DRAFT v3.0

A Vision for Community Hubs in East Sussex: High level response to the report recommendations action plan

1) Introduction

The ‘Vision for Community Hubs within East Sussex’ report sets out some design principles, ambitions, a potential target audience and wellbeing factors, together with eight suggested recommendations, which overall creates a shared platform to move developments forward.  This high level action plan sets out our suggested next steps in relation to the recommendations and taking forward this programme of work over the next 18 – 24 months.  Discussions and feedback about the report and the next steps have highlighted that the following principles will be important to underpin the way we take forward recommendations:

· Build on the existing strengths of our communities and the leadership of our local voluntary, community and social enterprise sector organisations embedded there through continuing our shared leadership and co-design of this work

· A flexible and mixed model will be critical, spanning and strengthening virtual networks and connections as well as the wider use of existing buildings, to engage as many organisations and groups as possible and acknowledging the rural and urban nature of our county and the dispersed nature of some of our local populations.

· Creating strong referral pathways to enable streamlined access to prevention-based help and support for those who need it, and less ‘hand offs’ between our agencies

· Using digital and other innovations to reach and include more people, make the best use of our collective resources and reduce reliance on travelling to buildings and the associated environmental impacts

· An iterative approach to implementation will be essential and our plans set out below may change as our understanding grows with each step

	Suggested recommendation	Outline actions	Lead(s)	Timeframe
1.	Recruit a Collaborative Governance Group made up of partners from Partnership Plus, VSCE Alliance, district and borough councils and health partners	· Seek final endorsement from Borough and District Councils to the Community Hubs Vision report, recommendations and suggested next steps · Seek final endorsement from Partnership Plus Executive to the Community Hubs Vision report, recommendations and next steps · Establish a governance group (or adapt an existing group) · Recruit dedicated Programme Manager	Director of Adult Social Care and Health	July - September 2022
2.	Establish an interdisciplinary group (within ESCC) to support delivery with representation from Public Health, Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Communities and Property with accountability held by the Director of Adult Social Care and Health.	· Seek final endorsement from ESCC to the Community Hubs Vision report, recommendations and suggested next steps · Convene internal cross-departmental group to ensure appropriate coordination of Council resources to support the Collaborative Governance Group	Director of Adult Social Care and Health	July – September 2022
3.	Undertake a mapping exercise to understand the number and nature of existing hubs, which communities they serve and how.	· Induct Programme Manager · Agree definitions and define key lines of enquiry for the mapping exercise, taking account of the rural and urban nature of the county and the role of networks · Design and initiate mapping exercise that takes account of the rural and urban nature of the county	Collaborative Governance Group	October – December 2022 (to be confirmed)
4.	Define a core offer for advice and support to be delivered from hubs.	· Analyse outcomes of mapping exercise · Use data and insight to develop and agree a shared business case for the core ‘menu’ of advice and support services, investment required and expected benefits · Ensure alignment with: o Family Hubs development o Locality and neighbourhood working developments (health and care integration) o The Making It Happen programme - evaluation of approaches to Asset Based Community Development o Key VCSE infrastructure and service commissioning	Collaborative Governance Group	January – March 2023 (to be confirmed)
5.	Use data and local insight to identify one neighbourhood in each District and Borough that would most benefit from a community hub
6.	Recruit Local Leads to develop a prototype hub in each location - either as extension of an existing hub, or a new one, depending on results of mapping exercise	· Design recruitment and selection process for the five prototype hubs · Implementation and mobilisation phase · Design shared learning and evaluation framework	Collaborative Governance Group	April – September 2023 (detailed milestones to be developed)
7.	Create learning & evaluation framework and bring together Local Leads to share learning on monthly basis.	· Implement shared learning and evaluation framework · Develop shared benchmarks and evaluation criteria	Collaborative Governance Group	October 2023 – March 2024 (milestones to be developed)
8.	Review and iterate until ready to roll out to additional neighbourhoods.	· Phase two: Review and refresh goals and implement lessons learnt from phase one roll out	Collaborative Governance Group	2024-25 (milestones to be developed)

DRAFT v3.0 2^nd September 2022

Author: Vicky Smith: Vicky.smith@eastsussex.gov.uk