Agenda, decisions and minutes

None. 

The Portfolio Holder is asked to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2011 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2011 were agreed as a correct record. 

Matters Arising

Minute 4 – Waterbeach: Farmland and Museum’s Forward and Business Plans and Funding Arrangements

The Leader reported that he had not yet succeeded in appointing a Member Champion for Museums.

A representative from the Parish Council will be in attendance at the meeting to give a brief synopsis of the Plan and answer any questions raised.

The Leader, APPROVED the Girton Parish Plan as presented to the meeting.

It was noted that unfortunately a representative from the Parish Council was unable to attend the meeting to present the Parish Plan, however, one of the local Members for Girton, Councillor Douglas de Lacey, in a communication to the Leader, commended the Plan to him.

The Leader, APPROVED the Girton Parish Plan as presented to the meeting.

Due to the uncertainty of the future of the Local Strategic Partnerships Board  (LSP) where Parish Plans had previously been presented, it was proposed by Cllr James Hockney and subsequently AGREED that all future Parish Plans be presented to the Leader for approval.

The Leader,

(a)         APPROVED the following Community Facility Grants:

·         Regeneration of Recreation Ground including Play Area for Thriplow Recreation Ground Committee - £18,000

·         Extension of Village Hall for storage and relaying of car park for Horningsea Village Hall Trust - £8,000

·         Storage building for village hall, Comberton Village Hall Trust - £2,000

·         New play equipment on play area for Eltisley Parish Council - £1,207

·         Refurbishment of play area for Foxton Play Area Improvement Group - £12,500

·         Improvements to the village hall for Fowlmere Recreation Group and Village Hall - £3,000.

·         Improvements to the play area for Fowlmere Parish Council - £1,100

·         Re-development of the Church Halls for St Andrew’s Centre, Histon - £40,000

(b)         DEFERRED the following application to allow for the Parish Council to undertake further discussions on the project:

·         Community and Sports Centre (Pavilion) Feasibility Study for Longstanton Parish Council

(c)         APPROVED the following Village Sport Facilities Grants

·         New Multi-use Hall for Townley Memorial Hall Trust, Fulbourn - £15,000

·         New Sports Pavilion for Great Shelford Parish Council - £40,000

·         New Sports Pavilion for Stapleford Parish Council - £40,000

(d)         APPROVED the following Arts Capital Grants

·         Purchase and installation of mid-stage curtains and rails for Swavesey RadSoc - £1,000

·         Purchase of a portable exhibition hanging system for Cottenham Village College - £1,180

·         New boiler at the Marven Centre (Sawston Cinema) for Sawston Village College - £8,000

·         Satellite connections at Sawston Cinema for Sawston Village College - £1,000

·         Satellite connections at Swavesey Screen for Swavesey Village College - £1,000

The Leader,

(a)         APPROVED the following Community Facility Grants:

·         Regeneration of Recreation Ground including Play Area for Thriplow Recreation Ground Committee - £18,000

·         Extension of Village Hall for storage and relaying of car park for Horningsea Village Hall Trust - £8,000

·         Storage building for village hall, Comberton Village Hall Trust - £2,000

·         New play equipment on play area for Eltisley Parish Council - £1,207

·         Refurbishment of play area for Foxton Play Area Improvement Group - £12,500

·         Improvements to the village hall for Fowlmere Recreation Group and Village Hall - £3,000. The applicant was encouraged to apply for a further grant during Phase 2 of the project

·         Improvements to the play area for Fowlmere Parish Council - £1,100

·         Re-development of the Church Halls for St Andrew’s Centre, Histon - £40,000 and increase the grant limit to £50,000

(b)         DEFERRED the following application to allow the Parish Council to undertake further discussions on the project:

·         Community and Sports Centre (Pavilion) Feasibility Study for Longstanton Parish Council

(c)         APPROVED the following Village Sport Facilities Grants

·         New Multi-use Hall for Townley Memorial Hall Trust, Fulbourn - £15,000 and after 1 April 2012

·         New Sports Pavilion for Great Shelford Parish Council - £40,000 and after 1 April 2012

·         New Sports Pavilion for Stapleford Parish Council - £40,000 and after 1 April 2012.David Pepperell, Chairman of Stapleford Parish Council was in attendance for this item and addressed the meeting, explaining the situation the Parish Council had found itself as a result of a promised grant of £150k from the Football Association not coming to fruition. Mr Pepperell was advised to apply, if required, for a further grant of up to £10k after 1 April 2012, subject to the grant limit being increased to £50k

(d)         APPROVED the following Arts Capital Grants

·         Purchase and installation of mid-stage curtains and rails for Swavesey RadSoc - £1,000

·         Purchase of a portable exhibition hanging system for Cottenham Village College - £1,180

·         New boiler at the Marven Centre (Sawston Cinema) for Sawston Village College - £8,000

·         Satellite connections at Sawston Cinema for Sawston Village College - £1,000

·         Satellite connections at Swavesey Screen for Swavesey Village College - £1,000

(e)            RECOMMENDED that as part of the grant review, that the limit for Capital Grants be increased from £40,000 to £50k from 1 April 2012.

