Agenda and minutes

(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 C Pond declared a personal interest in agenda item 6, Review of Grant Aid Scheme for Voluntary and Community Organisations, by virtue of being a volunteer with Loughton Voluntary Care. The Councillor had determined that her interest was not pecuniary and would remain in the meeting for the consideration of the issue.

(b)        Pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct, Councillor H Kane declared a personal interest in agenda item 6, Review of the Grant Aid Scheme for Voluntary and Community Organisations, by virtue of being involved with WAY 2000. The Councillor had determined that her interest was not pecuniary and would remain in the meeting for the consideration of the issue.

(c)        Pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct, Councillor B Surtees declared a personal interest in agenda item 6, Review of the Grant Aid Scheme for Voluntary and Community Organisations, by virtue of his son being a customer of Zinc Arts. The Councillor had determined that his 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.

Resolved:

(1)        That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2015 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to the following amendment to minute 11:

            (a)        “…to allow Councillors to donate part oftheir basic allowance …”.

(Director of Governance) To note the Terms of Reference for the Panel.

The Panel noted its Terms of Reference, as previously agreed.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report (GAR-003-2014/15).

C Overend presented a report on the Review of the current Grant Aid Scheme for Voluntary and Community Organisations.

C Overend reminded the Panel that the Review was being carried out as a result of a £11,517 reduction in the budget for the Grant Aid Scheme in 2015/16. This had reduced the budget to £83,453, of which £43,453 was expenditure already committed via three-year Service Level Agreements that ran until March 2016. This left the balance of £40,000 available for the consideration of applications for one-off Grants. In addition to this, the Council also had three-year Service Level Agreements with the Epping Forest District Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Voluntary Action Epping Forest, which totalled £152,500.

C Overend drew the attention of the Panel to the Monitoring Major Grants Form, and the Visits to Long Term Funding Groups Form, attached at Appendix 2 to the report. The Panel noted that Officers undertook follow-up visits to Groups following the award of a Grant, to assess how successful an approved scheme had been and discuss issues of mutual concern. It was not possible for Officers to visit all such Groups but, over a period of time, those Groups in receipt of funding via a Service Level Agreement were visited along with a cross section of other Groups. Although the issues discussed with each Group would vary, the Monitoring Form gave an indication of the topics which could be discussed. Appointments were always made for visits with the relevant Group; there were no surprise visits scheduled.

Cllr Kane added that many progress meetings were held with the bodies in receipt of three-year Grants. C Overend reminded the Panel that the receipt of Grants were predominantly evidence based, i.e. invoices had to be produced, although sometimes an order form was accepted for payment in advance. Councillor Surtees suggested that the Town or Parish Council could be involved in the monitoring process, especially if they already had an involvement, financial or otherwise, in the project. C Overend acknowledged that Groups had to declare on the Application Form whether they were seeking funding from other bodies, and local Councils could be involved in the future if they had a connection with the project. The Portfolio Holder added that the Council assisted organisations to obtain further funding from other sources, such as the National Lottery.

C Overend highlighted the information on the current advertising and consultation arrangements for the Grant Aid Scheme, which had been attached at Appendix 3 of the report. This listed the methods currently used to advertise the Grant Aid Scheme, and the consultees for each application form received.

The Panel noted that there was no mention of advertising the Scheme on Social Media, and this should be considered as a method of communicating with younger people to make them aware of the Scheme. It was also highlighted that the ‘Think Loughton!’ newsletter issued by the Loughton Town Council was not listed, and that the scheme could also be advertised on the websites  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

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.

There was no other urgent business for the Panel to consider.

(Director of Governance) The final meeting of the Panel for 2014/15 is currently scheduled for 16 April 2015, and please note that this meeting will start at 6.00pm.

The Panel noted that its final meeting in 2014/15 was scheduled for 16 April 2015, and would commence at 6.00pm.