Corporate Policy and Scrutiny Committee – meeting starts at 10am

E the nearest fire exit which will be down the stairs in the foer and into Juke Street where you should then make your way to the location assembly point in the grounds of the cathedral opposite thank you make a a particular welcome to councelor Lise McKinley Deputy leader

And Cabinet member for leveling up and economy uh we are Rebecca G head of leveling up coordination hopefully she’ll join us shortly and also feel hold assure of strategy and partner engagement manager is with us for for this meeting if I can move on then to the uh

First item on the agenda which is to note the membership which is on page four and I will ask um Mr huse if there are any apologies and substitution and if members wish to declare an interest at this point or if anything occurs to you during the course of the meeting

Please do so then so first of all apologies and substitutions Mr Hughes chairman yes thank you um so the first CH apology is actually from the committee’s chairman councelor Chris Pond who uh is unable to join in person today but as you can see on the screen

Is joining us via Zoom uh second apologies from councelor anthy mcgan for whom’s Carlo G El me is substituting um I think that’s it the other thing just to point out chairman is which you may have about been about to do is this uh meet an invite has been

Extended to the chairman and vice chairman of the other scrutiny committees um for this particular main item on the agenda for leveling up recognizing the cost cutting nature of of the report um so therefore you do have Council Adam Goin here um who’s the chairman of services committee uh

Council geli who as you heard is subing anyway for Council MC grian is the chairman of the vi Vice chairman of people and family scrutiny committee and he’s representing that committee here as well today yes thank you and welcome if we can then move on to the minutes of

Our last meeting on the 4th of March is it sorry um I should have mentioned during Declaration of Interest I I think I should refer to my Declaration on my register as the cabinet member at tender District Council dealing with leveling up and some of the projects which are

Mentioned within this report thank you councelor Henderson any other Declarations of interest thank you so if we can uh look at the minutes of our last meeting is it your wish that I sign them as a true and accurate record of our proceedings thank you you will note there are some matters

Arising um which are various um questions and points which were raised during the meeting I think we still waiting for responses Mr Hughes yes chairman it’s on my sdo list I will be chasing up those thank you very much see right I understand that Rebecca

G is unable to join us after all she’s got another uh commitment this morning item three questions from the public I don’t believe we have any can you confirm that thank you no question from the public so we move on to the main item of the uh agenda for today’s meeting which

Is leveling up ess6 two years on as members will be aware there is a report in your pack and we included with that is the um document which is um also referred to in the report and then we yester afternoon we received a presentation so um if I can ask is it

Councelor mcky would you like to introduce the item and take us through or is it Mr Shaw so I can take you through the slides and then please questions if that’s okay okay thank you if I might suggest um members we we did have a sorry I’m just asking for the slides

To be put up okay um we did have a scheduled pre me on Friday afternoon unfortunately it was rather last minute and not many members were able to attend so we haven’t had our usual run through um or uh questions but if um okay if we go through perhaps if

Members I hope everybody’s had a look at that presentation if you wish to ask a question on that particular slide do so at that point but bear in mind and the question that you asked might be covered later on so over to you Council mckin thank you it’s not too long a

Presentation I think the real values of question in this s so good morning everybody and thank you again for for having me um so yes leveling up essics the the update um on year two so just going to start here with a a brief introduction and uh and a quick word

Around the agenda um we will move on to what leveling up is again just is a a broad reminder um thinking about what we’ve done over the last couple of years and what our ask of Partners um is and you as you’ll appreciate this is not just a a pro

Program or a project that we are doing alone so you leveling up eics focuses on spreading opportunity making sure that people have the tools that they need as as much as is possible we have targeted it at some um key Milestones throughout um someone’s life so looking

At as it says there children at the key stages of development thinking about what that means from preschool through to um when they start school um through their their education but then also what that means is they move into adulthood in terms of development skills as well

You’ll be aware of some of the initiatives that we’ve um either put in place or that we’ve certainly built on particularly around child care and we work very closely with businesses to make sure that we are linking up between what it is that they need and the messages and the support that we’re

Giving to educational settings and to young people directly and that meets the the need directly in terms of skills but also recognizing that it’s very common today that people will retrain during the course of their life it’s not that people go into one industry now and

Remain there there is a very high uh percentage of people now who actually rained what they do as a career throughout their lives so how we can be flexible that and then um looking at what that means for young people who are not in education employment or training

So the so-call neats and identifying how we can support them um whether that’s through directly with with skills or whether that’s through aspiration and just broadening the Horizons in terms of what’s out there next please quick reminder really this this matters um you know we all represent

Different areas around the county and I think it’s hard to think of somewhere that’s probably more diverse than uh than the county of Essex when you think around um some of the different communities that we have and it’s clearly a place where people like to do business where there is lots of um

Affluent community ities but there’s also a lot of deprivation and some of that is very hidden particularly around some of the more rural areas so you can see that the stats there 123,000 people in ess6 40,000 of whom are children who live in the 20% most deprived parts of the whole of the

UK um key stage four 30% Gap in educational attainment between the most and least deprived in the county 12year life expectancy Gap and then as we all know um Health outcomes are always related to deprivation as well as well so you this really is why this matters

We just shouldn’t lose sight of all the different initiatives and schemes that we talk about just why we are doing this and this is about how we can support people who maybe don’t get the chances that many of us will take for granted next slide please so we focused

On the priority places and then the cohorts you will recall I’m sure from the first year that the focus was very much on place that work hasn’t stopped and and has hasn’t is still continuing um there are some great initiatives that are coming out there and which we are

Building on but the focus over the last few months has been on the cohorts and this really is around the EIC wide approach because this these groups of people are in all of our communities regardless of where we are in the county so we’ve been doing um first of all a

Lot of research around this working with Partners both internally and externally to understand where the opportunities and the challenges lie but then also to start to put together the program around what this could could look like in terms of deliveries um for us as organization but also with our partners as

Well the next slide please sorry M could I just ask I’m interested what sort of um metrics do you use I mean obviously a very large part of essics is rural and you’ve identified rural brain tree um some particular characteristics there that differentiate it between atford and

Many other you know parts of molden and so on yes so so the short answer is yes um but it’s also we’re using rural braan as a bit of a a learning ground as well there will be some um schemes which will we look to be rolling out into other

Rural areas um I can certainly give you this goes right the way back to the start of the program around how we identified the place but I’m I’m quite happy toly circulate that again in terms of the the metrics and the logic that was used um because people will often

Say well why here and not there um and it’s certainly not saying that there aren’t other areas where there is there needs to be work but you know clearly we prioritize Everywhere You prioritize nowhere so this is based on the fact um and the the figures and the direction of

Travel that we were seeing at the time it is around um some of the key metrics in terms of expectancy kind of what was on that slide before really um literacy levels types of jobs that people were having in in in those areas but there’s also the the softer analysis I suppose

Around some of the issues around isolation which is where some of the learning in rural brain Tre we are looking at rolling that out elsewhere see if Chris has got his hand up sorry um I think I’ve got a message from over in the corner sorry councel go thank you um first of

All my apologies I hadn’t realized we were taking questions Slide by side sorry my fault uh there was something on slide two which you mentioned um and I think it’s a a bit beyond our control to be blunt I just like you your thoughts on it you mentioned about access to free

Children uh care to enable people to go to work um I’m reading and listening to debate and discussion about exactly the same thing on a national scale and there appears to be a a shortfall between the aspiration of getting an amount of child care uh to those people that desperately

Need it and the fact that there aren’t the people around other the companies have you found any have you found that to be better or worse in our area compared to say the national averages um with your permission I’ll come back to that at the end is on my

Final slide it does talk references childcare and I can explain in more detail there if that’s okay okay Mr old on that point just gonna build on that not taking away from what L is going to say later but also just mention that particular bullet point also references our Essex activate

Program our holiday activate program which runs not just during the summer from Department of Education funding we’ve also expanded that to be able to run during all the holiday periods including half term so that provides 100% of the people 100% of the children who go to that are from low-income

Families it allows them to go to it for free to be able to then enable the parents to go and work of course during the daytime so that that’s another way of kind of providing that free child care outside of the normal kind of traditional settings as well thank you

Chairman I want to give I’ve only got a couple of slides left if it is best if I finish the presentation because I think some of Will overlap caner Henderson was it on a particular Point here or it was a I I can wait that’s on slide two as well

About children poverty deprivation so okay got councelor stepto and also Cel you can wait till the councelor go on it um it’s maybe something it’s a comment now actually sorry go back to slide three which is the wiers leveling up matter in in se6 it was more to do you quoted there you

Know 123,000 people inic 40,000 children and that will we at some stage get a report on that or kpis on that as to whether the effect leveling up is having is reducing those figures because he talks about doublin since 2007 I understand all that but how how can we compare

What’s happening now I think is the answer yeah so if I can pick that up at the end as well because it is about metrics and how we measure stuff as well lovely thank Contin so Slide Five um the the leveling up year two this is obiously the infographic I I won’t go

