Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director of Communities and Environment.

The Committee received a report and presentation providing a summary of initial feedback on the Gateshead Holiday Activities and Food programme which ran from 22 July 2019 to 5 September 2019.

It was noted that the Neighbourhood Management and Volunteering Team successfully secured £204, 403 to provide free summer holiday activities and healthy food for disadvantaged children. It was also stated that the funding from the Department for Education was only allocated to only eleven organisations across England as part of a government pilot.

A summary of the application process was outlined within the report. It was also highlighted that Gateshead’s chances of success were limited based on the figure of 15.9% for children eligible for free school meals. However, it was stated that the application that was submitted for Gateshead presented the data at a neighbourhood level which demonstrated a case for intervention.

An overview of programme delivery was presented. It was noted that 39 venues took part in the programme with a range of activities provided from performing arts to mountain biking. The Committee were further advised that the venues used were located in a mix of community settings as well as schools.

The Committee noted that some venues prepared a packed lunch or hot meal on site. It was also stated that those venues without on-site facilities received packed lunches from the Council’s Catering service.

It was noted from the report that monitoring returns and surveys are still being compiled but that initial feedback has been positive. A breakdown of some initial data already receive was also summarised within the report.

It was highlighted that the most significant challenge when developing the programme was ensuring that the children and families who needed the support were able to have access to it. It was noted that a mapping exercise took place which identified the need for provision in the rural west and the densely populated east of the borough. The Committee were also advised that additional challenges included ensuring that places available were filled by those who really needed them so the team worked hard to ensure that venues were no further than two miles from each of the neighbourhoods identified.

It was asked how long it took for the provision to be organised from the funding being allocated; the Committee were advised that the timescales were extremely tight but that feedback on this has been provided to DfE. It was stated that a timescale of around 6 months would have been preferred.

The Committee noted that they were impressed that a project of this scale had been put in place with so little notice. A comment was also made that it was positive to see that catering was provided at each venue to ensure that the children attending were well fed.

An additional question was asked about food waste, it was noted that there was little to no food waste across the project. It was stated that attendance was monitored throughout, and that catering were updates as to how many packed lunches to provide each day. It was stated that tuna sandwiches proved unpopular with the children so this will be taken in to account should the scheme run again.

The Committee requested that the boroughs MP’s be provided with a copy of the final report when it is produced.

RESOLVED:

(i)            The Committee noted the contents of the report.