task & finish group starter pack contents & finish group starter pack contents 1....
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Task & Finish Group starter pack
Contents
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Aims of the Adur & Ouse Partnership ........................................................... 2
2. Task & finish groups vision statement ................................................................. 3
3. Role and make-up of the task & finish groups ..................................................... 3
3.2 Role of the task & finish groups ..................................................................... 3
3.3 Make-up of the task & finish groups .............................................................. 3
4. Role of chair and members ................................................................................. 4
4.1 Role of chair .................................................................................................. 4
4.2 Role of members ........................................................................................... 4
5. Action Hierarchy .................................................................................................. 4
6. Steering Group Guidance ................................................................................... 6
6.1 Framework structure and ways of working .................................................... 6
6.1.1 Objectives ............................................................................................... 6
6.1.2 Interactions between task & finish groups .............................................. 6
6.2 Evidence requirements ................................................................................. 6
6.3 Accountability & Deliverability ....................................................................... 7
6.3.1 Deadlines ................................................................................................ 7
6.3.2 Key Milestones........................................................................................... 7
7. Documents and templates .................................................................................. 8
Appendix 2 Possible outcomes exercise .................................................................. 12
Appendix 3 Backcasting exercise ............................................................................. 15
Appendix 4 Potential „theme‟ scope and objectives ................................................. 19
Appendix 5 Background information for task & finish groups ................................... 21
1. Introduction
The Adur and Ouse Partnership were established in October 2011, with support from a number of organisations. The Partnership will develop over time and comprise a broad membership of organisations and individuals representing a range of interests throughout the Adur and Ouse catchment, including the coast. The Adur Ouse Steering Group is a core group that provide direction and co-ordination for work in the Adur and Ouse catchment.
1.1 Aims of the Adur & Ouse Partnership
1. Improve our local waters in the Adur and Ouse area and achieve more ambitious environmental goals under the European Water Framework Directive umbrella by:
Working together to understand the issues
Discussing and agreeing on outcomes and priorities
Sharing information and resources
Working together to tackle difficult issues that require multi-agency input
Working collaboratively to deliver work on the ground to achieve the agreed outcomes.
2. Ensure that work to improve waters in the Adur and Ouse area is well informed by local evidence and best practice. Ensure that the work of the Partnership takes account of all relevant plans and strategies that include the Adur and Ouse catchment area.
3. Co-ordinate and integrate existing collaborative activity with relevant aims into the Partnership where appropriate.
4. Maximise the use of existing resources and seek to attract additional funding.
5. Production of a strategic Catchment Plan that details what on the ground activity is needed when in order to achieve the agreed outcomes.
6. Direct and oversee the work of any Partnership task and finish groups in order to deliver work on the ground that achieves the agreed outcomes. Task & finish groups have been set up to provide a place to carry out work that needs more detailed, in depth attention for each of the themes agreed by the Adur Ouse Steering Group.
2. Task & finish groups vision statement
“Understanding and improving all aspects of water within the Adur and Ouse
catchment”
Adur & Ouse task & finish groups will understand the complex issues within the Adur
and Ouse catchment by drawing on a wide range of expertise. This understanding
will stem from robust evidence gathered from the wider Adur & Ouse Partnership.
The evidence will be used to underpin all action in the Adur and Ouse catchment and
form the basis of the Adur & Ouse Catchment Plan.
3. Role and make-up of the task & finish groups
The role and make-up of the task & finish groups was previously agreed in the
Partnership Agreement. The full Partnership Agreement can be made available on
request or downloaded from the Adur Ouse Pilot Catchment group hosted on the
Knowledge Hub. Search for „Adur Ouse‟ here.
3.2 Role of the task & finish groups
a) Theme or issue based task and finish groups will be set up by the Adur & Ouse
Steering Group, on an „as needed‟ basis, in order to carry out work that needs more
detailed, in depth attention than can be provided at Partnership meetings. This will
include exploring and improving evidence, and developing options and ideas for
solutions.
b) Theme or issue based task and finish groups will be set up by the Adur & Ouse
Steering Group to allow relevant individuals and organisations to come together to
explore evidence, issues, and put forward ways to deliver solutions.
c) Theme or issue based task and finish groups will be able to make
recommendations to the Steering Group. There is an expectation that the Steering
Group will take seriously any recommendations that are made.
d) Theme or issue based task and finish groups will act on instruction from the Adur
& Ouse Steering Group.
