MEA Community Planning Partnership - 3rd Statement of Progress
Our Vision for 2030 is:
“Mid and East Antrim will be a strong, vibrant, safe and inclusive community, where people work together to improve the quality of life for all.”
The information published on this page is also available as a downloadable document (PDF 5MB)
Contents
Our Community Planning Partnership
Review of Putting People First Community Plan
- Our Themes
- Strengthening our Themes
- Results of our Themes
- Structures supporting our Themes
- Putting People First in a Wider Strategic Context
- Actions and goals refreshed
- Partners’Engagement
Appendices (available in downloadable copy)
- Sustainable Jobs and Tourism
- Good Health and Wellbeing
- Progress in Education
- Community Safety and Cohesion
- Our Environment
Our Statement of Progress
Mid and East Antrim’s Putting People First Community Plan was published on 30 March 2017.
The Local Government Act (NI) 2014 requires Community Planning Partnerships to make arrangements to monitor progress against meeting the objectives of community plans and the effectiveness of the actions taken in aiming to achieve those objectives.
This is to be communicated to the public via a published statement, highlighting progress on outcomes achieved and actions taken.
A first statement of progress was to be produced within two years of the community plan being published and every two years thereafter.
The first Statement of Progress was published in November 2019 with the second statement following in November 2021.
The statement is an opportunity for partnerships to update local people on actions to deliver the community plan, the nature and details within these statements will evolve as community planning develops.
The third statement considers how well the Mid and East Antrim Community Planning Partnership has worked collaboratively; what progress, if any, has been made towards the 15-year outcomes; the actions delivered or underway; and what impact they have made to local people.
The Approach
The first Putting People First Community Plan contained five themes (these have been reduced to 4 themes following review (see pag 13), Sustainable Jobs and Tourism; Good Health and Wellbeing; Progress in Education; Community Safety and Cohesion and Our Environment.
Initially in order to progress to the implementation and delivery of actions, some short-term and medium-term priorities were identified via a scoring matrix.
The actions prioritised were the ones that demonstrated clear collaborative gain to build momentum and public confidence in the Community Planning process.
They also required minimal funding or legislative change and had lead partners readily identified.
Going forward, following review we will focus on priority actions for the next four years.
It is also important to note that the Community Planning Partnership has tried to avoid including any business-asusual work and instead focused on areas of work requiring a collaborative approach to improve the quality of life for all.
As lead partner, Council is fully committed to implementing the statutory duties under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
A requirement to carrying out its functions, it has due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity between - persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status, or sexual orientation.
The screening of all community planning actions has allowed Council to promote equality of opportunity, take further consideration of any potential equality impacts, and apply measures to mitigate and further promote equality of opportunity.
Following the publishing of the first Statement of Progress in November 2019, attention turned to the process for the review of the community plan.
A paper outlining our approach to the review along with a draft timeline was developed for presentation and approval to the Strategic Alliance in March 2020.
The scheduled meeting of the Strategic Alliance in March 2020 was cancelled due to the onset of Covid-19 and the introduction of lockdown.
At that point the community planning partnership leaned heavily on the strong working relationships developed through the community planning journey and utilised them to make a swift and robust response to the pandemic.
As a result of Covid-19 timescales shifted and thus our review process took place in 2022 and a reviewed plan was produced which took cognisance of the change in landscape post-pandemic.
Our Community Planning Partnership
The Local Government Act 2014 requires Councils to facilitate the development of a Community Plan in partnership with Community Planning partners.
The Community Planning Structure for Mid and East Antrim was designed with the involvement and engagement of the community planning partners, including the community and voluntary sector organisations.
The membership of the Community Planning Partnership includes the designated statutory partners set out in the legislation, community representatives included elected members and a range of other groups and organisations.
This has established a broader partnership which has been integral to the initial development and ongoing delivery of the community plan.
The Delivery Structure
Within the Community Planning Partnership, there are a number of key groups directly involved in influencing the delivery of Putting People First:
Strategic Alliance
This is the key overarching strategic partnership body for Community Planning.
It includes the 12 designated statutory partners, government departments, elected representatives, representatives from the Community Panel and additional voluntary support organisations identified by partners as having potential to make a valuable contribution to the process.
Community Panel
This group represents the community voice for Mid and East Antrim Borough and provides 12 community representatives, elected members and sectoral representatives the opportunity to input into all parts of the Community Planning Partnership structure.
