Agenda and minutes

A Declaration of Interest was made for Item 4c - Councillor Hart had a Personal Interest - Derby Community Trust

RESOLVED that the non-exempt minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Health and Communities held on 7 January 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Cabinet Member was provided with an update on the Council Plan performance position and the revenue budget position of the Health and Communities portfolio for 2020-2021 up to the end of December 2020 (Quarter 3). 

The report  showed that progress was "good" for the portfolio.  After the use of additional Covid-19 funding, the budget forecast position saw an underspend of £3.254m. It was forecast that £0.166m of savings would be achieved by the year end compare to target savings of £0.150m and the value of savings initiatives, which had been identified for implementation in the current year, of £0.216m.

The report contained detailed tables and graphs showing an overview of progress on deliverables and measures.  Key areas of success were Pause Derbyhire, the Community Response Unit in response to winter pressures and the online weight management programme.  Areas for consideration were 0-5 Service and new pre-school contact.  Appendix A provided further information.

          The net controllable budget for the portfolio was £16.115m. An additional £1.956m Covid-19 funding give a total of £18.071m.  The Revenue Budget Monitoring Statement forecasted a year-end total underspend of £3.254m.

          Allocated budget reduction targets totalled £0.216m.  There was an over-achievement of savings of £0.066m which was brought forward to the current year and resulted in total reductions of £0.150m at the start of the year.

          The portfolio received additional budget allocations: Coroners service - £0.101m for ongoing increasing fees due to a national shortage of Pathologists and Community Safety Domestic Violence - £0.500m one-off payment.

          The risks were detailed within a table and earmarked reserves of £9.704m were held to support future expenditure.

          RESOLVED - that the Cabinet Member note the report and consider whether there are any further actions that should be undertaken to improve the budget position moving forwards or to address performance, where it has not met the desired level.

The Cabinet Member was given an update on organisations supported through the Public Health COVID-19 Emergency Fund and approval was sought for allocating an additional £100,000 towards the fund.

          The ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic had seen many organisations across Derbyshire working to ensure the basic needs of the most vulnerable residents were met.  It had become apparent that a number of community and voluntary sector organisations had insufficient resources to maintain their current level of response.  Support for the clinically extremely vulnerable, social isolation and requirement for activities to comply with social distancing guidance had compelled many organisations to quickly adapt their service delivery models to operate within the guidance, often requiring additional resources to enable this.

          The Cabinet Member had approved the establishment of a Public Health COVID-19 Emergency Fund to support voluntary and community sector organisations in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on local communities and to work to improve the health and wellbeing of local populations. Funding up to the value of £2,000 was available for constituted groups and £250 for non-constituted groups.  This was funded from the Public Health Grant and linked to the current Public Health work programme.

          Authority for approval of applications was delegated by the Cabinet Member to the Director of Public Health, with quarterly updates. This report was the second quarterly update covering funding from 6 October to 21 December 2020.  Funding decisions were made by a panel comprising of an Assistant Director in Public Health, a Public Health Lead and a Health Improvement Practitioner, before ratification by the Director of Public Health. Details on the organisations to have been approved for funding were detailed within the report.

          RESOLVED - that the Cabinet Member (1) note the allocation of the Public Health COVID-19 Emergency Fund to date;

          (2) approve the extension of the fund by an additional £100,000;

          (3) continue to delegate authority to the Director of Public Health to approve awards of no more than £2,000 to individual organisations; and

          (4) receive details of further recipient organisations on a quarterly basis.

          The Cabinet Member was updated on the allocations of the Coronavirus (Covid-19): Local Authority Emergency Assistance Grant for Food and Essential Supplies.   Additional approval was also sought to enable allocation of grant funding to further external organisations.

          Derbyshire County Council had received £0.808m in the form of a Local Authority Assistance Grant for Food and Essential Supplies, provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to support people struggling to afford essentials due to the impact of Covid-19.     Public Health had been liaising with key partnership groups to develop ideas being put forward and seek assurance that the grant was meeting local needs.