Through all of these in in detail but they are just you know literally a visual snapshot around some of the the key initiatives that we’ve put in place um many of these you’ll be familiar with already and obviously if you wanted more information outside of this meeting

Please just just drop me a line but I think it does give you a flavor of the the variety of work that’s been undertaken uh next slide please so um the 21 million pound invested 3 been invested in 20 projects so far aimed at and this really is um

Focusing on some of the priority cohorts as I say that is the attention for for the last six months or so and certainly as we move into the next year so we know that we have challenges around um our figures even though they are good compared to nationally but um I don’t

Think we should kid ourselves that they are as high as we would want them to be in terms of people with um learning disabilities and autism here in paid employment so it is about how we can increase that number um the free School meals cohorts understanding um and the

How we can support them to get access to those you know good jobs where there is a a good salary level but also future prospects and um thinking about the you know the average income what that means if you come from a low income background and how that then relates to others in

Terms of Life chances increased awareness of those on in key stage three of the skills required in schools and and you know we see some very good work in this SP but also I think some quite poor work in terms of advice that’s given to young people around careers and

I’m you really really focused on how we can link the employer with the schools um as I say some do it really well we’ve got some really good examples of how we’ve done that um in harow for example um we had ukpn who came in and they used

The library actually and brought it in some youngsters and they literally learned how to turn the lights on in in a mock City but it was all around um the jobs that were involved you know not not just what it would mean around engineer engineering but actually thinking about

That more broadly they obviously employ lawyers they obviously employ HR people and just speaking to them more broadly around what that industry entails and and you know bringing it to life and just seeing how you know how we can do that more in terms of the the link up

With them um we’ve also got some good work going on with Fords so they have their own uh corporate responsibility um work as you would expect but we have linked up with them and they are doing some mentoring for young people in canvi island and they will shortly be

Launching it in Basildon as part of the wi rise project so that’s a really good example I think where we’re taking private sector work and linking it in with our broader agenda here and forging those relationships um so increasing an increase in those recovering from mental health conditions in voluntary work we

We know if you can get people into um the community whether that’s through paid employment whether it’s through Vol voluntary work that it does have a positive impact in terms of people’s well-being and mental health so looking at how we can support that again you know with the private sector but also

Alongside the third sector as well to see if we can develop those opportunities um an increase in the good level development confidence in managing ing mental health um some giving people the tools to be able to to manage their own mental health and again another project we did with one of the schools

Um around Hollow Futures that is about how they can have an understanding and aspiration of future jobs but also learn Tools around self-regulation and what that means for themselves in terms of their their own well-being and then um you know really focusing on the number of children and young adults who require

The the support and the resource to meet their needs but understanding you know what what that is and how we can then support them in that particularly through literacy um and through their ability to express what you what it is they want and what it is they need and

Then the reduction in young people um in terms of uh needs so progress so far this may answer some of your question around uh parameters albeit there is more information outside of here which we can share so um just under 68,000 people have been directly impacted by the uh program so far

And by the end of it we expect that number will be just over 138,000 and th those figures are generated by the people that we have who have signed up to certain schemes but also who are within cohorts we’ll be looking to Target so once the first number is more

Based on who we’ve engaged with the other one is obviously sort of more of a projected figure based on um who we know are in the the different cohorts and you know we said right from the outset that this was going to be generational change and we are only in

Year two so you know I think we have to be be careful what claims we make around this but certainly direction of travel um you know that some of the indicators are there and others it will take longer for us to measure that because it’s just simply too soon but certainly the

Increase in literacy levels um where we have done the targeted work we know that that has had an impact not just through the Outreach work the libraries have done but also through the year of numbers and the year of reading and through obviously through some of the additional work and support that the

Schools themselves have done directly um it’s not up in well it’s up in all areas bar by one um and there are still Pockets where it is still below pre-co levels but nevertheless the direction of travel is is positive and going in the right direction so that’s one which

We’re monitoring very closely and in terms of the next phase we’re looking to see how we can use the data to go hyperlocal so where we know we’ve got particular schools where or particular communities and the schools obviously in those communities where we know the literacy levels are still lower than

Than their peers that we can then look at what we can do to do some really targeted work there to support them the provision of um free child care so Phil has already mentioned the ess6 activate program um the main school holidays are funded by by the government as you know

And then the additional funding we’ve put in means that we can not only extend it to more people but also include the half terms and in some cases there are weekly touch in points throughout term time as well for some of the most vulnerable young families so provision of free child care

I’m sure you’ve all seen the announcement from the government and that’s coming in in stages um first stage actually starts this Easter um but we recognize I’ll take the next point to together with it as as well in terms of the early year sector because we’ve recognized that we obviously have to

Have the workforce in place to be able to deliver that expansion and um and it’s a sector which does struggle to both recruit and retain so we’ve done some some work looking at what all those different settings are whether that’s you know whether it’s a nanny whether it’s a child minder

Whether it’s the child care setting itself to understand what it is that they need and um the Poppins bsy the 1.4 million pound Poppins bsy has been launched to try and support the sector generally partly around um Recruitment and upskilling but also um and I I didn’t realize this until we actually

Started this work that in terms of the number of people who are working in the sector who don’t have English or math gcsc or equivalent and it actually stops them progressing past I think it’s level two which means they cannot move into management and when you then speak to the sector

It’s the management area where they need to to grow their numbers because that obviously then impacts in terms of how um how they can expand the nursery so there’s a big Focus here working with ACL around how we can support and target people who are already working in the

Sector but didn’t get those qualifications for whatever reason when they were at school to be able to achieve it to then obviously enable them to move on which is not just great for the individual but then starts to address some of the pressures in the sector around that managerial

Um post which then means that they can start to how else they can expand the library the library expand the setting and bring in more staff um so that’s you I’m sure you saw the the launch I think it was last week the week before um very

Recently so that that’s um that’s work that we we’re doing directly with with the sector there to try and address some of the the issues which which is which Alan raised um now there’s going to be more announcements that come come to fruition in terms of um what people are

Eligible for so I think it’s next September and then again next year so um some of this stuff is is going to be quite quick to fix in terms of some of the the additional support we can give them others where we are talking about qualifications and expansion that’s

Obviously going to take longer um but you know the idea behind the Poppins bsy is that we’re certainly doing what we can do to support the the sector in this growth um so I’ve touched on already uh the provision of some of the support from businesses um I mentioned about Fords HSBC

Workers in the community around um managing money debt management but also sign posting to other organizations and the ess6 construction Alliance um we’ve from a a business engagement perspective we’ve identified areas where there’s potential growth and it’s about linking in with the different sectors to make sure that we can

Highlight um what the needs are and how we can then enable them to um Network and be able to share information as well just on that you want to yeah just on that particular point just talking about what we’re trying to do for the leveling up program is obviously create the

Conditions to enable growth and development of individuals but on that business Point uh and I if you’ve not had a chance to read it yet have a look at the leveling up year two report some really good statistics that help kind of bring some of this to life because one

Of the things we discovered is a number of Essex businesses operating in our key targeting growth sectors which are construction Health and Care Advanced manufacturing green economy and digital they’ve all increased over the past two years in all of our identified leveling up places in District it shows that by supporting the

Businesses and then also supporting them to do business but also through programs like this to enable them to do more in their Community seems to really be making a difference so I just wanted to sort of pull that particular statistic out okay thank you comminity supermarkets we’ve got seven up and

Running those um that haven’t yet got one will have by the summer that’s then there’ll be one in every B City District the idea then is that we will um course we obviously have been focusing on sustainability and and to be fair nobody has come back and said so part of um

When we set these up in the first place part of the considerations was around um sustainability but in some cases they have wanted to expand so if we take Lon as an example started off in the community center it’s still there but they’ve also got the the food bus now

Which goes out to other parts of the borrow um so where they have where there is a either a demand for it or if we’ve got a particularly rural area um that the next phase once every area has one will be to see how we can build on that

And support them uh to take that further the new skills um have a look at the entry to work programs if you’re you’re not familiar with them because there are a lot out there and we’re doing a lot to support both the businesses to take people on and also the individuals I’ve

Touched already on the children’s mental health I mentioned har um futures um the key to this is getting into the schools they’re they’re doing a lot of work already in this space and I think anything we can do that boosts that and supports them is to be welcomed

So we are looking against how we can can support them and then the uh the digital devices um 6 and a half thousand have gone out already um and I will just anecdotally give you one story because this was something which I experienced just a couple of weeks ago which really

Brought home to me the the power of of this scheme um and I met with a a lady who was under witness protection and suffer domestic violence and witness in crime couldn’t work had um two children and one of whom has um been offered they call it a scholarship it’s linked to

Cambridge University and it’s for PhD students to come out and work with the children when they’re 14 15 on a onetoone basis in a particular area where they’ve shown promise um and the child has got on that despite all of the challenges but at the moment or does now

But until that moment didn’t have a device to even do um their maths and homework and they were getting into trouble at school for it very focused on um what the individual wanted to do um in terms of you know future expirations and you know just being able to give

Give them that family a reused laptop whatever we talk about giving people the opportunity and giving them the tools to to do and be what they can I just think that sums it up um so you know something is relatively speaking as simple as that when they they’ve got that sort of Life

