Agenda and minutes

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

The Panel noted that no substitute Members had been 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.

There were no Declarations of Interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Panel held on:

(a)        31 March 2015 (as attached); and

(b)        16 April 2015 (to follow).

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 16 April 2015.

Resolved:

(1)        That the minutes of the meeting held on 31 March 2015 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

            (a)        listing Cllr H Kane in the ‘Other Councillors’ section as, technically, Cllr      Kane was not a Member of the Panel; and

(2)        That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 April 2015 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to the following amendments:

            (a)        removing Cllr Knapman from the ‘Members Present’ section as Cllr            Lea was substituting for him; and

            (b)        adding Cllr H Kane as being in attendance at the meeting.

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

The Panel noted its Terms of Reference.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report (GAR-001-2015/16).

The Panel considered a report, presented by C Overend, concerning the scope of the second part of the review of the Grant Aid Scheme.

C Overend reminded the Panel that it had completed the first part of the review in 2014/15, which was concerned with the one-off grants applied for by various Groups within the District, and had reported to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 28 April 2015. The second part of the review would be concerned with those Groups in receipt of Grant Aid from the Council via three-year Service Level Agreements, including the Epping Forest Citizens Advice Bureau (EF CAB) and Voluntary Action Epping Forest (VAEF) who were in receipt of the largest amounts.

C Overend drew the Panel’s attention to the scoping paper attached to the agenda and suggested the next phase of the review be broken down into three sections to consider: EF CAB; VAEF; and the other smaller Service Level Agreements. The proposed timetable was as follows:

(i)         consider the smaller Service Level Agreements at the first meeting, and arrange visits to a sample of these Groups before the second meeting;

(ii)        receive a presentation from VAEF at the second meeting and arrange a visit for after the meeting, before discussing the smaller Service Level Agreements from the first meeting;

(iii)       receive a presentation from EF CAB at the third meeting and arrange a visit for after the meeting, before discussing VAEF from the previous meeting;

(iv)       consider the arrangements for Grant Aid put in place by other Councils at the fourth meeting, before discussing EF CAB from the previous meeting; and

(v)        discuss and agree the final report to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee at the fifth and final meeting in December 2015 or early January 2016.

G Wallis added that the current Three-Year Service Level Agreements were all due to end in March 2016, hence it would be an advantage to complete the review as soon as possible. VAEF and EF CAB would be advised of the Panel’s Terms of Reference before they prepared their presentations to the Panel, which it was expected would detail the impact of the Council’s funding on their activities. C Overend suggested that the following sample of groups in receipt of smaller Service Level Agreements could be visited by the Panel:

(a)        Waltham Abbey Youth 2000 (except Cllr Kane);

(b)        The Alzheimer’s Society;

(c)        The Lambourne End Centre; and

(d)        Zinc Arts.

G Wallis suggested that a questionnaire could be sent to each Group in receipt of a Service Level Agreement to assist in the Panel’s deliberations, especially those Groups which the Panel did not visit. The Panel concurred and G Wallis undertook to put together a number of sample questions for the Panel to agree. C Overend also undertook to circulate a number of possible dates to be considered for the Panel’s visits to the Groups. Cllr Kane suggested that the four smaller Groups could all be visited during one day.

The Panel  ...  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 discussion.

Exclusion

To consider whether, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press should be excluded from the meeting for the items of business set out below on grounds that they will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) or are confidential under Section 100(A)(2):

The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, which came into effect on 1 March 2006, requires the Council to consider whether maintaining the exemption listed above outweighs the potential public interest in disclosing the information. Any member who considers that this test should be applied to any currently exempted matter on this agenda should contact the proper officer at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.

Confidential Items Commencement

Paragraph 9 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require:

(1)        All business of the Council requiring to be transacted in the presence of the press and public to be completed by 10.00 p.m. at the latest.

(2)        At the time appointed under (1) above, the Chairman shall permit the completion of debate on any item still under consideration, and at his or her discretion, any other remaining business whereupon the Council shall proceed to exclude the public and press.

(3)        Any public business remaining to be dealt with shall be deferred until after the completion of the private part of the meeting, including items submitted for report rather than decision.

Background Papers

Paragraph 8 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution define background papers as being documents relating to the subject matter of the report which in the Proper Officer's opinion:

(a)        disclose any facts or matters on which the report or an important part of the report is based;  and

(b)        have been relied on to a material extent in preparing the report and does not include published works or those which disclose exempt or confidential information (as defined in Rule 10) and in respect of executive reports, the advice of any political advisor.

Inspection of background papers may be arranged by contacting the officer responsible for the item.

The Panel noted that there were no issues arising which necessitated the exclusion of the public and press.

(Director of Governance) Currently, meetings of the Panel have been arranged for 28 September 2015 and 29 October 2015. Further meetings will be arranged throughout the municipal year to enable the Panel to complete its review.

The Panel noted that the next two meetings had been arranged for 28 September 2015 and 29 October 2015.