Agenda and minutes

Councillor Allan Macaskill welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Shane  Rankin and Jacqui MacLeod of the Crofters Commission and Bill Dalrymple of the National Park who were attending for the first time.

Apologies were accepted from the following people:-

Bob McIntosh, Forestry Commission Scotland

Frances Webster, Careers Scotland

Jim McCrossan, Argyll and Bute Council

Moir Nelson, SEPA

Alan Cumming, Ministry of Defence

Jack Martin, Jobcentre Plus

James Fraser, Tourist Board

David Dowie, Communities Scotland

Sue Nash, Argyll CVS

Alan MacDougall, Fyne Homes

Patricia Keenan, Argyll and Bute Council

Anne Clark, Islay and Jura CVS

Chris Thomas, Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire

Mitch Roger, Strathclyde Police

Karen Murray, NHS Argyll and Clyde

Alasdair Oatts, Argyll and Bute Care & Repair

The Head of Statutory Plans gave a presentation on the newly prepared consultative draft of the Argyll and Bute Local Plan which replaces the 8 adopted local plans covering most of Argyll and Bute.  The Chair advised that the consultation period would end on 12 March 2004 and that a finalised plan would be prepared during 2004 (subject to any further consultation process that may be required to comply with the statutory provisions for the adoption of the Local Plan).

Erik Jespersen gave a presentation on the new GP contract implications for Argyll and Bute which included addressing recruitment problems in General Practice, rewarding Quality Practice and better Chronic Disease Management.  Erik advised that the contract had to go through a public consultation exercise and was seeking the support of Local Politicians and MSPs.  James McLellan asked that Erik provide an update at a future meeting of the Community Planning Partnership on the progression of the proposals.

There was a presentation on “Deprivation and Social Exclusion in Argyll and Bute” by the Scottish Centre for Research on Social Justice.  The Partnership discussed the report submitted by the Scottish Centre and a question and answer session followed.  It was agreed that in terms of taking this work forward, the 3^rd Theme Group would be tasked with discussing  the issues contained in the report and submitting proposals to the Partnership.

The Minutes were accepted as an accurate record of the meeting held on 14 November 2004.

Andrew Campbell thanked the Chair for the support of the Partnership in securing money for the NADAIR Project from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Andrew Campbell advised of the proposed Community Planning Partnership transitional structure which included the remit, membership, accountability and frequency of meetings of the various components of the top level and area levels.  The Partnership was invited to discuss and agree the various components of the structure to enable implementation to take place.

Having looked at the membership of the various components of the Community Planning structure at each of the levels, it was agreed that Community Representatives should reflect the main themes or priorities that the Community Planning Partnership is trying to address such as community regeneration, transition of young people and access to services and that it is left to each appropriate level to decide what themes or priorities the Community Representatives should represent.  It was further agreed that the proposal for the Bute and Cowal Pilot depicting the supporting staff structure be noted at this stage.

Andrew Campbell advised that a Partnership Communications Plan was necessary to raise the profile of Community Planning and firmly embed it within Partner organisations.  It was agreed to establish a small working group of PR professionals to take forward the preparation of the Communications Plan, and that the group comprise the Council (Chair), NHS Argyll and Clyde, Strathclyde Police, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Communities Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Tourist Board. 

The Partnership discussed the draft 2004/2005 Community Planning Partnership budget together with the proposed contributions from Partners.  It was agreed to go forward with Table 1 which illustrated a 3% inflationary increase being applied equally to  the contributions of all current contributing Partners.  James McLellan advised that the Management Committee should look into splitting the budget for 2004/05 into a central fund and one for specific projects.  Lolita highlighted that the Scottish Executive were expecting all Community Planning Partnerships to be involved in discussions as to how they would be spending the resources which had been allocated to them.  Lolita advised that the Partnership would be using the funds for the Communications Plan and for capacity building (training) initiatives identified through Bute and Cowal pilot which was agreed.

Carl updated the meeting on the ‘DRIVESafe’ campaign and advised that it would be officially launched on 13 April 2004 and asked the Partnership to support the campaign.  It was agreed to approve the recommendations contained within the report with the addition of the NHS Communications Team at 4.10.

The Theme Group Leaders spoke to their reports on the new Community Planning Partnership priorities and on how the groups proposed to take these forward.  The Partnership noted the Actions contained within the reports and that the Joint Health Improvement Plan was being revised to reflect these Actions.

Lolita advised that the 7^th Citizens’ Panel questionnaire which revisited the 1^st questionnaire  had been issued at the end of February and that the results would be discussed at the next meeting of the Community Planning Partnership.  It was noted that the results should be available to partners in advance of the meeting and so should allow a more informal discussion of the results and the implications. Lolita also mentioned that the current Consultant’s contract had come to an end and  that a small working group had been established to prepare a brief for appointing a new consultant.

Dealt with at 8(b) above.

Alan Milstead gave the background to the Strategy which covered the area for  Argyll and the Islands Enterprise and mentioned that the Strategy had previously been agreed by the Argyll and the Isles Enterprise and Argyll and Bute Council.  The Partnership considered the strategy and after various questions agreed to adopt the strategy as submitted.

Alan Milstead stated that having the papers for the meeting issued electronically was an excellent idea, but asked if the papers could be published on the Community Planning Partnership’s website rather than on the Council’s website.  Lolita advised that in the short term the papers would sit in the Council’s Committee system but that longer term arrangements were being investigated to put the papers on the Partnership’s website.

The next Community Planning Partnership meeting will be held on Friday 2 July 2004 in the Council Chamber, Kilmory, Lochgilphead.