute to the circular local economy. Andy added that feedback from CPP stakeholders have identified CWB opportunities in terms of climate resilience and reducing carbon emissions. Sarah and Colin felt it would be useful to roll out CWB at Community Development Trust level. ACTION – Takki’s presentation to be sent to CPP MC members.
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Classification: OFFICIAL 7. ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL EQUALITIES OUTCOMES CONSULTATION Chris gave a presentation on the consultation which applies to the Council, Education and licensing board. The consultation is looking to change all the equality outcomes, applying lessons learned from previous outcomes, and apply actions to the new outcomes to facilitate progress reporting. The new outcomes are due to be published at the end of April 2025, and there is a need to consult with relevant groups to develop the outcomes. Chris encouraged partners to promote the consultation to community groups, noting how inclusion and equalities are woven into the LOIP – most closely to the Community Wellbeing priority. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission state when developing the outcomes that three things should be considered:- - the elimination of discrimination, harassment, and victimisation, - advancing equality of opportunity between people with and without protected characteristics, and, - focusing on good relations between people with protected characteristics and those who don't. There is a mix of internal and external focussed outcomes, drawing attention to work already undertaken with refugee communities, community engagement, local work on the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Violence against Women and HR workforce planning. The outcomes look to ensure accessibility of information and encourage inclusive communication and raise awareness to ensure that the challenges faced by those with protected characteristics are considered. This will help us to accommodate the needs of different groups. The next steps are a public consultation, which will run over the festive period. The responses will then be analysed and amendments made to the outcomes and actions plan as required. Chris asked the CPP MC if they agreed with the general themes for the outcomes as noted in the presentation. Joe thanked Chris for her presentation and pointed to some of the great work already underway in the area to address inequalities. ACTION – Partners to forward any outcomes to be added, or suggested amendments to chris.carr@argyll-bute.gov.uk 8. AUDIT SCOTLAND'S TACKLING DIGITAL EXCLUSION REPORT Joe introduced this item saying there has been fantastic work in Argyll and Bute to address digital exclusion since 2020. David gave a presentation on the Audit Scotland Report, which was published in August 2024. The aim of the report was to consider how public bodies, including Scottish Government, Councils, NHS and other bodies, understand and are tackling digital exclusion. The report looks at what digital inclusion is, how well the public sector are tackling this issue and how to support improvement to enable digital inclusion.
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Classification: OFFICIAL A key message in the report is that digital technologies can bring many benefits and efficiencies, enable people to access services and is an important factor in ongoing public sector reform. Audit Scotland spoke to those with real life experience of digital exclusion and this provided real value to the report. Connecting Scotland has supported over 61,000 households to get online, however this funding has been reduced after the pandemic so collaborative working across organisations is needed to continue this work. Skills development is also needed, with around 15% of Scotland’s adults lacking digital skills. Council digital services are not always easy to access and this can disadvantage vulnerable people. David noted the positive works already being done by the Council on this. The report sets out principles to enable digital inclusion, with examples of existing initiatives, to shape a self-assessment tool for public body boards, members and council elected members to assess progress on digital inclusion. Audit Scotland have produced an accessible flyer containing the key messages of the report, which can be printed or distributed online. There is also a video available with key statistics which includes the voices of those affected by digital exclusion. Joe thanked David for his presentation. The report contains lots for the CPP MC to consider and measure how organisations are progressing on this. 9. DIGITAL INCLUSION Iain and Luke provided a presentation on the PSTN switch off and the mobile mapping project. The PSTN switch off is expected to be complete by January 2027. The current PSTN infrastructure is at the end of its life, it is unreliable and it is becoming increasingly difficult to source parts to repair the network. Its replacement, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), is more resistant to bad weather and can offer enhanced scam protection and clearer call quality. Alarms, telecare and payment systems are examples of the technology that will be adversely affected by the PSTN switch off. The Internet Service Provider charter and the upcoming new Telecare National Action Plan state that users should not be migrated to VOIP unless they have equipment in place to ensure there are no negative effects to service users. Vulnerable groups (users with a visual or hearing impairment, registered disabled and telecare users) are to be given additional support to migrate with onsite engineer support available to ensure the switch is successful. If the switch is unsuccessful alternative technology can be installed, i.e. BT are testing a digital phone that does not require a broadband connection and providing a dedicated land line service until 2030. Argyll and Bute Council and the HSCP are working with BT to identify vulnerable / telecare users. Phones with battery backup are also available to ensure phone service continues in the event of a power cut. The next round of council tax letters will include information on the PSTN switch off to ensure all households receive the relevant information. This will contain advice on who to contact for more information and will be hosted on the council website, where it can be translated to different languages using the accessibility tools online.