They supplement the work of the local community activity in relation to community planning objectives.
Thematic Groups
There are currently 5 thematic groups (will reduce to 4 following review), one for each of the 5 overarching themes in the Community Plan.
These are the key operational groups for the Community Planning Partnership, informing and supporting strategic decisions made by the Strategic Alliance.
The groups prioritise the work stream actions and prepare delivery action plans.
These groups do not operate in isolation, as there are many interrelationships between the themes and their combined contribution help to achieve better results.
Delivery Groups
These are special purpose working groups tasked with taking forward the day-to-day activities involved in delivering the short-term actions.
Membership of these remain flexible and responsive and will change depending on those required for delivery at each stage.
How well is the partnership working?
- Published 3rd Statement of Progress in November 2023
- 6 further Strategic Alliance meetings
- 5 further Community Panel neetings
How well have we done it?
Representation at Community Panel Meetings
- Average attendance rate at Community Panel meetings ranged from 29% to 41%, with average attendance of 34% of those invited.
- Members (non MEABC staff) had an average attendance rate of 21%.
Representation at Strategic Alliance Meetings
- Strategic Alliance meetings had an average attendance rate of 36% of those invited.
- Statutory and voluntary partners (non MEABC staff) accounted for 26% of those in attendance.
Is anyone better off as a result?
Despite the ongoing review of the community plan during this period, coupled with still dealing with Covid-19 and subsequent restrictions, work did continue.
Many of the actions were still relevant and necessary and took on a stronger focus such as addressing needs, supporting mental health, and tackling vulnerability and poverty.
New actions involving multiple partners commenced in respect to the pandemic and subsequent cost of living rise and many continue.
A robust response to Covid-19 was made possible through community planning partners and a community planning approach.
This has strengthened further collaboration emerging from the pandemic as well as dealing with the cost-of-living rise and its impact on the most vulnerable.
Challenges
From the outset there was a range of challenges that impacted on the implementation and delivery of community planning activities.
Many of these remain to varying degrees across the sectors, such as:
- Varying levels of understanding across partner organisations
- Inconsistency of commitment across partner organisations
- Managing the high expectations of communities
- Delivering on new ambitious commitments from within existing and depleted resources
- Promoting the plan as a Mid and East Antrim plan and not a Council plan.
- As Lead Partner Council had secured the services of a statistician to work as part of the community planning team and liaise with partners throughout the development of the plan and in the initial delivery phase.
This resource has deleted over the past number of years and currently there is no access to such expertise in house.
This has an impact on the quantitative data collection and in the longer term will be an issue to be addressed by the wider partnership alongside the other challenges still being experienced. - Resourcing community planning continues to be a real challenge, particularly as it did not come with a defined budget.
This is particularly challenging for council as a lead partner who services the partnership and coordinates all activity.
This is not unique to Council as particularly post Covid-19 and the current cost of living rise, delivery of public services are under increasing pressure with many services not able to fully meet demand.
Community Planning is a way of working in partnership to reduce duplication and find new and more efficient ways of delivering public services
In practice, there should be a focus on the sharing of resources to improve the outcomes for our citizens but the practicalities of this has been and continues to be much harder than perhaps initially anticipated.
The review of Putting People First reflects the post pandemic landscape as well as the impact of the cost-of-living rise and has set priorities for the next four years (until next review) taking this context into account.
Covid-19 Recovery
The Local Government Act 2014 requires Councils to facilitate the development of a Community Plan in partnership with Community Planning partners.
The Community Planning Structure for Mid and East Antrim was designed with the involvement and engagement of the community planning partners, including the community and voluntary sector organisations.
The membership of the Community Planning Partnership includes the designated statutory partners set out in the legislation, community representatives included elected members and a range of other groups and organisations.
This has established a broader partnership which has been integral to the initial development and ongoing delivery of the community plan.
Review of Putting People First Community Plan
The review of Mid and East Antrim’s community plan was the main focus of the partnership for the 2-year period covering this Statement of Progress (November 2021-November 2023).
Putting People First is an ambitious document which accurately reflects the context of Community Planning in 2014-2017 when plans were being developed.
Partnerships were new, the task in hand was unclear, corporate, and operational plans were already in place within partner organisations and yet community planning partnerships were tasked with developing plans and actions to transform the quality of life in communities.