3.3 Make-up of the task & finish groups
a) Membership of the theme/issue task and finish groups will be decided on by the
Adur & Ouse Partnership.
b) The theme/issue sub-groups will be made up of individuals and organisations with
a particular interest, knowledge or influence in the subject of the group, and will be
drawn from beyond the membership of the wider Partnership stakeholders.
c) Membership of the theme/issue sub-groups will be limited to eight or ten
individuals, in order to keep meetings and decision making efficient.
4. Role of chair and members
The roles of the task & finish group chair and members are set out here.
4.1 Role of chair
Ideally be a member of the Steering Group
Report progress of task & finish group at Steering Group meetings
To be the „gatekeeper‟ of the task & finish group and approve additional
members
To organise meetings and agendas (with help from members)
4.2 Role of members
Represent their organisation for the theme of the task & finish group
To bring knowledge and expertise to the group about the theme of the task &
finish group
To make recommendations to the chair about additional members
Support the chair in organising meetings and agendas
Share data and evidence with the task & finish group
5. Action Hierarchy
The action hierarchy explains the differences between themes, objectives, targets
and actions. The Adur & Ouse Steering Group agreed that this format would provide
a good starting point for the task & finish groups.
The themes have been agreed by the Adur Ouse Steering Group, and form the basis
of each task & finish group. There will be one task & finish group for each theme.
The agreed themes are:
Coastal waters
Community engagement
Fisheries
Groundwater
Natural rivers
Surface water quality
The subsequent objectives, targets, and actions shown in the hierarchy are to be
developed for each theme by each task & finish group.
Each task & finish group‟s action hierarchy will then form part of the Adur & Ouse
Catchment Plan, once agreed by the Adur & Ouse Steering Group.
To develop the objectives, targets and action, the task & finish groups should gather
data and evidence to understand the issues around their theme. The group also
needs to understand what work is ongoing in the Adur and Ouse and how it relates
to their theme. A starting point for this exercise would be to use the „activity mapping‟
spreadsheet. This is a list of projects which are ongoing or planned in the Adur and
Ouse catchment as submitted by the Steering Group.
6. Steering Group Guidance
The Steering Group met in March 2012 and laid out their expectations and
requirements for the task & finish groups. The group reviewed the template in
Appendix 1 and laid out the following guidance for task & finish groups –
6.1 Framework structure and ways of working
6.1.1 Objectives
There should be no set or maximum number of objectives, targets and actions
However they should be prioritised
Thought should be given to resource to ensure the action plan is achievable
It is acceptable to start with a “wish list” approach, as long as the resulting
plan is deliverable!
Some objectives were highlighted in the back casting exercise (appendix 3)
and these should be taken on board by task & finish groups, as should
objectives set as “starters for 10” by the Steering Group in April 2012.
6.1.2 Interactions between task & finish groups
Task & finish groups should share their meeting notes via the Knowledge Hub
Task & finish groups should be able to assign actions to one another
As all the task & finish group chairs are members of the Steering Group, it
was agreed that a half hour catch up meeting for the chairs would be held
before the Steering Group meetings.
6.2 Evidence requirements
The Steering Group felt the task & finish groups would be best placed as
experts to provide the evidence to inform the groups
There was concern that the existing documented evidence base was not
accurate, the Steering Group felt that each task & finish group should have
an objective to “verify” their evidence base and identify and requirements for
further investigations
The activity mapping exercise will be made available to the groups, and
hopefully will be mapped
There was concern that objectives would be formed based on questionable
evidence and therefore be invalid. The steering group was sympathetic to
the fact that given the timescales it will probably not be possible to verify
thoroughly all the evidence before setting objectives, therefore some
“movement” was to be expected. In order to avoid wasted effort it is
recommended the task & finish groups use their expertise in the field to
judge where this may be an issue and set objectives accordingly.
6.3 Accountability & Deliverability
6.3.1 Deadlines
The task & finish groups should meet in April if they have not already. This
would be to familiarise themselves with this pack, the role of the chair and
participants
For their second meeting, which should happen in May, they should be able
to further set objectives that will have been given initial thought by the
steering group
During the initial meetings the task & finish groups should set what is
included and excluded from the scope of their theme and then respond to
the steering group
In August 2012 the task & finish group Chairs should report into the steering
group to present their action plans.
