Leisure, Arts And Communities Committee - 13/12/2004

At a MEETING of the COMMUNITIES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 13th December, 2004.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor HIND, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 8th November, 2004 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DUNDEE COMMUNITY SAFETY WARDENS INITIATIVE - PROGRESS REPORT 2004

There was submitted Report No 773-2004 by the Head of Communities updating the Committee on the progress of the Community Safety Wardens Initiative and seeking authority for the appointment of external consultants to evaluate the Initiative.

The appointment of external evaluators would be invited via tenders with costs met with funding support from the Scottish Executive 2004/2006.

The Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(a)to note the report to the Scottish Executive on progress to 30th September, 2004 (as circulated to members);

(b)to note the local outcome performance indicators to be used for monitoring and evaluation;

(c)to authorise the Head of Communities to seek the appointment of external consultants to evaluate the Initiative as per the Scottish Executive external funding conditions.

II DUNDEE COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP - ACTION PLAN 2004/05, UPDATE TO 30TH SEPTEMBER,2004

There was submitted Agenda Note AN452-2004 asking the Committee to note the six monthly update of the above Action Plan.

In accordance with the Scottish Executive award conditions, a copy of the report had been submitted to the Scottish Executive and the Dundee Community Safety Partnership.

The Committee noted accordingly.

III DUNDEE COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP - ALLOCATION OF LOCAL ACTION FUND II

There was submitted Report No 787-2004 by the Head of Communities seeking approval for the allocation of further grant awards from the Local Action Fund. The grant awards would be met from external funding from the Scottish Executive under the Community Safety Local Action Fund Programme 2004/05.

The Committee approved the allocation of grants as follows:-

IV DUNDEE COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP - DUNDEE COMMUNITY SAFETY AWARD GRANTS IV(COMMISSIONED SERVICES)

There was submitted Report No 717-2004 by the Head of Communities making recommendations for four commissioned grant awards from the Community Safety Award 2004/05. The grant awards would be met from external funding from the Scottish Executive under the Community Safety Award Programme 2004/05.

The Committee approved the recommended grant awards as follows:-

V DUNDEE COMMUNITY LEARNING STRATEGY 2005/2008

There was submitted Report No 810-2004 by the Head of Communities seeking endorsement for the revised Community Learning Strategy for Dundee 2005/08.

The Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(a)to endorse the Community Learning Strategy for Dundee 2005/08 which can be accessed from the Council's Home Page on the website at www.dundeecity.gov.uk under "What We Do" - "Council Publications";

(b)to instruct the Head of Communities to forward the Strategy to the Scottish Executive.

VI SOCIAL INCLUSION PARTNERSHIP ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES - EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES2004/2005

There was submitted Report No 795-2004 by the Head of Communities making recommendations for the allocation of Empowering Communities funding for the financial year 2004/05. The proposals would be met from the allocation within the SIP1 Empowering Communities budget set aside for grants to projects.

The Committee noted and approved the undernoted grants:-

VII YOUTH CONSULTATION

There was submitted Report No 792-2004 by the Head of Communities seeking approval for recommendations arising from consultations with young people about how they wished to be consulted.

The Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(a)to establish an annual event to facilitate consultation between Elected Members, representatives of community planning organisations and young people on a negotiated agenda governing young people's priority items;

(b)to develop regular opportunities, at local levels, to encourage young people to access Elected Member surgeries;

(c)to establish a network of personnel skilled in youth consultation/information practice to facilitate communication between young people and decision-makers;

(d)to encourage community planning partners to use the online webservices, www.youngscot.org/dundee, provided by Dialogue Youth/Young Scot (Dundee) to assist in increasing consultation with young people;

(e)the annual event outlined under recommendation (a) will be used for the annual reporting and election date of the work of members of the Scottish Youth Parliament;

(f)to continue to support localised groups of young people to address need through participation in local community planning networks.

VIII WELLGATE CENTRAL LIBRARY HEATING AND VENTILATION UPGRADE AND RELOCATION OF COMMUNITIESHQ OFFICES (PARTNERING) - EXTENSION TO CONTRACT

Councillor Keenan declared a non-financial interest in the undernoted item being the Council representative on the Citizens Advice Bureau.

