There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest declared at the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2021 were confirmed by assent.

With regard to minute number 7, Councillor Martin requested an update. The Strategic Director reported that officers were working on Councillor Martin's request and the information would be available next week.

The Committee received and considered the Forward Plan.

Councillor Wainwright asked if there was a timescale for the Sheltered Housing Services Review to come to Committee. The Housing Director would confirm the expected date of the report as soon as possible.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee receive and note the Forward Plan.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Strategic Director & Early Help Hub Manager.

The Strategic Director reported that in November 2020, the Government (MHCLG) had launched a £23 million Community Champions Programme working in partnership with NHS England. The programme invited LA's and voluntary organisations to apply to work with PHE to provide targeted support for people most at risk from Covid-19.

The Strategic Director reported that the Council had applied and been successful with its proposal for a series of local interventions. This will assist access to public facing pandemic communications, including vaccine advice and information to boost local vaccination take-up amongst local residents.

The Strategic Director provided Members with an overview of the interventions which would be implemented working closely with Norfolk Public health, NCC, Norfolk & Waveney CCG at place level and the Great Yarmouth/Norfolk Villagers & Gorleston/Southern Parishes Primary Care Networks.

Councillor Wainwright asked if any interventions were planned around the lesser take-up of the Covid19 vaccination in the BAME and over 60's age group in the Borough. The Strategic Director confirmed that an intervention to help increase in the take-up of vaccines was planned.

Councillor Williamson referred to paragraph 3.5 on page 14 of the report and that it was a sad reflection on today's society having to formalise the provision of foodbanks across the Borough.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee endorse the proposals for a Community Champions' programme in the Borough of Great Yarmouth.

The Committee received & considered the report from the Strategic Director & Community Development Manager.

The Community Development Manager provided feedback on the current community grants delivery commissioned to run until 30 August 2021 and reported the proposal to transition to a Community Investment Fund model in partnership with the Norfolk Community Foundation.

Councillor Wainwright asked if any modelling had been undertaken to ascertain what effect the cut of £50k of funding had had on the charities concerned.

Claire Cullins, CEO, Norfolk Community Foundation, gave a high level presentation to the Committee detailing the new community grants scheme, with funding contribution of £50k from GYBC for 2021/22, as part of the Great Yarmouth Community Investment Fund which would be administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation. This would operate on line with the priorities set out in the Great Yarmouth Locality Strategy.

Councillor Martin thanked Claire for her informative presentation which had alleviated several of her concerns but she was saddened that local Members would not have a say in how local charities were funded to meet the needs of local residents.

Councillor Wainwright reported that he agreed with Councillor martin but was comforted that the Committee would receive a six monthly updates and an annual report from the Norfolk Community Foundation.

Councillor Smith-Clare reported that it was imperative that the Council looked at the bigger picture especially how this new way of funding would impact the youth of the Borough. Councillor Smith-Clare requested data on the youth unemployment figures for Great Yarmouth, the percentage of 18-24 year olds currently without 5 GCSE's including Maths & English, the career framework put in place for this age group and what number of apprenticeships were available to them at this time. The Strategic Director reported that the Council had recently commissioned a piece of work which would encompass these questions and she would report back to the Committee when the work had been completed. 

Councillor Williamson was concerned that £50k of funding would be sufficient to kickstart this new fund and requested that further background information be given to the Committee as to how much funding was awarded to the Council, where it came from and where it went.

Councillor D Hammond asked if grants were awarded for individuals as well as groups. Claire Cullins reported that the majority of funding was awarded to groups but individual funding for carers had been awarded. Councillor Martin asked if the criteria for grant support for carers could be circulated to all members.

Councillor Hacon expressed her disappointment that Members would no longer be required to sit on the Grants Panel and award funding to well-deserving local charities which, in her view, was a great shame.

Councillor Wainwright asked if the NCF provided assistance in applying for grants as the forms could be quite complicated and time-consuming to complete. Claire Cullens reported that the NCF could assist with this process and work through applications over the telephone and sometimes the application only consisted of a much-simpler expression of interest application.

The Committee agreed to approve that Firstmove Furnishaid keep its grant as allocated, in order to deliver the outcomes originally intended, ideally before 30 August 2021 or as soon as possible.

The Chairman thanked Claire for her informative presentation and for the good work her and her NCF team were undertaking for the residents of Norfolk.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee agree to:-

(a) Note the achievements of the commissioned VCSE organisations in supporting local
communities during the pandemic and provide advice regarding the one underspent grant
allocation,

(b) Cease the current community grant scheme on 30 August 2021,

(c) Establish the Great Yarmouth Community Investment Fund through the formation of a
strategic partnership with the Norfolk Community Foundation (NCF) from 1 April 2021,

(d) Provide a funding contribution of £50,000 from 2021/22 for a new community grants
scheme as part of the Great Yarmouth Community Investment Fund to be administered by
the NCF in line with the priorities set within the Great Yarmouth Locality Strategy and
detailed in the criteria of this report at para 3.5,

(e) Delegates authority to the Strategic Director to sign a formal Funding Agreement with the
Norfolk Community Foundation; and

(f) Receive future six-month updates and annual reports on the work of the Great Yarmouth
Community Investment Fund as set out in the terms of the Agreement with the Norfolk
Community Foundation.

(g) Approve that Firstmove Furnishaid to keep its grant as allocated in order to deliver the outcomes originally intended, ideally before 30 August 2021 or as soon as possible.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Strategic Director & Community Development Manager.

The Strategic Director provided the Committee with an overview of the process leading up to the development of the Great Yarmouth Locality Strategy which had been produced in collaboration with Great Yarmouth's Locality Board statutory partners and VCSE agencies.

Councillor Wainwright welcomed this excellent report and the proposed Action Plan & Milestones which would enable Members to track and evaluate the success of the strategy. The Strategic Director reported that progress would be reported to committee bi-annually.

Councillor Smith-Clare referred to page 49 of the report and requested that more up-to-date data be used as the data provided was two years old at the time of writing the report. The Strategic Director reported that new data would come forward as a result of the Census 2021.

Councillor Williamson reported that this would be a mammoth task but suggested that up-to-date data could be sourced from Cambridge Health Authority.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee:-

(i) Review and agree the Great Yarmouth Locality Strategy; and

(ii) Request officers, in conjunction with partner organisations, to develop a suite of outcome based Action Plans and to provide a six monthly update on those actions to the Committee.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Housing director.

The Housing Director gave an overview of the process to produce a Development Standard which would apply to new homes built or acquired to become part of the Council's housing stock. The Housing Director sought five Members from the Committee to form part of a Task & Finish group which would develop the new standard.

Councillor Wainwright reported that his group representatives would be Councillors Martin & Williamson. The Chairman reported that he would e-mail his group representatives to the Housing Director after the meeting.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note he report and nominate five members to participate in the Development Standard Task & Finish Group.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Housing Director.

The Housing Director reported that the White paper provided an overview of The Charter for Social Housing and set out a new compliance and performance framework to respond to the requirements of the Charter.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the areas of focus of the Social Housing White Paper and the role of the Committee in monitoring compliance and the performance of the Council's landlord functions.

The Chairman reported that there was no other business being of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration at the meeting.