The report of the Interim Strategic Director, Place (Document “R”) will be submitted to the Committee to update Members on the progress JU:MP has made since that time along with other strategic developments that Active Bradford are undertaking.

Recommended –

That the report be noted.

(Zuby Hamard – 01274 432671)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “R”) was submitted to the Committee to inform Members of the progress made by JU:MP and other strategic developments taking place as part of Active Bradford (a partnership of agencies from across the Bradford District).

The focus of Active Bradford was to target residents who were either inactive or low participants in sport, who tended to be from those on low incomes, people with disabilities and some women and girls from some ethnic minority groups.

Active Bradford was successful in being selected by Sport England as one of 12 local delivery pilots named JU:MP.

The report provided information on the scheme’s status and details of its 15 work streams with the ultimate goal of helping children and families move and play more in the long term which would lead to improved health and wellbeing for future generations.

Whilst the programme was funded up to 2025, discussions to extend the work were taking place to share research and development learning as well as best practice with other local authorities with the assets created by the JU:MP team allowing the programme to be sustainable beyond the existing funding provision.

Officers presented their report and stated that it aimed to increase physical activity, not just via sports as they reported that one third of adults do less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week.  Delivery was carried out via ‘Born in Bradford’ and was a solution focussed approach to work with families.  A summary of the delivery model was given which consisted of 8 neighbours with JU:MP groups and 14 Connector programmes.  Some examples of groups involved were given but officers stated that secondary schools were hard to engage with.  Officers reported that 17 mosques and madrasas were taking part as well as the formation of a girl’s cricket teams programme.

Members were then given the opportunity to ask questions and comment, the details of which and the responses given are as below.  The Chair and some Members from two Area Committees also attended the meeting and were allowed to address Officers through the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee.

·         A Member asked which mosques and madrasas were involved in Keighley.  Officers advised that they were working with Inner West and Inner East sites but there was a proposed roll out in 2023 which would include Keighley

·         A member asked what was being done to empower communities to identify more green spaces and to engage with JU:MP partners.  Officers advised that they were working with partners with the funding sitting with the Council and that they would want to consult and then map out areas to use.  They wanted to engage with communities from the outset and to provide mobile play facilities

·         A Ward Councillor and Area Committee Chair stated that local Councillors should also be engaged but this was not continuing to happen and queried how funding was allocated.  Additional costs, caused by inflation, of earlier projects had a knock on effect that resulted in a reduction in funding allocated to a particular area.  Ward Councillors stated they were unaware of this and asked who had made the decision on the level of funding.  There was also a concern raised regarding the suitability and experience when awarding projects via tender.  Some funds were held by Manningham Housing and some concerns raised that the money was not being disseminated down; the issue of accountability was also raised.  Members also asked who was on the Board of JU:MP.  Officers advised that accountability concerns were discussed at Board meetings and they ensured that a formal tender process was followed.  Representation from neighbourhoods came together to make collective decisions.

·         A Member asked whether Connectors were giving good value for money as they had been running since 2019.  Officers acknowledged the question and advised that research would provide the answer which would then be analysed.  They were satisfied that the Connector programme was working to engage children and families

·         The Chair of the Area Committee then asked about social marking and the use of a company called Magpie and asked officers why this particular company had been selected as they were not based in the District.  Officers advised that they had a good reputation and were working across the region and were doing a good job.  Some 9000 families had been signed up although the numbers were not completely accurate as they were estimated based on a simple formula.  Officers offered to provide information regarding the profiles used for targeting purposes and gave 2 examples of organisations or projects who had used Magpie. 

·         A comment was then made by a Member that Magpie had not achieved their target and that they were not confident that Bradford was getting the best value for money.  They also commented that they felt the report did not give a detailed picture of what activities Connectors were doing

Resolved –

That a further report be submitted to the Committee in January 2023 to include additional details of expenditure and use of funding.

Action: Interim Strategic Director, Place