Agenda and draft minutes

Items
No. Item

45.

Welcomes, Introductions and Apologies

Minutes:

Everyone was welcomed to the meeting and introductions made around the screen and the room.  Apologies were received from Cllr Anna King, Cllr Cathrine Russell, Neelam Aggarwal, Sarah Franklin and Syrah Nazir.

46.

Code of Conduct pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Minutes:

Everyone was reminded to put their hand up (real or virtual) if they wanted to speak.

47.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a true record.  Actions were around International Women’s Day and will be picked up on the agenda.

48.

BAME Sub Group Update

Minutes:

The last meeting had been held on 8/11/22 and the minutes have been circulated to the Forum members.  Mavis reported that Power of the Mind had a family get together on 26 November as part of the 16 Days of Activism activities.  It was a bit disappointing as not many service providers had attended and it was meant to be all about them promoting what they did.  Another event was planned for 9 December at the Grosvenor Centre with 8 organisations already committed.

Pauline added that a conversation about the future of the group in the New Year would be appropriate as there had maybe some loss of sight as to why the group had been set up originally.  She did support all the activities that were going on.  Morcea added that it was a very useful group and she could see great value in having something unique and there was a need.  Mavis added that she had stepped in part way to chair the group but felt that it was time for her to step down and someone new take on this position in the New Year.  However she would continue to support where she could.  Rachel stated that any opportunity to review should be taken positively but that she was very sad to see Mavis step down.  The group had moved on but there were limitless possibilities for the group to take on and Divya was happy to keep attending and see where it went.

Action - January agenda item discuss future of BAME subgroup

 

49.

Introduction to Money & Pensions Service

Dawn Cummings

Minutes:

Dawn Cummings welcomed the opportunity to speak at the meeting to raise awareness about the service and the money helper as it was a really tight time for a lot of people needing help.  Women were adversely affected by a lot of what was happening. 

The service was set up in 2019 as an arms-length service to DWP funded by levies.  It was not for profit and there was no charge to users.  Money & Pensions was the umbrella organisation with money helper sitting underneath with the objective of providing support when people needed it, help them to save when they could and to know about their pension.  There were 5 million families affected by fuel poverty, also a lot of people had issues with debt, scams and paying their bills generally.  There was a lot of support available but it could be a bit overwhelming and difficult to know where to start.  A lot of work is aimed at the most vulnerable in society but there was also a lot aimed at the squeezed middle.  The website had a bill prioritiser   which was a new tool developed in response to the Covid pandemic which allowed people to put in their bills and it would prioritise them, first of all keeping a roof over their heads, with mortgage or rent payments a priority.  There were lots of hints and tips, for example Anglian Water have a priority services register where you can get a discount.  Also a debt locator tool which brings up all the agencies locally that give advice and support.  A lot of this relies on digital access which not everyone has but there are also a lot of printed guides that are free. 

Women can be adversely affected by pensions, especially the Waspi generation – a lot of advice and guidance is available including Pensionwise which can be very helpful for a lot of people, also advice in finding lost pensions.  She told of one example of a homeless man who was ex-military – he was given assistance to track down his pension which was backdated and was enough to get him off the streets. 

Mavis asked if Dawn went out to the community to give advice.  Dawn responded that one to one advice was not given but people would be signposted and it would be a case of trying to speak to as many people as possible at an event.  Janice stated that the Weston Favell surgeries had a meeting every 2 months with about 70 attendees and could Dawn attend that – Janice and Dawn speak outside the meeting.

Useful links –

The Money and Pensions Service | Building financial wellbeing

Everyday money | MoneyHelper

 

Pauline stated that she welcomed the printed guides as not everyone had access to the internet and often older people had limited attention span.

 

Morcea added that in addition people could access the WNC website Cost of Living page - Cost of living support | West Northamptonshire Council (westnorthants.gov.uk)

50.