Whilst across all of Northern Ireland’s local authorities every effort was made to develop collaborative plans and to try to avoid the inclusion of business as usual it was impossible to disregard existing strategies, plans and programmes which were already in place and seeking to address many of the very same issues which were highlighted as priorities for community plans.
Unsurprisingly the first iteration of community plans, Putting People First included, have an abundance of outcomes, indicators and actions.
At the time, with partnerships in their infancy, this was the only way to ensure that all partners had a stake in the success of community planning.
The review of Putting People First in 2021/2022 was timely.
Not only have the partnership structures developed and solidified, but the global pandemic along with the cost of living rise has changed the landscape in which community planning is delivered.
In focus groups conducted as part of the audit and review process, it was commented that the response to the Covid 19 crisis was community planning as it should be.
It was a range of agencies working together to address a common and pressing concern.
It involved the reallocation of human resources, the redirection of financial resources and the concentration of effort on a single issue.
In addition to taking on board the feedback from the audit, this review was also cognisant of the learning from what happened during the pandemic and the opportunities that exist to build on the success of the response made.
Having reviewed Putting People First, the Statement of Progress and the implementation plan, it was clear that the plan offers a comprehensive approach to addressing some of the starkest needs and potentially fruitful opportunities facing the borough.
Whilst it may appear nuanced, the review led to the consolidation of some of the themes and outcomes, to move what have previously been identified as outcomes into actions and indicators and reprioritised the proposed actions.
The aim of this reshuffling of the plan content is twofold – to streamline a complex process to enable delivery of actions which make an impact; and for that impact to be tangible in local communities and for the residents of Mid and East Antrim.
The review was approached from a people-centred perspective, intending to highlight where community planning can really make a difference to people living in the borough.
Measuring and evidencing the answers to “what did we do?” and “how well did we do it?” is significantly more straightforward than answering “is anybody better off?” however we know that people are, and that more people could be.
Our Themes
Currently Putting People First has five themes, each with its own vision, a number of outcomes and an action plan to achieve the outcomes:
- Good Health and Wellbeing
- Community Safety & Cohesion
- Progress in Education
- Sustainable Jobs and Tourism
- Our Environment
Operationally, five themes made for a complex delivery system.
The nature of a community plan is that, to quote one consultee “there is nothing that’s not connected.”
Issues in communities do not lend themselves to alignment with particular departmental strategies.
Communities are complex places, where needs vary, infrastructure is changeable, and it takes a variety of interventions to turn the curve.
Feedback as part of the audit showed that the public agreed that all of the five themes remain either a priority or very important, and there was no suggestion that anything was missing.
That said, examination of the current themes and their related action plans lead to the consolidation of the existing themes in a way which will work better operationally.
Good Health and Wellbeing
More than 90% of survey respondents identified Good health and Wellbeing as “should be a priority” or “very important”, and two thirds of respondents ranked good health and wellbeing as either their first or second priority for community planning effort in the next four years.
As we emerge from the pandemic and move into a period of recovery, there will be new challenges in terms of physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Progress in Education and Employment
43.5% survey respondents identified progress in education as their first or second priority.
Review of the implementation plans for Progress in Education and Sustainable Jobs and Tourism identified significant synergies between the proposed areas of focus.
The themes of removing barriers and achieving potential were common to both, as were a number of the key partners.
Rewording this theme provided an opportunity for greater synergies and greater benefits through community planning actions.
Community Safety and Cohesion
Safe and inclusive communities continue to be valued by those who responded to the survey with almost 40% identifying this as their first or second priority.
Whilst it was not recommended that the title of the theme is changed, it was recommended that the scope of the theme was broadened.
Tourism and the Economy
26.9% of respondents had the previous theme of Sustainable Jobs and Tourism as first or second in terms of their prioritisation of effort, however tourism clearly plays an important part in the economic prosperity of the borough.
Currently there is limited appreciation for the benefits tourism brings to the borough with those who did comment identifying that visitors go to attractions but do not spend much time or money in the local villages or towns.
If tourism and economy were brought together under one theme, there was greater scope for the wider ripple effects of tourism development to be seen.
Strengthening our Themes
The review and audit identified a number of recurring themes which were not so much issues to address as they are ways of working.
The reviewed plan includes five cross cutting themes which represent key considerations which will underpin all activity undertaken through community planning.
Tackling poverty
The Covid 19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the livelihoods of individuals and families across Northern Ireland and the borough.
