Agenda and minutes

Joe welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted apologies.

Minutes from the last meeting were approved.

Updates on outstanding actions:

National recovery report to be advised to partners – Pippa has had no update on this, mainly due to still being in Covid response, action to be marked as ongoing.

Suicide Prevention – Action to be marked as complete.

Outcome 3 Update – Anthony Standing, outcome lead, was unable to attend this meeting and the action will be moved into the New Year. 

Cross Cutting Themes - Rona will write to partners to expand on cross cutting themes after the updates given today, action to be marked as ongoing. 

Mhairi Paterson, CWB Coordinator, North Ayrshire Council (NAC) and Brian Connelly, Scottish Enterprise gave a presentation on Community Wealth Building.

Mhairi introduced Community Wealth Building (CWB) as a new economic concept based on enhancing wellbeing and inclusion. The presentation provided background to North Ayrshire Council’s CWB Strategy, its objectives based on the five CWB pillars, the work undertaken thus far and planned next steps. There was emphasis on the need to work closely with communities, local and regional anchor organisations and across silos to deliver the social, economic and environmental benefits of Community Wealth Building.

Brian explored the concept of CWB from the perspective of an anchor institute exploring the application of the five pillars from within the organisation. One of the key points raised was to avoid exploring CWB pillars in isolation, with several opportunities to explore how they interact. In addition, there is a need to ensure that CWB looks to properly engage with communities as part of the process of implementation.

Mhairi noted that NAC are early on in their CWB journey, but they have already benefitted from lessons learnt. The key is engement with “anchors” in communities and having clear vision that can be bought into, with collaboration to help deliver that. Brian agreed that CWB is a journey, whereby you learn with a proactive approach based in best practice from elsewhere, while finding the approach that works best in your individual area to make the local economic development strategy collaborative, inclusive and sustainable with democratically controlled local economies. CWB must provide tangible outcomes for the long term, with a serious commitment to take that forward and a desire to retain the wealth in a specific geographical area.

Morag asked where we are trying to get to with CWB – need to understand how it has worked in other areas and filter that into the partnership to agree what to take forward in Argyll and Bute. She felt it would be beneficial to take forward points and questions as discussion points in a wider discussion offline.

Cathleen asked if Argyll and Bute are going to adopt a model similar to that in NAC. Pippa noted that in many respects there are elements of this that we are already applying in the area and would want to ensure to include that within the key CPP theme. Pippa felt it would be worth getting volunteers from CPP to form a sub group to do work around developing a response to “what CWB means for us”. Fergus agreed that a group needs to be formed to have more detailed conversations with Brian and Mhairi, as this is something that Argyll and Bute has to embrace and move forward on given the remoteness and unique challenges of this area. Mhairi and Brian noted that they would be happy to contribute.

Kirsteen added that CWB is not currently not part of the Argyll and Bute recovery plan, and is keen to have a role in the recovery plan taken up by the CPP group (and the outcome group already exists) so there needs to be ownership of the 2 existing work streams with any additional group set up. She noted that we are the economy most disadvantaged after Covid and that we really need to get on with this. Kirsteen is happy to be part of a sub group but outcome 1 and the recovery plan could be utilised to take action and mainstream this in our other work. Kirsteen expressed that the important thing is that we are moving forward on this to benefit our communities. Cathleen agreed that this needed a community and council approach.

ACTIONS – Rona to look into where these discussion already exists to ensure that all CWB pillars are addressed at the same time and who is to be involved in the discussions.

Nicola to share emails for Mhairi and Brian to the relevant partners so facilitate further discussion off table.

Joe gave thanks to Mhairi and Brian for their presentation.

Joe thanked Joanna or her support to this item as Chair of the Child Poverty Working Group (CPWG) and for her ongoing work to bring partners together on this.

