Agenda item

Improving Life Chances Strategy

Minutes:

The Director for Strategy and Partnerships presented a report which provided the Committee with an update on the progress being made around tackling child poverty since the last update in March 2018.  The report informed that the Improving Life Chances (ILC) Steering Group had worked actively on delivery of the strategy from 2015-2017. The Group had evaluated the causes and impact of poverty, and the work underway through other pledge areas and had agreed a focus on targeted action in geographical areas. Targeted ‘pilots’ had been established in St James, Seacombe and Beechwood wards and a range of initiatives had been put in place working directly with local groups. Members noted that the pilots had been completed in March 2018. However, the work in those areas was continuing and was linked to the Wirral Together model through the Community Services Pledge.

 

The Director also reported that in late 2017 the Wirral Partnership had agreed that having a separate Strategy Group meant that action to tackle poverty was not embedded throughout the other themes and, therefore, did not get the visibility required to ensure the right targeted action.  An annual "Improving Life Chances" event was now being held once a year and 'champions' from this pledge attended other key Wirral Plan 2020 steering groups to ensure that reducing child and family poverty was a priority across the plan; champions could hold other pledge leads to account. From 2018-19 key measures were being transferred to other pledge reports alongside relevant ongoing activities.

 

Members asked the Director for Strategy and Partnerships a number of questions which were answered accordingly. Matters discussed included the following:

 

·  Families in Birkenhead were struggling with financial hardship.  There was a greater number than what there had been a few years ago and the data provided in the report was not matching this experience.  It was agreed that things needed to be got right before birth if life chances were to be improved. The percentage of women booked to access professional maternity services on or before 12+6 weeks gestation had fallen to 78% in the last quarter which was lower than at the start of the Wirral Plan when it had been 80.8%.  The target was for only 90% and that meant there was 10% of woman who were pregnant who did not have access to maternity services before their first few weeks of pregnancy which was a dangerous situation to be in. Members asked if there was a poverty indicator that balanced out income and outgoings.  Some people had a high level of debt and debt management services were difficult to access.  There was agreement that the data provided gave Members some indication of improvement but it did not show what really was going on and Members wanted to see a set of indicators which better reflected the lives of people that were in the very difficult situation that so many families in Birkenhead were actually in.

·  Members queried the number of reports of anti-social behaviour that were detailed in the report and asked if the figures were up to date and accurate.  The report informed that anti-social behaviour continued to reduce.  The annual figure at the start of the Wirral Plan had been 11837 reports of anti-social behaviour in Wirral and at the end of year 2017/18 it was 8617, a 37.4% reduction. Members did not consider that this reflected what was happening around the Borough. The Director agreed to check the figures and informed that overall there had been a reduction in the number of reports about anti-social behaviour but that did not mean that there were not pockets of anti-social behaviour in the Borough that still needed to be addressed, so overall there was an average reduction where there has been targeted action.  This was picked up from Police data and that of others.  It did not mean that every aspect of anti-social behaviour had been addressed.  There may be some areas in Wirral that need to be targeted and focused upon.

·  Attention was drawn to the increase in anti-social behaviour in Hoylake, Meols and West Kirby.  This was quite noticeable and Members queried whether the strategy was pushing it around the Wirral to places where the reporting was a bit slower and if that had been reflected in the figures.

·  Members asked if the definitions of poverty being used were those of the Rowntree Foundation and were informed that they were the definitions that were used nationally.  They were kept consistent because of the need to compare like with like.  It related to families who lived below average income.  It was usually measured as 60% below average income.

·  Group Spokespersons agreed to include a proposal to have a Joint Workshop on poverty and the work that goes on in respect of it included in the agenda for the next agenda setting meeting.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)  the report be noted; and

 

(2)  the Director for Strategy and Partnerships be requested to circulate the formal definition of poverty along with updated anti-social behaviour figures provided by the Police to all Members of the Committee.

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