Report of the Director, Darlington Partnership

The Director, Darlington Partnership submitted a report (previously circulated) summarising the current position and developments of the Northgate Initiative.

It was reported that the Northgate Initiative was a multi-agency programme established in 2019, piloting a range of interventions to improve outcomes for local residents in all areas of wellbeing including economy, education and childhood, health, environment and social relationships.

It was also reported that there had been some measurable improvements over the past 2 years working towards the targets set for 2024; that as the restrictions of the pandemic were lifted community engagement had  been developed through face to face workings; and details were provided of the workstream achievements to date.

Particular reference was made to the Environment Crime Co-ordinator who was now in post delivering on a back lanes project with the aim of cleaner waste free back lanes; that £298,918 had been secured from the Home Office Safer Streets funding  to introduce target-hardening; and there had been a five per cent decrease in calls relating to ‘concern for safety’ for Northgate for March 2021 to February 2022 when compared to the same period in the previous year.

Members were informed that the number of empty properties in the ward had decreased from 177 in December 2019 to 150 in March 2022; that four properties had been bought by the Council as part of the Next Steps projects, these had been renovated and were online as an extension to the current homelessness pathway; and the number of properties in the ward with an EPC rating of F or G had decreased from 148 in December 2019 to 84 in December 2021.

Reference was made to the Community Information Hub which would be located at Corporation Road Primary; that the PCN were working on a Wellbeing service which would have a significant focus on the Northgate ward; and a data dashboard  had been implemented to help analyse the impact of the Northgate initiative and identify any gaps.

Following a question, Members were informed that the police had seen an increase in residents engaging in the ward; that housing were working with private landlords in respect of empty properties; and the community information hub would help to improve engagement with residents in the ward.

RESOLVED – That the report be received for information and comment.