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 the 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 Overview & Scrutiny 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 Overview & Scrutiny 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 last meeting of the Panel held on 20 July 2015 (attached).

Resolved:

(1)        That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 July 2015 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report (GAR-002-2015/16).

J Foile from Voluntary Action Epping Forest (VAEF) gave a presentation to the Panel on the services and activities undertaken by VAEF.

The presentation considered the following issues:

·                      Background information about VAEF.

·                      An outline of the core activities undertaken by VAEF.

·                      Direct services provided by VAEF and their value to residents.

·                      Partnership working undertaken by VAEF.

·                      Future plans and a new three-year Strategic Plan.

·                      Potential projects, including the creation of a Community Hub, and challenges for the future.

Following the presentation, and in response to questions from the Panel, J Foile stated that VAEF covered the whole District but some services could only be used by the elderly or disabled. The Befriending Service was currently only offered in three areas due to a lack of funding. It was agreed to distribute the three-year Strategic Plan cited in the presentation to Members of the Panel before the next meeting, scheduled for 29 October 2015.

The Panel was advised by J Foile that the proposed Community Hub could potentially be located anywhere in the District, but one of the market towns would probably be the best location. Access to the Hub by residents would be a key consideration when deciding where to locate it. A Community Hub would enable VAEF to set up a’ one-stop shop’ for the whole District, and the building could be shared with other organisations. VAEF was always on the look out for further funding, from the national lottery and other funding bodies. It was felt that Lottery funding would never be approved to build the Community Hub, so the use of Section 106 monies from planning applications would be a better source of finance for it.

J Foile highlighted that VAEF worked with many agencies and received referrals from them. For example, referrals for the Handyman Service were received from the District Council. The services provided by VAEF were advertised where possible, such as Doctor Surgeries and Dentists etc., but residents would also learn about them from their neighbours by word of mouth. VAEF was also independent from the statutory bodies, which could also help in reaching out to some people.

J Foile informed the Panel of the current key priorities for VAEF, which included:

·                          Recruiting more volunteers;

·                          Supporting more people with support needs themselves into becoming volunteers;

·                          Enabling people to live in their own homes for longer and combating loneliness and isolation as people live longer; and

·                          Partnership working and engaging with the thematic groups which emerged from the Local Strategic Partnership.

VAEF was also looking to increase remote volunteering, for example from people with conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis who could make phone calls to people in an effort to reduce loneliness.

The Panel thanked J Foile for an informative presentation on the activities of VAEF, and it was commented that the increasingly aging population gave scope for VAEF to increase its number of volunteers. Cllr Mitchell added that the remote calling service was very important when she worked at the London Borough Council of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report (GAR-003-2015/16).

C Overend presented a report on the various Service Level Agreements within the Council’s Grant Aid Scheme, excluding the agreements with Voluntary Action Epping Forest and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau Epping Forest.

C Overend reported that the present two tier Grant Aid Scheme was set up in the 1990s with the aim of providing a degree of financial security to well-established voluntary groups to enable the Groups to develop their services further. It was an approach that was replicated by other Councils at the time. Currently, there were 15 voluntary groups who had a Service Level Agreement with the Council, ranging from the Alzheimer’s Society to Zinc Arts in Ongar which provided a variety of services across the District. Information on 14 of the Groups had been included in the agenda, including how the Council’s Grant Aid funding contributed to their activities and services, and their plans for the future. Each Service Level Agreement had a number of standard features, such as the provision of up-to-date accounts, minutes from management meetings, and publicising the support provided by the District Council.

C Overend advised the Panel that the number of Councils in Essex retaining such agreements with voluntary groups had declined, as had the total number of such funding agreements, although some District Councils had still retained similar arrangements. Having reviewed the information provided by Officers, and having visited a number of the Groups during the Summer, the Panel was requested to consider the existing arrangements and make recommendations for the operation of Service Level Agreements from 2016/17 onwards, options for which included: maintaining the current arrangements; reducing the number of such agreements; or even dispensing with them altogether. However, the Panel was reminded that it had already agreed in the first stage of the review any Group in receipt of a Funding Agreement from 1 April 2016 would be required to show ‘added value’ to the District on an annual basis.

Following the visits made by the Panel to some of the Groups, it was acknowledged that: the Alzheimer’s Society was performing important work, which could be replicated across the District if further funding was available; the Red Cross had had to move premises recently but were still able to loan equipment; and the Ongar & Villages Voluntary Care needed more money to provide publicity asking for more volunteers. There was a certain amount of dissatisfaction expressed concerning Zinc Arts, and that they were not run more akin to a business. They had a number of rooms available that they could lease out but kept requesting Grant funding from the Council. Cllr Surtees stated that Zinc Arts had not been able to attract much business since the recession of 2008-10, and their fees were very high for both local authorities and individuals. Their grant was relatively small and they should probably examine other alternatives for funding; J Chandler confirmed that there were issues with Zinc Arts’ business plan.

Cllr Mitchell highlighted that there appeared to be nothing in the accounts for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

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 at the meeting.

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 was no business which necessitated the exclusion of the public and press from the meeting.

(Director of Governance) To note that the next meeting of the Panel will be held on 29 October 2015.

The Panel noted that its next meeting was scheduled for 29 October 2015.