Agenda and minutes

(Director of Governance) To appoint a Chairman and Vice-Chairman for the remainder of the municipal year.

As this was the first meeting of the Panel, the Democratic Services Officer opened the meeting and requested nominations for the role of Chairman. Following her acceptance by the Panel, a nomination was requested by the Chairman for the role of Vice-Chairman.

Resolved:

(1)        That Councillor C P Pond be elected Chairman of the Panel for the remainder of the municipal year; and

(2)        That Councillor J Knapman be elected Vice-Chairman of the Panel for the remainder of the municipal year.

(Directorate of Governance) To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

There had been no substitute members appointed for this meeting.

(Director of Governance) To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a personal or a pecuniary interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 11 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a personal and pecuniary interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 11 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

(a)        Pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct, Councillor G Shiell declared a personal interest in agenda item 6, Grant Aid Scheme Review – Scoping Report and Terms of Reference, by virtue of being a member of two bodies currently in receipt of Grant Aid. The Councillor had determined that her interest was not pecuniary and would remain in the meeting for the consideration of the issue.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting of the Panel (not required on this occasion).

The Panel noted that there were no minutes to agree as this was the first meeting of the Panel.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report (GAR-001-2014/15).

L Swan presented the Scoping Report and draft Terms of Reference for the Grant Aid Review Task & Finish Scrutiny Panel.

L Swan reported that the Council had had a Grant Aid Scheme in operation since the 1980’s. The Policy governing the Scheme had been reviewed several times, with the most recent occurring in 2009. Since 2001, responsibility for decision-making had rested with the relevant Portfolio Holder, currently the Portfolio Holder for Leisure & Community Services; previously, applications had been determined by the Policy & Resources Sub-Committee, and then the Grant Aid Panel.

L Swan advised the Panel that the Grant Aid Scheme currently had a budget of £94,970 per annum, comprising of:

            (i)         one-off grants up to £5,000 towards specific projects (20 in 2013/14);         and

            (ii)        15 grants up to £5,000 to support community groups in the longer   term, totalling £47,000 - these were funded via 3-year Service Level             Agreements, all of which were due to expire in March 2016.

In addition, the Council provided two larger grants to Voluntary Action Epping Forest (VAEF) and the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), which totalled £153,000 in 2014/15.

L Swan stated that, in December 2014, the Cabinet had decided to reduce the budget for the Grant Aid Scheme for 2015/16 by the following amounts:

            (i)         £7,550 which had been allocated to Homestart as it had ceased     functioning during 2014; and

            (ii)        an overall reduction in the one-off Grant allocation of £11,517,         reducing the Grant Aid budget to £83,453 from April 2015 onwards.

L Swan informed the Panel that the review would have to take account of this budget reduction. In addition, the Scheme’s current eligibility criteria and policies had been developed in line with the Council’s Leisure and Cultural Strategies, and the Panel would also have to consider the recent revisions to these strategies. The Panel was asked to consider its draft Terms of Reference, and the timescales for completing its review of the Council’s Grant Aid Scheme.

The Panel acknowledged that their role would be to examine the organisations that receive Grant Aid and analyse the Grants that were approved. Cllr Pond suggested that the eligibility criteria should be available for the Panel to consider at their next meeting, and this was agreed. The Panel considered whether a Finance Officer should always attend the meetings of the Panel, but it was felt that this should only happen if the Panel felt it was necessary.

Cllr Knapman suggested that one consideration could be to recommend that a percentage of the Council’s overall spending should be allocated to Grant Aid, or another possibility was for the Council to use some of its reserves to support the Grant Aid programme. The impact of any cut in Grant Aid expenditure on the receiving organisations should also be carefully considered, otherwise the Council could be reducing their income at the very time that their workload was increasing due to the ongoing financial situation. Cllr Surtees added that some organisations could come to rely on Grants  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, together with paragraphs (6) and (24) of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require that the permission of the Chairman be obtained, after prior notice to the Chief Executive, before urgent business not specified in the agenda (including a supplementary agenda of which the statutory period of notice has been given) may be transacted.

In accordance with Operational Standing Order 6 (Non-Executive Bodies), any item raised by a non-member shall require the support of a member of the Committee concerned and the Chairman of that Committee. Two weeks notice of non-urgent items is required.

The Panel noted that there was no other urgent business for consideration.