Chance so um yeah that that to me really really brought it home so I just wanted to to share that with you um and then just finally in terms of the digital space it’s also around how we can give people the skills not just the devices

But the skills that same session we had an 85y old lady whose whole family live in New Zealand and um teaching her how she can face time now you know apart from the human and the benefits of that the issues that that that will possibly prevent in terms of isolation and the

KnockOn effect um you know speak for themselves so it it covers the whole piece that the tools in terms of the Y divine themselves the skills to be able to use it and then of course the data so in some cases we’re able to give um individuals or families access to to the

Data so that they can actually get online and then just um just finally um I’ve gone through a lot of this really a lot of it related to the the last slide but I mentioned the targeted literacy work and we’re just going back through some of the data now to see where that

Needs to be and what what that can look like in terms of the next phase we’ve already spoken about skills by sector um the big Drive it has been for the last year and it continues to be is to deepen these links with the businesses we’ve

Got you know in many cases we’re pushing it open doors the bigger organizations are already doing CSR it’s just about how we can tap into that but interestingly when you talk to some of the the smaller businesses I was talking to a it’s a husband and wife a small

Business they want to get into school Schools they’re in marketing they want to go and tell youngst as what the opportunities are so you know from your big Fords and hsbc’s to your your smaller businesses there is absolutely something that we can do with everybody we covered off Community supermarkets

And and and the Poppins um verer supporting the the the mental health this this continues to be a driving Point around um active eics as well how we can use volunteering more um we had the summer of volunteering last year that that did Galvanize um in some cases

Some some new recruits so to speak um but we’re always looking for more you speak to any organization they’re always on the lookout for for volunteers so that work continues and then um this broader piece around aspiration the model of you can only be what you can see how do we broaden those

Aspirations for people um and put those opportunities in front of them and all of that kind of goes full circle back to literacy levels what does it mean around engagement with businesses what does that mean around support for mental health and well-being and then sharing with with people and and families those

Opportunities thank you Mr sure just going to pick up again on some of the metrics that you kind of me mentioned as well that helped you know further bring this to volunteering we saw a 133% increase in the amount of volunteers doing the summer reading challenge in

Libraries this year so we were almost about 26,000 people who got took part in that which is really really good um and supporting the young people to develop their skills and we’ve also seen in terms of literacy 65,000 new library members in the last year so I gained

Fantastic growth in that particular area as well and then again in the year two report there some particular statistics that I think you’ll like around the employment rate for work engaged people has increased in four of our priority leveling up areas which is really good to see and also the percentage of

Children meeting the expected standard and reading uh writing a mass at the end of keystage two has gone up across Essex as an average of 2% as well so we can start to see those metrics moving in the right direction obviously we can’t attribute all of that to the leveling up

Program but again it’s about creating conditions encouraging others Partners as well to work with these things going forward um the other thing as well I wanted to just pick up on and council mckin is has Illustrated this well it’s not just the metrics it’s also the story

St that people tell you that you meet when you go to these various events we had a a single mother she had four children one of her children had special educational needs um she was struggling and she was supported through one of our community hubs initially with food

Vouchers and then with some volunteering work and then that helped to get into an employeed job she’s since then gone to another employeed job and now she’s mentoring other women in that particular position if you look at our multiply program as well which is about teaching

People in key math skills we’ve had a young person who was 18 um he was a a Carpenter doing a sort of apprenticeship um he was taught things like how to do your own quotations and that type of thing through the program and he’s then gone on to actually start his own

Carpentry business so you can start to see people almost taking control of their lives helping develop helping to grow um and they’re just a small snapshot and again this the more in the year two report and also if you had had a chance you’ll see this QR code in

There that you can scan with your mobile phone and it will take you to a video and you can watch them telling their story in person as well so it helps kind of bring It a bit more to life it’s really powerful I think when you hear

The stories the other piece I probably just should mention in terms of metrics um and this work’s only just started but you you know the work that we’re doing with the this is purpose which is led by jus in Greening um we had our first meeting yesterday actually and and

Another one today another one next week but it’s about how we can track um Pro progression through the workforce understanding what people’s backgrounds are so and that obviously takes time and that will be done through staff surveys not just for us but what how we could look then to roll that out

To other organizations so you know if you end up being Chief exec and you’ve come from a very difficult background know what’s that Journey what’s that metric and how does that then relate to others so that we can start to see you how real social Mobility actually can

Take place regardless of background in terms of how people can can progress but that’s that’s something that’s being done at the national level as I say that’s only just just starting really so that’s still early days in that space thank you complete your thank you very much just a technical Point um one

Of our colleagues who couldn’t join us today did draw our attention on Friday to the fact that the QR codes on the reaching New Heights uh it comes up as being disabled oh on all of them yes perhaps that good let me I’ll try it right now and

See sometimes depends also on the kind of cookie settings on your phone and that type of stuff but I’ll double check that for you okay thank you that’s fine can we then to councelor Henderson thank you chairman i’ got a few um comments make um can I first of all

Um to the officers and um to organizations of volunteers out there who doing such really good work to actually deal with some of these everyday issues and doing their best to keep on on top of things um just sure just reminded me of some of the case

Studies I remember I W har the fact I remember some of them successes come through sha start centers at the time um I I was involved at that at the time and saw some of those parents who were actually going back into training and into work on a very successful scheme um

I just wanted to on slide two about uh child deprivation um I wondered if is this the upto-date picture because we it’s just been released that there’s another 300,000 th children now dropped into po there was a report just come out saying it’s now figures shown this was from Bernardo showing 4.3 million

Children now growing up in poverty I just wondered if these figures are up to date or have things got worse in6 that’ be useful to see the total up to-date figures and again Mr alers Shaw mentioned about some of the good stories about people and the the opportunity is

Available for children that it’ be interesting to see highlighted the existing barriers which still exist because I know for a fact there are still young people who cannot get to those construction training or skills or further education because they can’t afford the transport and I was recently

At a um removing barriers turning the tide in London and nearly everyone around that table was saying the same thing that transport is a massive issue and the affordability and access to these this training and further education is really uh hampering um young people and you can see that like I

Said from the increases in child poverty and deprivation that things are not going to get any worse if we don’t deal with some of some of those barriers um also um there’s no mention in here about what interaction we’re doing with children missing from education and those who are elected home tuition are

We making contact are we supporting those um children and making sure there’s opportunities available for them I know we’ve done some really good work in uh cross party in the count across in the county that interested to know what’s happening there and I I recognize on page 15 of the report

3.3.4 where it says new support for skills night Andale uh care B and the poins B early years sector there’s lots of figures throwing around on these reports but there’s no figures within that which shows how many people are taking up those opportunities there’s nothing there that we can see what the

Results are of these bseries and how we’re filling the filling these gaps Um that’s that’s just be interesting to know some of some of the results and I think someone said earlier these are all big figures on here what counts as the results so it’ be interesting to see what impact um this um investment if you like and the work rate that all of those

Organizations volunteers and officers are doing what the actual impact of that is because they must be at the moment looking like they’re fighting or losing battle when you’re seeing more and more children dropping into deprivation and poverty thank you there’s a few points there yes so we canly get you some more

Detail in terms of numbers and that off offline I think you know we we have to recognize that you know the the complexity of this whole leveling up agenda it’s not just about money if it was about money frankly it would have been solved decades go it is about

People leaving leading in some cases very complex lives and and the confusion that that can cause for you particularly for young people who are growing up in in some of the the most damaging of of environments so you know that that’s why I think the program is is so broad is

Because there isn’t just you know one one size fix all or one answer um and and you’ve maybe got flavor of that in terms of some of the the different initiatives that we’re doing so when we talk about barriers they that will look different to different people um you

Know of course there’s going to be issues around transport for for some um I think it is there has to be you know the reality about being how far we can go with that but also about being flexible and and targeting some of the opportunities to people um you know

Depending on where they live um and thinking about what that for them and recognizing their own surrounds um homeschooling and missing education so we know that that is a is an ongoing issue particularly those who are now um you know so-called falling out of education and I am working very closely

With uh Council B actually we haven’t brought anything forward yet but we are looking at what that could mean from the leveling up perspective um to get those youngsters who are not in education back back into it um you know we know that that is the obvious OB there are certain

Exceptions but we know that being in an educational setting is is the best for the overwhelming majority of children um and that we have to make sure that those who for whatever reason have not gone back maybe since covid or for other reasons um that we are making sure that

They are getting the the education that they need so that is a piece of work that’s ongoing and you can expect us to be bringing something to you in the near future um the numbers of people taking the bseries uh yes a very good point obviously on the Poppins burer that’s

Literally has been announced there won’t be any figures around that yet but certainly on the Nightingale um the care buery if we haven’t got anything to hand then we will be able to share that with you outside of the meeting um just check Council Garnet did that um earlier explanation cover your

Point no I think just made the point yeah thank you thank you Council G thank you uh Mr chairman thank you for the presentation and the uh the run through I think your opening uh remarks about this is not it’s just the beginning you know you’ve laid the

