Agenda item

The Panel is invited to comment on the Warm Spaces report and presentation.

With the assistance of a report by the Chief Delivery Officer and a power-point presentation (copies of which are appended in the Minute Book), the Panel received an update on the development of Warm Spaces in response to the cost-of-living crisis.

Following the presentation, questions were invited from the Panel:

Councillor McAdam enquired how well the message was getting across to the public that these warm spaces were available to them. Having noted the user numbers initially appeared to be positive, it was explained that it was always a challenge to get the message out to those who needed it, but one of the advantages of the devolved model is that people tended to be in contact with their local community groups who are already embedded within their communities. However, it would always be a challenge to reach those who were not connected to local community groups and other social networks. There had been a significant amount of take up of the District Council press releases and traffic on social media and Members were encouraged to continue to share and support these initiatives in the press and on social media where possible.

Following a question from Councillor Harvey on how often an organisation could apply for funding from the District Council’s Community Chest for their warm space, the Panel heard that the specific detail would be sought and reported back. However, in addition to this, Members were informed that there were a set of criteria which the Council was currently reviewing with a view to establishing what could help these groups to continue to succeed going forward. A question was also asked about the training which was provided for the volunteers at the Warm Hubs and the Panel were informed that a package of training had been provided and been used flexibly depending on the level and knowledge of those that had required it.

Councillor Harvey expressed concern that more had not been done to offer mental health support within the spaces and queried whether there were any plans to improve on this. In response to which it was explained that some of the funding from the Integrated Care System for Reducing Health Inequalities initiative had been used by the 15 recognised organisations to put additional mental health support into their localised areas. In terms of warm spaces, there was an emphasis on signposting. Members noted that the district were looking at second year funding to deliver a District wide approach

Councillor Bywater then reflected on his own experience at the Warm Spaces Hub in Sawtry which was well attended and his view that it was important not to duplicate effort but to signpost where appropriate. He provided some feedback on the insecurities that he was starting to hear regarding the affordability of being able to continue rent the hall and emphasised the need to keep the momentum and to continue to communicate how the District Council could continue to support warm spaces going forward. He also emphasised the role of Members in advertising the availability of warm spaces in their wards.

It was further observed by Councillor Bywater, that it was a struggle to get volunteers engaged within their communities and it was important for them to see a future for a project and a vision to keep them engaged.In response to which, the Executive Councillor indicated that he was sympathetic and had been in the position of wondering what happened to a project when the grant comes to an end.  The challenge would now be on the District Council to find a transparent system to consider this going forward.

In concluding the discussion, the Interim Managing Director indicated that the proliferation of one-off type projects created a real challenge. He explained that the warm spaces initiative had been designed in anticipation that there was likely to be enduring need in April. Throughout Covid, efforts have been consistently made to build the resilience of community organisations to create capacity for longer term need in the future. As a result of increasing effectiveness in doing this, the district was seeing more one-off opportunities. Whilst it is harder to do, it was hoped that Members believed it was more effective to build long term solutions.