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Classification: OFFICIAL Iain gave an update on the mobile mapping project where mapping equipment has been mounted on refuse collection vehicles to gather data on the coverage and speeds from the various mobile providers across the area. He showed how the mapping system can identify “not” spots, show the dominant provider by area and the speed of each provider in a given area. Iain hoped this data would cover all of Argyll and Bute by the next year. The plan is for the mapping tool to be available on the Council website as a resource for residents to assess service provision at their address / area. Joe thanked Iain and Luke for the really valuable information in their presentation and he looked forward to further updates on the project as it continues. 10. ARGYLL AND BUTE OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2024-2034 (a) Feedback from Full Partnership The CPP Full Partnership was held in September. An overview of the event and the conversations on the day were captured in a picture form which can be seen by clicking on this link: graphic from Full Partnership. The three priority areas – Housing, Transport and Community Wellbeing – were explored in more detail in facilitated discussions. (b) Developing Actions Feedback was gathered on what was already happening and what further things the CPP partnership could do to address any gaps. The paper for this item links the recommended actions to each priority outcome. This does not form a definitive list of actions and are rather a suggestion of how the CPP can move forward on next steps. CPP partners are asked to consider these actions for approval, noting that work is ongoing to explore further actions for each outcome. These were approved. Takki asked if the data in the Community Wellbeing actions could be shared, if possible, as access to that information would be useful for third sector funding bids. He added that a wider data sharing agreement across public sector bodies would be of benefit, and he would be keen to give support to making that happen. John said conversations on how the data can be shared would be useful. The paper includes recommendations on contributions and participation from partners, so further discussion on data could be raised there. John hoped these discussions would take place soon. John noted the action on Transport Infrastructure to commission research on transport related inequalities. The recommendation was for the CPP MC to consider this and agree the proposal to commission this research, and what resources can be offered to support this. Joe noted the CPP MC was happy to endorse this recommendation. Morag said she would be keen to see the scope once it was further developed and ready for procurement. Colin was keen to work with John on ensuring the community councils were much more involved in this. John thanked Colin for his offer of support and replied to Morag that the tendering for this work would take place in the New Year.
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Classification: OFFICIAL ACTION – Partner offers of any support to the delivery of the LOIP recommended actions to be sent to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk ACTION: John to share the scope of the procurement to commission research for transport, with Morag. ACTION: John to engage with Colin around community council input to the research. 11. NATIONAL CPP UPDATES (a) Community Planning Improvement Board (CPIB) Guidance for fair funding of the Voluntary Sector John advised the principles of this guidance appear to be fair and consistent with the Verity House agreement between the Scottish Government and Local Government. However, the detail of the guidance should be considered by each partner before we can sign up to this as a CPP as a whole. Takki felt it was great to see this coming through the CPIB and on the agenda today. He advised this was a combined piece of work with TSI Scotland Network. The guidance, if implemented, will enable the third sector to be effective partners in the prevention and early intervention agenda and public sector reform. Some third sector organisations are facing financial challenges and there is a risk of those assets being lost permanently. Takki is keen for partners to look beyond their own organisational budgets and think about how we might operate as an integrated system and craft a statement on fair funding together. He noted South Lanarkshire have an existing good example of this that the CPP could look at and offered his support to John in drafting a response. Joe agreed the third sector are a vital part of the CPP. Takki provided a link in the chat to the TSI Local Fair Funding Charter. ACTION – All members to consider the Community Planning Improvement Board guidance and return any feedback to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk for discussion at the March 2025 meeting to enable a whole CPP endorsement to be considered. ACTION – Takki to suggest a statement (to John) on fair funding that is a draft that the CPP can consider signing up to alongside the above ask to consider the guidance for Third Sector. b) Improvement Service Self-Assessment John thanked everyone that completed the recent survey on the Improvement Board Self-Assessment. He expects a report with the results of the survey in January 2025, which will help the CPP develop an improvement plan, which will be brought to the meeting in March 2025. 12. PARTNERSHIPS REPORTING TO CPP (a) Financial Inclusion
