Agenda and minutes

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

The Panel noted that Cllr Lea was substituting for Cllr Knapman.

(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.

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

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 to consider.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report (GAR-004-2014/15).

C Overend presented the Final Report on the Review of the Grant Aid Scheme for 2014/15.

The Panel was reminded 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 Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Voluntary Action Epping Forest, which totalled £152,500.

The Panel examined the draft Final Report on the Review of the Grant Aid Scheme for 2014/15. C Overend emphasised that paragraph 1.4 would keep various options open for the Panel to pursue in 2015/16, if the Overview & Scrutiny Committee agreed the request for the Panel to continue its work. It was felt that the second sentence of this paragraph should begin “The Review…”, and that the use of the word “linkages” in paragraph 3.3 should be revised to “links”.

The Panel debated whether recommendation 1(c) should be changed to refer to “Senior People” rather than “Older People”. However, G Wallis advised the Panel that the term “Older People” was in general use throughout the voluntary sector.

The Panel also discussed whether recommendation 4(c) should be revised to reference other funding bids made rather than other funding received. As there was no guarantee that a bid for funding from another body would be successful, it was felt that the wording should remain as it was. C Overend stated that the underlying philosophy of the Scheme was to encourage Groups to find alternative sources of funding, and Officers would assist in this.

Cllr H Kane, the Portfolio Holder for Leisure & Community Wellbeing, highlighted that the proposal to issue a press release after each Portfolio Holder decision concerning Grant Aid was published would indicate the breadth of the Scheme to the public. G Wallis added that the Council would publish the press release on its website, even if the local press did not include the story in their papers.

C Overend proposed a new recommendation (13) for the Panel to continue into 2015/16 to further examine the three-year Service Level Agreements and the Groups with which the Council had entered into such an agreement. This was agreed and it was noted that the current recommendations (13) and (14) would now become recommendations (14) and (15).

 The Panel reviewed the main body of the report and agreed a number of revisions to improve the legibility and readability of the report. C Overend enquired as to whether the Panel wished to include other supporting information in the report. It was suggested that feed back from recipient groups could be included; C Overend informed the Panel that surveys had been undertaken of recent applications, and there were a number of letters of gratitude from recipient  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

(Director of Governance) To be advised following the Annual Council Meeting and the first meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in the new municipal year.

The Democratic Services Officer informed the Panel that Members would be advised of the date for the next meeting in the new municipal year, once the interim report had been agreed by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.