Review of Angus Health & Social Care Strategic Commissioning Plan

The Angus Health and Social Care Partnership is reviewing its Strategic Commissioning Plan 2019-2022. This plan describes the way that adult health and social care services are delivered in Angus. Due to a number of factors that have recently impacted on the health and social care sector, the current plan has been extended and a new plan for the 2023 – 26 period is now being developed which will take effect from April 2023.

They are inviting residents in Angus to complete a survey to capture what is important to them and whether they agree with the existing vision and priorities. There is still time to complete the survey and your feedback will help to inform the priorities of the Angus HSCP 2023-26.

Please give your view by completing the Survey

The closing date for responses is Friday 16 September 2022. 

For more information you can visit the Angus Health and Social Care Partnership website.

Advertisement

Communities Team becomes Census partner in February and March 2022

Scotland’s Census is the official count of every person and household in the country. The answers people give to census questions help build up a picture of the population, and government and other service providers rely on census data to make important decisions. Scotland’s next census will be held on Sunday 20 March 2022.

To ensure everyone is counted in Angus our Communities Team along with the Vibrant Communities department will become a ‘census partner’ with core responsibility to let citizens know how, when, and where to complete the census questionnaire.

To maximise response the Communities Team will be working with partners who have contact with 12 target groups identified by the Scottish Government including people who are digitally excluded, minority ethnic, veterans, disabled, and LGBTQ+.

Along with the national multimedia, news, letters, and postcards going out to every household between 14 February and 20 March the Communities Team will support through local engagement for those targeted groups:

• Letting people know that the census is coming.
• Explaining what the census is and what the benefits are.
• Letting everyone know when they need to complete the census.
• Ensuring people know where they can find help and support when completing the census

Angus Community Councils survey – Of the people, by the people, for the people

A Community Council is a voluntary organisation set up by statute by a Local Authority and run by local residents to act on behalf of their area. As the most local tier of elected representation, Community Councils play an important role in local democracy. Angus is home to 25 Community Councils.

They are a focal point for their community and represent residents’ views, opinions, concerns and wishes to the local authority – that’s us, Angus Council.

Community Councils make a wide range of activities possible and promote the well-being of local people. They bring local people together to help make things happen locally. Many of them work tirelessly to protect and promote the identity of their community.

They advise, petition, influence and advocate numerous causes and concerns on behalf of their neighbours and towns people. At their best Community Councils are brilliant.

But it’s no secret that some need support as they face challenges that include attracting enough volunteers which in turn makes it harder to engage with their communities. Sadly, Aberlemno and Friockheim have no community councils operating at present because not enough people have volunteered.

As part of our efforts to develop and support our community councils, we are carrying out an Angus Community Councils survey to gather information about what you think about your community council, the influences and barriers that you think exist around it and, hopefully a bit about yourself.

If you are a resident within the Angus Council area, we would appreciate your time in completing this short survey by 12 April 2021.

Angus Food Growing Strategy – Why Not Grow Your Own?

Interest in gardening and growing your own food is increasing and we are all aware of the importance of eating healthy food that is fresh and environmentally sustainable.

The Scottish Government’s aspiration is for the country to become a Good Food Nation; a land of food and drink, not only in what we produce but also in what we buy, serve and eat. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 aims to help empower communities across Scotland and for those wanting to “Grow Your Own”, it will improve access to land for food growing purposes. Every local authority must prepare a food-growing strategy.

The Angus Food Growing Strategy is in development and sets out the overall vision of what we want to achieve in Angus through food growing, tackling food poverty and supporting local growers.

To help shape the Angus strategy, please visit the Shaping Angus website and get involved by taking part in a short community survey or use the interactive map to plot your project location.

Please tell us about your ideas and help us identify areas of land that may be used as allotments or land for community growing initiatives.

Note: please use Google Chrome to access the platform

Have Your Say in Participatory Budgeting Voting Day tomorrow!

Participatory Budgeting voting will take place this SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY

 

What is Participatory budgeting

Participatory Budgeting (PB) is about local people deciding how public money is spent.

 

PB comes in all shapes and sizes, but generally looks like this:

1. ideas are generated about how a budget should be spent
2. people vote for their priorities
3. the projects with the most votes get funded

For more information about participatory budgeting see the Angus Council website

If you live in Angus you can have a say in how £200,000 of funding will be spent in your area when voting opens on Saturday 8 February for the 114 projects that have made the final stage of Participatory Budgeting.

