My report to Council

Posted By: Mohammad Sharif
Date Posted: 23/07/2009

Thank you Mr Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Regeneration & Community Cohesion Portfolio.

REGENERATION & RENEWAL

Lower Falinge In Focus

Spiral Dance, a local Rochdale based dance company, have been commissioned by Regenda/HMR to develop a community cohesion project in Lower Falinge and bring people together through creative and artistic activity with the aim of helping people in this diverse community understand one another better. The project, called ‘Folkways’, will offer a series of dance, drama and poetry workshops free of charge to all people in Lower Falinge.

12 people including residents, volunteers and frontline staff gained a NCFE level 2 certificate for Working in Neighbourhoods

Housing Market Renewal

2 face-lifting gateway improvement projects have been approved for East Central Rochdale and Inner Rochdale

Langley Environmental Improvement project was approved with a budget of £300k for 09/10 and £730k for 10/11


SPECIAL PROJECTS

Rochdale
The construction of Unity House remains on programme

The construction of Wardleworth Health Centre remains on programme

Heywood
Progress continues to be made on the construction of the JSC and it is still on track to become operational in November.


ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

The Economic Affairs Unit continues to provide support for residents and businesses particularly those affected by the recession.

For example, Employment Links and partners have been supporting Boots’ staff and those made redundant from Beva Construction.

We are currently commissioning 2 services to support local enterprise: Enterprise Coaching and Intensive Business Start Up. This provision will provide a service to raise overall enterprise in deprived communities by funding and targeting people with the potential to start a business or a social enterprise. Support will also be available to businesses for up to 36 months from the start of trading.

For existing businesses, the Council’s ‘Beat the Crunch’ programme continues to receive excellent feedback. Free business events include: Access to finance, e-commerce, marketing for retailers and marketing for hospitality businesses.

The Borough’s annual skills fair took place in the town hall with over 600 visitors. 37 learners received certificates at the awards ceremony, presented by the Mayor.

We continue to work across partners to train frontline workers. This enables providers to work together and help more residents into training. Representatives from the Dept of Innovation, Universities & Skills visited recently to see the good practice in Rochdale Borough.

J21 continues to work with the construction industry and are pleased to report that a company they are supporting, Jackson Jackson, have recently won an award at the annual Employer Coalition Awards.

Tourism – training has taken place for 20 ambassadors to work in Rochdale and Middleton town centres helping visitors.

Council officers from Sheffield & Knowsley have visited Rochdale to examine the good work we are leading in terms of literacy. Over 300 free books were given away at the Skills Fair by the Literacy Coordinator in the Economic Affairs Team, Helen Chicot.

We are working across the Council with partners across GM to develop a bid for the national Future Jobs Fund. A successful bid could provide opportunities for hundreds of 6 month work placements across the Borough for the long term unemployed and young people. Following the 6 month placement, people will be assisted into further training, apprenticeships or work.



COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

Infrastructure Commission
7 pre-qualification questionnaires have been received and out of these 5 have been invited to tender.

Work with Voluntary & Community Groups
The Community Affairs team have given 25 Voluntary & Community Sector organisations funding advice and support.

Advancing Assets
A meeting has been held with the development trust association to allocate awarded support to Norden Library & RMBC. Requested to share our good practice across the region by hosting a regional event in Rochdale.

New Heart for Heywood NDC Partnership
Key Details
- Approvals now in place for all revenue funding
- Unapproved funding for remaining years is in region of £1.2m capital but an appraisal is being developed with clear timescales for delivery of elements of the Heywood SUN plan by July 2009.
- DCLG currently scrutinising delivery plans and proposals - this places clear need to risk assess robustly all proposals as any funding not spent to plan is lost to the Heywood programme

Jobs and Prosperity
The NDC is currently keeping under the review the projects within the Skills and Work programme to ensure they meet the changing needs within the challenging context of the current economic climate. A report on how the economic recession is impacting on the NDC programme and our responses to it was approved by the Executive Programme Committee on 21st May.

Health and Wellbeing
Phoenix Centre – Heywood
• The community steering group meets monthly and is working closely with officers from Heywood Township, the NHS HMR and the Council and this demonstrates partnership working at its best – where the focus on influencing service delivery has the potential of having a wider application than the NDC area. The recent focus has been on the reception area and public areas of the scheme and community members consulted with Heywood residents at a community event at the end of November.

HADP
The Health Activity Development Programme is a programme of 14 projects working with partners and residents to develop and change health and activity services, so that when the Phoenix Centre and Sports, Culture and Leisure Village are open, services will be developed and delivered in new ways, with and for local people.

Quality of Place
Town Centre Programme
• The scheme to improve the block of shops that front onto Market Street and back onto Dawson Street started in January, and with completion expected in June. Feedback from the public and shopkeepers has been very positive – there is a feeling of a transformed appearance which should lift the trading prospects of the town centre.

Children and Young People
Youth Programme
• Heywood Youth Inclusion Project achieved a 65% reduction in arrest rates. Cost of prevention via this model less than 6% of cost of custody.
Moving Forward from the NDC Programme
• There is a project plan in place for managing the end of the NDC Programme by March 2011. The Heywood Township Manager supported by the NDC Chief Executive is taking forward a clear set of planned actions to develop a strategy (which can be supported by all partners) to sustain the improvements and benefits in the New Heart for Heywood NDC area in a way that is consistent with local / Heywood priorities, strategies and delivery mechanisms.
• A final draft report on this strategy will be discussed at the cabinet meeting in September 2009, with the final plans to be signed of by the Chief Executive RMBC and Chair of the NDC by the 30th September 2009


COMMUNITY COHESION

• A faith capacity building project officer has just been recruited to empower and capacity build faith communities. The Project Officer will seek to empower individuals and groups by providing them with the skills and knowledge they need to effect change in their own communities and tackle violent extremism.

• The Big Lunch is a Central Government initiative that is to be delivered locally. It is a series of street parties that are due to take place up and down the country on Sunday 19th July 2009. The Council has been promoting this event as it will help contribute to the outcomes of the community cohesion strategy.

• The Rochdale Safer Communities Partnership held an away day on 18th June that focussed on community cohesion, preventing violent extremism and new and emerging communities in the borough. A range of partners attended the event to develop a greater understanding of community cohesion, develop a shared vision of cohesive communities and identify what needs to be in place to achieve these. An action plan will be developed as a result of the day and shared with the RSCP.

• Various projects have been commissioned via the community cohesion budget including ‘coffee mornings’, tours of the borough, and connecting communities through sports.