There was submitted Report No 806-2004 by the Head of Communities seeking approval to extend the existing contract for works at the Wellgate Central Library to accommodate the relocation of the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Committee approved the extension of the existing contract and estimated additional expenditure of 155,000 to undertake the alterations required to create accommodation for the Citizens Advice Bureau.

IX THE INTRODUCTION OF INFORMAL AREAS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY LIBRARIES

There was submitted Report No 807-2004 by the Head of Communities seeking Committee approval for the creation of more informal areas within the Community Libraries.

The Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(a)the creation of informal areas, initially within each of the following Community Libraries: Blackness, Broughty Ferry and Fintry, with the intention to extend this provision across the City over the next year, incorporating lessons learned from the first phase;

(b)to introduce the provision, for a small charge, of tea, coffee and bottled water.

X VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS TRAINING GRANTS FUND 2004/2005

There was submitted Report No 809-2004 by the Head of Communities making recommendations for grant awards from the Voluntary Organisations Training Grants Fund. The grant awards would be met from the Department's Revenue Budget 2004/05.

The Committee approved payment of the following recommended grants:-

XI PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICITY AWARD - DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL LIBRARY AND INFORMATIONSERVICE

There was submitted Agenda Note AN453-2004 advising that the Library and Information Service Section of Dundee City Council's website had been awarded "Highly Commended" status in the Multi-Media and Web Page category of the Public Relations and Publicity Awards for the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals of Scotland (CILIPS).

The award was presented at the "Building on Experience" conference which took place on 11th November, 2004 at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Grassmere. The CILIPS annual awards for Publicity and Public Relations were sponsored by the Farries Library Service Limited and attracted many entries from across the whole of the UK. To view the award winning web pages, members were invited to look at www.dundeecity.gov.uk/library/award.htm.

The Committee congratulated the Department on this success.

XII CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS

There was submitted Agenda Note AN454-2004 recommending that all Community Centres/Complexes Community Libraries, the Central Library, the Shore and Mitchell Street Centre be closed from Friday, 24th December until Tuesday, 28th December, 2004 inclusive.

During the New Year period, Community Centres/Complexes and Community Libraries, the Central Library, the Shore and Mitchell Street Centre to be closed from Saturday, 1st January until Tuesday, 4th January, 2005 inclusive.

Experience had shown that on New Year's Eve, the Central Library and Community Libraries were very quiet. It was recommended that libraries scheduled to be open beyond 5pm close at that time on Friday, 31st December, 2004. Where appropriate, staff timetables would be adjusted to take account of these opening hours i.e. all staff throughout the Department would have the equivalent of five public holidays. Notices would be posted advising the public of the holiday period opening hours.

"The Corner" to be closed from Saturday, 25th December until Monday, 27th December inclusive and again from Saturday, 1st January until Monday, 3rd January, 2005 inclusive. The family planning doctor would be available on Friday, 24th December 1pm until 3pm and Friday, 31st December, 1pm -3pm.

The Committee approved the service arrangements as detailed.

XIII DYNAMIC PLACE AWARDS

There was submitted Agenda Note AN461-2004 advising that the Twa Semis community garden (Charleston) had won the 2004 Dynamic Place Award for the transformation of the garden which was undertaken with the support of the Beechgrove Garden television programme. The project was based on designs and ideas generated by young people.

The Award recognised:

7                                             the involvement of communities

7                                             the matching of skills to places

7                                             training in place development.

Val Dinsmore, former Centre Manager for the Charleston Neighbourhood Centre and Library, who was responsible for the project, was also the winner of the Individual of the Year Award in recognition of her role in bringing the Dynamic Place to fruition.

The event was organised by Scottish Enterprise and sponsored by Scottish National Heritage, Communities Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Regeneration and Renewal Journal. Details of the Dynamic Place Awards could be found at the following website:- www.scottish-enterprise.com/dynamicplaceawards.

The Committee congratulated the Department on its success and also congratulated Val Dinsmore on her individual success.

CHRIS HIND, Convener.