6.3.2 Key Milestones
The draft catchment management plan must be submitted in September
2012
The catchment management plan must be submitted in December 2012
Biosphere has a publication coming out in June which can carry information
& messages
Accelerated actions – the engagement group recommend a communications
plan should be finalised at the earliest opportunity to allow steering group
members to communicate linked key messages with their respective
audiences.
7. Documents and templates
The following documents and templates should be utilised by the task & finish
groups.
Adur & Ouse Catchment Plan template
This template will form a part of the Catchment Plan. This is the action hierarchy in
„word‟ form. An example of how the template should be filled in can be found in
appendix 1. The actual template can be downloaded from the Knowledge Hub.
Possible Outcomes exercise
The Adur & Ouse Steering Group carried out a „possible outcomes‟ exercise to
generate some potential objectives for each theme. The possible outcomes exercise
can be found in appendix 2 and would be a useful starting point for the task & finish
groups.
Backcasting exercise
The Adur & Ouse Steering Group carried out a „backcasting‟ exercise to understand
how to achieve improvements to some of the themes. The backcasting exercise can
be found in appendix 3 and would be a useful starting point for some task & finish
groups.
Potential theme group scope and initial objectives
The Adur & Ouse steering group had some initial discussion in March 2012 about
which cross-cutting themes should initially fall under each theme and potential
„starter for ten‟ objectives. These can be found in Appendix 4.
Discussion Draft Catchment Outcomes
A document was prepared in October 2011 that covers the background and
potentially justification to many of the identified theme groups. This text has been
extracted and placed in appendix 5 for the task & finish groups.
Activity mapping spreadsheet
This is a list of projects ongoing or planned in the Adur and Ouse catchment, as
submitted by the members of the Adur & Ouse Steering Group. This can be
downloaded from the Knowledge Hub.
Knowledge Hub
The Knowledge Hub is an online sharing resource hosted by local government. The
Adur & Ouse Partnership are using Knowledge Hub to share information.
Instructions of how to register have been included in this pack.
Partnership Agreement
This gives some information about the Adur & Ouse Partnership and its governance
and structure. The full Partnership Agreement can be downloaded from the
Knowledge Hub.
Appendix 1 Catchment Plan example
Adur & Ouse Catchment Plan task & finish group template
The template has been filled in with an example to give you an idea of how the final
product might look...
Theme - Fleas
Current status
Tam Henderson‟s cat Loki has fleas. These have now spread to
Tam‟s other cat Fib and Tam‟s house.
Objective 1
Kill the fleas on Tam‟s cats Loki & Fib
Issues
A vet has identified that Loki has fleas. The vet also tested Fib,
Tam‟s other cat, and found she also has fleas.
Target - Loki should have 0 fleas
Target - Fib should have 0 fleas
Objective 2
Kill the fleas now in Tam‟s house
Issues
Fleas do not live on cats, they live in soft furnishings.
Target - there will be 0 flea bites on Tam
Target - 0 fleas will be found in Tam‟s house
- 1 -
Appendix 2 Possible outcomes exercise
The „Possible outcomes‟ exercise carried out by the Adur & Ouse Steering Group
resulted in the following themes having a brief „wish list‟ of objectives.
1: Fisheries
1a) By 2027, fisheries within the Adur and Ouse will not contribute to failures for the Water Framework Directive through fish stocks being at a sustainable level to provide recreational and economic services to the catchment. 1b) By (?), we will have the ability to monitor the marine ecosystem in the pilot area and determine success/failure against good ecological status. 1c) By (?), status of juvenile marine populations within transitional waters will support sustainable stocks/fisheries. 1d) By (?), Partnership will understand the relationship and the role of the Adur/Ouse in supporting coastal marine fisheries – habitat/juvenile/recruitment relationships. 2 : Surface water quality
2a) By 2021, phosphates and emerging contaminants within the Adur and Ouse will not contribute to failures for the Water Framework Directive. 2b) By (?), the Adur and Ouse gets a good allocation of funding from PR14 to address flow and water quality, including diffuse pollution.