Foundation for something that’s going to run and run and run and some amazing figures what you have mentioned is the um uh match funding that the whole scheme has attracted and one could argue that yeah you would have manag to get some much funding in but you know not to

The level that it’s actually been uh outline in the um uh in the impact report and and the QR codes do not work I’ve tried several time tried yesterday I tried again now they’re still disabled so you can’t access that’ be quite good to address that

Uh the uh the community Super Market I mean some of the quotes there from the people that have been interviewed in the in the sketches and that it’s really brings it home to to you you know what what it means to them and to have one in every District it’ll be you know

Especially in this that age of challenging times a laugh line to all them and uh um two questions which I’ve got on the missing children just before I got to the question uh from my role on the people and family we met with a independent chair of the Essex children

Of garding board and we made our very point about the missing children which are now estimated to be around about 3,000 and there still isn’t any regulatory framework and as far back as 2018 when uh when I led the um tasking finish group on county lines that was

Something that was already getting quite serious before the pandemic and uh of course since the pandemic God knows what’s what’s happened and one of of the recommendations that we put forward was to uh um and Rob raon who chair of the select committee the time uh he he kind

Of persevered with pursuing that exclusion exposure they’re the ones that and you know end up in the realm since there’s not two death about it it’s been proven and and there you know the future life completely um drop a diis any opportunity they have and he did say the

Time that it was promised uh that there will be some regulatory framework and that still has something that that’s something that really should be on all of us to uh to to drive forward you know with um there’s no way they can check even their attainment you know for for

Example you know how good their the modation is and that’s very much part of that so that’s and I’m sure that you you well that the one thing that has not been mentioned is how does this you know you were a trailblazer to you got hit the round running and the ground running

And and and you went off with it and how does it fa with other uh elsewhere where this has been rolled out because I’m pretty certain this is one of the most you know kind of comprehensive an impactful um leveling up thing that we had and um the one question that I would

Have and challenge you on that is the on the early year uh places that is a problem because the just isn’t plac is there and I just wondered if there is an opportunity for the County Council there to commercialize the issue and provide that there are parents that cannot go

Back to work because they cannot get their child into early AG so I’d like to hear your comments on that it you’re preaching the converted on that last point I mean you know I think anyone who’s had whether it’s directly with your own children or any form of

Conversation with people who have got young children the the cost not just the cost to be fair the cost the flexibility and the availability of child care um you know it’s a problem it absolutely is and and you know undoubtedly it stops people going back to work probably women

More than anyone um and that obviously impacts in terms of household incomes and what that can mean longer term as well for for career progression so um you know I’m I’m a huge fan on on on if we can crack that knot and I think the announcements that have come from the

Government around additional places is very welcomed um and certainly entitlement as well to uh to what that means for the the 30 hours um but it will take time to get there undoubtedly it’s not going to be available on day one because we have to scale up um the

Numbers the skills um and thinking about you know what that means around the different settings there is some funding there that is um is available the settings themselves to be able to expand um and then as I mentioned earlier the the skills in terms of what that could

Mean for for individuals and and to encourage people into the sector um so anything we can do doing that space you know I’m certainly open to to looking at I know there was some work that was done previously very tentatively around the the opportunities from a commercial

Perspective um I think it probably is worth revisiting it it’s again it’s just the how far we want to go with that to be providers versus labing the market to do that um Fair okay so um I I know unequivocally that we we are leading the field in this in this space

Um there is no other authority that is doing as as much as as we are who are are starting to put the programs in place to to to Really Drive change and we did receive an award actually from this is purpose we’re the only public um

Sector authority to do so um that was weeks ago in terms of the impact that we’re we’re having um and I know from the work that I do at the LGA and from speaking to some of the other authorities that they are very much

Looking to us um as as the the beacon of of how to do this some of them have started to do it as well um but in a a smaller a smaller way so yes Le the way on it thank you stepto thank you chairman um I

Wanted to a little bit more on the figures that you quoted I’m still a little bit confused um the 123,000 that you refer to in slide three um it says that it’s doubled since 2007 so that’s an additional roughly 60,000 on top 123,000 that that somewhere around about 8% of the

Population something in that figure and the 67,000 that you refer to later on in slides um is that included in the 123,000 or is that top of the 123,000 the the first figure the 123,000 that’s based on National Data that’s around um areas of deprivation and in

All the indes that’s where that 123,000 figure comes from the 68,000 that’s the number of people who have been involved in this program so far so there’s an assumption that they would be the same people and certainly things like the S6 activate where it’s targeted at the children on free School

Meals that would be a very fair assumption um but things like um maybe some of the the physical activity and the mental well-being that’s sort of more more of a universal offer that could be open to anyone so we couldn’t say absolutely that that 68,000 is only

Coming from the uh two3 I I say us a little bit yes okay um with regards to we’ve had a fair amount of immigration within the county uh does that is any of that reflected with because I know for example in my own area a lot of the work

With the um people in the uh immigration centers go cross border into South End for example so is is there anything includ anything there so the uh the cly in terms of the one the one 123 that that is the figure for for our footprint as such in terms of specifics

For for refugees um there are schemes that have been put in place directly to help them and think again coming back to the S6 activate although that’s not a scheme directly for them they have in some cases been identified as um you needing that additional support so it’s

Been offered to them directly for them to come and join it so there’s some Outreach and targeted work but also some specific um particularly language Etc that that we’ve offered to them as well actually an example sure did you want to on that I was just going to say one of

The um eics activate examples that canc mckin is referring to there the castle point and Rochford School sports partnership that have worked with eics activate have done stuff to provide spe specific services for Refugee children as well to be able to give them a bit more physical activity outside as well

Um and I just wanted to very quickly pick up because we’re talking metrics as well in terms of we’re expecting in the not too distant future the next indices of multiple deprivation from the office of national statistics because that comes out every three to four years so

It’s one things it’s quite difficult to measure kind of year on year on year so we are we are due that not too distant future and then obviously we’ll be able to more update some of the figures that have been referenced here as well and see whether we’ve we’ve made a shift any

Just picking up on your um supply of equipment to the the children you were talking about uh I’m very very pleased to hear that because I know from experience my own personal experience when I left school it was very difficult to actually get support to go for

Colleges and things like that so I’m pleased to see that that’s something is changing quite dramatically thank you and if I can just on that we’re looking at Community hubs so um just in in my my own area actually um through our local Community Fund we the one that everyone

Shares between the the county councilors we’ve actually put the funding in place for Comm hubs across the whole of the borrow um there’s going to be four of them uh eventually and and they are designed to enable people to come along and and you know get the skills but also

To get access to it if they want to apply for a job or whatever so much of it’s done on these these days so to give them the access to it to be able to come along and do it just in in terms of what you’re saying there around having that

Opportunity uh we have councelor Pond I believe Who’s online who wants to ask a question uh chairman Vice chairman I put it on chat oh thank you very much ask you um so Council P’s question is could the committee please have ranked lists or access to data of

District Wards in essic or similar by deprivation comparing latest we say five years ago I don’t know if you hold it to that level but I think if if we take that as an action offline to see what how granular we can go in terms of information and obviously recognizing

What was said before about um we’re expecting some new data to be released soon as well that’ be helpful Council departments oh thank you for chair um thank you Louise as I had a quick look at the full documentation I can see that you’re just touching the tip of the

Iceberg here today so congratulations on all the work that you’re doing anyway that I’d just like to explore a little bit more with you if I may because I was a bit I’m not sure I understand the data on the slide that talks about leveling up and following up on councilor garet’s

Question are we are you indicating on the first one where it says 40,000 of those who are children live in areas that are the most 20% deprived in the UK so are we saying that 20% of the most deprived clarifying 20% of the most deprived areas in Essex are sorry are in

The UK sorry um and do we know where those 20% are and do we understand uh just particularly uh why they are deprived thinking about if you’re going to try and Target something you’ve got to understand what is the what is causing the dep why they’re deprived in

Those particular areas so yeah do we know where the 20% are and do we understand how to Target those 20% that’s what I’m saying are they education are they something else so so we do know where they are it’s it’s um you know we working maybe Wards and

Divisions and borrows this these figures are driven by what they call neighborhoods you know just to confus us even further which are you know can be subsets or crossover what we might call a ward or or or that’s why we just use area as as a generic piece they they are

Quite small when we talk about neighborhoods um and yes we do know where they are and they will be um in this 20% the most of the country it is of the country um for a variety of reasons so that the fact that it’s deprived is based on obviously the

Household income but the reasons behind that and then you get into a bit of what’s cause and what’s effect you know what are the schools like in the area is that a cause is that an effect so it’s that sort of you know cyclical relationship um and really I think your

Question touches on just the complexity of this whole program because it is around the education it is around the physical access to jobs it is around aspiration it is around standards of housing it’s around well-being it’s around you know Health indices all of that that comes together that will um

You know maybe make it much harder for an individual but certainly for for an area for a neighborhood to to rejuvenate itself and to have those other and that’s really what this is going trying to get at the heart of it’s it’s not

