Agenda and minutes

[NB  In accordance with the County Council’s Constitution, the Chair and Vice-Chair must be County Councillors.]

RESOLVED that Councillors M Squires and J Berry be elected Chair and Vice-Chair respectively for the ensuing year.

Items which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

There was no item raised as a matter of urgency.

Presentation by Chris Broadbent (SW Youth Games Board Member) and Lee Chester (Mid Devon District Council), papers attached.

The Committee received a presentation from Mr C Broadbent (SW Youth Games, Chief

Executive) and supported by Mr P Chester and Ms S Holme (Mid Devon District Council) covering:

·         a history of the Games launched in 1999 as an Olympic-style county-wide competition;

·         establishment of a charitable Trust as a driving seat for this expanding annual event;

·         raising financial donations and sponsorship;

·         developments and progress during 2015 – 2017 including Cornwall joining the games and

·         the first satellite event;

·         ambitions for 2018 and future challenges;

·         the adoption of a collaborative approach within local government, national governing

bodies with a shared vision and purpose;

·         a request for support in-line with the Council’s objectives;

·         the objective to promote inclusion and participation irrespective of ability or gender and to

inspire young people;

·         the challenging background relating to the levels of obesity, mental health/depression and general health and the wellbeing and the transformative effects of regular exercise and sport.

Further information was available at www.southwestyouthgames.co.uk

Members’ questions and comments related to:

·         the limited participation of teams in Mid Devon in previous youth games and the current work with the District Council reaching out to areas through local leisure centres and schools, for example, working with volunteers;

·         the aim of the Charity to build up funds to support their activities through private and public donations and sponsorships and Member suggestions that Viridor and the Devon Community Foundation could also be approached; 

·         the aim of the games to encourage participation across all abilities (from 8 to 18 years) and male and females; and noting the transport costs involved in ensuring that young people travelled to events together to promote the spirit of the games;  

·         the need to avoid duplication in view of the local activities available and to target young people not currently involved in organised sport; and

·         the venue for the July 2018 games,  which was not known at this time.

Members discussed how they could support the Games (involving young people from their respective divisions) through their locality budgets. The Locality Officer advised that she would liaise with Mr Broadbent and local members about the level of contributions Members would be able to make. 

The Chair thanked Mr Broadbent for his presentation. 

Verbal report of the Head of Communities.

The Locality Officer reported on the developing Community Strategy for the County Council and the four guiding principles that would influence the Council’s work:

·         Connection (connected, resilient and safe communities);

·         Control (people and communities that are empowered);

·         Equity (understanding and responding to our communities); and

·         Working differently (doing things differently, efficiently and effectively).

Seven action areas had been identified that would support the vision of “flourishing people

and communities that are strong, kind, compassionate and safe”

·         Volunteering;

·         Community spaces;

·         Communications and engagement;

·         Role development;

·         Data intelligence and evaluation;

·         Commissioning; and

·         Businesses and the economy.

The development of the Plan was currently underway in liaison with other local authorities and public bodies (including Fire and Rescue and Health for example) involving information sharing and joint arrangements where appropriate. When the Strategy was finalised an Action Plan would be formulated.

Members also referred to the Parish and Town meetings attended by the Leader of the Council who was giving updates on current  budget proposals and pressures (across adult social care, business rates and changes to Town and Parish funding arrangements, for example) and implications for the future. A meeting of the District’s Parish and Town Councils had been held on 5 October 2017 and the Members suggested that they would approach the Leader about a further meeting in the District, possibly at the Raddon Hills Partnership.      

The Locality Officer referred to ways of attracting additional support for community projects and noted a Plymouth City Council initiative using on-line ‘crowd funding’, details of which were available at: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/crowdfund-plymouth