Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Climate Change which provided an update on the work of the Horden Together Partnership as part of the development of a place-based approach within the Horden area (for copy see file of minutes).

The Horden Together Partnership Manager provided an update on the Horden Together Partnership which had been established in the village of Horden to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour by addressing some of the root causes.  It was to create a blueprint for new ways of working with the community to allow better partnership working in any division within County Durham.  The task was to support/bolster the community offer, and work with individuals, improve the environment and in doing so address blockers and barriers in systems or processes.   Information had been mapped to establish what services were available in Horden and how this could be co-ordinated in a better way that was more accessible for the community to create a shared offer.  This also enabled to see any gaps in services.

Offices had been established within the heart of the village that were manned five days per week which was a real benefit to developing strong partnership working. All services and activities were advertised in a newspaper which was created quarterly and had worked better than an IT based platform to get the community involved in things like litter picking events.

The Community Engagement Co-ordinator highlighted partnership working through the great work of the voluntary and community sector.  Activities were co-ordinated in better ways to extend the offer. She illustrated this by two breakfast clubs being run by volunteers on the same day at the same time which were reworked to then provide five days of provision instead.  Workshops were held to identify gaps in services which found that people presented crisis late on a Friday afternoon.  Through partnership working it was arranged for an out of hours drop-in beyond the office hours of 9am-5pm. A group had also been established for people recovering from drug and alcohol misuse which was inclusive to everyone in the community and was used by approx. 50 people on a regular basis; help and support was available if needed.

The Team Leader Horden Together (PEOPLE) illustrated that the partnership had brought life back into the village with so much colour which had helped with peoples housing needs, mental health needs and issues with substances.

Residents sought help with their issues that were broken down into simple steps using the Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) framework.  She gave an example of help being offered to a family with issues around hording, the home was unsanitary and unsafe and they struggled to accept help.  The referral came from a conversation during a community litter pick.  Grants were accessed to help them financially and with support from Environmental Health and the Clean and Green team 78 bags of rubbish were removed from the house making it a safer place for them to live.  The partnership still faced challenges with homelessness and housing issues, but they continued to breakdown issue by issue person by person until solutions were found. She informed the committee that there was reward from having a locality-based team.

The Horden Together Partnership Manager required ways to encourage investment in the partnership as to roll the scheme out elsewhere funding or resource allocation was needed.  He gave examples of costs involved which were outweighed by the benefits of the Partnership which had helped with self-harm cases, housing issues, child protection cases and suicide interventions which without the service would have fallen through the gap and could not have a price put on.  

Councillor R Crute thanked Officers for the report as he could see the benefit of the Partnership.  He asked where the model would be rolled out next and suggested that he would love for it to be Blackhall.

The Horden Together Partnership Manager stated that proposals would be discussed at the Commissioning Board.  The Partnership had been set up in Horden based on numbers as it had organised crime, anti-social behaviour and huge public health issues. He felt that the next location should follow the same process.  However he was unsure how the next project would be resourced.

Councillor E Mavin thought it was a very good presentation and loved the enthusiasm that came from officers.  He wished them all the best for the future and hoped the project would continue.

Councillor V Andrews noted the positive outcomes from the project and thought that it was the way forward.

Councillor P Heaviside thanked officers for the presentation and asked for the cost figures to be circulated once complete. 

Resolved:

That the report be noted and commented upon.