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Classification: OFFICIAL Fergus gave an update on work on financial inclusion :- - Scottish Welfare Fund, as of October 2024 £315,000 of a £708,000 budget had been issued for Crisis and Community Care grants. There is an ongoing national review of this Fund and Fergus is expecting guidance soon for the improvements to be implemented for the 25/26 financial year (FY). - Warmer Home Scotland: the Scottish government have added funding to this scheme which is administered by the Energy Savings Trust. - Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP). Fergus’s team are working with DWP to identify and assess households that may benefit from this payment to encourage them to submit claims. Fergus has drafted a policy to use DHP to support families affected by the benefits cap, and stakeholder consultation on this will begin soon. - Flexible Food and Fuel Fund, 3,000 households have been supported since this fund began in January 2021. The contract for this ends in March 2025 and Fergus is looking at funding options to extend this for the 25/26 FY. Fergus noted if this fund can not be extended it will likely lead to more budget pressure on the Scottish Welfare Fund. - Tackling Action in Poverty project is being delivered by the Poverty Alliance, with the Council and TSI also involved. A citizens panel has been set up and there has been positive progress. A panel member attended a private meeting with the First Minister at Bute House to share their experiences. - Islands Crisis Emergency Fund, the Council received £141,000 from the Scottish Government for this and is distributing the funds by issuing Love Local cards loaded with £95 to those in receipt of council tax reduction. This ensures the funding is spent in local shops to also benefit business on the islands. Community Food projects on the islands have received £4000 each to support their work. - School Clothing Banks: this project is nearing its conclusion to provide free or low cost uniforms to primary school aged children in Argyll and Bute. Any gaps in the project are being addressed by Community Development Officers in collaboration with teachers in those areas. Fergus is looking at opportunities for external funding to sustain and grow the project in the longer term. - Corporate Debt Recovery, the Council approved a new corporate debt recovery policy with a vulnerability and hardship protocol and Fergus’s team are working with Argyll and Bute Citizens Advice Bureau, Bute Advice Centre and our debt collection partner, Walker Love, to make sure policies and procedures are aligned to provide support for vulnerable people. - Collaboration to mitigate poverty, Fergus is working with David Murdoch, SAVVY, the Improvement Service and the Information Commissioners Office on how to use and share available data to identify child poverty and gaps in benefit take up. Fergus described this work as a slow burn, but is getting lots of support to take this forward. - Warm Spaces, Fergus noted there is information on the Council website on support to heat your home and the TSI website on warm spaces.
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Classification: OFFICIAL Joe thanked Fergus for his update as it was really good to see the support being given to those most in need in our communities. (b) Aspiring Places - Awareness Raising, Survey Promotion and Demo Stuart Green provided an update to the CPP MC in January on Area Plans, which has been renamed to Aspiring Places, and provided a recap on the stages of the project to date which included the recruitment of two project officers. April 2024 saw a change of administration in the Council which then set out its priorities in September 2024. This included an agreement to implement the Aspiring Places project. This project will no longer create or publish area plan documents and a digital platform, CONSUL Democracy, will be used to engage with community groups and provide a single point for capturing all community projects. The platform is used by 23 local authorities, user friendly and has been designed with feedback from communities. The project does not administer funding but can signpost groups to resources. It is not a delivery plan and does not supersede existing Council plans and priorities. Successful demonstrations of the platform have been given within the council and the project is working with Community Development to identify groups to test the platform pilot. Stuart explained that having a register of projects, and potential projects, allows the council to respond effectively to dynamic funding announcements from the UK and Scottish Governments. The platform will be launched in March 2025 then an evaluation will take place once the site has been live for a period. If successful, a business case analysis will be undertaken to continue the platform. A final decision will be made by elected members. Andy said this was an excellent initiative and he has a strong interest in the project as is it a fantastic fit with work he will do next year to work up the climate action plan and develop pilot projects. Morag was keen to understand how HIE can interact with the project as they are aware of some impactful community led projects. Takki welcomed the progress in this project that can help prevent duplication of work across the dispersed communities in Argyll and Bute. He did have questions around intellectual property protection once projects are loaded to the platform and cautioned there may be resistance in communities to sharing their projects with statutory bodies. Stuart hoped to resolve any issues like this in the pilot testing with community groups. Joe thanked Stuart for the presentation and the good work which is going on in the project. ACTION – Stuart and Morag to discuss how HIE can interact with the Aspiring Places project. 13. COMMUNICATION (a) CPP Bulletin
