Agenda and minutes

Joe welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologies were noted as above.

The minutes of the March meeting were accepted. John reviewed the outstanding actions as follows:

-          There are two actions outstanding action following the OFCOM presentation to the December 2022 meeting, one for Kevin Allibone to raise within DWP the provision of an alternative provider to TalkTalk in Argyll and Bute and the other on Jonathon Ruff to share the Connect Nations Scotland report with the CPP MC once published. There is no update to provide on these at present however the CPP team will continue to seek a response on both of these actions.

-          The action for Rona and Iain MacInnes to meet to discuss the wider communication of the link for residents to explore if / when full fibre is available, and information on the voucher scheme, is in progress.

-          The action for Alex Edmonstone to provide a paper and update to June Community Planning Partnership Management Committee (CPP MC) meeting on the digital working group and how communities can be supported to access digital, in order to undertake Community Learning, will be completed at today’s meeting.

Shona gave an overview of her report and highlighted that there had been successful meetings across all areas in May. The utilisation of hybrid meeting equipment in Helensburgh and Lomond (HL), Oban Lorn and the Isles (OLI) and Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands (MAKI) has proven successful. Variety of subjects covered at all of the meetings and Shona gave thanks to Rona and her teams for the assistance in delivering development sessions with the new Chairs and Vice Chairs. 

One action for the Management Committee arose from the Bute and Cowal (BC) ACPG where they have asked the CPP MC to consider their concerns regarding the lack of a car ferry service to Dunoon, the detail of which is in the report. Joe commented that Transport Infrastructure is one of the top priorities highlighted by the recent Argyll and Bute Outcome Improvement Plan (ABOIP) consultation and this issue will likely be raised at the focus groups due later in the year. Shona also noted that OLI ACPG will be seeking a new Chair in August. 

ACTION - All partners are invited to share comments relating to the lack of a car ferry to Dunoon to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk

Joe said there had been an excellent range of presentations, updates and discussions taking place at the latest Area Community Planning Group meetings and gave thanks to the partners who have provided updates to those meetings. He added that the ACPGs have also had a presentation on the NHS Highland Director of Public Health report and advised that there will be a presentation on that topic at the September CPP MC meeting.

Stan gave a presentation in addition to his paper on “Addressing the Climate Emergency in Argyll and Bute project by the Climate Change Working Group (CCWG)”. Over the past year the CCWG been focused on producing a climate change plan for Argyll and Bute and proposed to recruit a Climate Change Manager to lead this process. £70k of the target £120k funding has been secured and further funding options are still being explored (including £15k from NatureScot with the Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface (TSI) also assisting in identifying other funding opportunities). Once a memorandum of agreement has been finalised between the CPP MC and the Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT), who will be hosting the post, recruitment can begin for the Manager position.

Stan asked for the thoughts from the CPP MC regarding who should sit on the Climate Change Steering Group (CCSG) which will manage the action plan project over the next two years. Current draft parties include Stan, a representative from the CPP team, Sara McLean (ACT), Angela Anderson (HL ACPG and Plastic Free Helensburgh) and Tom Warren (Sustainability Manager Construction Scotland and Chair of Dunoon Community Council). Cllr Currie thought that, as the main funders, NHS Highland, Argyll and Bute Council (ABC) and NatureScot should be represented on the CCSG. Morag felt that there needs to be at least 2 or 3 representatives on the CCSG from the CPP MC but was aware that the challenging financial times may limit the available resource within each organisation. Joe and others highlighted the great work of chairing the CCWG to date by Stan, however Stan gave credit for the work to the members of the group.

ACTION – Community Planning team to circulate the job description for the Climate Change Manager position and asked for any nominations to the CCSG to be forwarded to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk by Friday 7 July 2023.

Stan advised that over the next 2 years, once the project is up and running, the CCWG will manage the function and support to the CCSG, continue to seek funding, monitor the action plan and continue to report progress to the CPP MC but he asked if the CPP MC had any other ideas on what they would like to see the CCWG do over that period (whilst not duplicating existing work at climate change hubs). Cllr Currie added that the Council has declared a climate emergency in Argyll and Bute and was open to suggestions on what else the Council could be doing to be more involved in this.

