Agenda item

To consider information from the following in relation to this scrutiny topic:

 

·         Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector (via Catalyst)

·         SBC Regeneration and Inclusive Growth

·         Town Centre-related approaches / initiatives / considerations involving other Local Authority areas

·         SBC Ward Councillor survey feedback (to follow)

The sixth evidence-gathering session for the Committee’s review of Welcoming and Safe Town Centres considered views on this scrutiny topic from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, town centre-related approaches / initiatives involving other Local Authority areas, and feedback on the responses to the survey issued to all Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Ward Councillors in December 2024.  A representative from the SBC Regeneration and Inclusive Growth directorate also provided a summary of their recently completed research project focusing on Stockton town centre.

 

VCSE SECTOR (VIA CATALYST)

 

Representatives from Catalyst (a strategic infrastructure organisation for Stockton-on-Tees which offers a range of specialist support, strategic operations, and a commitment to push forward the conditions in which its VCSE colleagues operate) were asked to collate views from the sector in response to the Committee’s lines of enquiry.  Catalyst’s Chief Executive, supported by its Community Projects Manager (Equality), gave a presentation which focused on the following:

 

·         Current VCSE town centre support: Examples of existing VCSE activity within each of the Borough’s six town centre spaces were listed.  Specific attention was drawn to Vision 25 in Stockton (an organisation helping those with learning disabilities which makes good use of the library, thereby introducing people to the town centre), Ingelby Barwick litter-pickers (a proactive group which plays an important role in making the area welcoming), and the Thornaby Pavilion ‘warm welcome’ (bringing numerous people into the town centre space).

 

Elsewhere, Norton’s Open Jar CIC (a pub enabling access for community groups – a good example of crossover between different sectors), the Billingham Food Bank (bringing people into the town centre for a specific need), and Yarm Wellness (assisting groups who would not normally find themselves in the town centre) were all highlighted.

 

·         Volunteer Driver Scheme: Part-funded by SBC (£17,500), this initiative was gaining momentum and, with areas of the Borough isolated due to public transport issues (i.e. lack of / poor awareness of routes; being unable to access vehicles unaided), helped address a key barrier to accessing spaces / activities.  However, the current pilot expires in March 2025 and local partners were struggling to find funding for this to continue.

 

·         Community Mental Health Transformation: The Wellbeing Hub (a one-stop shop for mental health and wellbeing support), opened in July 2024 and located in Wellington Square (Stockton town centre), was an example of partnership-working at its best.  Discussions around the need for a similar hub based in Billingham town centre had taken place, but funding had yet to be identified.

 

Catalyst had also commissioned numerous other wellbeing provision involving The Moses Project, Bridges Family, and the SBC Carers Support Service, as well as Anchoreach CIC peer support and specialist counselling for hearing impaired residents, Thornaby Methodist Church, and Starfish’s ‘Place To Be’ sessions.

 

·         Stockton Street Angels: Previously run by Stockton Baptist Church and known as ‘Stockton Pastors’, Stockton Business Improvement District (BID) had set-up ‘Stockton Street Angels’ (aided by Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland funding) to meet a growing need within the town centre around the night-time economy.  Catalyst provided support for its implementation (funding search and volunteer recruitment) and were aware of strong interest in people wanting to be an ‘angel’.

 

·         Festival of Thrift: Billingham hosted its first ‘Festival of Thrift’ event in September 2023 – based within John Whitehead Park, the route took people into the town centre.  Wayne Hemingway MBE (internationally renowned designer and campaigner) encouraged the Borough to capitalise on this concept during his speech to the Catalyst Conference in 2022.  Also linked to this initiative were Silver Street (Stockton) workshops and other year-round activity.

 

·         SBC and VCSE Sector: The relationship between SBC and VCSE organisations was positive, with Catalyst acting as a conduit for engagement.  Examples of partnership-working between the Council and the VCSE sector included joint considerations around procurement and volunteering (the latter comprising the production of a volunteering strategy for SBC and a Borough-wide strategic approach to volunteer recruitment / management).

 

Maintaining healthy relationships between SBC and the VCSE sector was mutually beneficial in terms of developing the Borough – this could be aided through the identification of common purposes and desired outcomes, support over funding and the removal of barriers to make applications easier, and tackling unrealistic expectations around what the VCSE sector could be delivering / assisting with.

 

Thanking the Catalyst representatives for their submission and noting its links to the information provided by local business forums / groups at the last Committee meeting earlier this month, Members asked if Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) had been approached regarding a potential Wellbeing Hub in Billingham.  Catalyst stated that it would need to ascertain this after the meeting, though added that such a hub did not need to involve a large building / presence.

