10:10
Contact Officer: Richard Munro, Head of Community Services, (01865) 323579
The Head of Community Services will give a presentation to this Committee on (a) this service area and how it fits into the bigger picture (b) the challenges and priorities facing this area for the period 2009/10 and in the longer term.
The Committee is invited to receive the presentation and to conduct a question and answer session.
Minutes:
The Committee received a presentation on Community Services from Mr
Richard Munro, Head of Community Services, on (a) this service area and
how it fits into the bigger picture and (b) the challenges and priorities facing
this area for the period 2009/10 and in the longer term, in terms of strategic underlying issues. A copy of the presentation is attached to the signed minutes and further information given during the presentation is detailed below:
· Community Services comprises 7 1/2 % of the overall budget for Social & Community Services;
· Social & Community Service’s mission statement is that it “will support and promote strong communities so that people live their lives as successfully and independently as possible”. It will also “provide effective and efficient support to the most vulnerable”. This vision reflects the prevention agenda, given the increasing numbers of older people;
· Community Services’ focus is universal support for communities and covers:
· The Library Service (statutory) – books are still at its heart, although the service has changed in light of new communication technologies;
· Heritage and Arts – this includes the Museums Service (eg. Cogges Manor Farm Museum until April 2010 and the Museums Resource Centre at Standlake) and the Archive Service. The Council has a statutory duty to look after records, although the service also provides other facilities, such as Oxfordshire Studies (local history) including the Victoria County History Project. The arts side of the service is fairly small but high profile and there are strong partnerships in Heritage and Arts;
· Adult Learning – this is now completely externally funded. Its main source of income is from the Learning & Skills Council, which is about to be abolished. Adult Learning covers a number of areas, including learning for leisure and learning for skills. This committee’s remit is oversight of the adult learning service in provider mode, not skills commissioning, which sits under Councillor Robertson’s portfolio and the Growth and Infrastructure Scrutiny Committee;
· The Registration Service – which has the statutory responsibility to register births, deaths and marriages and also carries out other activities, for example, citizenship ceremonies;
· Cultural & Community Development – much activity in this area is now at arms length through ‘Oxford Inspires’. Karen Warren oversees the Community Development Team which comprises eight staff and works within the community, including with the Chinese, Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities. Projects with these communities help them to become more self determining.
· Community Services links to many of the County Council’s objectives, especially in terms of ‘healthy and thriving communities’, but also in relation to a ‘world class economy’ (in terms of contributing to economic development and tourism), and ‘reducing inequalities and breaking the cycle of deprivation’.
· Its contribution to economic development includes the Adult Learning Service (skills development), the Registration Service (many people choose Oxfordshire as the place to marry, which has a knock on effect for tourism) and heritage services.
· Community Services contributes to building safer and stronger communities through enabling participation, community development and community cohesion, access to information (eg local and family history), intergenerational activities, citizenship and community pride.
· Priorities and challenges include:
· The Library Service Change Programme (43 libraries in Oxfordshire) – this is underway and covers library property improvements, self-service, community involvement and mobile services. The programme arose from the Fundamental Service Review of Cultural Services which took place a few years ago. The proposed introduction of self service in libraries would provide the Council with the opportunity to make cost savings and would also aim to satisfy public demand. Some of the county’s libraries offer more value for money than others. Dialogues with the community are underway regarding how services might be provided more efficiently and officers are in the process of reviewing the mobile library service to see if it is delivering the best value for money;
· Heritage and Arts – including the transfer of Cogges Manor Farm Museum to the Trust, pursuing a partnership with the Soldiers of Oxfordshire in relation to the Oxfordshire Museum
(the Soldiers of Oxfordshire are willing to make a financial investment to ensure that military artefacts are looked after and displayed), work in relation to the History Centre involving other partners to ensure that there is one point of contact for information provision, and the Music Service change programme, which is reorganising how it raises funds in order to reduce the County Council’s subsidy (although the Music Service sits within the remit of the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee);
· Adult Learning – in terms of financial recovery (the service is currently running at a deficit and will need to pay back money over the next five years. A plan is in place to enable it to do so), the uncertainty of external funding, management restructuring and its role as a service provider to Oxfordshire County Council (there is a need to determine what the County Council wishes it to provide);
· The Registration Service – in terms of the future on-line registration of marriages (the service is at the cutting edge in terms of bringing services on-line), future legislation which will impact on the service (it is possible that the government will ask the Registration Service to do more in future without additional funding), and the achievement of its income targets (it currently earns twice its subsidy in earned income although there is no discretion in setting the rate for its statutory services);
· Cultural and Community Development – in terms of an increasing emphasis on prevention, expectations of greater involvement, redressing inequalities, and the cultural Olympiad (2012). Work must focus on where this programme area can make the most difference, although outcomes in terms of prevention are hard to evidence. In terms of community involvement, the new ‘duty to involve’ affects all of the Council’s services and the potential for using this team to work towards reducing inequality and breaking the cycle of deprivation has not yet been recognised. A programme of events for the cultural Olympiad will be starting next year.
The Committee then asked a number of questions. A selection of the Committee’s questions, together with Mr Munro’s responses, is given below:
· Is much partnership work underway, including with businesses and the district councils?
There are well developed partnerships with Heritage and Arts. The Council still runs two museums, although many of the county’s museums are now run by the district or town councils or by charitable trusts. Community Services still supports them in terms of education and outreach work and collection management. Officers work with the district councils on arts management. The Registration Service does not have to pay for any publicity due to its relationship with businesses that support weddings.
· Can public buildings be used for multiple purposes in lieu of mobile libraries?
This is being explored. This sometimes works in terms of asset management but can be a trap. Community buy in is also necessary in order for it to work.
· How many joint-use libraries are there in schools?
Three.
· Only three different ethnic minority communities were mentioned. Is there a list of all of the different communities and how can we communicate with them?
It is hard to be definitive. For example, the community development worker in Banbury has knowledge of the different Asian communities. We do have contacts within communities but are always learning more about different communities, their concerns and how we can help them.
The Committee then thanked Mr Munro for his excellent presentation and AGREED that it wished to receive presentations on specific topics in relation to community services at future meetings and also wished to receive a presentation on the work of Oxford Inspires.