Agenda and minutes

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Jenny Mulholland.

No declarations were made.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair advised that the meeting was being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and could be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting and would then be archived and could be made available upon request.  Those addressing the meeting were deemed to be consenting to having their contributions recorded and broadcast, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.

There were no other announcements.

Requests to speak at the Committee on a matter within its terms of reference must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 5pm two working days before the meeting.

There were no deputations.

There was no such business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th October 2024.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 8 October 2024 be agreed,

Report of the Director of Strategy, Design and Insight

This report updates on how the Council has approached setting, understanding, impacting and measuring the four Camden Missions agreed in December 2021 that sit at the heart of our We Make Camden strategy (agreed in April 2022). It summarises what we mean by our ambition to become a missions-orientated Council, and how we want to work with staff, citizens and partners across the Borough in taking a new approach to tackling complex problems and making real change. Our Missions are both about making this change, and also about learning new ways for Councils and public sector organisations to engage, catalyse, convene and facilitate innovation and community activity in places and across sectors.   

This report summarises the alignment between mission ways of working and our principles, ambitions and approaches set out in We Make Camden and The Way We Work. Since agreeing them in late 2021, we have made significant progress in understanding the challenges, issues, and gaps associated with the issues our Missions highlight. We have also invested in community, organisational and partner capacity to deliver our Missions – embodied in our Community Wealth Fund, our Good Life Camden resident prosperity framework and our We Make Camden kit. We have also invested in producing transparent and accessible updates, data and insight on our Missions and on the issues occurring in our Borough – our annual State of the Borough report contains data and measures aligned with our Missions as well as evidence on what is happening across Camden relevant to our We Make Camden priorities. We are also part of a growing number of public sector organisations taking a missions approach, and we welcome the opportunity to share learning and best practice as part of this network, including central Government.   

We welcome the opportunity to work with Councillors on our Missions. This report provides a summary of our missions-orientated work overall including key capacity building and we are encouraging Scrutiny Committees to receive further, more focused updates on each Mission relevant to their Committee terms of reference. 

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Strategy, Design and Insight.

After an introduction by the Acting Director of Strategy, Design and Insight, the Committee discussed the report and made the following key comments:

Members were pleased that the work encouraged teams from across the organisation to work together, addressing siloed working, that could act as barrier to positive resident outcomes.

In response to questions from the Committee about the Estates Mission, participatory budgeting and learning from the pilot, the Acting Director said that each estate was its own complex system. Through the work Camden were learning what was working and what systems and areas would need to be developed. They said that residents were interested in learning about the resources of running an estate but that a balance would need to be found of having resident involvement in the system evaluation and without asking residents to effectively take on an unpaid roles. The Head of Participation and Partnerships said that part of Camden’s work was to share information about the budget, how it was spent and the outlook.

Members of the Committee were interested in the learning and evaluation framework and how that would work in practice. The acting Director said that for the past two years Camden had been mapping the system and had shared parts of proposed theories of change with the public, the Missions should be shared and worked on in public for transparency, utilising community and partner knowledge that the Council did not.  The Head of Insights, Learning and Impact said that through the State of the Borough report and the Good Life Camden framework, Camden were looking at ways to collect and analyse both quantitative and qualitative data, to gain insight and learn.

The Committee asked what the Missions added to the delivery of a Council. The Acting Director said that when consulting residents, it became clear that, in terms of vision for the Borough, they did not constrain the vision to bounds of council services. Residents viewed the Borough as a whole rather than as the Council. Using Missions were a good way of anchoring ambitions for a place within a local authority.

In response to a question about the language used when discussing or engaging around Missions, the Director of Participation, Partnerships and Communications said that through engaging with residents, Camden decided on the language to use to describe the Missions. All of the language used pulled together a core narrative that was shared with residents and Camden. The Acting Director noted that the language Camden was using around Missions would allow easier working with other organisations who were using missions-based approaches. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living commented that it was important to engage new Councillors on the Missions structure.

Councillor Jenny Mulholland made a declaration that she worked for Old Diorama Arts Centre, which had been consulted as part of the State of the Borough report.

Members wanted to be kept up to date  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Director of Participation, Partnerships and Communications

This report updates on Camden’s We Make Camden partnerships approach. It focuses on non-contractual and non-statutory partnerships that we are developing in response to the shared goals set out in We Make Camden and through a Missions approach.

A lot of our recent work has been on developing new partnership relationships and networks, with a view to enabling local organisations to find new inspiration and opportunities to contribute towards delivering We Make Camden and the missions, drawing on their wide range of levers, resources and expertise.

While we already have a range of longstanding good practice in local partnerships, we currently in the process of adding more rigour and infrastructure, combined with clarity of partnership asks in order to enhance what is already a rich partnership landscape. 

Our aim is to secure more action and impact from a wide range of partners, by connecting across business, public sector, higher education, voluntary and community sector partners, as well as with citizens and groups leading social action. Through building relationships across these various groups, we are opening up and creating new connections and opportunities that will help us deliver our We Make Camden missions.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Participation, Partnerships and Communications. The report was introduced by the Head of Participation and Partnerships.

In their discussion of the report, the Committee made the following key comments:

·       Members were interested in MSD moving into the area and how the energy could be channelled to benefit residents. The Director of Participation, Partnerships and Communications said that Camden’s approach to building relationships with businesses and external organisations was to identify a lead at each organisation, this was not to limit networking but to allow a single point of contact within the partnerships team.

·       Responding to a question on how Camden introduced themselves or were introduced to business, the Head of Participation and Partnerships said that businesses often communicated with each other, and new contacts in organisations could be made through existing contacts in different organisations.

·       A member of the Committee asked about how corporate partners could help development in the North of the Borough, an area not necessarily near to their presence in the Borough. The Head of Participation and Partnerships said that resources were focused to where there was most need and opportunities could be brokered with businesses where possible. Not having big businesses in a ward would not preclude the residents from receiving any possible benefits that would arise.

·       The Committee thanked Arsenal Football Club for their work supporting communities through lockdown.

·       Members were concerned that a risk of partnership working was losing sight of organisational values and working in partnership with organisations whose values did not align with Camden’s. The Director of Participation, Partnerships and Communications said that making decisions with the right level of oversight and governance was key. Case by case decision making would happen to make sure that partnership organisations had shared values.

·       The Chair raised concern about the closing of high street bank branches and asked if Camden could start a community bank, the Director of Participation, Partnerships and Communications said that she would go away and provide a response to the request, outside of the meeting.

Action by: the Director of Participation, Partnerships and Communications

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services

This paper provides an outline of the 2023/24 work programme and provides an update on actions requested at previous meetings of the Committee in the Action Tracker.

Consideration was given to the Work Programme 2024/25 and Action Tracker.

Members were keen to have an update on the support available to residents around the cost of living. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living suggested information could be given at the January meeting.

Action by: Corporate Strategy Portfolio Lead

Members asked for a report on Camden's Diversity Mission. They asked that this report be considered on the work programme for the next.

Action by: Corporate Strategy Portfolio Lead

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

There was no such business.