3 : Natural rivers
3a) By 2027, modified river channels will be restored to a more naturalised state, without compromising social or economic functions. 3b) By 2027, modified river channels will be restored to a more naturalised state, whilst appreciating and enhancing social and economic functions. 3c) By 2027, the Adur and Ouse will be a healthy ecological network with a viable future in a changing climate. 3d) By 2021, riparian owners appreciate their rivers with reference to having a naturally functioning system. 4 : Coastal waters
4a) By 2015, the Partnership will understand the interactions between the water quality aspects of the Water Framework Directive and marine conservation within inshore areas. 4b) By 2012, there is consensus among key stakeholders about what they want to achieve in the catchment. 4c) By (?), we will have the ability to monitor the marine ecosystem in the pilot area and determine success/failure against good ecological status. 4d) By (?), status of juvenile marine populations within transitional waters will support sustainable stocks/fisheries. 4e) By (?), Partnership will understand the relationship and the role of the Adur/Ouse in supporting coastal marine fisheries – habitat/juvenile/recruitment relationships.
5 : Groundwater
5a) By 2015, all risks to groundwater quality will have been identified through sharing of evidence, agreed by the Partnership and addressed, leading to a change in approach to land management that will significantly reduce pollutants reaching the groundwater. 5b) By 2021, sustainable agriculture will be the leading practice of downland and headwater land use. 5c) By 2027, land management practices are in place such that diffuse pollution does not contribute to failures to groundwater qualitative status; this management is long term. 5d) By 2027, groundwater quantity within the Brighton Chalk Block will be at sustainable levels, balancing both availability and demand. 5e) By 2027, groundwater quantity within the Brighton Chalk block will be at sustainable levels within the context of an integrated supply network balancing both supply and demand.
6 : Community engagement
6a) By 2015, there is a properly co-ordinated approach to volunteer management across organisations that have volunteers focussed on failing water bodies. 6b) By 2015, more volunteers are actively helping to look after their local waterbody, and this is happening in failing waterbodies. 6c) By 2014, we will have a clear understanding of public perceptions, values and aspirations regarding the Adur and Ouse catchment.
6d) By 2016, the public will value the contribution of naturally functioning wetland ecosystems and more natural catchment management to their lives and business.
Appendix 3 Backcasting exercise
The „backcasting‟ exercise carried out by the Adur & Ouse Steering Group used the
aforementioned „possible outcomes‟ exercise to populate a timeline of events to
achieve the wish list of objectives. Note: not all themes were covered in the
backcasting exercise.
2 : Surface water quality
By 2011
Determine what and where current problems are specific to WFD and wider (for other contaminants)
By 2012
Key actors identified and engaged The major causes of WFD defined elements have been identified and agreed by
partners – septic tanks; farm, road and urban run-off Point source failures are addressed through the Periodic Review (PR) process
supported by the Partnership By 2013
Major sources of emerging contaminants of concern (non WFD) are identified By 2014
Catchment management strategies for diffuse contaminant sources (inc. metaldehyde) have been developed and agreed
Draw on best practice (e.g. Southern Water upstream thinking approach) By 2018
Land practices changed to reduce diffuse run off By 2019
Point source treatment or stripping implemented By 2020
Monitoring programme implemented across catchment and data evaluated – has it worked?
3 : Natural rivers
2013 – 2027
Landowner liaison habitat creation 2014 – 2018
Large scale projects start to be scoped, consulted upon and funding secured By 2011
Habitat potential model was created
Established baseline for existing networks (EA, Sussex BRC, IFCA etc) - mapping
By 2012
Existing Middle Ouse Restoration of Physical Habitats (MORPH) projects demonstrated success
Linked habitat and other models, e.g. climate vulnerability maps Initiated local community groups and landowners voluntary mapping programme
By 2013
MORPH incorporated partnership goals (good synergy achieved!) Quick win projects delivered by community groups Created a mapped vision of what we wanted to create Generated cross organisation commitment through the Partnership
By 2014
Partnership established control of Defra funding streams Newhaven Regeneration Project incorporated habitat creation works on the
Ouse By 2016
First breeding otters since 1967 recorded at Sheffield Park By 2017
25% of vision realised By 2018
We have re-created 400 ha of species rich wet grassland with community groups By 2020
South East Water demonstrates reduced treatment costs for drinking water due to ecosystem services
By 2022
50% of vision realised By 2024
Bitterns on wetlands created north of Newhaven By 2025
Due to explosion in Sea Trout population – first Sussex sustainable netting fishery opened by IFCA
75% of vision realised By 2026
Lewes has not flooded since 2001 despite heavy winter rains By 2027
Ouse and Adur Wetland Wanders footpaths open to great accolade
5 : Groundwater
By 2013
Brighton and Hove Council has active broad downland partnership and agreed sustainable farming strategy (by the time biosphere reserve bid is submitted)
Evidence base on water quality and quantity is received and agreed by Partnership