Joanna said it was a privilege to be chairing the CPWG, the group comprises members from all partners, and meets regularly, with a huge focus on child poverty issues and impacts (especially over last 9 months with Covid). Statistics are collated monthly that allow them to see the impact of Covid on child poverty in Argyll and Bute – which is sadly a deteriorating position in the short term. At the groups last meeting there was an update on the provision of a full time programme assistant to support work on child poverty and young carers. The group also discussed the work on child poverty action plan reporting, including children’s rights. Joanna felt it was fitting to have this update after the CWB presentation as tackling child poverty also has real ownership and commitment in Argyll and Bute; it is multi-agency in the truest sense. The Child Poverty Action Plan report is due to be published in February 2021, and will be notified to the Scottish Government.

Joe thanked Joanne for her update and all work behind done the scenes to make a difference on this matter, Joanna said it is very much a team effort.

Joe noted that David works for the council’s Community Planning and Development team and is facilitating the Climate Change Group to get Partners together on Climate Change. David then gave his presentation. The Climate Change group is looking to build on and promote the work being done by partners – common themes, good practice etc. The group will next meet early in the New Year. This group is also linking to the Council Climate Change Board and their work with the Council decarbonisation plan, which has just been approved. David asked if there were any other partners that would like to join this work. Derek noted he would like to be included in future meetings. The group are pulling together an easy to understand climate change directory which can show the good work of the council and partners, and how they can be involved on future projects. The group is keen to expand to look at wider climate change impacts and what else is happening in the wider communities throughout the area and to set up a directory of, and promote, the positive work on climate change being done and the CPP can help move that forward.

Argyll and Bute is one of the most successful regions in Britain for its ability to offset carbon emissions.

The link to the council decarbonisation plan can be found here https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s168952/Decarbonisation%20Plan%20-%20Master%20Copy%20v11.0%20Autosaved.pdf

Derek asked if there is a specific sub group that is looking at business opportunities of being net zero carbon. David advised that was not something the group were looking at presently and would welcome Derek’s attendance to add this to the discussion. Morag added there is a “green” element of the wider economic resilience forum and that the work of the climate group could also align with that.

ACTION – David to follow up on that with Morag off table and add Derek to Climate Group meeting distribution list. 

Cathleen asked if the council is linking with Education on this, to which David noted that Education are part of the climate change board, and they have provided a large number of examples in the decarbonisation plan, that will all be taken on board by the climate group, Fergus agreed that Education are an integral part of that board and that will remain the case moving forward.

Martin was unable to attend the meeting but Joe thanked him for his report which shows the excellent positive impact in getting devices out to people in Argyll and Bute through two projects. One is a community social enterprise project, the other is a Scottish Government project and the council has linked with both to support these. If anyone has any comments on questions on Martins paper they can be forwarded to him at martin.turnbull@argyll-bute.gov.uk.

Stuart McLean gave a summary of the paper, noting that the November Area Community Planning Groups (ACPGs) held across the 4 areas were the first to be held since February (due to Covid). In September members from the council Governance and Community Development teams met with the Chairs and Vice Chairs and it was agreed that future meetings would be held virtually for November and February and a demonstration session on the use of Skype was offered and was appreciated by those who participated.

There was broad agreement that the November meetings were successful and inclusive. Rachel Whyte of Islay Community council was voted Vice Chair for the MAKI ACPG, and the OLI ACPG considered a report to fill their vacant Chair and Vice Chair roles, confirming that they will be filled at the February 2021 meeting.

H&L ACPG raised concerns regarding the lack of clarity and guidance around befriending and the lack of communication with voluntary organisations. Kirsteen noted that this matter has already been followed up with the organisation that had raised it and was due to a misunderstanding because in terms of the COVID response, the Caring for People Manager was representing the Caring for People Partnership which included both Council and HSCP, so there would have been no separate communication from HSCP. In the same conversation the organisation had raised that they no longer knew their local HSCP contacts. Kirsteen has already raised this with Charlotte Craig, HSCP who will be sending a communication to highlight clear lines of communication with the local or nation teams so groups know how to escalate matters arising to the appropriate HSCP members. The Argyll and Bute TSI will forward that communication on to all third sector organisations. Stuart thanked Kirsteen for her response. 

