Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Cllrs Payal Bedi, Ian Claymore and Linda Leach.

There were no declarations of interest.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2014 be approved

as a correct record and signed by the Chairsubject to an amendment on page 8 of the minutes relating to efficiency savings in staff from the implementation of the Care Act. It was agreed that the comment should read that Cllr Steve Evans acknowledged that the centre was due to close in October and confirmed that the service would not force people to leave and that the the closure would happen in a managed fashion.

There were no matters arising.

[Presentation Jeremy Vanes and Helen Child Chief Operating Officers, Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) – ‘2015: A time of great change.’ ]

Jeremy Vanes, Chief Operating Officer Wolverhampton Citizen Advice Bureau and Helen Child future Chief Operating Officer provided a presentation 2015: a timer of great change’.

The presentation gave oversight of the 2014-15 year and what impacted on the plan, as follows:

·         What was the 2014-15 plan

·         What happened outside the CAB

·         What happened inside the CAB

·         How were CAB doing

·         What will 2015 bring

·         What CAB need to deliver

·         What is the point

The reduction in jobs meant that the CAB had to use resources differently, to keep the footprint but emphasis on building telephone advice.

Some expected changes did not materialise such as the increase in mortgage rate and implementation of Universal Credit (UC) under the Welfare Reform Act.  There have been good news changes to legislate pay day lenders which will reduce the number of debt enquiries.

CAB have had to manage the budget carefully and have trained volunteers to work alongside paid staff to sustain a level of delivery of public services.

The CAB has 20% fewer staff but the number of clients / enquiries growth means more work.  The Chief Operational Officer advised that CAB has to be realistic about the budget and that there has to be a limit to what can be delivered.

The Chief Operational Officer advised that 2015 is going to bring more work relating to pension pot advice.  CAB Wolverhampton has been selected by Government to be the delivery unit for the Black Country and that recruitment of a small team was underway.  He advised that the Dudley legal company providing legal aid advice has withdrawn from the working arrangement.

The Chairman of the CAB Frank Reeves thanked Jeremy Vanes for being a most effective Chief Operating Officer and welcomed the incoming Chief Operating Officer Helen Child. Cllr Ian Claymore endorsed the comments as a member of the CAB Board.

Jeremy Vanes advised that the partnership working with CAB has worked well in particular over the last two years there has been some interesting collaborative working.  He indicated that legal aid and advice on employment law are services that will no longer be provided by CAB and voiced concerns that there is no capacity to advise people at work.

Cllr Stephen Simkins expressed concerns that any policy changes or further austerity measures can increase in homelessness, numbers of looked after children and other financial strains which could trigger an increase in demand for advice and support in the City.  He considered what the Councils duty is and how the Council can broker relationships.  Tony Ivko, Service Director Older People advised that there is no statutory provision but that the recent Scrutiny Review of ‘Welfare Reform – Unclaimed Benefits’ concluded and made recommendations relating to advice and support and how we map out services across the City.  He advised that the existing spend is being used more creatively using welfare rights staff to liaise and train voluntary organisations. The scrutiny panel heard that more work is happening relating to volunteering  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

[That the Panel consider the proposal to undertake a review and, if required, refresh of Wolverhampton Compact.]

Cllr Elias Mattu, Saffi Price, Wolverhampton Voluntary Sector Council (WVSC) Sheila Collett, Head of Economic Inclusion and Martha Cummings, Voluntary Sector Coordinator, Wolverhampton City Council were in attendance at the meeting to provide a report on the new direction for the Wolverhampton Compact.

Wolverhampton launched its compact in 2005, the compact lays down the rules of engagement between and within the sectors in a series of principles.  Underpinning the principles are six codes of practice that provide more detailed guidance.  The Cabinet Members indicated the timeliness of the report coming before scrutiny; a refresh is due to changes to structures and lead officers across the partners signed up to the compact and he emphasised the importance of maintaining the strengths of the compact across partnerships to ensure all organisations in the sectors are joined up and working together in Wolverhampton.  Panel were advised that Wolverhampton Compact has won awards on six occasions and wants to maintain the quality in the refreshed compact.

Saffi Price, WVSC, advised that since first being developed things have changed enormously, the refreshed compact needs to reflect the emergence of new structures including the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC)which did not exist in 2005.  She indicated that from the voluntary sector perspective the compact is key to working together to maximise resources and equally as important to ensure that the most effective organisation to deliver is identified.  She indicated that there is no value in refreshing unless there is genuine buy in from all partners.

The scrutiny panel were advised that the compact revisit is at a very early stage, there is a will to refresh it but no talks have started yet with PCC, CCG or other stakeholders. 

The scrutiny group welcome the refresh of the compact and asked officers what the scrutiny panel could do to assist the process, by unblocking barriers.  The Chair suggested that the social value of the compact needs to be highlighted when refreshing the document to capture all organisations and volunteering opportunities.

Anthony Ivko, Service Director Older People highlighted that Community hubs hold volunteering opportunities and as they are run by the community for the community there should be talks with the hubs about the compact. He highlighted a barrier that has recently come to light in the form of Job seekers allowance claimants being sanctioned when volunteering, because volunteering is not considered to be ‘actively seeking employment’.

Martha Cummings indicated the relevance of having training schemes and opportunities to unlock working age volunteers. She indicated that there is a cost to everything and that there is a need to access funds where available and make sure they are accessible to the voluntary sector.  There is a need to  help bring the money into the City, it doesn’t matter which organisation or who as long as the funds come into the City.  Cllr Stephen Simkins suggested that the refresh should include a mapping exercise of all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.