Business cases around alternative sustainable farming systems is established By 2014
Champions of sustainable farming out there selling the message – events Building consensus with land managers and other key stakeholders – events
both individual and groups Water companies and Partnership agree PR14 bid to capture funds for land
management Public awareness campaign to reduce water consumption
By 2018
Brighton and Hove downland and sustainable farming strategy is implemented Small scale winter storage reservoirs where appropriate planning regulations
have changed
6 : Community engagement
By 2011
Identification of potential groups e.g. divers, OART, commercial interests, boaters, ramblers, RSPB, schools
Identify issues which volunteers can assist with – reasons for failure Identify routes into groups of people that may be new volunteers Partnership agrees on what activities and where the volunteers need to work
together Choose activities that demonstrate/show evident benefits in short term Identification of measures/actions where volunteers are well suited
By 2012
Known volunteer groups have agreed to work together Do not take power away from existing groups Existing local groups feel empowered and stronger, not disempowered The Partnership is disseminating information out through all existing routes to all
potential volunteers – LSPs a key audience for this. Conference held for volunteers Shared Action Plans developed
By 2013
We have river/coast guardians for recognised stretches of river/coast with access to groups of volunteers
Volunteer groups are recognised for their work Work is promoted through local schools and successes are celebrated Report on results from voluntary action RBMP2 contains clear recognition of what volunteers have achieved Develop incentives for groups Virtual network established on Facebook etc and newsletter
Appendix 4 Potential ‘theme’ scope and objectives
Over the course of Steering Group meetings thoughts have been tabled and agreed
regarding inclusions of scope in some of the theme groups that can be considered
as cross cutting. These are listed below for the benefit of the task & finish groups.
Coastal waters
To include coastal fisheries
Initial objectives
Understand environment
Understand pressures
Review available evidence
Community engagement
Initial objectives
Community ownership of issues & solutions
Community empowerment
Review available evidence
Fisheries
Initial objectives
Review available evidence
Groundwater
Initial objectives
Chalk Aquifer
Groundwater recharge impacts (waste water)
Review available evidence
Natural rivers
To include invasive species (crayfish was mentioned specifically)
Initial objectives
Restoring hydromorphology
Restoration to support more habitats for wildlife
Ecosystem services
Review available evidence
Surface water quality
To include Sediment
Initial objectives
Identify pressures
Review available evidence
Appendix 5 Background information for task & finish
groups
Some background work has already been undertaken by the Steering Group around
issues surrounding each theme. This information was recorded during the
development and identification of the initial outcomes (October 2011) and then the
development of the overarching themes (February 2012). This information has been
collated and presented below for initial task & finish group discussions.
Fisheries
Fish is the most frequently failing element of the water framework directive
classification within the Adur and Ouse with roughly 70% of the catchment
underperforming. This issue must be addressed in order for us to reach Good
Ecological Status for the Adur and Ouse and support the sustainable fish stocks that
provide recreational and economic services to the catchment
Surface water quality
Phosphate is the second highest failing element of the water framework directive
classification within the Adur and Ouse with roughly 50% of the catchment
underperforming. High nutrient levels (predominantly phosphates and nitrates) within
the rivers can lead to more frequent algal blooms, potentially depleting the rivers of
oxygen.
Coastal waters
The Adur and Ouse is the only pilot catchment within the current Defra pilots that
includes the estuarine and/or coastal environment. One of the recently proposed
Marine Conservation Zones lies along the Sussex coastline and this pilot provides a
unique opportunity to look at the interactions between the Water Framework
Directive and the Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009). There is an acceptance
from those working in this environment that we need to better understand how both
these frameworks can join up and share environmental evidence
Community engagement
Community engagement is one of the main parameters that are being evaluated
through the Defra pilot catchment timeline. There is a need within the Adur and Ouse
catchment to better understand and integrate our current engagement across
stakeholders.
Groundwater
Over 70% of the public water supply to Sussex comes from groundwater. In fact,
there is less water available per person in the South East than in many
Mediterranean countries. This, together with the fact that people here consume more
water than in the rest of the country, means that managing water resources is a real
challenge for the South East
Natural rivers
River modification is extensive throughout the Adur and Ouse catchment for historic drainage or flood risk reasons. More recently the rivers have been identified as heavily modified in the water framework directive for flood defence and water transfer needs. In order for the rivers to function more naturally we need to look at sites where we can re-naturalise the river to provide benefits for flood risk and biodiversity.