When this is coupled with rising costs of living, rapidly escalating fuel costs and inflation, the numbers of households finding themselves financially insecure is increasing also.
Mid and East Antrim had one neighbourhood renewal area and two areas at risk prior to the pandemic but anecdotal evidence to date indicates that poverty is impacting families across the whole of the borough.
Poverty and deprivation can be a significant barrier to achieving the ambitions of Putting People First, but conversely, Putting People First has the opportunity to tackle some of the root causes of poverty through its actions.
Prioritising the most vulnerable
The issue of inclusion was raised frequently throughout the audit, and it was in regard to a spectrum of people, but in particular people with disabilities and people with learning difficulties whom it was felt had been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and the resulting exclusion.
In addition, people at risk were identified including people from different ethnic backgrounds, young people and older people.
Any planned community activity should be viewed through the lens of how it will benefit those who are the most vulnerable in the borough.
This will enable a focus on those who can be the most “better off” as a result.
Valuing the views and contribution of our residents
The intent of the partners in the Strategic Alliance was clear when it entitled the community plan Putting People First.
The plan acknowledged that the greatest asset in the borough of Mid and East Antrim is its people.
It also acknowledged that it is a plan to benefit the people of the borough.
Currently there is a disconnect between those involved in the community planning structures and other groups and residents.
There is a sense in the feedback received through the consultation process that the community feel they are not engaged in the decisions that affect them, or that the community organisations are not taken seriously.
The pandemic response has clearly demonstrated the importance of the community and voluntary sector in the area.
Without local groups and local intelligence, those who were most in need would not have been identified or supported.
Post pandemic there are connections and relationships which the community planning partnership should nurture going forward.
Valuing our environment
Paradoxically Our Environment as a theme was the least prioritised, however measures to address climate change, environmental awareness and the importance of respect for the local and natural environment were points which were made throughout the consultation responses.
Therefore, valuing our environment has become a cross cutting theme which will enable the community planning partners to make climate change commitments at an organisational level and to support the improvement of local environments at a community level.
The environment is a key success factor in all four of the revised themes.
Addressing the inequalities in our Borough
The plan currently includes “our borough has health equality for all” as an outcome under Good Health and Wellbeing.
Given that there are so many social determinants of health and wellbeing such as deprivation, living environment, access to employment and so on, addressing inequality is a cross cutting theme.
This commitment will also respond to feedback which asked for fairness in how resources and support are allocated between rural and urban areas and between different towns in the borough.
The results of our Themes
Outcomes:
In addition to consolidating the themes, the 19 original outcomes were streamlined also.
This enables the Strategic Alliance to focus on priority areas but also provides the opportunity to redistribute existing efforts into contributing towards clearer and more easily measurable outcomes.
Community Safety and Cohesion
Our borough has vibrant, inclusive and cohesive communities
- Because there are activities and events which welcome everyone
- Because we proactively support and include the most vulnerable and the most excluded
- Because we value and respect the environment we live in
Our people feel safe in their community
- Because there are programmes in place to address their greatest concerns
- Because we proactively support the most vulnerable or at risk
Our older people are live healthy, active lives in their community
- Because there are networks and services in place to support them to age actively and healthily
- Because we proactively remove barriers to their participation in community life
Progress in Education and Employment
We have a skilled workforce able to adapt to the changing economy
- Because we have skills development programmes targeting areas of high growth or need
- Because we provide a range of education pathways to employment
Our borough provides opportunities for all and supports people to achieve their full potential
- Because we reduce or remove the barriers to our people achieving their potential
- Because we value lifelong learning
- Because we encourage entrepreneurship and vocational training
Tourism and the Economy
Our borough is a leading and competitive place to start and grow business
- Because we support entrepreneurs to start up and existing businesses to grow
- Because we support local businesses and those which can demonstrate social value
Our borough is a destination of choice
- Because we have first class facilities and attractions
- Because our towns and village are attractive and vibrant
Good Health and Wellbeing
Our People enjoy good mental and physical health and wellbeing
- Because they are physically active more often
- Because they enjoy easy access to our borough’s natural environment and heritage
- Because they have access to information, activities and advice to support their physical and mental wellbeing
Supporting our Themes
The review demonstrated that there are aspects of the current structures which are more effective than others.
Strategic Alliance
The recent statement of progress identified that the Strategic Alliance meetings had an average attendance rate of 37% of those invited.
This figure is cause for concern, implying as it does that there is consistent commitment by only around one third of partners.