ACTION- Stan, Cllr Currie and Ross McLaughlin to meet to discuss climate change support that can be provided by the Council. 

ACTION - Partners are invited to forward ideas on other CCWG activities to stan.phillips@nature.scot

Finally, Stan advised that he intends to step down as the Chair of the CCWG once the action plan project is established and asked the CPP MC for guidance on the process to appoint a new Chair.  Joe said the new Chair needs to be from a strategic level and asked the CPP team to forward information to partners to consider taking up this post.

ACTION – Community Planning team to circulate information to partners regarding the CCWG Chair position.

Fergus Walker provided a verbal update to his paper at the meeting. This included:

-          Scottish Welfare Fund. From 1 April to 31 May 2023, £79k has been provided against £458k funding available for the year.

-          Discretionary Housing Payment. Up to 31 May 2023, £751k has been spent, with funds remaining from the initial tranche 1 funding of £869k. Fergus expects to receive a further £192k from the Scottish government in tranche 2. This total £1.06m allocation will be split between mitigating the effects of the bedroom tax and those facing rent hardship due to benefit cap issues with ongoing work to maximise take up of these funds.

-          Flexible Food Fund. Up to 31 March, 1800 households facing food and fuel insecurity in Argyll and Bute had benefitted from this fund with an average client gain of £1400 per household. £204k has been granted from the Shared Prosperity Funding that will allow the project to continue to 2025. Fergus advised the Flexible Food Fund has won a second national award from Assist FM Community Focus Awards (the management body for Facilities Management professionals) and has been featured as a case study by the Scottish Government under the National Action Plan.

-          School Clothing Project. This is live in BC, OLI and Kintyre and is being introduced to Mid-Argyll and the Isles. There is now a live website for this project. Fergus said this has been a great piece of work with community groups and there is more to do and he and Rona are discussing how the Community Development Officers can support this further by the end of Summer 2023.

-          Scotland Loves Local cards. These have been given out to qualifying households in the area in receipt of council tax reduction. Funding for this was issued by the Scottish Government as part of the Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery and Islands Fund. He was unable to report on the activation rate and spend on these cards currently, but hopes to have that information by the end of June when he can circulate that to partners.

ACTION - Fergus Walker to provide information on activation and spend on Love Local cards to cppadmin to circulate to partners.

-          £197k funding for islands has been used to trial a top up to the free school meal allowance by £1.60 in secondary schools and also used to support food banks on islands. 

Fergus is looking to further enhance their data matching to better identify communities in particular need. He currently uses council tax reduction and arrears data in conjunction with information from the Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grants to do this, however, some of this data belongs to DWP and they may tighten up on the use of that data. Fergus will assess the impact of this once more guidance is available from DWP.

An exciting 2 year project is about to start in partnership with the Poverty Alliance and the Third Sector to evidence local and national factors that affect poverty. Fergus is keen to get the data from this project on the experience of those living in poverty in rural Scotland and how we can use that data to mitigate poverty, via policy changes, in Argyll and Bute. Takki advised that he had been contacted by the Poverty Alliance to assist in the recruitment of a Development Manager for this project that will map current efforts, build network capacity and concentrate on areas in most need.

ACTION - Fergus Walker to share the details of the project with the Poverty Alliance once available, via the Community Planning team.

Joe thanked Fergus and his team for the great work they are doing to support those in need across our area.

David noted that recent figures had shown a rise in child poverty in Argyll and Bute, but that rise was not as bad as other areas. He agreed there was a phenomenal amount of existing work to mitigate child poverty. He added that as the figures are post code based, this can affect the results for our rural and island communities where a single post code can contain extremes at both end of the wealth spectrum.

Ryan asked what promotion there is currently for the available funds. Fergus advised that they are all promoted across social media, the Council webpage, via Bute advice centre and AliEnergy and press releases. Lucy also noted that the funds are promoted via the CPP Bulletin that is sent regularly to all partners.

Takki gave a presentation on the Community Wealth Building - Audit, Strategy and Business Plans. CLES have been appointed as the consultant to produce these plans that will look at the five pillars of CWB (plural ownership of the economy, making financial power work for local places, fair employment and just labour markets, progressive procurement of goods and service and socially just use of land and property). CLES are Manchester based and have partnered with a local collective to do work on the ground working with local communities. 

