Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee - Thursday, 7th November, 2019 2.00 pm

Venue: Council Antechamber, Level 2, Town Hall Extension

Contact: Rachel McKeon 

Media

Items
No. Item

43.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 200 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2019 .

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Decisions

 

1.            To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2019 as a correct record.

 

2.            To receive the minutes of the meeting of the Review of Advice Services in Manchester Task and Finish Group held on 30 September 2019.

44.

Our Manchester Disability Plan pdf icon PDF 507 KB

Report of the Executive Director of Adult Services

 

This report provides an update on progress with Our Manchester Disability Plan (OMDP), including the recent refresh of the Plan and the new Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for the Social Model of Disability.  There are also updates from each of the current OMDP workstreams to report on topics discussed and the progress achieved as well as a progress report on the Council’s Disability Confident scheme.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Executive Director of Adult Services which provided an update on progress with the Our Manchester Disability Plan (OMDP), including the recent refresh of the Plan and the new Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for the Social Model of Disability. It also included updates from each of the current OMDP workstreams as well as a progress report on the Council’s Disability Confident Scheme.

 

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report, which included:

 

  • An update on the Health and Social Care Workstream;
  • Children and Young People update;
  • Work and Skills update;
  • Transport update; and
  • The Disability Confident Scheme.

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

 

  • Educational attainment of young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND);
  • Delays in pupils with SEND receiving an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and what support was available to parents of disabled children;
  • The importance of considering mental health as part of the work on long-term health conditions and the social model of disability; and
  • The problems some disabled people faced in accessing their own local area, for example, due to people parking cars across dropped kerbs and pavements and that work should take place with the Highways Team to address this.

 

The Chair commented that the Lead Member for Disability had been unable to attend the meeting but read out some comments she had wanted to make.  These highlighted the breadth of the work taking place outside of the Board structure and through all the workstreams.  Her comments also highlighted the work taking place to improve the accessibility of the Peterloo Memorial and to improve the Council’s internal systems as well as initiatives taking place across the city such as Purple Tuesday the following week where the Christmas markets would open earlier and district centres like Wythenshawe would be supporting a quiet hour where loud instore music would be turned off and there would be more visible support for disabled shoppers.   

 

The SEND Lead outlined the work taking place to improve educational outcomes for pupils with SEND, advising that her service reported regularly to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee on this.  She informed Members that there had been a significant increase in application for EHCPs so the Statutory Assessment Team which dealt with these applications was being re-designed to meet the demand.  She suggested that progress on this be included in a future report.  She informed Members that parents could access an impartial information, advice and support service and could also receive support from volunteer Parent Champions.  A Member commented that he would welcome updates on the timescales for the EHCP along with examples of any cases where the process had not worked well for the young person so that the Committee could identify areas for improvement.

 

The Public Health Specialist advised that other Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) topic papers were being worked on which focused on mental health and that these were documents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

45.

Proposed City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order pdf icon PDF 277 KB

Report of the Head of Compliance, Enforcement and Community Safety

 

This report provides an update on the outcome of the consultation for the city centre proposed Public Spaces Protection Order.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Head of Compliance, Enforcement and Community Safety which provided an update on the outcome of the consultation for the city centre proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).

 

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report, which included:

 

  • Background information;
  • Supporting people with vulnerabilities;
  • Evidence of issues of concern in Manchester city centre;
  • The consultation and consultation responses;
  • Consideration of the articles for a PSPO;
  • The proposed PSPO;
  • Enforcement;
  • Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and Human Rights; and
  • Next steps.

 

Kathy Cosgrove from Greater Manchester Law Centre expressed concern about the lawfulness and fairness of the consultation.  She advised that it did not include enough information, for example, on existing powers, to enable respondents to make an informed decision.  She also stated that it was not balanced and that the way it was carried out as an online consultation meant that it did not target and was not accessible to some of the people who would be most impacted by the proposal, particularly homeless people.  She also advised that the consultation responses were not presented fairly, not showing the full range of responses to the open text questions.  She reported that the evidence presented did not demonstrate justification for the proposed PSPO, stating that it did not demonstrate that it would achieve its aims and that the benefits would outweigh the risk of harm.  She expressed concern that the PSPO would indirectly discriminate against homeless people who could not avoid breaching it and were often members of other minority groups.  She outlined the significant challenges facing homeless people and stated that the report did not address the additional risk of harm to this group which, she advised, the proposed PSPO would present.  She stated that many professionals in this area of work and related fields were opposed to the proposed PSPO.  She also reported that some other local authorities had introduced similar measures which had not been successful.  A Member supported her comments. 

