Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director of Resources

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Resources, which provided an update on Connecting Communities proposals following a period of public consultation.

Connecting Communities was an ambitious and wide reaching approach to radically redesign services through co-production and collaboration with local communities.  The approach focussed on how services might be delivered differently in the future in the communities and neighbourhoods where there was most need and within the resources available.  The Cabinet noted that this might include joining services together to reduce the number of buildings and staff that the Council and other statutory organisations required to deliver services.

Phase 1 of Connecting Communities focussed on ten specific proposals for the delivery of £1.2m savings.  The target for 2016/17, set through the original City Centre First programme for 2016/17 was £1m, but proposals made to Cabinet in November 2015 exceeded this by £0.2m.  The ten proposals related to:-

  Proposal 1 – Play Centres

  Proposal 2 – Arena Park Library

  Proposal 3 – Willenhall Library

  Proposal 4 – Mobile Library Service

  Proposal 5 – Library Media Fund

  Proposal 6 – Central Library Opening House

  Proposal 7 – Community Library Opening Hours

  Proposal 8 – Youth services Commissioning Budget

  Proposal 9 – Public Conveniences

  Proposal 10 – Community Centres

A period of public consultation on the ten proposals took place between 7^th December 2015 and 1^st February 2016, which included a widescale engagement programme, using innovative engagement methods, with residents, community groups and partner organisations.

The report and its associated appendices detailed the outcome of the consultation, identified the impacts of each of the proposals and made specific recommendations for consideration.

The Cabinet acknowledged the receipt of a number of petitions as part of the consultation process.  In particular, 5 petitions were received in relation to Proposal 1 – Play Centres, and these were considered by the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People at his meeting held on 12^th February 2016, and 2 further petitions were received in relation to Proposal 2 – Arena Park Library and Proposal 4 – Mobile Library Service, which were considered by the Cabinet Member for Education at his meeting also held on 12^th February 2016.  In all cases, the petition organisers were invited to the meetings to present the views of the petitioners.  The Cabinet Members recommended that the contents of the petitions, which were set out in full within the report now submitted, be noted.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:-

(1)  Note that 7 petitions were considered by the Cabinet Members for Education and children and Young People in relation to the proposals at their respective meetings on 12^th February 2016 and have been considered and included as part of the consultation process and outcomes.

(2)  Note the outcome of the consultation and the resulting equality impacts and the updated Equality and Consultation Analysis in Appendix A of the report submitted.

(3)  Approve the implementation of the proposals detailed in Appendix B of the report:-

a.  For the Council to stop providing play activities at Edgewick and Eagle Street Play Centres and for the Council to lease the buildings to third party operators to be used for nursery provision for two, three and four year olds instead by September 2016.

b.  To end delivery of library services from the Arena Park Library facility by not renewing the lease and to continue engagement with Holbrooks Community Care Association (HCCA) about the potential delivery of a reduced library service to be provided in the HCCA building by September 2016.

c.  To end delivery of library services by not renewing the lease from the current Willenhall Library facility and to continue engagement about the potential delivery of a reduced library service to be provided in the Hargard Centre building by September 2016.

d.  To end the mobile library service by 1^st June 2016

e.  To cut the library media fund of £658,000 to £558,000 with effect from 1^st April 2016.

f.  For Central Library to continue to open seven days per week, but to close one hour earlier on weekdays – closing at 7pm instead of 8pm by September 2016.

g.  To close Caludon Castle, Earlsdon and Foleshill libraries on Wednesdays and close Stoke and Tile Hill on Sundays by September 2016.  To agree in principle that Bell Green, Earlsdon and Foleshil libraries remain open on Sundays provided that officers are satisfied as to the viability of a mix of paid staff and volunteers operating the libraries on these days.  In the event officers are not satisfied the question of whether the libraries should remain open on Sundays would be referred back to the Cabinet Member for Education.

h.  Withdraw the youth services commissioning budget with effect from 1^st April 2016 and continue to work with the community and voluntary sector to explore the best way that youth services for young people should be delivered across Coventry.

i.  To close six public conveniences located outside the city centre from 1^st April 2016, keeping open the two city centre public conveniences.

j.  To enter into a lease with each of the community associations currently managing the community centres (six) within 12 months from approval of the proposal subject to variations to the approach specifically for Radford and Foleshill Community Centres.