H&L ACPG asked the Management Committee to consider what difference the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child legislation could make to decision making and engagement within the Community Planning Partnership framework (raised by Rosie Sumsion, Member of Scottish Youth Parliament). Joanna said that children’s rights underpins the work of the child poverty action group and she can provide a specific response to the group. Rona added that this is being looked at in specific legislation in the Argyll and Bute Children’s Forum (where the outcome 4 lead sits). There can also be liaison with the members of the Scottish youth parliament on how best to involve young people on Community Planning. Young people are welcome at ACPGs, and work last year considered specific timings and meeting locations to support attendance.  Rona suggested that could be revisited given the new digital format of meetings. At CPP Management Committee there are specific membership places for members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, and the CPP team can speak to them to ensure that input from policy areas they are looking at is fed into the management committee.

Rona asked partners to share any ideas or good practice of how they are engaging with young people to help us improve.

ACTIONS - Joanna to provide a specific response to the H&L ACPG on this.

Rona and Stuart to discuss ACPG meeting format to ensure youth can still engage with that.

CPP team to liaise with MYSPs to raise matters to the Management Committee.

Partners to forward ideas or good practice of how they are engaging with youth to Rona.

The MAKI ACPG asked for the poor attendance of partners to be highlighted at the Management Committee. Joe asked for the reasons behind low partner attendance to be explored and that there was more information needed to identify the cause and invigorate attendance. Stuart noted that he will be meeting all the ACPGs in February and will review the governance around membership to ensure it is accurate. 

ACTION – Stuart to feedback to CPP MC as required regarding MAKI membership update and attendance.

Fergus gave an update on the issue of irresponsible wild camping. Since the last Management Committee there has been a meeting held with 15 different stakeholders represented to discuss this complex issue. There is no single solution and we need to be mindful of unintended consequences of actions on private sector operators, fragile business models and the impact on communities. A virtual survey was created to engage with, and get comment from, the local community to understand the impacts of wild camping and motor homes, and to map existing assets and resources to use as a basis to fine tune a draft action plan. The survey is out for comments with stakeholders now.

This is a national issue, which has developed over a period of time (exacerbated by the pandemic) and one that will not go away. We need to be realistic with what limited resources can achieve. There is a need to identify short, medium and long term options to tackle this issue, and these will form an action plan going forward. A poster to communicate what we are doing is being amended and will be issued to communities soon.

One of the big issues is how we can resource this and make use of what we have already, and fill any gaps, in a difficult financial time. We are trying to encourage private sector and communities to get involved and view this as an opportunity e.g. can they help to provide facilities that motor homes can use, can communities create overnight stay areas, can farmers open up any land for motorhomes (no licence needed if max 3 on site). There has been success securing £10k funding for a motor home disposal option in Oban, but it is challenging to find site for that. There has also been an application to the tourism and infrastructure fund that will address some issues if successful. There is a need to focus on the critical infrastructure issue such as fresh water, waste water facilities and rubbish disposal.  We also recognise that access to some areas will need to be restricted to camping and motor homes and we will need to work with the forestry commission and other partners to move that forward. 

Fergus noted that by the next CPP meeting in the New Year he hoped to have the survey results and a draft action plan in place.

Derek noted that the national parks are forming a steering group to look at this issue and Pippa advised him that we already link in with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, with an end of season review planned for later in December. Fergus also noted that the National Park attend his meetings.

Douglas noted how the season is extending and spreading outwith the traditional time period of Easter to October. He also asked to be copied on the survey for comment and the draft action plan.

ACTION – Fergus to send relevant information to Douglas. CPP admin to provide Fergus with contact details for Douglas.

Cathleen noted how the National Park actions such as moving on wild campers has been pushing them into the Cowal area. She also noted work ongoing regarding the bottle return scheme and its effects on the islands. With campers bringing food to islands and then trying to dispose of the waste, she felt the bottle return scheme needed to be factored into the plans. Fergus advised that motor homes contribute approximately £100 a night to the local economy, but he recognises the additional pressures on the seasonal increase in population due to tourism and gave reassurance that all waste aspects are under consideration.

Rona asked that, in addition to the information in her report, can partners please forward any comments or contributions to her to ensure we can capture all the key partnership groups that sit under each of the 6 outcomes. This will enable full updates on these to be provided to the management committee meetings next year. 