Just to say if if we do X then you know why will improve it is thinking about what that means in the round is it possible to highlight where those are for yeah so we can understand I could understand if there’s one of those areas

In my Division I to try to explore why that is and the second area that I was sort of a bit unsure of of what you’re trying to achieve is the community supermarkets when I heard that there are seven Community supermarkets and then one will be rolled out in every division

Going forward uh I’d like to know if there’s a program for that when it’ll happen in my division where it be my Division I I just like to know a little bit more about why you trying to develop Community supermarkets the aim and the objective of that because that seems to

Me to say what we are doing is trying to promote food banks and we are therefore trying to promote poverty not attack poverty or address poverty can you see the roundabout I’m looking at there it’s um creating Community supermarkets seem to me to be the wrong where going about

Attacking the pro the poverty in those areas it’s saying we’re just we’re just dealing with doing anything to improve on it h just elaborate a little bit on that if you would leave so the the idea around the community supermarkets is is actually the opposite because it’s it’s

That bridge from food banks to supermarkets so you don’t get it for free in a Supermarket you have to pay for the food um and from some of the work that we’ve done with the food banks and with feeding Britain they will say that you how do

You start to break a cycle where there is a need but also you start to get into a habit an expectation and a dependency on the food banks H and to to move from that to doing your shop in the regular Supermarket is a big jump so the community supermarkets give people the

Opportunity to come in and obviously choose their own food it’s the the dignity that goes with that and that’s what we hear from people who are using them time and time again they don’t want to just be given a bag of food they want to choose their own meals

And actually you know pay for that themselves they’re around 30 to 40% cheaper than the the cheaper um Supermarket so they’re kind of benchmarks against little and your AI roughly 30 to 40% cheaper in some cases when people start out they will be using both so they might have support from the

Food bank but they will do top UPS from the Community Supermarket and as I say the idea is that it moves them away from food banks when you’ve got a food bank that’s that’s maybe more disciplined in terms of how many times you can go and if they’re very much focusing on crisis

Situations um that might happen more naturally but there are a number of organizations now where it’s it’s no questions asked and you come and take it if you need it which you know is obviously very good if somebody’s in a crisis situation but it does perpetuate

The fact that they can go there each week so where where is the drive and the support to move them on from that and the community supermarkets are very much seen as a way of of of doing that I would also say that they are they are

Much more than just food so this is although they’re you know they are a supermarket and they are set up for people to go and do their their their shop in actual fact there are other services there and sign posting as well and you know all of them have the

Ability to just put the kettle on and have a cup of tea but just sit down and they can signpost people to if they need help with housing if it’s debt management if it’s you know whatever it may be there’s a much broader offer that the community supermarkets put in place um

So very much the driving force behind them is to move people away from food banks and to enable them to regain that that dignity and that confidence and that ability to not just take the food but actually think about what that means longer term if I could just before you

Follow up um so how are they selected and how are they set up because a supermarket I is a great big shop somewhere um so how are they selected and set up and how do districts go about being able to make that provision for that so it’s is a really good question

Actually because they they all look so different so if I take um the first one we opened was in jaywick um and that is in a a unit which was derel for a long time in the heart of the Broadlands estate which um has been done up it’s

Got a new kitchen out the back and they members of staff are employed to work there while it’s open um and we have worked with feeding Britain we gave some funding from the outset as well but it’s also linked in with some of the supermarkets so it’s back to this

Corporate responsibility again where some of them are already giving food and some of them give to food banks and some give to um you know other organizations and this is something that we you know we’re very keen to promote with them and and they are wanting to come with us on

On this journey as well um and and the idea is then that it’s you know it’s something in that particular case that’s established in the community if you contrast that with um can Island that is it’s it’s a double- deck of bus and we work we’ve work with the Salvation Army

There so identifying the local opportunity and who the partners are this is why it looks so different across the piece so the the downstairs of the bus is done up um as a as a shop you can go in and CH your fruit and veg and what

Have you upstairs um they’ve got some tables and again it’s about to you have a couple team and the the support services hosting they also do some uh arts and crafts the children the school holidays so it’s it’s much more than just go and get your food so you got the

The the permanent you’ve got the mobile and then you get places um where they more popup so um the one in chelsford that’s in the in a hall that pops up literally um once a week and they set it up and people will pay an annual

Membership and they go in and do their shopping and then it gets all put away again so it looks very different in different areas just depending on you know part mainly I suppose the opportunities so we are quite driven by by who our partners are or who they

Could be uh to help us deliver it and to make it sustainable and that will obviously vary in terms of the the community infrastructure in that in that space thank you very much I think again a list with those examples would be very good for other areas going forward to

Get a flavor in a feeli so if you could provide that that would be really useful and I didn’t you ask me when they would all be rolled out it should be by the summer that’s what we’re aiming for thank you did you want to clarify a

Point and I think also it’s not by division it’s by District isn’t it sorry did I say division I’m in District only it could be by division ultimately you know I mean there’s no reason why not what chair says please in my case I was gonna mention

The mobile element that theise is now covered because obviously that does expand uh the reach somewhat but the example of stuff in the bus for example if you look in the leveling up your report again there’s there’s videos and stuff you can access on that to see it

In action um one thing to mention just quickly while I’m talking about the report codes don’t worry uh I’ve contacted the team they’re already working on it but actually because it’s a digital copy of the report that you’ve all got you’ll see underneath every QR code there’s a hyperlink anyway you just

Click on that I’ve just checked that does take you straight to the YouTube videos so you can still use and watch the videos and stuff without having to wait for the QR codes to be fixed councelor stamp followed by councelor mckyer yes it do thank you um I think it’s great what

You’ve done I think it’s a shame we need it especially the food buses and Banks and everything and whatever what you’ve just been discussing um I was intrigued to know and pleased to know when you offer more services do you um provide like a recipe card say for meals for

Under I don’t know a quid or that sort of thing because you often find that people don’t necessarily have the confidence or the knowledge of how to use ingredients that is seasonal and that’s why we’ve got so Air Miles coming in because we buy you know food from

Spain and Portugal or wherever because we want an avocado when they’re not in season so are you actually um um promoting that side of things because to me as a council we should be doing that anyway especially with our green strategy um and also are you able to

Provide anything to do with fuel poverty I mean I don’t know if anybody heard the radio this morning there’s a massive problem with smart meters and people can’t afford to put their heating on cuz their Smart Meters not working they’re living on seven quid a day how many

Times they’re Bard in kettles do we offer that sort of information within the hubs that you’re creating um I know sometimes you’ve got uh facilities and grants at District levels if you want to tap into them but if you could explain a little bit like that to me um and also

About the esss construct Alliance when you mentioned earlier do you do you sort of encourage I mean my bu our business was heating and plumbing and we’d actually had the problem about getting um apprentices to prospect College to do their one day release many years ago we

Don’t do the business anymore um but the point is are we doing anything to encourage small small businesses and startups are we offering because a lot of the time is they don’t understand you get one or two man band you you mentioned the husband and wife team but they often don’t understand the

Difficulties from hmrc if you’re going to be back registered do we go to that extent or am I just putting some more work and thinking that you know because I’m sure you are helping all obious sign posst in for small business to be able to do that because I think there’s a

Real need I think small businesses are falling behind again there was a big surge a few years ago and the micro businesses were actually supported massively and then we call them cottage industries as well don’t we the little small small ones are we doing anything to support that within the the business

But no thank you yeah no good good questions um so if I start with those we cooking from scratch idea um so yes in some cases we are at both through the community supermarkets but also through the ess6 activate um so there are some examples in various places I’m thinking

There’s a place in Co one of the schools in Colchester where we ran the Essex activate they actually had the kids cooking their own it was Christmas Day Christmas lunch actually and the case that I’m thinking of and then invited the parents in and what was you know

Really interesting is that the parents coming in saying well they don’t eat carrots and they so well they do they’ve been eating them a week they’ve been cooking them and it’s you know it’s that kind of ownership and for the first time they’re all sat down together having a

Meal in some cases and actually you know they’ve learned how to cook from scratch um and then as I say that that was VI the E6 activate program through some of the um the community supermarkets so the again the one in culer which hasn’t long been open that their next phase they’re

Hoping to be able to develop the kitchen out the back to do just that bring people in take some of the ingredients from the shop and be able to um to cook and again back to jaywick um the shops right next door just opposite the community center where they do lots of

Meals in the in the community for for some of the elderly Etc and they’re looking at how they can link up cooking the having the venue to have people in but also being able to to cook it on site and use the food from the store so

To try and do that sort of you know cross pollination so to speak between both of the the different areas um and then through some of the um holiday packs that that we put together there are recipe cards in there as well which will teach people how to cook low budget

Healthy meals um fuel poverty there is obviously a lot that’s been done nationally around uh support for for c for for fuel um and certainly we do sign posting so I know there have been some schemes um around boilers and boiler Replacements that we have sign posted people to towards um I think

That’s probably fair to say it’s probably more than on an adhoc basis rather than anything that’s particularly focus of of this scheme um and then the your point around you know how do you take somebody who’s maybe got a skill but then turn it into a business and to

