Agenda item

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a report of Councillor Peter Britcliffe, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Resources, informing Cabinet of the new Hyndburn Hub online resource.

Councillor Britcliffe outlined the background to the report, including the initial purpose of the Hyndburn Hub, the purple-heart branding, the successful development of partnership working and a list of the main partners, a one stop shop approach, the on-going need for the Hub and how the Hub would operate.

Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP, Leader of the Opposition, remarked on the success of the Hub during the pandemic and praised the efforts of volunteers and community based organisations which had helped people from all walks of life.  Community groups would continue to publicise the new resource.

Councillor Melissa Fisher asked if Members knew whether First Call Hyndburn had lost some funding.   Councillor Zak Khan reported that he was aware that EU European Social Fund (ESF) funding was due to end soon, but that the organisation was currently applying for other funding streams.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The Hyndburn Hub had been set up in response to the Covid pandemic, at the initial lockdown in March 2020.  It had evolved to provide support in a number of ways:

a)    A team of people were tasked with delivering food and medicine to support those people who had been advised to shield.  The team comprised HBC staff who were redeployed from their normal roles, staff seconded from Hyndburn Leisure, statutory and other partners, and many members of charities, community groups and individual volunteers.  This purpose had been time-limited, as restrictions had ultimately been lifted.

b)    A single point of contact – email or phone – with a message that whatever residents needed support with, the Hyndburn Hub could help.  This utilised the Council’s main phone number and enquiries email, but was available for anything – queries about food banks, befriending, mental health support, as well as Council services such as housing benefit.  These general enquiries were still continuing and the Council’s Customer Contact Centre would direct people to the most appropriate support.  There were key organisations such as First Call Hyndburn who provided a comprehensive service, as well as more specialised support.

c)    A network of the various groups from all sectors who were able to help people in various ways.  Closer relationships had been formed, with partner bodies gaining a much richer picture of the range of support activity and talent within the Borough and the usual bureaucratic barriers had been set aside given the urgent needs.  Financial resources had been made available to meet needs of residents and the Hub structure had enabled this to be swiftly passed to the groups or individuals best placed to achieve outcomes.  This collaboration had continued via the Community Action Network.

It was clear that the single point of contact element of this support was still required and people were still reaching out to the Council for this.  There were no additional staffing resources so the incoming work had been accommodated within the Customer Contact Centre team.  Residents were facing additional pressures with cost of living rises and dealing with issues such as poor mental health.

The Council had decided to use some of its remaining Covid Outbreak Management Funding (COMF) to develop an interactive online resource, whereby any resident (or someone supporting them, such as within a volunteer group, or an elected member) could select an area of the Borough and the issues they need support with.  This then produced a personalised list of support available, with contact details, which could be saved, printed or emailed, depending on the needs of the resident.

The Council had commissioned Onward Homes to collate the background data, given their knowledge of the support available, especially because of the role of First Call Hyndburn.

The online Hub form provided a new, permanent home for the Council’s purple heart Hub branding, which was seen as reassuring and represented support from so many sources at such a difficult time for many people.  A link to the online form was included within the report.

The Hub would provide a lasting, comprehensive resource for individuals and groups throughout the Borough and the communications around this would be aimed at ensuring that everyone knew that they could access help in a simplified way, when they needed it.  The online form would also provide high level data which would help inform the Council of ongoing support needs of residents.  This information could be utilised for further funding opportunities or resource allocation.

The Council would widely publicise the ‘Hyndburn Hub’ online form to encourage residents to access support when they needed it, and it would remain open to partner organisations, officers and elected members to access on behalf of residents, who might get in contact via email, phone or in person.

To improve accessibility of the new resource the ‘Hyndburn Hub’ form was also available for people to use on the iPads in Scaitcliffe House reception area and within a unit inside Accrington Market Hall, with a view to relocating this to Accrington Town Hall in December 2023.

The Hub would support other work underway to help people across Hyndburn by working together across organisations.  This included the Family Hub – an initiative led by Lancashire County Council which would bring health and other support services together to assist families and young people.  Locally, staffing resource was being funded via the Hyndburn Way, a lottery funded project awarded to Hyndburn Leisure.  This funding was paying for Ynot Aspire to act as the local link between Hyndburn organisations to help ensure that the Family Hub, when launched, met local needs and utilised the range of support available in the Borough.

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

The Council could have done nothing, but it did still receive calls asking for the Hub, so the demand remained, with the additional pressures of cost of living only getting worse.  This service would enhance and add to the support routes already available and make it easier for Council staff, and others, to signpost to support, as no training was required to use the new form. 

Resolved                                    -    That Cabinet notes the report and encourages others to make use of the resource.