The work CLES are being asked to do has been divided into lots:

-          Lot 1 is an audit of existing best practice and a mapping exercise against each of the five pillars,

-          Lot 2 is to identify case studies that can be replicated across Argyll and Bute and identify opportunities relevant to our local and strategic plans,

-          Lot 3 is the development of a CWB strategy and action plan, and

-          Lots 4 and 5 are the development of 2 business cases and models to move actions forward in two areas (proposed to explore a business model for Community Energy and a food hub but the final focus will be determined by the audit and mapping exercise).

The project will be managed by a steering group, the proposed members of which are Takki Sulaiman (TSI), Morag Goodfellow / Claire McMurchy (HIE), Chief Executive and Directors from Argyll and Bute Council (supported by John McLuckie), Anthony standing / Susan McRae (SDS) and Alison McGrory (NHS Highland). Terms of reference for the steering group will discussed at the first meeting and will approve project activity before reporting back to the CPP MC for ratification in December 2023.

The project will include interviews with partners in July - August 2023 and there will be a dedicated CPP workshop in August / September 2023 which will give an opportunity for all partners to deepen their understanding of CWB and how we can use it meaningfully. Citizen led workshops will be held from August to October 2023 (one in each administrative area) and these will be used to feed into plan outcomes before business cases are selected in October 2023.

Joe thanked Takki for his update on this. Cllr Currie noted a good existing example of CWB is Scottish Power proposing an offshore windward near Colonsay and Islay and they are actively looking to the community on procurement servicing and community benefit funds. Takki agreed and added that there are various ways energy model partnerships can function be it direct community benefit or profit sharing / shareholding, however the initial set up costs can be high for the anchor institutions although the longer term social and community benefits would be valuable. Joe said the Fire Service were already using local tradesman on islands for fire station contracts. David also gave examples of how Comhairle nan Eilean Siar have used CWB to deliver school coach contracts, land buyouts and grave digging services to great effect.

ACTION - All partners are requested to make time available for CWB interviews with CLES.

Rory added a link in the meeting chat to an article in the Lancet on the mental health and wellbeing impact of a Community Wealth Building programme in England for information.

Alex Edmonstone provided an update on the CLD Partnership advising that Digital Skills is a key theme in the 3 year strategy and a digital work stream group has been created to look at digital inclusion and complete a mapping exercise, details of which are in his paper.  The recommendations by the consultants will be discussed at the next digital work stream meeting in July before reporting to the CLD Partnership and then to the September CPP MC. Alex advised that a Helensburgh pilot to provide free wifi access (dongles) to those with an identified learning need has gone well and it is hoped to roll this out across a wider area.

ACTION - Alex E to report to September CPP MC on the consultant recommendations for digital skills, digital inclusion and the results of the Helensburgh free wifi for learning pilot.

Iain MacInnes advised the R100 fibre roll out is still progressing in Argyll and Bute, currently installing at Ardfern. The roll out has experienced delays due to lack of accommodation available for the contractors. As part of the Shared Rural Network Infrastructure programme to install 4-5G in rural areas, the Argyll and Bute area is due to have 50 new mobile masts installed. This is a massive investment in the area targeting partial and not spots in network coverage. Three have already gone live and there are 18 more at the planning stages across the area. Digital Hubs are now installed and up and running on Iona and Islay and drop in sessions will be available to show residents how the hubs work. Digital hubs are also planned for Coll and Tiree but there have been some supply chain issues that have delayed the start of work at those sites. 

Cllr Currie had received a letter from the Chief Network Officer at Vodafone stating that they are nervous regarding the number of planning applications in progress with Argyll and Bute Council for masts, given the deadline to install is fast approaching. Iain MacInnes advised that he was already in contact with Vodafone and is working closely with them on this.

Kirsty spoke to her report which detailed the successful structures and ways of working with the community that have been developed since the start of the pandemic and gave an overview of the engagement undertaken with communities. This included regular meetings, peer to peer working, targeting funding to meet needs and the ABOIP consultation. The report also outlines what is already happening in partnership work on the identified themes with recommendations on how to progress on gaps and building this work with communities going forward, taking learning from the positives and challenges during that time. Community Development are also looking at how to support the wider Council to engage with communities.