Support them to do that certainly and and and pH mentioned the multiply program earlier that that has been really successful in in that space so you might have a trade but that’s very different saying set you away to do the job to actually running your business and everything that that can entail and

And the multiplayer program does support people as does some of the ACL work that we’re doing as well um and through the construction Alliance and then you again this is all sort of it’s quite new but looking at what that means for some of the smaller firms who are nevertheless

Small but are established how can we tap into them to help them take people on not just in terms of being an apprentice in the the the regular sense but actually to do a bit of mentoring for them as well in terms of how they could

Set up their business what it means when you have to do a file a tax return all that kind of thing budgeting for your you know your down months everything that you would kind of consider if you’re you know used to running a business um and then seeing how we can

Get them to support them can I make one more yes please do the hardest the hardest thing that we found was when it was the Young Generation and I most probably get slaughtered saying this was get them off their phones it was always on the phone you wanted them

To to Plum or PPE something in their phone went and they wanted to go on their phone so there it sort of brought different challenges but hopefully that’s maybe not such an issue but it really was phone down and get on with your plumbing do work actually when when

We speak to the Chamber of Commerce um that’s something that they they found not not directly about the phones but certainly this idea of being work ready so you know what does it mean when you turn up to when you’ve got to be there on time and you’ve got to be dressed

Appropriately when you got to you know have your mind set on doing your job and that kind of consistency of all of that um and they have flagged that as being an issue among some of the maybe being flippant but there was a meaning behind it thank you for for you know explaining

That thank you um Council M thank thank you chairman and thank you um Deputy leader and also no me thanks officers and of course I Echo that than also thank you personally because I know that you’ve been you know a real driver behind so much of this and I’ve seen all

Of your um you know your fantastic document that shows the work we’re doing across the county and I think you really should be applauded and actually as someone who looks at what other Council are doing I do think we are just you know really leading the way on this so

It makes us all very proud I think members uh to be part of this Council um it’s just a a minor point I wanted to ask and that’s with regards to how we approach certain communities um we may look you know when we’re in this sort of corporate setting at describing areas as

Deprived areas but actually for many people they take quite a lot of offense to that you know how dare you call my community deprived you know we work really hard to live here we do our best and we we do our absolute best and in many cases so um I just interested about

How we approach the sensitivity to approaching a community I can think of communities in my own division that would benefit from initiatives but C certainly wouldn’t want to be approached because they seem to be deprived and also um there is a real difference I think between know poverty absolute

Poverty but also just short-term temporary material deprivation whereby you know a family may find themselves on hard times for a shortterm period perhaps because one of the people who bringing income to a home is unable to work for various reasons and therefore as a family it’s a there is really a

Shortterm issue and and actually in on we’ve got the Fantastic free food for you Hub which does an incredible job at helping people just you know in that moment um so touching on what what other members have made really my question really is how do we approach communities

Sensitively so not offense but also um when we have families and essics who find themselves in a shortterm approach where they don’t need to be enrolled into lots of services they just need that short-term lend of a hand how do we uh differentiate and find out who is

Too I think they really good questions and points that are very well made um I didn’t want to to get too detailed on the definition of poverty but you’re absolutely right and there was a big difference between poverty absolute poverty and then that what you call that

Sort of transient um situation so you we we we shouldn’t lose sight of that so so thank you for for flagging that in in terms of how we approach them um this very much goes back to our community working and our partnership working so you know I I always say it’s important

As the message is the messenger is just as important and and we as a local Authority have a certain position and a role to play in that you know we are seen as being a source of sound information of being you know reliable and you’ve only got to look back at some

Of the messaging During the covid period and some of our Public Health messaging in that space But we shouldn’t pretend that we are the one best place to give every message um and that’s really is where our partnership working comes into its own so that when we look at um

Particularly via some of the activ escs programs we look at who is already operating in that space because if you’re talking to people who are your neighbors then it has a very different feel to if it is you know the big County Council of coming in and saying what

What needs to happen and we’ve done some uh some really good work there around some of the um the more isolated communities and the harder soal harder-to-reach communities as well so thinking about how we could work you know with either person X or organization X to to help them then be

The messenger in that area and get people involved um and certainly some of the Outreach work that we’ve done has been you know really um well received when we’ve when we’ve taken that approach um so I think that’s you know that’s that’s really important in terms

Of where we would sign people to and that would obviously depend on what their their issue is in the short term we do have um at the elf the essential living fund which is for um oneoff emergency support and that’s it could be food it could be money for school

Uniform it could be know new white goods but it is there are obviously thresholds that people have to meet but that that is you know oneoff help that is available if if people require it um outside of that there are obviously supports in in the different communities

As well not just what we’re doing but what Partners have in place big big big piece um around um see some of the religious groups of of all religions in terms of the support that they will give their their local areas and um and I don’t think it’s a coincidence actually

When we look at the Community Supermarket and I think from the top of my head five of the seven involve a religious organization working with us to help to roll that out so there is you know there’s a big piece there um around the support that they they give in the community as

Well you um councelor Crow please and followed by councelor stepto who’s has an additional point which has occurred to him thank you chairman um I was quite struck by the health outcome figures on slide two that if you live in a deprived or disadvantaged area you’re 87% more likely to suffer from a

COPD and during Co I worked on test and Trace and found my talking to people pH Up had a CPD CPD that thought they had Co they did have Co they were obviously fearful for their their lives so I was really quite struck by that figure now the causes are varied it can

Be the workplace breathing in fumes it can be uh fossil fuels being burned pollu Airborne pollution but by far and a way the biggest is smoking and secondhand smoking so uh if you have a COPD you are going to be less likely to re-enter the workplace to to train to

Re-enter the workplace so I saw that we relaunch the ethics wellbeing service that’s focusing on health and well-being does that include um support education advice about smoking help to stop smoking I know it’s not easy I’m I speak as a former heavy smoker myself you

Don’t just go to stop today then um but are we providing any support and education and also educating people that you know if you’re smoking in the home so is everyone else so at least if you can’t stop you know go outside because we’ve be doing a great service to people

To try and drag them out of that cycle yes if I may it’s I think it’s a fantastic example of where something which on its own looks you know relatively small we all know smoking is bad for us why do we have to bother making that clear to people people but

You know you’ve just drawn out there how you actually try that through not just through the life expectancy of that particular individual but the impacts going to have on their children their likelihood um to be you know ill at work or to be out of work for longer um and

What that then means for the broader economy not to mention before we even get into you know Health costs and NHS Etc that there is um so that small piece actually translates all the way through and the the impact can be could be profound um so there is through Public

Health work that we do we do have a not just an opportunity but actually um a requirement to um to to to do what we can to get people off of off of smoking um I’m just being shown something here it’s the ethics wellbeing service there

We go here’s one we had earlier there’s um a stop smoking campaign that is um is underway as well um and that is something that is at the the Forefront of some of the public health work that’s taking place and also then some of the messaging around um the impact of of

Taking up not just smoking but vaping particularly for we all know that the stories around that um the data is is very basic at this moment in time because it’s not been around that long um but certainly everything I’ve seen suggests that it’s not a good thing to

Be putting into your lungs um so I think there’s a piece here around you know what does that mean for some of our youth work as well um you know not necessarily coming down hard but it’s how it’s again it’s back to that messaging so that people grow up uh

Knowing and recognizing and appreciating the implications for those actions because it’s you know it’s easy isn’t it when you’re 20 you don’t think about when you’re 40 50 60 you confess it fortunately I’ve never smoked a cigarette I’ve been lack in that regard but I just wanted to say that not just

As a campaign but yes it’s well-being Service as well um the actual stop smoking services are free and people can bit all an assessment and there’s there’s different things rather than just saying like you say stop smoking it’s quite difficult message to just for someone to stop immediately but there’s

Things like the ecigarette pilot and stuff as well people can kind of sort of gradually change the way that they actually experience the habits as well so um so yes there’s quite a lot of different support on there few different sort of pilots and different trials that The Vaping is really relevant

Sometimes you you sit behind the car traffic windows open someone’s vaping and this huge cloud of smoke that’s come out of someone’s lungs just horr that’s right right thank you for that interesting diversion U councilor Steptoe I was just going to pick up on councelor stamp’s point of recipe cards

And just go one stage further do we encourage the kids uh particularly at school to grow their own food vegetables you picked on carrots like a nice fresh carrot a nice fresh carrot I mean in terms of what the schools do that that’s that is down to them um they’ve got the national

Curriculum some of them will go go beyond that what what we’re trying to do is through the the the programs that we’re involved in is is to get the youngsters cooking themselves um there has been some Outreach work that’s been done as well the the youth service

Actually teamed up with um Jamie Oliver and uh and that was combined with I think it was the Rotary Club um and they came along as well we were we were all in a school and it was cooking faitas actually but it was Jamie Oliver’s recipe and it was teaching them you know

Everything from how to cook sorry chop up safely right the way through how to to cook and what the nutrition around all of that was so there’s definitely a link up with the schools um but really from our perspective it is the focus around where where we can influence what

