Agenda item

Members were reminded that at the last meeting of the Committee, Members agreed that the scope of the review on Community Cohesion should focus on how Council services, specifically Community Services, were accessed by all individuals of all backgrounds and groups and sections of the community. The review would look to see how the Council communicated services to residents, beyond the usual promotion of services. How did Council service areas break down the barriers to engage with groups and individuals which would enable interaction and integration with all the community?

For this meeting Members heard from officers from Adult Learning, Arts and Libraries and Sports and Leisure.

Adult Learning

• The service played a key role in the Strong and Active group and participated in local events offering taster sessions and workshops where current learners were able to exhibit their work
• The service worked in partnership with Children’s Centres and schools to engage with typically “hard to reach” families in courses that include English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL).
• A wide range of provision was given for some 250 adults with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD). Reference was made to the Work in Supported Employment programme which was a 2 year qualification course which targeted young adults with LDD and which allowed residents to gain the skills and knowledge to equip them for work in the catering, business admin or horticulture sectors. These included vocational experience at the Disablement Association Hillingdon for Business Admin learners and volunteering at the Rural Activities and Garden Centre for Horticulture learners.
• A wide range of qualifications were offered in English, Maths and ESOL in community and Adult Learning venues. These run as independent qualifications or may provide learners taking wider vocational qualifications such as Floristry and Childminding with opportunities to develop functional language and study skills to support their achievement
• Work clubs took place in adult learning centres, libraries and at the Dotcom café in West Drayton
• A wide range of Bespoke provision which targeted particular groups of learners in response to local and national priorities
• A number of adult day classes took place which were attended by a higher proportion of women
• A higher proportion of men attended evening classes
• The service got involved in lots of community work and partnership work took place with schools to enable mothers to drop their children off at school, and then to attend adult education classes at children’s centres
• There was a troubled family’s programme which aimed at reaching out to this group.
• Reference was made to some people who were difficult to engage with and whom perhaps did not want to be reached
• Work did take place with other service areas but information on service users was difficult to share because of Data Protection issues
• Programmes took place with the Youth Offending Team to engage with young people
• The service worked with partners such as Brunel University, Job Centre Plus and the volunteering service
• Reference was made to the volunteering service who were working with young people in creating charities and opening up vacant shop premises to open them as “pop up” shops
• Specifically targeted work took place, such as with vulnerable groups who were not in education
• Workshop courses took place in community centres for the elderly which helped them develop their Information Technology skills and helped them interact and socialise with other people 

Libraries

·           There were 65,000 members of the Borough’s libraries and records were monitored on a monthly basis

·           All the Borough’s libraries had free computers which could be used by all individuals throughout the Borough, even people who were not members of the libraries

·           Libraries was an inclusive service and contributed greatly to community cohesion

·           The ethos of the library service was that the service was open to all people

·           Book were provided in different languages, there were large print books, talking books

·           Reference was made to the service reaching out to the young and old. Bookstart was a scheme whereby free books were given out to all children

·           Reference was made to the Summer reading sessions which took place throughout the Borough’s libraries and which were fully inclusive

·           The service worked very closely with schools and all children had access to books at libraries within schools

·           There were close links with children’s centres where there was a cross promoting of different Council services

·           “Coffee and Conversation” – This was where authors came into libraries to talk about their books and which gave the public, particularly the elderly, an opportunity to meet and interact in a social setting

·           The initial contact with one child did lead to other members of the child’s family engaging with the service

·           The introduction of E books would be looked due to the popularity of the computers in libraries

Sports and Leisure

·           Monthly reports were prepared on leisure usage which contained information on age, ethnic origins

·           An Active Survey carried out on behalf of Sport England indicated that around 50% of the population did not take part in any exercise or leisure activities

·           This Council had invested heavily in its leisure facilities which had had a natural uplift in participation in sports and leisure activities

·           In 2009/10 it was recorded that there had been 800,000 visits to sports and leisure facilities. In 2010/11 this had increased to 1.5million visits

·           The Back to Sport scheme encouraged residents to get back into sport with inexpensive sessions starting from £2. Activities took place in leisure centres and in parks and included badminton, archery fitness sessions. The aim of the scheme was to try and get people to make a lifestyle change

·           Promotions took place on the Council’s website, through Hillingdon People and with poster campaigns

·           There were activities for people with disabilities, activities for the over 50s, activities for families which included grandparents which were examples of the service reaching out to all sectors of the community

·           At the Botwell Leisure Centre a mum’s fitness session took place straight after the school run and was targeted at those women who did not usually attend gym or fitness sessions.

·           The Council provided free swimming for the over 50s which attracted large numbers

·           There was a Leisure Link scheme which was linked to the Hillingdon First Card and provided discounts for leisure and sports facilities for people on benefits

·           Health links were made with the NHS, GPs and doctor’s surgeries and organisations such as Parkinson’s UK

·           In relation to the Disablement Association Hillingdon, day time activities took place in community facilities

·           Social network media was used such as Facebook, text messaging to promote benefits of sports and leisure

Reference was made to the Council’s services needing to make residents feel part of Hillingdon and part of the community and bring all individuals from different backgrounds together.

Members agreed that the challenge was getting messages across to those people who did not normally engage with public authorities. The Council’s website and Hillingdon People provided good opportunities for the Council to reach out to all people and to promote greater integration and interaction of all individuals. 

For the next meeting in November, Members asked that the Council’s new Head of Corporate Communications be asked to provide the corporate perspective on what the Council could do to help individuals from all groups, access all Council services.

In addition community representatives such as from Women’s Groups and the Chair of Hillingdon Inter Faith Network be invited to attend the next meeting to help the Committee with their review.                 

RESOLVED –

1.      That the information provided be noted and the witnesses be thanked for their attendance and for the information they had provided which would help the Committee with their findings.

2.  That the Corporate Head of Communications and community representatives such as from Women’s Groups and the Chair of Hillingdon Inter Faith Network be invited to attend the next meeting to help the Committee with their review.