          The Cabinet Member had previously approved reports that allocated the bulk of the monies and disbursement of the agreed monies had taken place.  In response to changing needs, the report proposed a further allocation of funding to enhance fuel poverty support to people across Derbyshire and to provide copies of the national ‘Quids In’ Financial Inclusion advice magazine for distribution through foodbanks and networks.

          The original report on 4 September identified £20,000 for fuel poverty related support.  £10k already been dispersed to the Derbyshire Healthy Homes project.  Approval was sought to channel the remaining £10k to Marches Energy Advice to enhance their work with foodbanks with a recommendation to further top up the funding with an additional £22,000 from the contingency put towards this important agenda area.  Funding would have an additional focus on funding emergency support for people with credit meters.  This would complement Public Health’s holistic winter pressure support programme being co-ordinated on behalf of the system by the Community Response Unit.

          In partnership with food banks across Derbyshire, additional funding would provide emergency support on energy use to a minimum of 250 householders at a time of crisis. Key deliverables included emergency credit meter funding or pre-payment meter funding; B-Warm electric seat warmers;  3-4 LED bulbs per home; staff time to facilitate the allocation and full support through Warmer Derby and Derbyshire.  Need would be determined using existing food bank criteria.

          ‘Quids In’ magazine was a national publication giving advice and ‘top tips’ aimed at tenants and those on low income around managing money; accessing help; avoiding rogue traders and loan sharks etc.  It was proposed to purchase copies to distribute through foodbanks and Feeding Derbyshire projects twice in the coming year with Rural Action Derbyshire and the Feeding Derbyshire network.  This would be a one-off cost.  There were cost savings for buying in bulk and it was proposed to fund Rural Action Derbyshire £3,000 to purchase 10,000 copies (twice) during 2021. 

          Allocations would bring the total committed to £0.647m. Recommendations for the remaining £0.161m contingency would be brought to a later meeting for approval.

          RESOLVED - that the Cabinet Member note the information contained in the report and approve the recommendation regarding a further allocation of external grant to support provision of services relating to the Local Authority Emergency  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11/21

            Approval was sought from the CabinetMember forthe awardof £148,885to fourorganisations from the Recovery from Alcohol and Drug DependenceGrant and for the award of £47,736 to Derby County Community Trust to deliver the Active Choices recovery programme.

          The Recovery from Alcohol and Drug Dependence Grant programme had been running for the last five years to fund projects that provided recovery activities acrossDerbyshire.  From June 2020, project proposals which usually lasted for one year were requested to last two years, with the local authority funding the first year and match funding being found for the second year. This was to enable longer-term sustainability for the existing projects and to allow for a new, potentially less experienced but equally innovative projects and organisations, to apply for funding in the subsequent year.

          In September 2020, organisations were invited to apply for a maximum of £40,000 for the grant to commence from 01 April 2021. Six applications were received from organisations across Derbyshire and were evaluated by two members of the Substance Misuse Health Improvement Team and one member of the Public Health Commissioning Team against the agreed criteria.  Four of the organisations were recommended for funding; the remaining two did not meet the objectives of the grant. The organisations recommended for funding were:

·           A-Spire Right: Chesterfield Football Club Community Trust - £39,955

·           Rhubarb Recovery Continued: Rhubarb Farm - £37,098

·           Growing Lives: Derventio Charitable Trust - £36,682

·           RISE: The Zink Project - £35,150

          In addition to the support these projects would provide, Derby County Community Trust (which was not eligible to apply for funding under the Recovery Grants programme) had been separately grant-funded in two previous years to deliver activities for people in recovery from substance misuse issues in South Derbyshire, Erewash and Amber Valley.  Their Active Choices programme offered a variety of face-to-face physical activity-based interventions alongside virtual online support and working with a total of 80 people in recovery over a one year period, at a cost of £47,736. In localities not covered by the recovery projects, the Health Improvement Team wouldwork with locality leads to identify community projects which offered activities that might support recovery.

          RESOLVED - that Cabinet Member approve the award of grants to the four organisations who meet the Recovery from Alcohol and Drug Dependence Grant funding criteria, and to Derby County Community Trust for their Active Choices programme, to further develop the recovery communities in Derbyshire from April 2021 as detailed in the report.