That can mean through main active esss and the esss activate project thank you yeah um councelor Goin and I think I have to start to draw the session to a close shortly coun I’ll be brief but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to do a bit of self-promotion for tendering uh

And you talk about children and uh food Etc just to remind everybody with support from yourself and the great deal of support from Carlo we have a school for special needs children in Elon Market it’s just about to move forward with the opening of a farm so

This is a farm that will actually be be producing food that they will then use um and I just let you know that’s another small small step forward where a little bit of money and what we use in tendering in with Carlo leading certainly we used our our group money I’m going to

Call it and that has had a really really positive effect and it will actually do exactly what we’re talking about here it will actually be taking children not only to teach them how to learn to use the food to cook but how to grow it in

The first place and that course will be open to other people Carlo couldn’t let me get away with just saying yeah this is a scrutinous session and it’s questions to the the cabinet member so they do carry on kind my question was do you think that’s a good idea you agree with

Me yeah yes yes I would think it’s you it’s a great example and and there are others um around the county as well where certainly from a growing vegetables and and eating healthily there um there was a housing estate in cester which had some funding from leveling up and and they’ve done

Something very similar I I think if if I can chairman that it leads to kind of a broader point maybe just finish on here and that’s um the use of the local community funds and obviously our own local individual locality funds we saw some really good schemes come forward

Last year um and in many cases they were complimenting the work of of the leveling up program so I guess my my plea to you would be um and I will share further details around what others have done there’s a bit of cross learning here but when you are considering how

That how you can spend that money in this coming year maybe just look at this program because there’s a lot here that’s happening that can either be expanded um or in to use the case that the example that’s just been given you can see how that du Tails very neatly

Into some of the the broader agenda so um I think it’s a great scheme on its own but it’s also really good to see when we have some of the proposals come forward that actually support this this broader work thank you so just to to wrap up the sessions there’s a few

Points from myself and car want you to want to come back very quickly if you if you um allow me just on the on what council Goin racing that it’s it’s a much wider um subject it’s the growing food uh I think the the focus is that it’s a special educational need settings

Which I think really it would be good when you prepare the last year report to give some focus on on send because that’s an area that it’s very much on everybody’s agenda at the moment as we speak uh and the work that’s been done collectively with the locality fund money that we’ve

Had is enabled this scheme to be set up through the planning system I must say that’s really it’s a derivate of having given planning permission for a load of houses and that was the community benefit uh but also he will give skills to uh children with special education

Age which for me is something that’s very rare in the in the county as a whole to to give an opportunity to children that’s really if to me that is one of the greatest example leveling up to you if you take a child off the benefit system and give him the uh um

Opportunity to learn some skills and through the farm there’ll be retailing there’ll be growing there’ll be packaging be stock control there’ll be cooking there’ll be a huge range of skills which will not normally uh arrive but you know they’ve had to take the locality has had to take a load of

Houses to allow this to come forward so maybe a focus on special ucation of need to up up chairman you know they’ll be quite good in the CH supportment it and I’m sure you’ll agree with that I would agree with it because this we are focusing on the cohorts and the send is

Is one of those cohorts and we’ve got some of the leveling up team at the back there and they other what s them nodding profusely as you were talking there which is great um and and I think you know what you’ve just said there really encapsulates how these really small

Schemes you say it’s not just food it’s everything else that goes with that and that’s what I think um you know not just this program but as I say the lcf and the the locality funds have the opportunity to develop as well thank you thank you J thank you yes so just a

Couple of points for myself um which uh some of which came up on Friday at the Prem meat from colleagues who un able to be here today um but firstly I mean what would you say overall have been working well I mean have there been any failures or has

Anything been abandoned or what lessons have been learned I mean are are there any things which benefit the whole County that we can take on board learned from the the whole experience yes I mean certainly if you do you have a chance to read through the

The full report you you’ll see the the vast array of of stuff that’s been done um much of which is across the county um so I would I would say that that part of the the answer would probably be in there in terms of what we’ve learned um

And it’s not so much a band and I think it’s just probably me and others being tighter on on on what we do that it it very very early on it certainly became the the go-to place for a good idea if I put it like that um and that you know if

You if you let it and we don’t but if you let it that can very much be um where the money goes it can go very quickly and you got to think about what actual outcomes do do you want and you know in the early days the reports back

Would say we got really good feedback and 123 people attended and I’d look at that and say okay so 123 people had a nice afternoon great but is that really what this program is about no it’s not so we have we’ve got and we’ve certainly got much

More disciplined as well but we we are very focused on how we are measuring what the intended outcome will be and what that looks like as well some of that’s really difficult to do um as I said some this is generational change so we we can’t be as as concrete and as

Belt braces as we would like to be in some cases but certainly you know really pushing people to think about what it is that they are expecting to achieve from the outcome of initiative X whether it’s a standalone what follows it if it’s a six- week program in some cases that

Might be in other cases it’s a very valid question to say what happens in week seven and if there’s nothing there have you really just wasted the funding for so we know we looking at it much more holistically and being you know very robust so when the business case

Has come forward now I’ve really you know very clear what we what needs to be in there before I’ll even consider it because we have to think about what that the the longer term implication will be in how all of this fits together um in

Terms of the the as I say much F it’s in the report I would just flag I think how the year of numbers year of reading and the literacy work how that is really paying dividends and we’re seeing that um as I say exception of one area we’re

Seeing it across the county where that is um improving and increasing standards and what that then means for when youngsters start school being in the right place to be able to learn you know when they’re four years of age um and and trying to get that thread all the

Way through so you know from when Mom’s pregnant the importance of reading to to bump and then what that means once the baby’s here and having books around whatever that may look like it doesn’t matter just get them talking get them reading and then as that goes into you

Know leads into the the school life because all the evidence will show us children that are surrounded by books and words before they start school have much better educational outcomes um and I think it’s probably back to your point around you know if you can get people Ed

Educated and have skills if we’re talking about leveling up that has to be the root out of it and it’s much more complex than that don’t get me wrong there’s a lot of stuff that goes around this in terms of conditions but if you can educate someone they have more

Choices and if you have more choices then you’re in control of your life more and I think people tend to do better and that’s ultimately for me what this is all about choices and opportunity thank you um talking about education you have a good relationship with academies as

Well as local Authority schools to get these these figures through and and the various initiatives so I think it’s it’s fair to say that the the relationships um in terms of this program will vary from area to area um you know depending on what it is that we’re doing it might

Might be on a school’s agenda it might not be um certainly more generally things like advertising and making clear um to the parents about the eics activate the schools have been very receptive about that and they needed a code to go online on the schools with

Conjur to get that to the parents that that worked well um in other areas we’ve got some really good links to some of the schools academies as well but really really good schools um where we may have a particular project that you know leans into something that they’re wanting to

Do anyway so it’s it’s kind of a no-brainer for them um and I think you know I’ve mentioned Co a few times today one of the positive things to have come out of that time is definitely the relationship between us as the local Authority in schools generally whether

They’re academies or or or other because um they obviously look to us for a lot of information during that time and that those relationships have have continued ultimately this is going to come down though to what’s a priority and what’s it within their capacity at any one

Given time um whether we want to go into the school whether it’s just about sharing in information whether it’s about taking the kids out of school to to a SK that that will obviously vary across the county um but by and large I think we have had a a good good

Interaction I think the one area that I would really like to focus on with them is around the advice and careers guidance that’s given there’s a lot that goes on in this space and I think it’s said at the outset it it’s hit and miss you know you either the very lucky or

You’re not and I think that needs that’s a place that not not just for us but for schools and for business and the General skills sector that needs to be improved upon now just one final detail point when we have provide I should say um laptops what happens if if there is an

Internet connection in the house in dwelling so um there’s a couple of things first of all um we are in some cases providing data you get SIM cards we’re providing the data for them um but there’s also social Broadband tariffs which depending on household incomes each of the um you know the regular

Workers they have to consider whether you are eligible for the Broadband tariff um at a social level so um a lot of the work that we’ve been doing has been about promoting that and making sure now not just individuals but that our partner organizations are aware of

That as well we’ve had a big um social media campaign on it and there’ll be another one coming up later in the year as well um where people can get online for you know a lot less than what it would cost Reg okay thank you well that case I think we can draw

This particular item to a close and thank you very much for uh your attendance today um including Mr alaw as well um thank you members for your uh input as well and um we’ll see you uh in the not too distant future no doubt thank you so much so members if we um

Move swiftly on to the next item which is a relatively short item is just to report that I actually made myself for those of you perhaps may not been familiar um there was a um procurement process for the various CVS’s throughout Essex and um it was a twoyear

Program and it was two bids came in one small bid from just a few um CVS’s and a larger bid from larger group of CVS’s um and for various reasons there was a preferred bidder but for various reasons in the last couple of months or so the um cin member and the officers

Were not convinced that the um the bid was um mature enough and the organizations were really able to take on the task so the procurement process was ended uh and when I had a short briefing with the cabinet member uh the day before the CMA came out and when the CMA