The strategic connectivity which the Strategic Alliance can foster is vital to the effective delivery of the community plan, if the plan includes areas of focus for which key strategic partners are not present, then progress in effecting positive change will always be difficult.
Community planning is a collaborative endeavour.
It is therefore important that the outcomes and related actions provide the opportunity for significant collaboration. Ideally this collaboration serves both the operational needs of the partners and provides significant added value to the beneficiaries.
However, collaboration and partnership can also slow progress.
The greater the number of organisations involved, the more levels of approval that are required.
It is anticipated that the ongoing review of the community planning guide including reducing the number of meetings of the Strategic Alliance and the retention of a hybrid approach which will allow partners to avoid unnecessary travel will address this.
Community Panel
There is room for improvement in the role played by the Community Panel and how this connects to the wider community planning structure.
There is real potential for this group to bridge the perceived gap between communities and the community plan but currently this does not appear to be the case.
The community panel represents the community voice for Mid and East Antrim Borough, yet feedback implies that the community feels it does not have a voice or that its voice is not heard.
At this stage, the structures, membership and operation of the Community Plan are being reviewed, to ensure that it is able to provide the voice for the community.
Clarity around the expectations of members of the panel is required also.
The panel is an ideal conduit of information into and out of the community planning structures, but for this to be effective the information shared should be pertinent and should be directed towards where it can be actioned.
As part of this review the Strategic Alliance will consider reorganising how it engages with the community to reflect the new District Electoral Area structures within Council and the Community Clusters.
It is an opportune time to review the representativeness of the community panel across the borough.
Thematic Groups
Thematic working groups can be very effective in the initial planning and action planning stages, particularly when the members are decision makers within their own organisations.
Once the initial action plans are developed however, thematic working groups can slide into a pattern of meetings focused on updates, declining attendance and increasing frustration as progress slows.
The feedback from some of the thematic groups was that they struggled to find the added value of the community planning activity.
There was concern expressed by some that the scope of themes was so wide that by the time updates were presented there was no time left for development.
Concern was also expressed around changing personnel and membership leading to a loss of corporate knowledge about the community plan, its intentions and its actions.
It is anticipated that the review of the Community Plan and the consolidation of themes referenced earlier in this document will provide thematic working groups with renewed focus as they have the opportunity to examine and re-prioritise actions.
Thematic Chairs Group
This strategic connectivity between the themes is an important aspect of the successful implementation of Putting People First.
By definition, any structure which involves 25 public and private sector organisations will be unwieldly and challenging to navigate.
Information flows will be patchy, and it will be difficult.
The thematic chairs group has proved an excellent way to mitigate this.
As decision makers in their own organisations and experts in their themes, they will be instrumental in overcoming some of the challenges to delivery.
Operational Board and Performance Management Group
Neither the Operational Board nor the Performance Management Group have been implemented as envisaged when the plan was developed.
The roll out of community planning has not been detrimentally impacted by the absence of either group, in fact it is likely that had these groups been in place it would have diluted the attendance of partners even further.
Putting People First in the Wider Strategic Context
Since Putting People First was published in 2017, the strategic and policy context has seen some significant changes, some key aspects of which are noted below.
- The covid pandemic and subsequent recovery plans
- Welfare reform
- New Mental Health Strategy 2021 to 2031
- Belfast Region City Deal
- Draft Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland
- Development of an anti-poverty strategy
- Draft programme for government
- Towards a Programme of Support for Community Planning (the Gallagher Report)
- Embedding a Wellbeing Framework in Northern Ireland, Carnegie Trust UK
It is testament to the foundations of Putting People First that it remains aligned with the wider policy context and priorities.
These new and emerging strategies may add impetus to areas of work the Strategic Alliance was already considering.
Communication and Awareness
It is difficult to challenge the perception that Putting People First is the Council’s plan - as opposed to the plan for the Council area - when so many of the actions are Council-led.
Whilst we understand the origins of this, it is to the detriment of a wider understanding of community planning.
The action planning process in 2017 prioritised actions which could be delivered quickly, and which involved at least three partners, however it in the effort to deliver quickly, the community planning identity was lost.
It was clear through the focus groups that there is a lack of awareness and appreciation of what has been delivered as a result of community planning.
This is due in part to people struggling to differentiate between what they perceived as business as usual and the perhaps more collaborative way in which this business is now conducted.
Part of the solution to this lies in a Communications Strategy and Action Plan.