 

Referencing the existing VCSE town centre support, the Committee sought clarity on ‘Quacked Spines CIC’ (Stockton) and drew attention to the lack of any reference to libraries.  In terms of the former, this was an organisation that encouraged reading – for the latter, the VCSE sector had periodic involvement with libraries, but perhaps not as much as it should.

 

Members felt there was limited mention of activity with young people and stressed the importance of engaging with this demographic.  Catalyst advised that contact was being made with the Council’s Bright Minds Big Futures (BMBF) initiative regarding youth volunteering, and to address a lack of awareness around potential employment opportunities within the VCSE sector.  It was also acknowledged that many charities would not let young people under the age of 16 volunteer.

 

Focus turned to the volunteer driver scheme, with the Committee seeking further detail on its implementation and future.  It was stated that SBC agreed funding for one year (match-funded by another organisation), with the money used for an officer to oversee the initiative (e.g. recruitment) and assistance provided by (and to) the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust who operated its own such scheme.  This venture was getting established but was now under threat due to the imminent conclusion of the one-year funding period.  Members asked if people could, if they chose, pay a contribution (still likely to be less than an alternative taxi fee) to ensure the service continued – Catalyst felt that donations could be accepted (as long as users did not feel pressurised), but noted that SBC was keen on this being a free offer.  The Committee encouraged approaches to the Tees Valley Mayor and local MPs who may have levers to assist with the continuation of this scheme.

 

SBC REGENERATION AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH

 

The SBC Town Centres Manager had recently completed a research project titled, ‘Understanding the negativity, stigma, and perception attached to Stockton Town Centre’ and had been invited to present their findings to the Committee.  A presentation (included within these meeting papers) was given which incorporated the following:

 

·         Project Aim and Objectives: The overarching aim was to challenge, change and improve the negative perception and stigma attached to Stockton town centre through collaboration and communication.  Objectives were to:

 

1)       Gain in-depth understanding of the issues that created the negative perception of Stockton town centre.

2)       Use the research data to develop a Town Centre Strategic and Operational Delivery Plan that fitted in with, and aligned to, the SBC Powering Our Future programme.

3)       Create a collaborative communication network across Stockton town centre businesses and the key stakeholders.

4)       Develop a communication plan that enhanced the reputation of the town centre.

5)       Research town centre place marketing and place management academic literature to determine best practice that aligned with this research project.

6)       Provide recommendations to help improve the perception that people had of Stockton town centre.

 

·         Project Overview: Starting in July 2024, a focus group (consisting of five managers with specialism and involvement in town centres) and interviews with senior managers and town centres specialists were used to collect information.  Analysis was completed in early-November 2024, with recommendations and an Action Plan split into seven main headings (and aligned to SBC Powering Our Future) as follows:

 

o   General Town Centre Operations and Events

o   Community Focused Activities

o   Communications and Positive Promotion of the Town Centre

o   Stakeholders and Partnerships

o   Engaging and Involving Young People

o   Regeneration

o   Crime, Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), Intervention and Support

 

·         Project Outcomes: Several recommendations were identified for each of the above main headings and were listed within the presentation.  Specific attention was drawn to the need for a town centre business audit and the continued delivery of an annual event programme (General Town Centre Operations and Events), creating a ‘warm welcome’ social group and providing opportunities for sports groups / organisations to use the town centre as an activity hub (Community Focused Activities), and the development of brand guidelines that enhanced the town centre space (Communications and Positive Promotion of the Town Centre).  Proposals for the creation of a town centre crime and ASB problem-solving group, and the development of a structured rota with police and town centre enforcement to combat issues around the fountain (Crime, Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), Intervention and Support) were also noted.

 

Supporting visuals were shown to the Committee regarding town centre management – these provided examples of the work undertaken in Stockton following town centre audit (including buildings) inspections and responses to general issues affecting the town centre, as well as positive promotion of the town centre space via views, interactions and followers on social media.

 

The Committee commended the SBC officer for the interesting and very relevant feedback, much of which linked-in with the evidence that had been received from other contributors to this ongoing review.  The emphasis on partnership-working was recognised, with Members urging specific clarity on what the Council’s responsibilities were.

 

Praising the work done to encourage shop-owners to improve the facades of their buildings, Members noted that there were a number within Stockton town centre that still looked shoddy, and expressed hope that the efforts of neighbouring shops would provoke others into responding with similar action.

