Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, Councillors of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to declare interests where appropriate.

Councillors must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.

No disclosures or whipping declarations were made.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Social Mobility Scrutiny Panel held on 11 September 2018.

The minutes of the Social Mobility Scrutiny Panel held on 11 September 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any relevant updates/information from Panel Members and Officers.

The Chair updated Panel Members on work that had been recently undertaken:

·         The Chair had recently met with the Head of Langley Green Primary School.  There was support for the suggestion that careers advice should ideally commence at an early stage in primary schools.

·         There will be a further meeting with the Head of Three Bridges next week and Chair would feedback to the Panel.

a)        Decide what additional information (if any) the Panel requires to complete the Review

b)        Reflect on whether the Social Mobility Index appropriately summarises Crawley’s position – is there anything irrelevant or missing from the Index?

c)        Discuss the local and national drivers of Social Mobility – which of these can we influence?

Panel Members reviewed the scope of the Panel’s work in preparation for completing the review.  It was recognised the wide ranging scope and that it was important to acknowledge that not every issue would be able to be rectified.  The Panel focused on where it would be able to add value.

It reflected on measuring ‘success’ and whether this was linked to a monetary value, occupation, living conditions or being socially mobile.  It was suggested that ‘success’ could be individually determined.

It was queried whether the Social Mobility Index data appropriately summarised Crawley’s position or whether there was further data that contradicted this or highlighted improvement. An example being the WSCC data for KS2 disadvantaged pupils shows improvement over 3 years (2016-2018), a distinct narrowing in the gap between the national disadvantaged others and Crawley disadvantaged figures (29.5, 25.3, 17.9).  Additionally only 24% of Crawley residents were in professional occupations compared to the South East average of 23%.  This was a decrease from the 2014 Crawley figure of 37% (NOMIS).

The Panel recognised the three areas identified – as specifically identified through the Social Mobility Index; Housing, Employment and Education and acknowledged that there were overlaps between them. These affected “life chances” and it was paramount that effort was made to fulfil potential and ensure everyone was given a chance to fulfil their aspirations and ambitions.

Each area was discussed in detail:

Housing

It was recognised that the borough was one of the most expensive places to live in the UK (income related to housing costs), however the Council was committed to building affordable housing.  There was an acknowledgement that there were limitations as to what the Council could do to ease the situation.

Discussions took place surrounding temporary accommodation as it was highlighted the importance of having a fixed location to find employment. It was noted that a change in the Housing Allocations Scheme in 2017 likely achieved a greater turnover of temporary accommodation stock and fewer out of borough placements. Placing households out of borough can be disruptive for those who attend work, school, college in Crawley and who are dependent on local support networks.

Employment

The Panel was of the view that it would be beneficial to attract further employers to the town.  The Council had launched the Crawley Developer and Partner Charter to help maximise local opportunities from development and investment in Crawley for the benefit of the town’s people, companies and communities.  The charter was based on six core principles:

·         Aim to source labour from within the local community

·         Contribute to raising aspirations, educational attainment and skills levels

·         Improve the competitiveness and sustainability of smaller and locally based firms

·         Inspire residents, visitors and potential investors in Crawley with the intentions, plans, progress and outcomes of development and investment

·         Promote good and sustainable development and construction practices

·         Encourage sub-contractors and suppliers to commit to the principles of the charter

Panel Members welcomed the fact that the charter represented a willingness of those  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

a)     Start to form recommendations both locally and nationally and start to agree content for the final report.

b)     Agree timescales/future meeting(s) – with Report to Overview and Scrutiny Commission and Cabinet February 2019

The Panel discussed the preparation of the report. It was agreed that a draft report would be compiled incorporating the proposals as discussed and agreed. The report would be circulated to enable comments to be incorporated into the final version for a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and Cabinet in February 2019.

The Chair took the opportunity to thank those Panel Members for their input into the review together with the Lead Officer and Democratic Services Officer for their support.

RESOLVED

1.    That consideration be given to incorporating careers advice into the Junior Citizen Scheme run by the Council.

2.    That further promotion should take place with regards to free school meals as this benefits both pupils and schools. Schools receive additional funding from the government for each child registered for free school meals.

3.    That the final report would be prepared by the Lead Officer for reporting to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and Cabinet in February 2019.