Minutes:
The Chair welcomed the Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and the Director of Environment and Community Services to the meeting. The Executive Member advised that her portfolio had been circulated to the Board and proceeded to deliver her presentation.
Since her last appearance at OSB the Executive Member’s title had changed to Neighbourhoods and Public Protection had been added to the portfolio remit. In terms of libraries and hubs, one of the main developments was the refurbishment of Central Library. The refurbishment included the addition of a lift, making the building more accessible for people with disabilities and improved ICT facilities.
Four other libraries had recently been refurbished thanks to libraries improvement funding. The venues also included hublets, which were easy to use and required very few IT skills.
Neighbourhood Action Partnerships (NAPs) had recently received funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) totalling £1.9 million. The funding had been used to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour across the town with initiatives including publicity for road safety and a mobile boxing gym to deter young people from participating in anti-social behaviour. The East Middlesbrough NAP was in the process of developing a newsletter which would be delivered to each household in that area. An online newsletter had been rolled out by the South NAP and there were plans for this to happen in the North and West NAP areas.
Silver Recovery Group had been established following the riots which took place in August 2024. The group met monthly and included different partnership organisations. The Executive Member attended those meetings. Funding had been received from government in the wake of the riots amounting to £600,000 for recovery and £50,000 for community cohesion purposes.
Silver Recovery Group had established several subgroups including Communications, Young People and Community Conversations. In terms of Communications, this subgroup had received approximately £20,000 for projects that included photography, community radio and the promotion of We Are Middlesbrough. In terms of Young People, this subgroup received £195,000 which was in turn divided between other youth organisations. The Community Conversations group was awarded £20,000 which enabled difficult conversations to take place with young people and adults aimed at addressing misinformation.
The Executive Member invited questions from the Board.
A Member commented the slides stated £5,274 had been paid to 15 claimants following the riots but the Council had claimed significantly more than this. The Member queried what the situation was with the remaining funding. It was clarified £600,000 had been given to the Council in response to the riots. The claims totalling £5,274 as stated on the slides were claims made by individuals and were managed by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.
The Chair queried library attendance figures as this was linked to value for money. It was agreed this would be provided to the Board.
A Member queried if mobile libraries would continue. It was confirmed they would.
The Vice Chair of OSB queried, in terms of recovery funds, if a report into this would be produced. It was clarified an evaluation report would be produced based on the feedback provided to Silver Recovery Group and in turn reported to Government.
It was queried if support to the Junction youth organisation was still being provided. Money was being provided to such groups via the Silver Recovery Group. While it was likely that additional support would also be provided, it would be from different departments. It was agreed the figures for this support would be provided to the Board.
A conversation took place about Central Library’s closure and what impact this had on other community spaces in the town. It was commented that, depending on visitor figures, it may be beneficial to continue some Central Library activities in other hubs.
The Chair commented that, during the Executive Member’s previous attendance at OSB, it was highlighted there was a programme of recruiting new Neighbourhood Wardens and queried if there was an update on this. It was clarified there was 22 wardens in place due to extra funding the Council had received. The Chair also asked if the new wardens were deployed equally across the four neighbourhood areas. It was commented that wardens were deployed where there was greatest need, and that flexibility was important for this. Further deployment information would be provided to Members, and it was also clarified there was no additional funding available to increase the number of wardens.
Thanks were expressed for the warden’s work.
In terms of Central Library’s redevelopment, a Member queried if the library facilities at Newport hub would be lost when Central Library re-opened. It was clarified that the re-development of Central Library was to develop a Children’s literature centre of excellence. As such there were no plans to change library provisions in other parts of town.
In terms of warden provision, it was clarified there were 12 were permanent staff and that 10 positions were grant funded. The grant funding has been extended for 2025-2026 and the Council would have further discussions about this as part of the MTFP programme.
It was agreed that a preview of works at Central Library could be made available to Councillors.
The Chair thanked the Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and the Director for Environment and Community Services for their presentation.
ORDERED that
1. The slides presented be circulated to OSB.
2. Library attendance figures be provided to the Board.
3. Figures for how much support was provided to the Junction was above that provided by Silver Recovery Group be provided to the Board.
4. Deployment information for wardens to be circulated to the Board.
5. A preview of the Central Library refurbishment works be made available to Councillors.
6. The information presented and discussed be noted.