Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Director of Adults and Health that provides an update on Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) activity in Leeds, highlighting achievements and challenges experienced to date; provides detail on the importance of ABCD in supporting the city’s response to Covid-19, community resilience and the lessons that can be learnt from this; and provides an outline plan for further proliferation of ABCD across communities in Leeds and the potential of this way of working to deliver the Council’s ambitions.

The Director of Adults and Health submitted a report which provided an update on Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) activity in Leeds, highlighting achievements and challenges experienced to date. The report also detailed the importance of ABCD in supporting the city’s response to Covid-19 and community resilience and which presented an outline plan for the further proliferation of ABCD, with details also being provided on the potential for this way of working to further deliver the Council’s ambitions.

As part of the introduction to the report, the Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adults introduced the newly appointed Chief Officer for Transformation and Innovation.

Responding to a Member’s enquiries, it was noted that a further report to the Board presenting the outcomes from the evaluation work being undertaken by Leeds Beckett University would be submitted either in December 2020 or early in 2021.

A Member highlighted the importance of the approach being further embraced by other services within the Council, such as the Communities team, in order to maximise the benefits from the initiative. In response to this, the Board was provided with further detail on the actions being taken to develop the ABCD approach in the short to medium term, specifically with regard to greater partnership working both internally and with external organisations.

In conclusion, Members highlighted how this work was crucially important in helping to address the issues being faced across the city during the current time.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the positive impact that Asset Based Community Development and asset based approaches have made across the city, be noted together with the important role that they have played in the Covid-19 response;

(b)  That the outline plan for the development of Asset Based Community Development in Leeds, be noted;

(c)  That agreement be given to work with key partners across the city in order to develop Asset Based Community Development and asset based approaches as a key vehicle for meeting the city’s priority outcomes;

(d)  That it be noted that the officer responsible for the development of ABCD is the Chief Officer for Transformation and Innovation in Adults and Health, working with key partners within the Council and externally.