The communication networks and channels available to the community planning partnership is nothing short of significant.
Across the partners there are ways to communicate with all schools, all sports clubs, all registered community groups, all registered youth groups, all housing associations and tenants’ groups.
The potential of this communication platform is vastly underutilised by the Strategic Alliance.
A small number of agreed core messages, a reciprocal agreement around social media post tagging and sharing, and a twice-yearly e-zine shared with all contacts and awareness of Putting People First and what it is achieving will increase exponentially.
Actions and goals refreshed
As part of the review implementation plans for each theme were considered.
The documents provided identified how actions were prioritised into short, medium and long term.
It was agreed that the actions lists were reviewed with a fresh lens which takes account of the new environment in which community planning is being delivered.
Actions agreed which were appropriate and pertinent to escalate up the list or to increase the focus on.
These include the following:
Good Health and Wellbeing
- Creating a network of navigators within communities
- Support and encourage the shared use of facilities within the public sector estate
Progress in Education and Employment
- Skills Forum
- Education and support for employing vulnerable people (previously a Health and Wellbeing action)
Community Safety and Cohesion
- Build Civic pride and celebrating community success
- Build on existing support to assist newcomer pupils (previously a progress in education action)
- Environnent champions to encourage environmental responsible behaviour
Tourism and the Economy
- Energy efficiency
- Buy Social
- Urban and Rural Regeneration and town centre revitalisation
There are also actions which are either the responsibility of a single organisation or which include many factors which the partners cannot influence and as such they were removed or consolidated with others to design a more strategic multi-partner initiative.
Regional Strategies Initiatives with a Community Planning dimension
Several of the regional policy developments referenced in the previous section include opportunities for action which readily lend themselves to being community planning actions.
Such opportunities are collaborative in nature and community in focus, the following actions were considered for the next 4-year period:
- Initiatives to tackle poverty such as development of sustainable social supermarkets
- Embedding the work of the Labour Market Partnership within the action planning on the theme of Progress in Education and Employment
- Enabling and Empowering local communities to respond to local issues through the community resilience model, protecting those most at risk of exploitation by addressing addiction
- Developing a model of community development and engagement which empowers communities to participate in the community planning process
- Exploring neighbourhood agreements as a mechanism to engage statutory partners and local communities in resolving issues in District Electoral Areas
- Implementing actions identified through the Review of Community Plan under the four themes in the Gallagher Report, namely: the Scope of Community Plans; Communications and Community Involvement; Use of Data and Evidence; and Leadership, Performance and Resources.
Community Involvement
The Community Panel plays an important role in the community planning structure, however moving forward, representation of the community should be progressed to active engagement/involvement of the community.
Where possible the Strategic Alliance will adopt a codesign approach to development of actions.
Not only will this address issues of community buy in, it will also increase the chances of success and increase awareness of the community planning activity.
The new District Electoral Area model lends itself particularly well to co-design as it has a local focus and can draw on local networks and relationships.
It also has a council officer with community development skills as lynchpin to the process.
This approach would make community planning more real and tangible at a local level and enable appropriate focusing of resources in response to local need.
Partnership Commitment
It is understood that all public sector agencies are under considerable budgetary pressure.
It has also become apparent over the past five years that the theory of bending the spend ie, the reallocation of existing resources is less readily achievable than the designers of community planning might have anticipated.
However, there are ways in which community planning partners can actively participate in community planning with little or no investment required: Social Value Clauses are identified as an action under Tourism and the Economy.
Whilst this currently applies to above threshold contracts, partners could commit to inclusion of social value as a consideration in all community planning related commissioning.
Climate change policies are required of all public bodies, so the partnership could make a collective statement on its commitment to net zero, renewable energy etc
Meetings within the community planning structures could be better utilised for the sharing of information and expertise between partners.
Each of the partners has access to an immense network of groups and individuals who can both inform and benefit from community planning actions, however the opportunities this presents have not been maximised as yet.
It is anticipated that as a result of the Regional Review of Community Planning, and the revisions to the Programme for Government, there will be increased support for the implementation of Community Planning at a local level.
Partners’ Engagement
Historic Environment Division
The Department has had important engagement with the Council on the historic environment during the review period.
There has been significant work carried out in the development of the Townscape Heritage Initiative scheme and City Deal for Carrickfergus and in the nomination of Gracehill as a potential World Heritage Site to UNESCO.