 

Dr Morag Rose from the University of Liverpool outlined her concerns about the consultation, stating that it included leading and ambiguous questions, that it had received very few responses from homeless people, that some shop workers in the area had been coerced by their managers to complete it and that the analysis was flawed.  She advised that there was academic evidence against the use of PSPOs to address the behaviours outlined.  She also expressed concern that the proposed PSPO could criminalise protest and that it sent a negative message about attitudes towards homeless people.

 

The Ward Councillors for the city centre wards of Deansgate and Piccadilly were invited to comment on the proposals.  They provided a number of examples of the negative effect of the current situation on local residents, including repeated instances of people urinating and defecating outside their homes, alcohol consumption and associated litter and fighting, drug dealing and drug paraphernalia, receiving abuse and blocked entrances to residential buildings, which made residents feel intimidated going into and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

46.

Manchester International Festival pdf icon PDF 480 KB

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive & City Treasurer and Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

 

This report provides a positive picture of the outcomes of the evaluation of the Manchester International Festival 2019 and re-confirms the funding arrangements for 2021 Festival as approved by the Executive on 18 October 2017.

 

The Committee is invited to comment on the report prior to its submission to the Executive on 13 November 2019.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer and the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided information on the outcomes of the evaluation of the Manchester International Festival (MIF) 2019 and re-confirmed the funding arrangements for the 2021 Festival as approved by the Executive on 18 October 2017.  The Committee was invited to comment on the report prior to its submission to the Executive on 13 November 2019.

 

John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of MIF, referred to the main points and themes within the report, which included:

 

·         An assessment of the delivery of objectives for 2019;

·         Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), sustainability and financial performance;

·         The zero carbon agenda;

·         Staffing; and

·         Future planning.

 

The Leader highlighted the opening in 2021 of The Factory, which would be the new hub for the Festival, and reported that it was proposed to maintain the level of funding from the Council, supported by a significant investment from the Arts Council England towards the running of The Factory and to build MIF’s capacity to run the Factory.  He informed Members that the biennial MIF had previously been awarded funding from the Council every two years for the next Festival but that he would be recommending to the Executive that longer-term funding arrangements be put in place for MIF and The Factory. 

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

 

·         That this was a fantastic event and Members wanted to ensure that it was accessible to all residents;

·         To request a ward breakdown of volunteers from Manchester;

·         To request further information on what was being done to encourage people in areas with lower levels of engagement to access, participate in and volunteer at MIF, noting that some people could not afford even the discounted £10 tickets;

·         What was being done to promote employment opportunities to local people;

·         Whether 30% of attendees being from Manchester was sufficient and could more detailed information on where attendees were from be provided; and

·         How the figure on the economic impact of MIF had been arrived at.

 

Ciaron Wilkinson, MIF’s Cultural Connector, outlined the work he had undertaken over the previous 18 months to work with communities which were less likely to access arts and cultural activities, engaging with local partners such as Ward Councillors and the Council’s Neighbourhood Teams and holding events and activities within the local area in order to increase residents’ awareness of and willingness to participate in MIF.

 

John McGrath reported that a lot of outreach work had been carried out to recruit a diverse range of volunteers for this year’s Festival and that this had been successful in recruiting volunteers from diverse backgrounds and, to a degree, in recruiting volunteers from a range of locations.  He informed Members that the work that Ciaron Wilkinson had been doing had aimed to encourage residents in those wards to engage with MIF in a range of different ways, as audience members, as participants, as volunteers and as employees.  He acknowledged  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

47.

