Citizens' Panel Newsletter

Winter 2006

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Welcome to the latest Citizens' Panel newsletter. In this edition we let you know the findings from the latest survey which included questions on living in your community, homelessness, scrutiny panels, volunteering, awareness of measures to deal with anti-social behaviour and physical activity.

Living in Your Community

The majority of the Panel feel a sense of attachment to where they live. Three-quarters of the Panel say that they feel a strong sense of belonging to their neighbourhood.

Most panel members also feel there is a sense of community in Tameside:

• 69% think that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together
• 70% think that ethnic differences are respected by residents.

The Council wants to make sure that local neighbourhoods are places where people are proud to live and work and where residents get on well together. We will ask these questions again in the future to check how local people feel about their neighbourhoods.

Panel members were asked in which places they were most likely to meet and talk with people from different ethnic backgrounds. As the chart shows, local shops and in workplace situations are where Panel members are most likely to meet and talk with people from different backgrounds.

Where Panel members say they meet and talk to people from different ethnic backgrounds.

Main Responses:

• At local shops - 61%
• At work - 52%
• At restaurants, pubs, cinemas, community centres, etc - 39%
• In your neighbourhood - 31%
• On buses or trains - 22%
• At a place of education, eg school, college, university - 18%
• At sports or fitness activities - 13%
• None of these - 8%

One-third of Panel members feel they can infl uence decisions affecting their local area. Panel members in the Longdendale and Hattersley District Assembly area are the most likely to feel they can do this (67% said they can infl uence decisions).

Homelessness

Panel members perception on whether homelessness has increased or decreased over the last ten years

As the chart shows, the majority of Panel mem-bers think that homelessness has increased nationally over the last 10 years. Fewer Panel members thought that homelessness had in-creased in Tameside.

There has also been a decrease in the number of people sleeping rough in the last ten years in Tameside and fewer people have contacted the Council and organisations such as New Charter Housing for help. However, the Council, New Charter and other members of the Tameside Homelessness Forum will continue to respond to people who need advice and support around housing.

Just under half of Panel members say that they know something about homelessness and 13% want to receive more information. There is room for improvement in awareness around Coun-cil funded services for people who are at risk of becoming homeless. 70% of the Panel haven't heard of either the Housing Options Centre, the Sanctuary Scheme for victims of domestic violence, the family mediation project for young people and the rent deposit scheme.

Panel members were asked to select from a list where they would direct someone who was at risk of be-coming homeless. As the chart below shows, two-thirds of the Panel think that the Citizens' Advice Bureau is the best place to direct someone while half said Social Services:

Where Panel members would direct someone at risk of becoming homeless:

If you know someone who is at risk of becoming homeless we suggest that you fi rst of all direct them to the Housing Options Centre on Warrington Street in Ashton (the telephone number of the Housing Options Centreis 0161 331 2700).

The Housing Options Centre gives advice on all areas of housing, and can recommend other support that can be given around problems such as debt. The Housing Options Centre is also where all households will need to make applications for homelessness assistance.

• Citizens Advice Bureau - 65%
• Social Services - 49%
• Council Office/Tel No - 44%
• Nearest New Charter Office - 35%
• Housing Options Centre - 32%

The Panel suggested that the main reasons for someone becoming homeless are:

• Drugs/alcohol abuse (85% think this is the main cause)
• Poverty/debt (72%)
• Relationship breakdown (65%).

The Council finds that relationship breakdown, domestic violence and problems with tenancy are common causes of homelessness although all of these are often linked to drugs or alcohol abuse and poverty or debt.

Questions were asked about the Big Issue magazine as it works to reduce homelessness. Just under one in five Panel members buy the Big Issue at least once a month. The main reasons given for buying the Big Issue are that it is a good cause and that most of the money goes to the seller. Just under half of Panel members who don't buy the Big Issue say that they prefer to make private donations to charity.

Scrutiny Panels

One-third of Panel members say they have heard of Scrutiny Panels. 61% of the Panel gave permission for their name to be added to the contact list for the Scrutiny Matters Newsletter. Panel members who wanted to receive a copy via post should fi nd a copy enclosed with this Newsletter.

Panel members were asked whether they were aware of what Scrutiny Panels do. Three-quarters of the Panel know that Scrutiny Panels carry out reviews of local services and issues important to residents. 58% of the Panel are aware that local residents can take part in Scrutiny Panels, while 55% know that they are made up of councillors from all political parties.

In the future, Scrutiny Panels will be able to carry out reviews of local services such as policing and criminal justice and health services. To fi nd out more about Scrutiny Panels visit the Scrutiny website at www.tameside.gov.uk/scrutiny.

Local Area Agreement

Tameside is about to sign a Local Area Agreement with the government and we wanted to ask the Panel about some of the things that are an important part of the agreement.

Anti-Social behaviour

Just over one-quarter of the Panel feel well informed about what is being done to tackle anti-social behaviour in their area. The Council will be working with other organisations such as the Police to make sure that residents know about what is being done to deal with anti-social behaviour and know how to report anti-social behaviour.

Volunteering

27% of Panel members have volunteered their own time to local clubs and organisations over the last year. Panel members living in the Mossley and North East Stalybridge District Assembly Area are the most likely to have volunteered in the last year (41% have volunteered). The Council and local voluntary and community organisations will work together to encourage local residents to volunteer their time to local causes as it can help to improve skills, boost con-fi dence and provides valuable experience while helping others in the community.

Physical Activity

We asked the Panel about the number of days a week they carry out physical activity for 30 minutes that leaves them warmer or breathing harder than usual. 28% of the Panel said that they do 30 minutes of physical activity on one or two days a week, while 26% said that they do physical activity on at least 5 days per week.

Panel members living in the Longdendale and Hattersley District Assembly area are the most likely to say that they do 30 minutes of physical activity on at least 5 days per week. As the graph shows, older Panel members are the most likely to say that they carry out physical activity for 30 minutes or more on at least 5 days a week.

Panel members carrying out 30 minutes of physical activity that makes them warmer or breathe harder than usual on at least fi ve days a week by age:

• Age 18-34 = 19%
• Age 35-54 = 25%
• Age 55-64 = 32%
• Age 65+ = 34%

If you have any comments, ideas or queries about the Citizens' Panel please contact:

Jonathon Blackburn tel: 0161 342 3529