The Council has also made significant progress with its Local Development Plan and the development of policies to protect the historic environment within this.
We note that under the Tourism and Economy heading there remains a commitment to ‘urban and social regeneration and town centre revitalisation’ and suggest that the potential of heritage/historic environment to contribute to that aim and to the wider tourism strategy could be included to allow clear reference to the initiatives referred to above.
Active Communities Division Sports Branch
The Department notes and welcomes the work the Council is doing to secure ‘Autism Friendly’ organisation status in particular the update that several leisure centres and parks in the area have received the ‘Autism Impact Award’.
This aligns with a number of key themes and goals in Active Living, the Sport and Physical Activity Strategy for Northern Ireland that aims to increase participation in sport and physical activity among traditionally under represented groups, including people with a disability, by removing barriers to participation and ensuring everyone has access to inclusive, shared, safe and welcoming indoor and outdoor sport and physical activity infrastructure.
The Department also welcomes the update on greenways and outdoor spaces and the programmes on health and wellbeing that the Council have facilitated in these spaces.
We support encouraging people to use green and blue spaces and providing greater choice of sport and physical activities for all abilities.
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland Housing Executive welcomes the inclusion of Urban and Rural Regeneration and town centre revitalisation as per reprioritisation of actions.
Housing led regeneration can play an important role in the sustainable growth of towns and villages and we want to ensure housing is a priority which gives us an opportunity to raise awareness of local housing issues across the partnership that could also help to unlock opportunities for increasing housing supply and housing led regeneration.
Our local office has also commented that the Mid and East Antrim Support Hub continues to be an invaluable resource to residents and tenants (Cohorts) and statutory agencies to achieve housing solutions for those who consent to having their cases discussed confidentially by the Statutory Agencies concerned with any issue the cohorts may have.
The Statutory Agencies work together to endeavour to achieve a satisfactory solution for the tenant.
Mid and East Antrim Agewell Partnership MEAAP) also continues to be a vital source of referral for NIHE Patch Managers to assist tenants/residents with a variety of financial and practical support services for vulnerable older tenants provided by MEAAP.
The Housing Executive continues to have a professional working rapport with MEAAP.
Northern Ireland Water
There has been strong collaboration between NI Water and Council partners within the thematic topic ‘Our Environment’ of the Community Plan ‘Putting People First.’
While the environment was initially the least prioritised theme, the consultation responses emphasised the significance of measures addressing climate change, environmental awareness, and respect for the local environment.
Consequently, valuing the environment became a cross-cutting theme for the Community Planning Partnership to make organisational commitments towards climate change and support community-level environmental improvement.
Where we are now
The review of Mid and East Antrim’s Community Plan, Putting People First is now complete along with the review of the implementation plans.
Successful consultation has also taken place on the delivery plans.
The next steps will be to re-invigorate the thematic groups and agree action leads for the new actions that align with the reviewed plan and outcomes.
This work has been taking place over the last two years – 2021–2023 and has been the main focus of the partnership.
Whilst there have been actions that have been deemed appropriate to continue to be delivered, others were paused or ceased for a number of reasons.
Some were due to the pandemic, where priorities and resources shifted.
Others were due to the review taking place and awaiting the outcome.
This has been a transition period for Mid and East Antrim’s community planning process, and it is the intention that the new indicators and subsequent measurements will be reflected in the 2025 Statement of Progress.
Putting People First remains a document which is reflective of the needs and priorities of the residents of Mid and East Antrim.
The current review, coupled with the emergence from the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, provides the Strategic Alliance with an opportunity to streamline the plan, to focus on those who are most in need and most vulnerable, and to deliver collaborative actions that benefit residents.
The changes are not onerous; however, they will enable the Partnership to make an even greater, and more visible and tangible, difference in the borough.
Next Steps
The Community Planning Partnership has recently reviewed the community plan, “Putting People First”.
This review was timely in light of the recent pandemic and the impact of the cost of living rise.
The Partnership has ensured the reviewed plan reflects the priorities for Mid and East Antrim for the next four years.
The Partnership has also agreed implementation plans which align with the reviewed plan’s priorities.
Currently, a process is being worked through to develop delivery plans to ensure the priorities identified are delivered.
Whilst these processes are being worked through existing actions are still being delivered on (where appropriate) and progress and impact are still being monitored.
The Partnership will continue to monitor progress and impact and a further Statement of Progress will be published again in November 2025.