Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Councillor D Cox and seconded by Councillor Jenks that Councillor H Cox be elected Chair.

There were no other nominations.

RESOLVED   Councillor H Cox be elected Chair for the 2022/23 Municipal Year.

It was proposed by Councillor H Cox and seconded by Councillor D Cox that Councillor Jenks be elected Vice Chair.

There were no other nominations.

RRSOLVED   Councillor Jenks be elected Vice Chair for the 2022/23 Municipal Year.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2022

It was proposed by Councillor H Cox, seconded by Councillor Jenks and

RESOLVED  The minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors D Cox  and Hocking declared a non-pecuniary interest in minute 112 below by virtue of being Chair of the HITS charity Trust Board, and Chair of Newton abbot Community Transport Charity respectively.

Members of the Public may ask questions of the Chair. A maximum period of 15 minutes will be allowed with a maximum of period of three minutes per questioner.

None.

None.

To note forthcoming decisions anticipated to be made by the Executive over the next 12 months. The Executive Forward Plan can be found here. 

The Executive Forward Plan listing items to be considered by the Executive over the next few months including to which overview and scrutiny remit each issue fell, was noted.

To review the Committee’s work programme

The Committee’s work programme as circulated with the agenda was noted.

Elaine Musgrove, Community Development Worker will be in attendance to advise Councillors on the CVS’ project across the district which aims to re-energise communities following this first 24 months of Covid-19. This will be achieved by having conversations with communities and supporting community resilience.

The CVS aims to deliver a test and learn programme to include a range of activities within communities that seek to build on the energy that emerged during Covid-19 with a view to:

• Local communities identifying issues that are important to them alongside known data on need
• Local people supporting those in the communities most in need
• Communities designing and delivering their own solutions
• Communities being the first point of contact for local residents
• Communities being sustainable in their offer to support residents

The Committee welcomed Elaine Musgrove and Sarah Kersey, Community Development Workers.   They updated Councillors on the CVS’ project across the district which aims to re-energise communities following this first 24 months of Covid-19. This would be achieved by having conversations with communities and supporting community resilience. The CVS aims to deliver a test and learn programme to include a range of activities within communities that seek to build on the energy that emerged during Covid-19 with a view to:

· Local communities identifying issues that are important to them alongside known data on need

· Local people supporting those in the communities most in need

· Communities designing and delivering their own solutions

They gave an overview of their project so far. As development workers they were keen to listen to residents through door knocking, going to public spaces, cafes, pubs and other public outlets, connect people and support community action and developments in Teignbridge.

The pandemic had increased social isolation and the work of the CVS was helping to address this issue and look at aspects to overcoming this such as community transport issues and bringing people together in community forums and alliances.

It was acknowledged that nationally there was a decrease in the number of volunteers as compared with before the covid pandemic, and all charities were struggling to recruit and retain volunteers. The CS were running a recruitment campaign to engage more volunteers to try and address this issue.

The Committee invited the CVS to make another update presentation in a few months time. 

The full presentation can be found at Agenda for Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1 on Tuesday, 12th July, 2022, 10.00 am - Teignbridge District Council

Councillor Wrigley, the Executive member for homes and community updated the committee on progress of services within the portfolio. The update included the following:

·         The community safety partnership had run a series of successful webinars entitled Let’s Talk Teenagers which had been well attended. Arrangements were being made for repeat sessions due to the high demand.

·         The cost of living crises had resulted in some £10million people under the poverty line (source: Martin Lewis)

·         Housing – the 5 flats as part of the Council houses T100 were all occupied and had sustainable energy systems. The next initiative would be 40 homes to be developed through modern methods such as Z-Pods. A good example of Z-pods was in Bristol and a demonstration pod was at Mid Devon district council in Tiverton.

·         Discussions were being held regarding the provision of homes through the community land trust project.

·         The LADs scheme provided government grants to assist with home insulation.

·         The Council’s IT systems were being adapted to being more digital.

·         111 households in Teignbridge had come forward to take in 228 Ukrainian refugees.

The full presentation can be found at Agenda for Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1 on Tuesday, 12th July, 2022, 10.00 am - Teignbridge District Council