Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a chair/man and vice chair/man for the municipal year.

RESOLVED: To elect Councillors Julie Mayhew-Archer and Aidan Melville as chair and vice-chair respectively for the remainder of the 2012/13 municipal year. 

To receive apologies for absence.

Councillors Tony de Vere, Gervase Duffield, Jason Fiddaman, Peter Jones, Angela Lawrence, and Richard Webber had all sent their apologies for absence. 

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 22 November 2012 (attached). 

RESOLVED: To adopt as a correct record the minutes of the committee meeting held on 22 November 2011 and agree that the chair signs them.  

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.  

Councillor Aidan Melville declared a pecuniary interest in the grant application by the Preston Road Community Centre as he was a member of its management committee.  He left the room while the committee considered this item. 

Constitution, July 2012

Article 10 – Area committees

Area committees

1.    The council may appoint area committees as it sees fit, if it is satisfied that to do so will ensure improved service delivery in the context of Best Value and more efficient, transparent and accountable decision making.

2.    The council will consult with relevant parish and town Councils and the Chairmen of relevant parish meetings, when considering whether and how to establish area committees.

3.    The area committees shall appoint their chairs and Vice-chairs at the first meetings in each municipal year.

Composition, terms of reference and delegation

COMPOSITION

4.    Area committees shall cover the whole of the district with the membership of each being composed of all district councillors for the relevant area.

5.    No political balance is necessary.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

6.    The area committees shall have the following roles and functions:

(a)       To promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area and incur expenditure for that aim within limits agreed by the cabinet.

(b)      To receive reports and take decisions on matters delegated to the Area committee by the cabinet in line with Council policies or by the council.

(c)       To submit reports on matters of concern to the council, executive and scrutiny committee as appropriate.

(d)      Question members of the cabinet as required in relation to particular decisions, initiatives or projects relevant to the area committee.

(e)       To determine any other matters delegated to area committees by the council.

Area committees – access to information

7.    Area committees will comply with the access to information rules as set out elsewhere in this constitution.

8.    Agendas and notices for area committee meetings which deal with both functions of the cabinet and functions which are not the responsibility of the cabinet, will state clearly which items are which.

Executive members on area committees

9.     A member of the cabinet may serve on an area committee, if eligible to do so as a district councillor.

The committee noted its terms of reference. 

To receive notification of any matters, which the chair determines, should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances, which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair.

None

Any statements, petitions and questions from the public under standing order 32 will be made or presented at the meeting.

Two members of the public had asked to address the committee. 

1.                  Ray Ball made a statement in support of the application by the Preston Road Community Centre Association.  He reported that there were two elements to the application: to replace tables that were unsafe, and to upgrade the lighting.  He reported that the new tables would treated as an asset in accounting terms and would be subject to depreciation over time.  

2.                  Karen Roberts made a statement on behalf of Abingdon Rowing Club.  The club was in need of a proper floor surface for its new gymnasium.  Once complete, the club aimed to open the gym up to members of the public on payment of a membership subscription. 

The chair thanked the speakers for their contribution.  

To consider the head of corporate strategy’s report.

The committee considered the head of corporate strategy’s report.  This set out details of two capital community grant applications.  The head of corporate strategy updated the officer’s recommendation for Preston Road Community Centre and clarified the council’s position on capital and revenue expenditure and how it would relate to the Preston Road application. 

The committee noted that the Cabinet had allocated a budget of £26,514 to spend on capital grants in 2012/13. 

The committee considered the applications and awarded grants to both applicants.   This left £20,503 in the committee’s budget. 

Later, the committee debated the capital grants scheme and the lack of applications on the agenda.  The committee was disappointed that only two applications had come forward and questioned why the scheme was limited to capital grants only when many community groups were in need of revenue funding.  The officers agreed to review the guidance notes to applicants to improve the guidance relating to capital expenditure.  The officers would also review whether the guidance was clear on advising applicants that they should approach their local parish or town council for additional funds. 

Councillors asked whether the scheme could be re-opened to allow further applications in the current financial year.  The officers reported that there were no plans to re-open the scheme again this year due to the limited staff resources to administer the various grant schemes.  The committee expressed concern at this, especially as £20,503 remained in the budget for this financial year.  The committee asked that a meeting was convened between the four area committee chairmen and the chairman and vice-chairman of the Scrutiny Committee to discuss this and to evaluate the current scheme, possibly through a scrutiny review group; the latter being a matter for Scrutiny Committee to determine.  The committee also asked the officers to look at better ways to inform councillors about the grant applications received, possibly through listing the details on the council’s website. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       To award the following grants:

(b)               To request democratic services to organise a meeting between the four area committee chairmen, the head of corporate strategy and the chairman and vice-chairman of the Scrutiny Committee to review the remaining budgets, provide feedback on the first round of the capital community grant scheme, and discuss whether to recommend that the scheme should be reviewed by a scrutiny  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

None