Agenda item

Update from 2012 Parish Conference

- Looking at planning in villages differently
- Phillip Blond's offer to broker a DCLG pilot
- PR and marketing campaign for parishes
- Next steps

Minutes:

Adrian Chapman, Head of Neighbourhood Services gave a presentation on the outcomes from the 2012 Parish Conference.  The key points raised were:

 

  • This was the inaugural conference and was attended by around 75% of the parish councils.
  • The conference was the beginning of a new relationship between the council and parish councils, including the relaunch of this meeting.
  • Philip Blond had offered to broker with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) a pilot project involving an end to end review of parish council operations.
  • The future of the Rural North Neighbourhood Committee was currently being discussed.
  • The conference planning group would continue to act as an agenda setting group for this meeting.

 

Feedback from each of the sessions was:

 

Session 1: Localism

 

  • Delivery of local services
  • Management and/or ownership of community assets
  • Potential role in providing care and social support services
  • Community engagement and involvement
  • Supporting the skills agenda e.g. apprenticeships
  • Building volunteering opportunities
  • Greater understanding needed of what potential exists through Localism
  • Greater co-operation between councils
  • Greater co-operation with wider partner networks – business, faith, voluntary sector
  • Need to ensure the right skills are in place
  • Training and technical support facilitated by and provided through PCC
  • Campaign to raise the profile of councils
  • Need to map services and facilities in parishes

 

Session 2: Planning

 

  • Shapers as well as consultees
  • Too many ‘plans’ – not enough clarity
  • Rural plan or strategy needed
  • More feedback needed from planning officers
  • Two tiers – local (feel of the parish), citywide (deliver the vision)
  • Real choice needs to be offered

 

Session 3: Shared Services

 

  • Bigger and better things can come from it
  • Could support local services to remain
  • Intra and inter boundary working
  • Community assets, timebanking, volunteering
  • Parish clustering – sharing employment, liabilities
  • Larger parishes supporting smaller parishes
  • Need ideas and options from PCC
  • Need data and intelligence
  • Need to understand liabilities, legislation, time commitments etc
  • Need to overcome barriers – health and safety, insurance, cashflow

 

Session 4: Open Discussions

 

  • Lots of ideas for owning, building or managing assets
  • ‘Youth’ parish councillors or local youth councils
  • All parishes to have we sites, use social media etc
  • Direct access to relevant expertise – central support hub?
  • End to end review of parish council operations
  • Welfare role within parished areas
  • Co-ordination of local groups
  • Working with schools to develop volunteering, work experience and apprenticeships
  • Greater use of technology to communicate – including webcasting meetings
  • Local currency

 

Actions were now being developed to move this work forward.  Phase 1 actions were:

 

  • Planning pilot

 

Simon Machen, Head of Planning, Transport and Engineering gave an update on the planning pilot.  Four of the parish councils had formed a working group and were currently looking at neighbourhood planning.  The forthcoming Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) would entail 15% of CIL income going to parished areas and where there was a neighbourhood plan in place that figure would be 25%

 

  • Knowledge and skills hub

 

Two officers had been allocated to work on this area.

 

  • Potential for parishing in other areas

 

The council would support those areas who wanted to parish.

 

  • Parish marketing and promotional campaign

 

Nurun Ahmed, Marketing Officer gave an update on a possible campaign to raise the profile and awareness for parish councils.  A number of tools could be used including Facebook, Twitter and websites and a portal was being considered where parishes could network and share skills.  A Marketing Plan would be developed for sign off at a future meeting.

 

Councillor Martin advised that within Caster Parish Council a lot of engagement was already happening and he was happy to work with Nurun about their experiences.

 

  • Pilot with DCLG – end to end review of parish processes?

 

Philip Blond had offered to work with parishes, DCLG ministers and civil servants around parish councils and how they worked.  It would be for this meeting to decide the scope of any review. 

 

Councillor Bartlett asked whether there was a will from the Administration for the whole of the city to be parished.  Councillor Hiller advised that it was his personal view was that all of the city should be parished.

 

  • Parishing other areas – DCLG consultation

 

The outcomes of the DCLG consultation would be brought to a future meeting when available.

 

  • Neighbourhood Committee

 

A discussion on the Neighbourhood Committee would be held at the next meeting.

 

ACTION – Adrian Chapman to work up a brief/scope for a review and circulate to the meeting.