Came out it wasn’t clear what was going to happen to the funding after the procurement process have been finished the uh 31st of March so that rather set off alarm bells to me I tried to clarify with the author of the report precisely what was um going to happen to funding

For CVS’s going forward I didn’t get a response and by the Tuesday which was day um I called the to find out what was going to happen um and so we had the call in it was explained that the CMA that I had called in for was just

Simply purely for the ending of the procurement process there would be a further CMA which would um make clear what the funding would be going forward for the other CVS for all the CVS’s the um the three I think it was three districts which were involved with the

Unsuccessful um procurement uh bid um they won’t receive any funding after 31st of March they knew that but the ones who were in The preferred bidder they will get some funding going forward so I’m waiting for the CMA to come out I’ve had further conversations with the cabinet member but that’s just the

Background to why that was called in in the first place and why it was withdrawn at the um informal session and a learning point from that is I’ve discussed this in scrutiny board is that there might be some scope for um having um sort of a second second stage in

Formal process whereby you can discuss these CMAs before you actually have an an in calling so try to avoid that sort of formal stage but anyway we’ll see what happens with that so I don’t know whether anybody has any comments on that particular item it was really just to

Report formally report to the committee what uh what happened as we are required to do whenever there’s a calling affecting this committee and chairman you just the committee’s essentially being asked just to note that the pro the called in process was duy followed and then as you’ve explained yeah it was then

Withdrawn thank you so uh moving on because we’ve got this other session starting at quarter two yes Carla the time scale for the next CMA were you long well that was the inevitable question um I think we might have it in a couple of weeks time which is very

Very close however perhaps I should just say that the cbs’s are involved uh are all in dialogue with officers and um so they are being kept up to speed and I’m assured thank you so um agenda item six our work program and Communications review Mr Hughes it’s it’s all there in your pack

Members is there anything that you want to add firstly Mr Hughes and then if any member wants to comment so really the only thing chairman I’d like to just extract from that it’s just something that’s developed since this was published um the capital program update that I was suggesting would be next

Month is going to be uh rescheduled I think probably for the June meeting um to to align with other Financial updates of that meeting um next month’s meeting the 18th of April on budget pressures um we are definitely lining up a home to school transport um briefing for you uh with

With the relevant officers hoping to deal with children’s services that one’s still a bit for TBC um but the main message is that it’ll probably be a private session chairman um next next month we haven’t actually got we’ve got the 18th of April but as far as May is

Concerned we haven’t actually got dates yet haven’t we no I was going to come to that in the next meeting but essentially I’m working on a schedule of of meeting dates for the next municipal yeah okay yes C hon yeah I just wondered if we should consider bringing forward the

Local Enterprise Partnerships because I’m I’m hearing that uh the restructuring and the county taking this on board movement at PACE now and there structures being put in place on taking over the responsibilities and the finances which will be should imagine passed down um I’d be really interested

I’m sure we all would around our districts and Burrows to find out how this m how this is going to work in the future how this money is going to to feed its way into different districts and burrows for the future who’s going to be in control of it and what process

Is going to be used as like I say as as I’m hearing opes are being put in place as we speak so I think that would be use useful to bring that forward to understand how this is going to work for the future yes there was um a CMA published

Yesterday or the day before on drawing down some funding from the transformation Reserve to just to facilitate ongoing funding in the sort of the interim period till these decisions are made I mean I wonder if you I mean I think it’s uh it’s a fair point actually because uh there’s huge

Amounts of money which can be dispensed through um Le and U I think it’s right that this committee to perhaps do some pre- scrutiny on it I wonder if you could investigate that for us Mr Hughes any other points colle yes Advance thank you um yes on the work program I note

What um gr has just said with regard to the capital program the bit I was looking at was the comment and it says to Deep dive um I’m probably going to bring my scuba here with me but when we’re talking about deep diving into something uh I’d like

To understand what was actually behind that comment and where we are going to be able to get information from or what kind of information we’re going to get to do some deep diving into the capital program understand the capital program if you look at the um if you look at the

Budget every cabinet member’s got a capital program or a capital list um are we talking about trying to look at every one of those items on that Capital list are we going to be selective about that and what do we actually mean by Deep dive I’m I’m sure the words are very uh

Very uh informative but I don’t understand coming to this meeting when it does come to it what we are actually meaning by Deep diving and maybe I can get some clarity on that because I to meetings like this and like yesterday no dis respect to the officers

But we get a 24 page or a 90 page Slide the day before it uh where we’re asked to go through something so we’re talking about deep diving and capital program is quite a big quite a big topic as well but I think well Mr Hughes had to this

But um it could be that um the committee will decide to have a task and finish group to actually do the so-call Deep dive but I don’t know whether you want to elaborate I see obviously caus myself problems in using that terminology but um I suppose really all all I’m

Acknowledging there is the fact the capital program Council of fans is normally embedded within the budget updates and financial updates so uh it’s really just a terminology we use within the scrutiny function around when you when you’re taking us something out of a subject and focusing on it so you know

The actual mechanism you might want to use yeah might might well be something outside of the formal committee or it may just be within the committee but acknowledging that you are focusing down on that particular item in terms of the focus of what will be included and not

Included yes I mean I’m sure officers would appreciate if if you want to give them a very clear steer as to what you do and don’t want that session to cover then that will assist them in in putting the update together and if and from what I’ve said

Because and it’s more around officer availability and C people needing to be there for that session that’s not unable to do it in in April so in a way that’s to our benefit it’s given us a bit more time if you do want that discussion uh

Chairman uh to give the offic clear a steer then um obviously we can we can facilitate that and and give them clear ideas to what you need I don’t know what it means personally I mean to be quite Frank with you I mean um I I look at the budget and

I see a number of a number of cabinet members and every Cabinet member has got a section on Capital program and I can understand it’s saying here to uh Deep dive into the planning and process for maintaining the capital program um maybe we could just explore what that wording

Means so I understand when I come to that meeting and and of course the uh whoever’s going to be in front of the scrutiny panel on that day what they are expected to understand by that as well it just concerned me that’s the same with the one we’ve just agreed on the B

Uh the homet school transport you know when we’re talking about deep diving are we talking about can somebody providers with money finances what effect it has by division whatever I I don’t know what do you mean by Deep diving and I just want to make

Sure that when I come to that we come to that scrutiny meeting we’ve got the information in front of us and we’re not just talking about top level so so yes I take your point gram but um and I think it’s for us to come back but I just

Didn’t understand what we meant by Deep diving into the process and I’m going to so regret having used that phrase never use it again but on a serious Point um yes I mean the the home to school transport and the Children’s Services the budget pressures that’s come directly out of your last

Discussion that you had on on the budget when um you had Chris whbr here and Nicole and the offer was um made and you as a committee accepted that offer for for a more detailed briefing um I think from this discussion chairman it does sound like maybe we need to outside this

Formal meeting scope out a little bit of what we’re asking officers to to cover and there’ll be very appreciative of that you know makes it easier for them they know what they’re being expected to cover I think it’s fair to say Council of V that um the chairman um the two Vice chairman

And the scrutiny officer we do meet and go through things and um it helps Mr Hughes when he meets with the U authors of the various reports and we make it clearer to them at that stage what’s what’s required I mean possibly we’ll be more interested in highways

Than we’ll be in in most other things but uh we will have those discussions before it comes to before you councel g thank you chairman uh just to pick up on the point that I caners made on the LEP it is a known fact that the Le has not

Really delivered uh extremely well fores six not most certainly not in the north of the district tender and they will be really apt for you to you know give a bit more profile but also to uh uh have a bit of awareness for members uh maybe uh a post abolition

Report on what is delivered you know and of only one project in in tendering for example that was the live by the funded by the Sunspot you know which was um one for all the life of the years of the existence of the you know and uh what’s

Going to go go forward I sit on the members development panel and I cannot be at the next meeting because I’m already committed which is on the 10th of May and I was going to suggest that maybe a memb briefing should be done on the subject as well to just get people

Because people will not know unless you’ve had the fortune of having had some money delivered by the Le you would know what the you know we all see the notice that LE has just left sends out to back here sends out to everyone and I always read you know stuff

Everywhere else but uh uh the area that we represent so I think that would be quite quite good to for you to bring It Forward on your on your work program but also to maybe look to do a members briefing and uh I will suggest that through the channels well you know to

Yeah fair point I mean we are talking about millions and absolutely yeah yeah um and it I mean the the previous the previous regime was bit of a nonsense I mean I think we’re all glad that that’s the back it did you want to come back C

Henson no no I’m just I’m fully support I I think we do we should we should know what’s going what’s going on and what’s going to be what it’s going to be replaced With thank you anything else on the work program colleagues if not uh date of next meeting is the 18th of May in this committee room And oh oh okay it’s April sorry yeah it’s tyo ail okay all right so 18th of April colleagues um I have no notice of any urgent business and therefore I have no no I just pleasure to be invited thank you very much and thank you well I think whenever we have cross

Cutting issues it’s only right um I have no notice of any exempt items urgent exempt items so with that at 11