To find out more about the 114 projects see the Shaping Angus website.

There’s funding available for  projects in four localities in Angus:

• Forfar and Kirriemuir
• Carnoustie/Monifeith and Sidlaws
• Brechin and Montrose
• Arbroath

How to vote

• Vote online on the Shaping Angus site -between 7am and 10pm.
• Vote in person at the venues below – these will be open between 10am and 2pm

VENUES

• 

Happy voting!

Do you live in Arbroath? Then we need your ideas!

Choice for Angus gives local people an opportunity to have a say on how a pot of public money is spent and see the direct results of their decisions. Choice for Angus enables various partners and communities to design and develop ideas and projects together.

Each local area has a pot of £50,000 Council funding to enable partners and communities to develop ideas and projects together. Each Locality Partnership is leading on this work and is testing different ways of doing this.

In Arbroath, the suggestions and ideas must address one or more of the Angus Community Planning Partnership priorities :

•    reducing poverty,
•    improving mental health and wellbeing and
•    improving accessibility.

Tell us your idea!

If you would like to put forward your ideas on these themes then please visit the Social Pinpoint page.

 

Questionnaires are also available in Arbroath Library and Learning shop and Arbroath ACCESS office.

You can  telephone 01241 464628 to request a questionnaire or give your views over the phone, or you can email dicksonm@angus.gov.uk

Project Phases

Phase 1:     Generating ideas – Early to mid November 2019

Phase 2:    19 November 2019 – Building projects event in Arbroath Webster Theatre

All ideas will be presented at an event on 19 November 2019 where groups, organisations and individuals will decide if and how they can take any of the ideas forward to the development stage. If you would like to attend this event, please email dicksonm@angus.gov.uk or phone 01241 464628 to register.

Phase 3:  Finalising project ideas –  December 2019

All those interested in taking forward projects will come together to develop and finalise their proposals.

Phase 4:  Early 2020

Early in the New Year, finalised projects that meet the priorities and selection criteria will be put forward to a public vote.

Smoothing the Hard Edges – community event in Arbroath

An event designed around the Hard Edges report released in June 2019 will take place in  St Andrew’s Church Arbroath on 28 October 2019.

Hard Edges Scotland was commissioned by Lankelly Chase and The Robertson Trust and authored by Heriot-Watt University. The research highlights the complexity of the lives of people facing multiple disadvantage in Scotland.

It also details the challenges that charitable services and the public sector are facing. In particular, the report illustrates the mismatch between the multiple disadvantages people face, and the fact that services are often set up to address ‘single issues’. The event is aimed at both service users and service providers to discuss how we can deliver services differently around the 5 key workshop themes of Offending, Homelessness, Substance Abuse, Mental Health and Domestic Abuse.

Each of the workshops will have a facilitator to lead discussions and participants will have the opportunity to attend all five. There will also be a cartoonist on the day to capture feedback and provide a lasting and unique educational recording of the agreed actions.

The Arbroath event will be repeated in a further two events to be held in Brechin and Forfar, dates and venues are yet to be confirmed, so that a large audience across Angus will have the opportunity to take part.

Places are limited – secure your place by booking on Eventbrite Website

The event will run from 9.30 am to 2.30 pm.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Need Funding for a Community Project? – Community Innovation Fund advice sessions are coming to Angus

NHS Tayside’s Community Innovation Fund is available to groups of people living in communities across the area to enhance their environments, promote community spirit and inspire pride in neighbourhoods. Groups can apply for money to start projects or take action to tackle community issues. Details of drop-in sessions below.

For more information see the NHS Tayside website.

Help Us Plan a Better Future in Angus

Locality Implementation Partnerships are being formed across Angus in November. These partnerships offer an exciting opportunity to develop new ways of working together within Angus communities.  They will play a leading role in implementing Locality Plans, which are available along with the Angus Local Outcomes Improvement Plan on our website.  The partnerships will also be organising two wider partnership events each year, open to all organisations active in the area.

Please help us develop the best possible Angus Schools for the Future. Engagement events are taking place around Angus until 29 November – if you can’t manage any of them, you can still give your views by completing the online questionnaire.