Agenda item

The Chair welcomed the Chief Executive to the meeting and invited him to provide his information.

The Council conducted a poverty sprint which brought key staff together to understand what the key issues were concerning poverty. Following this, and an action plan was created with associated recommendations. An updated version of the action plan showed that good progress had been made against the actions, but that it was sometimes difficult for work to develop traction. This was not a lack of will from officers, it was more about confusion on how to proceed.

The current Council Plan, introduced in 2023, followed a standard format. At the time of the Plan’s creation, it was discussed if the Council Plan should have been thematic or not. Leeds Council was used as an example whereby it was decided that all Council activity was undertaken with a view of improving the lives of Children and Young People.  Adopting this approach gave the Council a clear lens to view their activity. Middlesbrough adopted a pillar approach to its Council Plan, which meant Council business was delivered according to themed pillars. While this meant business was undertaken in the correct manner, it led to a question of whether the Council should adopt a poverty strategy.  

There was also a need to question how the Council framed poverty, namely should it be viewed via social value and childhood enrichment. Many actions arising from the Council Plan applied to all of these. Part of the confusion for officers was the number of policy lenses available, oftentimes these were viewed simultaneously.

There was a need to corral this issue in a language that was understandable. The example of the Blair governments was cited during which language was changed which showed poverty was not just about a lack of money. This included the concept of social exclusion which included if a family bread winner lost their job, money would still be available, but that family would experience more challenging times and could lead to a lack of social participation.  Adopting this approach encompassed a range of other factors associated with poverty.

How was approach was articulated involved political choice. The Executive Forward Plan was not quite where the Chief Executive hoped it would be, and some systems did work in the way they should. As such, reports were scheduled for Executive consideration about refreshing the Council Plan and how to enhance the Council’s performance framework, with the reintroduction of balanced score cards cited as an example. There would be regular performance clinics with individual departments and part of this would be contributions to thematic pieces of work. There was a question about how the Council simplified the number of lenses the Council looked through.

At this point in the meeting the Chief Executive invited questions from the Board.

A Member queried how integrating poverty into a thematic approach could be applied to all Council functions, using Planning and the current emphasis of building executive homes rather than social housing. The Chief Executive commented that while there may not always be perfect fit, there were areas it could work such as working in partnership with external stakeholders to secure empty properties and bringing them back into use.

It was commented that addressing poverty affected all aspects of Middlesbrough and queried how this could be embedded effectively.  It was clarified that, regarding anchor institutions, they would always have their own approach to this issue, but that working in partnership with them was important. This also involved political direction and that a range of work was being undertaken to capture the impact of this work but there was no one solution. 

A conversation took place about how communities were planned and how this could contribute to alleviating poverty, with Coulby Newham used as an example as this area was based on a mix of income levels.

Members discussed how the work of the Integrated Care Boards could support the poverty agenda. It was also commented that Integrated Care Boards were undergoing significant reorganisation and as such there was some uncertainty around them.

A Member queried if the Council was embedding a Poverty Strategy and had the Council spoken to key partners around this. The Chief Executive clarified that improved working with outside organisations was a key outcome of the corporate peer challenge. As such the Council was engaged with a consultancy about it can best engage with young people as this was a key component of the Council’s work. 

A Member queried if Council Planners were considering green spaces as part of the Poverty Sprint. It was clarified that the Poverty Sprint did not discuss green space specifically, but rather about housing capacity. It was commented that caution should be used when using the term “poverty”, as some individuals may have met a definition of poverty but not identified as such.

A Member commented that it would be useful for the Board to have access to Leeds Council Plan.

ORDERED that

1.     The Leeds Council Plan be circulated to Members.

2.     The information presented be noted.