ACTION - Partners are invited to consider the recommendations in the Building Back Better report and submit suggestions to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk on ways we can work together on those.

John provided an update on the ongoing work on the new Outcome Improvement Plan with a short presentation. The consultation results were presented at the March CPP MC and the top 3 themes were then discussed in more detail at the successful CPP MC Development Day in Arrochar on 18 May 2023. This was followed up with a survey which was circulated to all partners to complete to gather intelligence and insight on the top themes (Transport Infrastructure, Housing and Community Wellbeing). Susan McRae asked for the survey to be forwarded to her to complete on behalf of Skills Development Scotland.

ACTION - CPP team to send reminder to partners that have not completed the ABOIP survey. Partners to complete and return this by Friday 7 July 2023.

Output from the Development Day included the preference to meet in person for some CPP MCs and extend meetings as required to deep dive into topics and to create a steering group to direct the creation of the ABOIP over the next few months. The steering group would ideally look to be in place by July / August consisting of 3 - 4 members of the CPP MC, focus groups would happen in September / October and then the data will be analysed before the ABOIP is published in November / December. Ryan noted in the meeting chat that he was interested in joining the steering group.

ACTION - Partners that are interested in joining the ABOIP steering group can contact cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk by Friday 7 July 2023.

ACTION - Partners planning community engagement over the next 3 months are requested to contact the CPP team at cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk to discuss possible involvement or the inclusion of questions to help inform the next steps in the ABOIP process.

Joe felt the progress on the ABOIP plan was progressing really well and thanked the CPP team for the work on this.

John highlighted the report which includes the governance structure within the service. The Argyll and Bute Strategic Group incorporates senior offices from across the CPP and the connections between the Strategic Group and the CPP MC will ensure continued dialogue.  The CPP MC will continue to receive an annual copy of their plans for oversight and comment.

Joe advised that MCR pathways to support young people with positive destination were now working across the area and this may need to be included as part of the corporate parenting plan.

David Adams-McGilp, VisitScotland Regional Director, Argyll and the Isles, and Cathy Craig, CEO Argyll and the Isles Tourism Co-operative, gave a presentation to the CPP MC on the VisitScotland Action Plan and the current state of tourism in Argyll and Bute. David and Cathy sit on the Strategic Tourism Partnership for the area, with two other representatives from Argyll and Bute Council and Highland and Islands Enterprise.

David explained the outcomes of the national plan are across four strategic outcomes:

-          SPREAD includes easing visitor number pressure in certain areas and encouraging/promoting visitors to areas with more capacity and looking at extending the tradition visitor season. There is work ongoing on how to measure how successful this strategy will be and David noted that Scottish tourism is still in a post Covid recovery and growth phase.

-          SPEND covers public and private investment in our tourism facilities, destinations and experiences to improve visitor experience in Argyll and Bute.

-          SUSTAINABILITY is a key part of the action plan and the current Scottish Government Tourism strategy and the National Strategy For Economic Transformation (NSET) both share a commitment to destination net zero.

-          SATISFACTION looks at ensuring positive local attitudes to area tourism using community engagement, visitor management, the rural tourism infrastructure fund and industry / tourist satisfaction. It is important that communities do not have development imposed upon them but that they are part of the planning to make the most of local assets.

Cathy gave an overview of the current tourism industry in Argyll and Bute. The value of the local tourism market has not recovered post pandemic with visitor numbers down and continued negative effect to local businesses. The 2023 visitor survey is currently underway and although tourism is making good process, this year’s market is looking to be more depressed than last year, with over half of business surveyed in the area saying they are struggling financially.

Local tourism opportunities include maritime and coastal tourism, activity and wellbeing outdoors, community focused experiences, online discoverability and bookability and green business development. In 2023 a new area tourism website was launched and there have been various marketing campaigns to attract visitors to the area, especially to boost low visitor numbers in Mid Argyll and Kintyre. Cathy also advise that visitor numbers to the area from North America is strong, they spend 2 - 3 times more per head in the area than UK travellers, but the day trip market is still down. Recruitment of staff within businesses in Argyll and Bute remains a critical challenge.

