Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Lisa Rutter (Councillor Brian Salinger substituting) and from Councillor Charlie O-Macauley (Councillor Kathy Levine substituting).

Members declared the following interests:

Details of the questions asked of, and the answers given by the Chairman were circulated and published on the Council’s website prior to the meeting.  Verbal responses were given to supplementary questions asked at the meeting.

There were no public comments.

There were none.

The Committee considered the report.  Votes were recorded as follows:

RESOLVED –

That Community Leadership Committee:

1.       Notes the Policy and Resources Committee report as set out in Appendix A to the report.

2.       Notes the savings target of £0.8 million that has been allocated to the Committee by the Policy and Resources Committee.

3.       Agrees to work up proposals that will achieve that savings target by 2019/20 - including by considering the options set out in the Priorities and Spending Review Report – by the autumn, together with an agreed future commissioning plan.  Savings proposals will go forward to the Policy and Resources Committee meeting on 2 December 2014, which will consider the Council’s draft budget for consultation.

4.          Notes the service information pack included in Appendix B to the report, which provides contextual information on budgets, past spend and performance data, contracts, customer and staffing data.

The Committee considered the report.

Councillor Alison Moore moved that Recommendation 2 be amended to read “That the Committee agree that the items indicated in this paper should be brought back to the Committee over the course of the next 6 months for agreement, subject to an informal Working Group of the Committee contributing to the process. The motion was seconded. Votes were recorded as follows:

The motion was carried.

RESOLVED –

1.       That the Committee approves the proposed aims and approach for the Community Participation Strategy.

2.          That the Committee agrees that the items indicated in the paper should be brought back to the Committee over the course of the next 6 months for agreement, subject to an informal Working Group of the Committee contributing to the process.

The Committee considered the report.

Councillor Alison Moore moved that the Recommendation be amended to read “That the Community Leadership Committee approves the draft Framework set out at Appendix 1 to the report, subject to the operational details being agreed through an informal Working Group and report back to the next meeting of the Community Leadership Committee”. The motion was seconded. Votes were recorded as follows:

The Chairman used his casting vote and voted in opposition to the motion.  The motion was lost.

Councillor Graham Old moved that the Recommendation be amended to read “That the Community Leadership Committee approves the principle of devolved budgets but request that Officers refine the recommendations, specifically on the role of elected Members, in conjunction with the Member Working Group, and bring them back to the next meeting of the Committee. The motion was seconded. Votes were recorded as follows:

The Chairman used his casting vote and voted in agreement to the motion. The motion was carried and became the Substantive Motion.

The Committee voted on the Substantive Motion. 

Votes were recorded as follows:

RESOLVED – That the Community Leadership Committee approves the principle of devolved budgets but request that Officers refine the recommendations, specifically on the role of elected Members, in conjunction with the Member Working Group, and bring them back to the next meeting of the Committee.

The Committee considered the report.

Councillor Alison Moore moved that Recommendation 2 be amended as follows “That, in light of the confusion surrounding the Community Right to Bid, the Committee agrees the need for clearer guidance to be issued by the Council and uses the website and other appropriate social media”. The motion was seconded. Votes were recorded as follows:

The motion was carried.

RESOLVED –

1.       That the Committee notes the results of the consultation held prior to the election on the Council’s approach to Community Right to Bid and the issues that have arisen from administration of the Right locally.

2.       That, in light of the confusion surrounding the Community Right to Bid, the Committee agrees the need for clearer guidance to be issued by the Council and uses the website and other appropriate social media.

3.       That the Committee agrees that the Council, where appropriate, should make more strategic use of the Localism Act and the Community Right to Bid in order to achieve its ambitions with regard to community participation and to the developing Community Asset Strategy.

4.       That the Committee agrees that New Barnet Community Centre should be listed as an Asset of Community Value and added to the Register, in response to the nomination received in May 2014.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the decision to award a grant of £1,500 to the organisers of the East Barnet Community Festival from the 2014/15 corporate grants programme, subject to the Council’s Standard Conditions of Grant Aid.

The Committee noted the report.  The Chairman requested that an annual report on Civic Events be included in the Work Programme.  The Committee also noted the following further reports that will be brought back to future meetings of the Committee:

• Developing a Community Participation Strategy for Barnet
• Area Sub-Committees – Budget Allocation Framework.

There were none.