ACTION – Partners to forward any updates and comments to Rona.

March, June, September and December 2021 (with Full Partnership taking place in either September or December).

Rona noted the proposal to hold quarterly meetings in 2021 - March, June, September and December 2021 (with Full Partnership taking place in either September or December). Depending on current rules and guidance at that time, the Full Partnership may be held online and the CPP team are looking at options to do that, either provided for us or by hosting it ourselves.

ACTION – Partners to forward any comments on the proposed schedule of meetings for 2021 to Rona.

John noted that Brian Gibson will retire from Police Scotland before the next Management Committee meeting and he wanted to extend his thanks for all Brian’s work within the CPP and Police Scotland. Joe added his best wishes to Brian for a long and happy retirement and also thanked him for all his support to the CPP over the years. Brian noted that Marlene Bailey, Douglas Wilson and Laura Evans will become the community planning leads for the police for Argyll and Bute area.

A83

Cathleen asked what the committee is doing about the A83 as the current situation is having a massive negative effect on infrastructure in the Cowal area. Joe noted that the A83 is an item he had also planned to raise for discussion and he has raised it to the highest levels in his own organisation.

Pippa added that the work to look at an alternative corridor route was a step in the right direction, but the ongoing situation of only daylight operation of the OMR, continued instability of the hill, and the time period to progress to a permanent solution was unacceptable. The Council, on 26 November, agreed a motion for the Leader to write to the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport requesting urgent consideration of the interim measures and involvement in whatever group oversees that. The Council are looking at the possibility of utilising the forestry road for haulage as businesses have raised concerns regarding the slowness of the OMR convoy route when it is open. Pippa has raised this with both BEAR and Transport Scotland and is pushing to see how quickly we can get an interim solution looked at. The Council’s roads team are looking at other suggestions. She noted that various alternative routes are being used and we need to mitigate any negative impact of that and look to how we can we improve them.

Morag said the recent Argyll and Bute Overarching Recovery Group discussed the A83 and they agreed it is important that we are all lobbying at a senior level. She asked if partners could share the lobbying they are doing to ensure we are aligned in our messaging.

Fergus added that this is a critical issue for Argyll and Bute. We are trying to encourage people to live and invest in the area, while everyday there is messaging on the radio that the A83 is closed. This is not a great incentive to investors. He agreed it is important to all raise this as an issue that needs to be addressed, the council has responded as strongly as it can in the letter to the First Minister. Most options are long term but an immediate response is needed. He said the Strategy Transport Review Plan 2 (STRP2) is another big issue, this is looking at transport infrastructure over the next 10 years and is concerned what has been left out of the scope of that. He is working with HITRANS and HiE to communicate that to government.

Cathleen suggested overnight ferry crossings would take some pressure off the roads and it would be good to proactively get the message out that the area is still open and can be reached by ferry, Pippa is happy to raise those points. Fergus added that the Argyll Resilience Forum have requested to Transport Scotland that the Dunoon ferry operates 24 hours. Both BEAR and Transport Scotland attend that forum and the views of members were clearly articulated to them at that meeting.

John wondered if there has been consideration of a national media communication to advise we are open for business. Pippa said this has been an ongoing challenge at steering groups meetings and has had mixed success at national levels giving inaccurate information on OMR opening (or not) and the media have not been as responsive as we would like them to be.

It was agreed that this is not the time to set up a new group to deal with this issue, as various stakeholder meetings are already looking at this. Partners were asked to raise the A83 in any forum that they are able to, to the highest level through strategic groups to government. The more people that can raise the important issues, the better, as this is now a major ongoing risk and we need to all challenge the timescales around it – especially as we come into the winter.

ACTIONS – All Partners to raise the issue of the A83 to the highest levels in their organisations.

Rona will gather issues from Partners and prepare a letter, on behalf of CPP, to bring together what is being covered in other existing groups.

To be advised in due course.

To be advised in due course.

10. CLOSE

Joe thanked all for attending the meeting and thanked all those who provided supporting papers, he wished Brian Gibson a happy retirement and wished everyone a good Christmas and happy new year.