On positive note, interest in our area is high and funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise has enabled the recruitment of a travel trade expert who has represented Argyll and Bute at national exhibitions and secured sign up by 21 new travel operators to add Argyll and Bute destinations to their itineraries.

David and Cathy said they would be happy to be contacted by any partners that would like more information on this matter. Joe thanked them for their presentation and agreed it is a very challenging time for local businesses.

Takki agreed tourism is a critical industry for Argyll and Bute and was keen to ensure that strategic planning around tourism included discussion with partners around infrastructure, roads and emergency services etc. for the mainland and island destinations. David ensured him that was already the case and that local authorities, and aspirations of communities, play a key role in strategic tourism planning. Morag added that she was already working with David and Cathy to align tourism into developing economic strategy and that engagement with Fergus Murray and Ishabel Bremner would be helpful to include a joined up approach to this in the ABOIP.

ACTION - CPP team to discuss inclusion of tourism strategy in the ABOIP.

John advised that the PAWS Group for Argyll and Bute meets quarterly and is now chaired by Leigh Hamilton, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Any work of the group will be reported to the CPP MC via the Community Safety Partnership.

John highlighted the paper from the recent Scottish National Community Planning Network (SCPN) and asked partners to note the Scottish Government Information Review of CPP alongside a formal review of the Community Empowerment Act (Scotland) 2015. Discussions on this will be at a national level and the Local Government Empowerment and Planning Minister, Joe FitzPatrick, will be meeting with CP Managers across Scotland.

The Community Planning Improvement Board (CPIB), supported by the Improvement Service, discuss and share information with representatives from national level strategic partners and all Community Planning Partnerships are invited to comment on their strategic plan (includes climate, young people, financial security). The CPIB are also keen to talk to the CPP MC to discuss how we can link in to the CPIB and learn how we can input into the national agenda.

ACTION - CPP team to include a representative from the Scottish Community Planning Network to a future CPP MC at end 2023 / early 2024.

ACTION - Partners are invited to engage with, and promote, the Community Planning Network Knowledge Hub.

John advised that the CPP MC had been instrumental in setting up and chairing this group which has previously reported to the CPP on a quarterly basis. The work of this group is of continued interest to the CPP MC and it has been agreed with Fiona Davies and Mandy Sheridan that in future this item will report to the CPP MC annually in March.

John asked attendees to note this paper that included the CPP MC response to this government survey on National Outcomes for CPP.

Cllr Currie notified to committee that the Council has declared a housing emergency for Argyll and Bute and encouraged all partners to attend a Council housing summit that is due to be held in October / November to agree action on how this can be addressed. Morag added that as housing has been identified as a priority in the ABOIP consultation and this can be taken forward by the CPP MC in reference to the work of the Strategic Housing Forum, which Morag attends, for good practice examples on how other public sector partners are engaging on this subject. 

Lynn noted she had had recent discussions with Pippa on the challenges associated with the area housing for employees. Police Scotland have existing housing estate that they may seek to sell but felt that needed to be approached as a collective to try to identify how any available housing stock from partner organisations can be reutilised by other partners, rather than falling into the private market. Joe gave an example of this and noted that the new fire station in Salen, Mull will be created from the refurbishment of a no longer required NHS building. Had that property gone to the open market it is unlikely the Fire Service would have been able to acquire it.

John advised that the scheduled timing of the housing summit dovetails well with the ABOIP timescale and welcomed input from the Strategic Housing Forum in advance of the summit.

ACTION - CPP team to meet with representative from Strategic Housing Forum to get input in advance of the Council housing summit.

Joe agreed radical ideas are need to solve the housing issues in the area to support people to stay and work here.

Thursday 7^th September 2023

The next meeting will be held in person, venue to be confirmed, on Thursday 7 September 2023 at 1000. The availability of hybrid facilities will be confirmed in due course.

Joe thanked everyone for their attendance and contribution to the meeting and the preparation of papers. 

CPP MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING ACTION GRID – from 22 June 2023