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Classification: OFFICIAL John noted the bulletin will be issued monthly and he is keen for partners to submit content for ongoing work across the three priority outcomes and cross cutting themes. (b) Podcast 2025 Launch John advised the first recording for the podcast will take place and be available in January. The podcast will be used to promote the work of the CPP and its partners on the delivery of the LOIP and also the wider work partners are involved in and will hopefully develop a wider audience to, and understanding of Community Planning. ACTION - Members to provide any feedback on the bulletin, ideas for bulletin or podcast content, or offers to join podcast to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk 14. AOCB, DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND CLOSE AOCB :- - Susan advised Skills Development Scotland redundancy support services have been triggered by the closure of the Grangemouth refinery which affects staff at the Finnart terminal. Support workshops have been delivered to 30 people and 1:1 support will be provided in the new year. Susan advised support is also being offered to some voluntary organisations that have closed and also to staff at Homebase in Oban. She thanked the CPP members that are involved in supporting this. - Jean informed the meeting of the passing of Bobby McIntyre who was a Councillor for 20 years. Joe passed the condolences of the board to his family. - Paul advised the CLD Strategic Partnership Plan is expected to be ratified on 12 December by the Council. Paul asked to provide an update on that to the March 2025 CPP MC. Any questions on this can be sent to Paul at paul.ashworth@liveargyll.co.uk. ACTION – CLD Strategic Partnership Plan to be added to March 2025 CPP MC agenda. The next meeting will be on Friday 21 March 2025 from 1030 to 1400 in the Council Chambers, Kilmory and online via MS Teams. Joe closed the meeting noting it was fantastic to see the amount of great work going on in our communities and gave thanks to all involved in producing the updates for today’s meeting.
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Classification: OFFICIAL CPP DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE ACTION GRID – 6 DECEMBER 2024 Complete In Progress Outstanding Date Set Action Who Required by Date 6/12 CPP MC are encouraged to forward details of any applicable public sector, third sector, private sector, community organisations and partnerships operating within each locality to Stuart at stuart.mclean@argyll-bute.gov.uk for inclusion as ACPG members. All End January 2024 6/12 Off table discussion to take place between Joe, Pippa, Sarah and Stuart to see if a Joint Community Council meeting can be arranged (to include the presentation on community resilience). Joe, Pippa, Stuart M, Sarah 7 March 2025 6/12 David to share the existing high level information from NRS relating to HMNB Clyde with cppadmin to share with CPP MC members. David Murdoch 7 March 2025 6/12 David to ask NRS to provide more detailed information on the HMNB Clyde population and provide to Sarah for work of the H&L ACPG. David Murdoch 7 March 2025 6/12 David to speak to Education to ask if they can provide information on service personnel school placements in Argyll and Bute to share with Cllr Horn. David Murdoch 7 March 2025 6/12 Andy to talk with Mo on the Rural Skills Accelerator Programme which looks to include climate action in engineering and construction courses. Andy 7 March 2025 6/12 Takki presentation on CWB to be sent to CPP MC members. CPP Team 13 December 24 6/12 Partners to forward any outcomes to be added, or suggested amendments to the Equalities Outcomes to chris.carr@argyll- bute.gov.uk All 10 January 2025 6/12 Partner offers of any support to the delivery of the LOIP recommended actions to be sent to cppadmin@argyll- bute.gov.uk All 7 March 2025 6/12 John to share the scope of the procurement to commission research for transport, with Morag. John 7 March 2025 6/12 John to engage with Colin around community council input to the research. John 7 March 2025 6/12 All members to consider the Community Planning Improvement Board guidance and return any feedback to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk for discussion at the March 2025 meeting to enable a whole CPP endorsement to be considered. All 7 March 2025 6/12 Takki to suggest a statement (to John) on fair funding that is a draft that the CPP can consider signing up to alongside the above ask to consider the guidance for Third Sector. Takki 7 March 2025 6/12 Stuart and Morag to discuss how HIE can interact with the Aspiring Places project. Stuart G, Morag 7 March 2025 6/12 Members to provide any feedback on the bulletin, ideas for bulletin or podcast content, or offers to join podcast to All 7 March 2025
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Classification: OFFICIAL Date Set Action Who Required by Date cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk 6/12 CLD Strategic Partnership Plan to be added to March 2025 CPP MC agenda. CPP Team 7 March 2025