2019 City Centre Festive Delivery Programme pdf icon PDF 145 KB

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) 

 

The purpose of this report is to provide the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee with an update on the 2019 City Centre Festive Delivery Programme.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided an update on the 2019 City Centre Festive Delivery Programme.

 

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report, which included:

 

  • Christmas Markets;
  • Family Focused Festive Attractions;
  • Christmas Lighting Scheme; and
  • Christmas Light Switch On and New Year’s Eve Celebrations.

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

 

  • Why MIF boosted the economy by a greater amount than the Christmas Markets, when the former ran over a shorter period; and
  • That future reports which estimate the economic impact of an event should be clearer on the detail of this.

 

The Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure reported that the MIF attracted international visitors, artists, organisations and media and resulted in increased hotel occupancy rates and spending in the local economy, whereas the Christmas Markets mainly attracted people from across the region so the economic impact was not comparable.

 

Decisions

 

1.            To note the report.

 

2.            To request that further detail of how estimates of economic impact have been arrived at be included in a future report.

48.

Widening Access and Participation in Leisure, Libraries, Galleries and Culture - Update and Cultural Impact Survey Data pdf icon PDF 546 KB

Report of the Strategic Director of Neighbourhoods

 

This report provides an update about Widening Access to and Participation in Leisure, Libraries and Culture.  The purpose of the Widening Access work is to understand resident engagement and to explore routes to increase participation among groups or communities that may be less engaged.  The report highlights progress made since and outlines the priorities proposed for future work.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided an update about Widening Access to and Participation in Leisure, Libraries and Culture. The purpose of the Widening Access work was to understand resident engagement and to explore routes to increase participation among groups or communities that might be less engaged. The report highlighted progress made and outlined the priorities proposed for future work.

 

The Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure referred to the main points and themes within the report, which included:

 

  • The background to the Widening Access and Participation work;
  • Data improvement;
  • Wider access for under-represented groups;
  • Leisure;
  • Libraries, galleries and culture;
  • Communication; and
  • Resident engagement.

 

Councillor Whiston, Ward Councillor for Sharston, informed the Committee that he was the substitute for Councillor Stone on the Board of HOME.  He highlighted the invisible barriers people faced if they were not used to participating in arts and culture, for example, if they did not go to the theatre when they were growing up and felt uncomfortable and did not know the etiquette of these environments.  He advised that more work should be done with schools to encourage them to take pupils to the theatre and other cultural activities to break down these invisible barriers. 

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

 

  • To welcome the work being done in this area;
  • To support Councillor Whiston’s comments; and
  • What progress was being made in engaging women and girls in sport.

 

The Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure supported Councillor Whiston’s comments and advised that work was already taking place to address this.  He informed Members about the development of the Manchester Cultural Education Partnership and outlined how this aimed to embed arts, culture and creativity across the curriculum.

 

The Head of Parks, Leisure, Youth and Events reported that a lot of work was taking place to engage women and girls in sport and physical activity.  He informed the Committee that there was a national gap between male and female participation in physical activity; however, the gap in Manchester was much smaller than the national average because of the work which was being carried out.  He highlighted the provision of women-only sessions in all the Council’s leisure facilities in Manchester, securing funding two years ago to run the This Girl Can campaign through which targeted activities had been put on across the city and, recently, an additional £100,000 funding from Sport England which would enable the further development of this work.  He reported that more women than men used the Council’s leisure facilities, particularly pre-paid gym memberships, but that in the private and third sector male participants greatly outnumbered female participants so the Council did need to do more to support female participation.

 

Decisions

 

1.            To note the report.

 

2.            To endorse Widening Access and Participation as a key priority to continue to be embedded in Leisure, Libraries, Galleries and Culture strategies and reporting going forward.

49.

Overview Report pdf icon PDF 303 KB

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

 

This report provides the Committee with details of key decisions that fall within the Committee’s remit and an update on actions resulting from the Committee’s recommendations. The report alsoincludes the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee is asked to amend as appropriate and agree.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted. The overview report contained a list of key decisions yet to be taken within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

 

Decision

 

To note the report and agree the work programme.