The Leader AGREED the emerging priorities set out in paragraph 8 of the covering report as the basis for the development of the Community and Customer Services service plan for 2012/13, having noted the resource requirements which will be addressed as part of the review of the Medium Term Financial Strategy. 

The Leader considered the draft service plan priorities listed at paragraph 8 of the covering report and in particular highlighted the importance of the improved Community Chest application process and the proposed approach to localism. It was felt that Parish Councils in particular would benefit from officer briefings on the Localism Bill. In response, the Corporate Manager, Community & Customer Services informed the meeting that roadshows with links to localism and the grants process were planned for presentation around the district that would specifically benefit Parish Councils.

Clarification was sought on the Neighbourhood Panel process on whether they were Police or Parish led. The Corporate Manager, Community & Customer

Services informed the meeting that the Police were undergoing changes and it was an area that would be evolving in the future. Priorities were decided at the Panel meetings to inform the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) meetings. Cllr Lynda Harford felt that historically the emphasis had been on police and not local matters, however, recently she had noticed there had been a reversal in that emphasis. Cllr Harford added that she felt that training in these matters would be beneficial to Parish Councils.

The Leader AGREED the emerging priorities set out in paragraph 8 of the covering report, together with any emerging priorities from other service plans, as the basis for the development of the Community and Customer Services service plan for 2012/13, having noted the resource requirements that would be addressed as part of the review of the Medium Term Financial Strategy. 

The Leader,

(a)               NOTED the process for Community Chest grants as outlined in paragraph 7 of the covering report and the applications received to date as reproduced in Appendix D to the report, and

(b)            ENDORSED the approaches set out in paragraph 10 of the covering report regarding the funding of the Community Chest scheme for 2011/12 and 2012/13 and paragraph 11 of the covering report regarding the proactive advertising of grant awards.

Consideration was given to the process for the recently launched Community Chest Grant scheme. As a result of publicity for the scheme, a number of applications had been received.

The grant scheme was being funded using remaining monies from the Community Development grants budget, together with outstanding budget from Partnerships, giving an approximate total of £10k. In addition, the Council has been informed that it will receive the outstanding Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) money totalling £57k from the County Council to cover overspends incurred supporting Local Strategic partnership (LSP) projects. The monies would be used for the remaining 2011/12 financial year and 2012/13.

It was proposed that regular press releases on the Council’s website would be undertaken when grants had been approved, giving details and the amount awarded.

Referring to the application form example contained in the agenda, concern was expressed that a newly formed organisation might be unable to provide up-to-date copies of their accounts. In response, the Leader was informed that additional wording would be included in the form to the effect that applicants would be advised to speak to either the Corporate Manager, Community & Customers Services or the Partnerships Officer, prior to completing the form. It was also noted that most organisations should be able to produce income and expenditure accounts.

The Leader,

(a)               NOTED the process for Community Chest grants as outlined in paragraph 7 of the covering report and the applications received to date as reproduced in Appendix D to the report,

(b)               ENDORSED the approaches set out in paragraph 10 of the covering report regarding the funding of the Community Chest scheme for 2011/12 and 2012/13 and paragraph 11 of the covering report regarding the proactive advertising of grant awards, and

(c)               AGREED that approval of Community Chest grants would be reported to his Portfolio Holder meetings.

The Corporate Manager, Community and Customer Services presented the report and informed the Leader that the information omitted from Appendix B, the CorVu Scorecard had now been updated. It was particularly noted that Action B1/4 – Plan for growing older population was on target and action SF770 – External funding (£’s) in Grants programme would be updated following the meeting. All remaining actions were on target.

Referring to action SX016 – No. of completed Community Led Plans, the Leader was advised that the Community Liaison Support Officer would be asking all parish councils if it was their intention to prepare a Plan for their parish. At the request of the Leader, Neighbourhood plans would be considered for inclusion in that action.

The Principal Accountant (General Fund and Projects) reported that Citizen Advice Bureaux grants had been paid.

It was noted that against a profiled budget of £160,720, expenditure and commitments to date totalled £159,760; it was anticipated that the budgets would be fully spent by the end of the financial year.

The Leader NOTED both the performance and financial expenditure for the quarter ended 30 September 2011.

The Portfolio Holder will maintain, for agreement at each meeting, a Forward Plan identifying all matters relevant to the Portfolio which it is believed are likely to be the subject of consideration and / or decision by the Portfolio Holder, or recommendation to, or referral by, the Portfolio Holder to Cabinet, Council, or any other constituent part of the Council.   The plan will be updated as necessary.  The Portfolio Holder will be responsible for the content and accuracy of the forward plan.

The contents of the Forward Plan were noted with the following additions:

·               Meeting dates 2012/13 to 19 January meeting

·               Update on Community Chest grants to every meeting

The next scheduled meeting will be held at 10am on 19 January 2012. 

It was NOTED that the next meeting would be held at 10am on 19 January 2012.