Agenda item

Objective : Report back on progress on recommendations of the Scrutiny Task Group report submitted in July 2023.  Reflecting on success of, or barriers to, implementing recommendations and identifying further actions.

Richard Gibson, Head of Communities, Wellbeing and Partnerships.

The Head of Communities, Wellbeing and Partnerships introduced the report and apologised for the length of the training.

He addressed the committee and made the following points:

-       It is timely to review where we are with the report as it last went to the Overview and Scrutiny committee 15 months ago in June 2023.

-          The cost of living is still an issue for many residents, assistance that was set up for people during Covid is still being used by people.

-          Health data points to a 10 year life gap between less and more well off communities.

-          No Child left behind commissioned a piece of work and the results show that children in certain parts of the town are living in poverty.

-          There was also findings that showed that young people are concerned with safety in the town.  There is also much concern from both parents and young people with regard to online safety.

-          Housing colleagues are working really hard to help people with their benefits, and there are good working relationships with the teams especially now that housing has been brought back into CBC

-          The report brings to life what we do in partnership with other organisations and the work that we do around health.

-          No Child Left Behind brings lots of partners together who have a focus on child poverty – and NCLB can create innovative solutions to how we address the challenges of child poverty.

Members then made the following points:

-          One of the important things is keeping the conversation going with the Cabinet.

-          The report is very informative – the member highlighted the data from Citizens Advice that , with regards to how many families are living with a negative household budget.

-          It was noted that  as an authority we award 100% off Council Tax for those who need it.

-          Cheltenham has a reputation of being a wealthy town and this is just not the case.

-          There is a responsibility of the Council to carry on coordinating the work of the different partners who have an interest in supporting people in our communities

-          Whilst the report sets out the availability of data to monitor the situation with regard to deprivation, there is a need to evaluate the impact of different interventions to understand what works best  but this can be expensive.

The responses to Member questions were as follows:

-          The rise of home schooling and young people being taken out of education is an issue as they can then drop off the radar as far as Gloucestershire County Council are concerned and potentially end up a statistic.

-          The strategy in how to respond to the issues of deprivation going forward lies with the Cabinet. 

-          With regards to schools exclusion and suspensions, there has been an uptick in the numbers absent from school post pandemic. there .

-          As an action the chair requested that there was more information provided to the committee with regards to school attendance and another Member requested that the information be split between primary and secondary schools.

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