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North Warwickshire Community Partnership - Choice, Access and Transport

Aim:

Maximise local 'choice, access and transport' services to better meet the needs within local communities.

Key priorities:

• Improve people's life chances for those most in need by providing and facilitating better choice and means of accessing local services
• Promote and raise awareness of equality and inclusion to ensure that everyone will be able to play a full role in society, regardless of their income, age, health, disability, culture or ethnic origins
• Support, develop and promote public transport which helps to improve residents' access to facilities and services

Key Facts:

The Borough is mainly farmland, market towns, rural settlements and woodland. Public access to the countryside may be limited due to public transport provision and restricted access rights. Research has shown transport to be the biggest concern of rural communities. In Atherstone Central, 35.7% of households have no car. Most of the bus services are provided by the commercial sector, rather than subsidized through the public sector. These commercial routes are not guaranteed, and will be run only if economically viable.

A large proportion of our black and minority ethnic people feel excluded and marginalised from white commities, leading to a heightened sense of isolation. This is compounded by the fact that they are often one of only a few minority ethnic households in their town or village.

Nine wards are within the 'worst' 25 wards in the whole of Warwickshire for people having a long-term illness. Life expectacny for males is lower than that for the rest of the county, which may be linked with the previus occupations of many in the coal mining industry.

The 2001 census shows that around a third of those living in former mining wards are employed in routine or semi-routine occupations. These wards show high percentages of those aged between 16 and 74 with no qualifications, over a third in all cases with this rising to 43.3% in Athertone Central. Although the unemployment rate is low at 1.5%, 13.4% of households earn less than £10,000 per annum. 4,800 residents in North Warwickshire are in receipt of Council Ta and Housing Benefit. Parts of the Borough have high numbers of lone person households, notably Atherstone Central and Coleshill South wards and there is an estimated annual shortfall of affordable homes.

In 2003, 38.8% of enquiries to the Citizens Advice Bureau were debt related. New debt is particularly significant. From April 2005 - February 2006, new debt account was 33% compared to 28.5% in the West Midlands.

A survey undertaken by BMG on behalf of North Warwickshire Borough Council in Atumn 2005 identified that 82% of local people prefer to contact the Council by telephone. Contact in person was second choice and 73% said that the current opening hours were convenient. If hours were extended, 47% requested that offices sould open on a Saturday morning.

Why this is a priority

Improving 'choice, access and transport', particularly for htose who need our services the most, will help to address inequalities and overcome barriers to inclusion.

The rural nature of the area means people have to travel considerable distances to access jobs, services and facilities. This results in problems for people with mobility difficulties to rely on public transport. Lack of awareness of transport, poor transport publicity and lack of integrated trasnport provision further compounds these problems.

Cohesive communities can be developed by helping people to share a comon vision and a sense of belinging and by ensuring that those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities. Arts are one way of helping to foster and sutain community life, increasing community pride through visual, musical and dramatic events.

Through the North Warwickshire Framework for Sustainable Rural Action local actions are beginning to be 'rural proofed' to find local sustainable solutions. New technologies can improve information sharing and provide electronic access. This can improve local service provision, customer care and co-ordination between agencies to provide joined up services, helping to address local needs.

Work on the North Warwickshire Framework for Sustainable Rural Action, the BMG survey, and Partnership Day 5 have helped to shape these priorities.

Our key targets are:

• Develop a one-stop shop in North Warwickshire by 2008
• Achieve e-government targets by ensuring that all suitable Borough Council Services are available by 2008
• Provide equalities training to at least two representatives from each Theme Group by 2007
• Produce a Social Inclusion and Art Strategy by 2007
• Introduce a free bus travel for residents aged 60 and over by 2006
• Use five different publicity and information formats to promote public transport by 2008

During 2006/07 we will:

Over the next three years we will:

• Implement the Social Inclusion Strategy through arts and sports
• Continue to promote access to benefit and debt advice
• Extended Borough Council opening hours where is a demand
• Continue to suppor the Race Equality Sub-group and Warwickshire Race Equality Partnership
• Implement the Customer Access Strategy
• Promote social cohesion and cross cultural communication through diversity festival development
• Implement the revised Private Sector Decent Homes and Fuel poverty Strategy
• Co-ordinate support to bid more effectively for external funding
• Continue to support the achievement of the Equality Standard for Local Govenment
• Review the Framework for Sustainable Rural Action
• Delivery partnership equality impact assessment training
• Support the Partnership's Theme Groups to overcome barriers to inclusion
• Take equality issues to the wider Partnership as appropriate
• Support local cultural developments through ar, music, drama and sporting activities
• Monitor the implementation of the Coleshill multi-modial interchange
• Continue to arrange publicity and information on public transport
• Seek to secure continuation funding for community transport schemes

Further information can be obtained from:

Partnerships and organisations responsible for this priority include:

Policy: documents and information

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