 

With reference to the delivery of events, the Committee considered the forthcoming Stockton and Darlington Railway bicentenary celebrations to be a huge opportunity for the Borough – however, it appeared that plans were being managed externally despite a lot of local people wanting to be involved.  Members also pointed to the mixed messages they were receiving from the Council which needed to be clarified ahead of planned activity.

 

Attention turned to Stockton’s markets, with Members highlighting a recent claim at a SBC Cabinet meeting that the Christmas edition was oversubscribed when it appeared that a lot of space was available.  It was felt that further exploration was needed in order to offer market variety, and that the provision of cabins to facilitate markets was not a necessity (the sometimes prohibitively high prices associated with markets in Yarm was also raised by Members – it was suggested that Yarm Town Councillors may wish to pursue this issue, with potential options for a Sunday offer and / or the use of nearby Yarm School as a venue).

 

Discussion then moved to the drive for sports groups / organisations to use the town centre as an activity hub.  The Committee expressed concern over the statement that such entities were not using the funding that was available to them to pursue this (e.g. ‘Shape the Play’ scheme).

 

Reflecting on the additional information around the promotion of Stockton town centre, the Committee asked if the increase in views / interactions / followers was a direct result of closer working with traders.  The SBC officer confirmed that this was likely to be the case, and that traders now seemed to be more willing to promote themselves and their business.  Markets were still a significant event, and, oddly, there appeared to be a more positive perception of the Stockton offer from those outside the Borough than those within it.

 

Welcoming the recommendations contained within the presentation, the Committee suggested that a number of these would be relevant for the other five towns across the Borough and wondered if these could be shared to improve town centres throughout Stockton-on-Tees.  It was stated that the Council was looking to develop a local Town Centre Management Group – Members encouraged the sharing of future ideas with all Ward and Town Councillors.

 

OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITY AREAS

 

In addition to those relayed at the last Committee meeting on 9 January 2025 (which were predominantly focused upon / driven by business), the following examples of town centre developments involving ‘welcoming’ and ‘safe’ themes from other Local Authority areas across the UK were provided:

 

·         Barnsley: Evening and night-time safety in the town centre

·         Brighton & Hove: A city where people feel safe and welcome

·         Darlington: Funding boost to help keep town centre safe

·         Kirklees: Council funding helps shoppers / staff feel safe in town centre

·         Swindon: Partners come together to make Town Centre a welcoming and safe environment

 

The SBC Service Manager – Public Protection drew specific attention to Barnsley, an area SBC officers had visited to get a sense of their approach to managing the town centre space.  Several similarities to Stockton-on-Tees were found (e.g. fountain area in the town centre, Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in operation, issues with addiction), and the co-location of a multi-agency ‘hub’ within the town centre was highlighted.

 

SBC WARD COUNCILLOR SURVEY

 

Feedback on the survey issued to all SBC Ward Councillors in December 2024 was shared with the Committee.  Questions included:

 

1)     How welcoming do you think the Borough’s town centre spaces are?  What could SBC and its partners do to make town centres more welcoming?

2)     How safe do you think the Borough’s town centre spaces are?  What could SBC and its partners do to make town centres safer?

3)     What are the main issues residents / businesses / visitors are highlighting to you in relation to the Borough’s town centres?

4)     Overall recorded crime / ASB across the Borough is down, yet perceptions of town centre safety continue to be poor.  How can / should this apparent mismatch be addressed?

5)     Are there any further comments you would like to make in relation to this scrutiny topic?

 

Responses had been received from 18 Elected Members, and themes had been identified for each question.

 

Noting discussions at the previous Committee meeting around the importance of language when referring to those with substance addictions, disappointment was expressed about the use of the word ‘undesirables’ in one of the survey responses.

 

SCOPE AND PROJECT PLAN

 

As this meeting involved the final formal evidence-gathering session for the review of Welcoming and Safe Town Centres, a summary of all the information received thus far would be collated and presented to the next Committee meeting in February 2025 (where Members would also discuss and agree draft recommendations).

 

Prior to that, the Committee Chair was scheduled to attend a Bright Minds Big Futures (BMBF) ‘Big Committee’ meeting to seek the views of young people in relation to this scrutiny topic (feedback would be incorporated into the ‘summary of evidence’ documentation).

 

AGREED that information provided by Catalyst and the SBC Regeneration and Inclusive Growth directorate (as well as the reflections on other Local Authority town centre activity and feedback on the recent survey of SBC Ward Councillors) be noted, with further information provided as identified.