Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Confirm with Cambridge City Council - Cambridge City Council. View directions

Contact: Patrick Adams  03450 450 500

Items
No. Item

44.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

None.

45.

Public Questions

Minutes:

None.

46.

Minutes and Matters Arising pdf icon PDF 47 KB

The minutes of the 9 November 2011 meeting are attached as item 4.

Minutes:

The minutes of the 9 November 2011 meeting were approved. It was asked what progress was being made towards the annual public question time session. In reply it was said that this event would be subject to how members saw the future of the LSP and would be covered in this section of the agenda (Item 7.).  It was also said that notice of a stakeholder workshop looking at developing a Local Nature Partnership, would be circulated to members.

47.

Presentation: The VCS, Enterprise and Business

Lynn Morgan, Voluntary and Community Sector representative in GCGP LEP, will talk about how the VCS can contribute towards enterprise and economic growth in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire. One of the LSP’s emerging themes has been about getting people back into work and this will be one of the priority areas for our distribution of grant.

Minutes:

Lynn Morgan, Voluntary and Community Sector representative in GCGP LEP, talked about the developing LEP and how the voluntary and community sector could actively contribute to its work.

 

LSP Members said that whilst big projects to improve infrastructure were important, one of the key tasks must be to improve basic skills for people with little or no qualifications in Cambridgeshire, who found it difficult to compete for the available jobs. It was felt that the voluntary and community sector could play an important role in getting people into work. It was noted that the LEP had a Skills Sub-group and was looking at this issue.

 

LSP Members asked if the LEP also had a Sub-group covering the environment. Lynn said, in response, that the LEP was intending to put one in place. One matter that was raised was that the LEP’s web-pages had not been updated and didn’t include papers from recent Board meetings, the last to be published were over 3 months old, which made it difficult to follow what the LEP was doing. Lynn said that this would be looked into.

48.

Update on the Allocation of LPSA Reward Grant pdf icon PDF 168 KB

A sub-group of the LSP met on the 16 January to discuss a basis for the distribution of the remaining Reward Grant, building on the direction provided by the LSP Board on 9 November. The attached paper (item 6) asks the LSP to confirm that Cambridgeshire Community Foundation (CCF) will be administering the grant and to endorse an agreement between the local authorities and CCF.

Minutes:

The views of the LSP’s sub-group, which met on the 16 January, about how to distribute of the remaining Reward Grant, were presented.

 

It was felt that the grant should have a relatively “light touch” so that groups would not be deterred from applying, especially those that had not previously received funding. It was recognised that Cambridgeshire Community Foundation (CCF) had expertise in this area and that it was beneficial to have a large number of grants held in one place – if a group wasn’t eligible it might find another funding source that was more appropriate. It            was said that the local giving scheme that CCF encouraged applicants to use had a higher start-up fee than some others but that this was probably the best scheme available.

 

Agreed: The LSP Board agreed that Cambridgeshire Community Foundation (CCF) will manage the allocation of its remaining reward grant and endorsed an agreement between the local authorities and CCF to do this.

49.

The Future of the LSP pdf icon PDF 257 KB

A discussion was held with CBS representatives attending the Grant Allocation sub-group meeting (above). A paper (item7) was compiled highlighting how the voice of the voluntary and community sector can continue to be heard, if the LSP is disbanded. The views of LSP members is sought.

Minutes:

The main points from a discussion with BCS representatives attending the sub-group meeting (above) were presented to the LSP. The paper suggested that the LSP had probably completed its work and that it was now a matter for other local partnerships to build on the solid foundation the LSP had provided and for them to take partnership working in the districts forward.

 

In response to concerns that the VCS in the districts would lose the opportunity to influence senior decision-makers in public agencies, when the LSP was wound-up, the local authorities had agreed to support the holding of an annual event, perhaps over half a day, where VCS representatives could provide a “state of the sector” report and highlight how they could work with other sectors more closely, to improve quality of life in local communities. This was in addition to more regular contact.

 

It was suggested that this event should not be restricted to public agencies and the VCS. The business sector had an important role to play and it was suggested that the event follow the format used by Cambridgeshire Horizons for its annual meetings.

 

Agreed: The LSP agreed that this would be its last Board meeting and that no further Meetings would be held. The Chair thanked everyone present for their support over the past years and noted some of the achievements of the LSP.

 

Agreed: The LSP also agreed that an annual state of the VCS sector meeting should take place. The district local authority chief executives will liaise with VCS representatives to plan for this event and to set out its format.