OFPCC Budget

Stephen Mold / Helen King

Minutes:

Stephen Mold stated he wanted to start a conversation around the Police and Fire budgets and funding for next year and get the view of residents.  Normally the funding from the Home Office is announced the week before Christmas with 45% coming from the tax payer and 55% from central Government.  The amount from Government was lower than other areas, for example Bedfordshire received £35m more and Lincolnshire £4m less.  Police and Fire were not immune to inflation and people needed pay rises to keep up with the cost of living.  Stephen reminded people that only 18% of Council tax went towards police & fire.  The average household annual bill was about £2k meaning £278 to police and £68 to fire.  In the county there were 1,500 officers protecting hundreds of thousands of people.

The Government was looking at the funding formula to see if it was fair.  Northants was one of the faster growing populations.  Numbers of police officers had grown by about 400 over the last few years and the county had one of the largest reductions in burglary in the country.  The fire service had been in a very tight financial position when it came from NCC with an aging fleet with the youngest fire engine being 15 years old and the useful life age was also 15 years.  One of the pumps had actually exploded due to fatigue.  Eight had now been replaced but more work to do and 12 more fire fighters had been recruited.  Significant work had been undertaken to save money by sharing of services and buildings with £1.8m saved the previous year on IT alone.  Also using telematics to show how well the vehicles were being driven.

Ryan asked whether the fire brigade unions needed to be considered when financial planning and how does that impact?  Stephen responded that negotiations were done as a collective.  The absolute maximum that could be afforded was 5% but that was cheaper than the potential cost of a strike, but there was nothing more that could be offered in terms of affordability.  However, if things did go down the strike route, there could be savings as they did not get paid during a strike, it would carry a level of risk though.

 

Sally asked what would be prevented if the additional funding was not achieved.  Stephen responded that there were always choices, but he remained committed to the number of police officers and neighbourhood offering, investing in youth workers, case workers and neighbourhood officers.  However, they had not done a good job of recruiting PCSOs who were a valuable part of policing, currently being 20 under establishment.  There was a need to save 1% of turnover to reinvest in services.  Sharing of buildings, selling off unused buildings for example Kettering and Corby buildings had had various sales falling through and needed to be disposed of.  There was nothing that particularly worried him at the moment but if the response was no to the increase there would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

51.

IWD Update

Minutes:

Debbie reported that the 2023 event would need to be delivered on a very small budget due to the Council’s spending restrictions.  Compromises had had to be made but it was not thought it would be noticeable by attendees.

Debbie would be sending out the stall booking form with priority for members until the New Year.  It was not known yet if free parking in the basement could be offered to attendees as procedures were being changed in the new year.

Inspirational woman nominations would open on Thursday 5 January, closing on Monday 6 February.  In order to remain within budget it was necessary to restrict shortlisting to a winner and a runner up in each of the 2 categories and unfortunately there would be no special recognition award this year.  Following feedback from shortlisted nominees and attendees of the event, this year the shortlisted nominees would be invited to a small reception in the Jeffrey Room to meet the judges, then everyone would move downstairs to the stage in the Great Hall for the announcement of the winners.  Last year’s winners of the business and Community awards would be invited to the judging panel for 2023.

52.

Community Information Exchange

Minutes:

Mavis told the group about the Freedom programme every Wednesday 8-9.30pm online for BAME women.  Anyone wanting more details to contact Mavis.

 

Eleri informed the group that the police were about to start consultation on their race action plan and she would be sending out details during the next few days.

53.

Items for Future Meetings

Minutes:

Future of BAME subgroup

International Women’s Day 2023

54.

Dates for Next Year

Minutes:

Tuesday 31 January 2023 – 11am – 1pm – Holding Room, The Guildhall and Teams

Saturday 4 March 2023 – 11am – 3pm - International Women’s Day, The Guildhall

Tuesday 30 May 2023 – 11am – 1pm - Jeffrey Room, The Guildhall and Teams

Tuesday 25 July 2023 – 6pm – 8pm - Jeffrey Room, The Guildhall and Teams

Tuesday 26 September 2023 –  11am – 1pm - Jeffrey Room, The Guildhall and Teams

Tuesday 28 November 2023 – 6pm – 8pm – Jeffrey Room, The Guildhall and Teams

 

On request we have introduced a few evening meetings as a trial.