Agenda and minutes

Councillors Gervaise Duffield, Katie Finch and Helen Pighills sent their apologies.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 24 November 2014 (attached). 

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2014 were agreed as a correct record and the chair signed them as such.

Members requested that the minutes of the last meeting of the former North East Area Committee be submitted for approval.  It was agreed to delegate authority to agree the minutes as a correct record to the chair in consultation with Councillors Debby Hallett and Bob Johnston.

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

Councillor Judy Roberts declared an interest in application VNBH\25 Dean Court Community Association (Cumnor) as chair of the trustees. She stood down from the committee to speak in support of the application then left the meeting taking no part in any discussions or voting on this item.

Councillor Alice Badcock declared an interest in application VNBH\16 Abingdon on Thames Town Council as an Abingdon town councillor. She stood down from the committee to speak in support of the application then left the meeting taking no part in any discussions or voting on this item.

Councillors Mike Badcock, Margaret Crick, Robert Hall, Vicky Jenkins, Monica Lovatt and Sandy Lovatt declared an interest in application VNBH\16 Abingdon on Thames Town Council as Abingdon town councillors. They stood down from the committee and left the meeting taking no part in any discussions or voting on this item.

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

None.

To note that the Council approved the area committee boundaries as set out on the attached map. 

Council also approved the following terms of reference for area committees:

(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 Cabinet in line with council policies or by the Council.

(c)     To submit reports on matters of concern to the Council, Cabinet 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. 

The committee noted its terms of reference and area boundary as set by the Council. 

The following members of the public each addressed the committee, making statements in support of their grant applications:

·         Tricia Wormald on behalf of the Abingdon Bridge

·         Richard Kennell on behalf of South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance (SOFEA)

·         Richard Snow on behalf of Oxford Wood Recycling Ltd.

To consider the head of corporate strategy’s report. 

The committee considered the head of corporate strategy’s report on new homes bonus grants and capital grants.  The council had received six applications for new homes bonus grants relating to the Abingdon area, and four applications for capital grants. 

New Homes Bonus grant applications

Each new homes bonus grant application had been assessed against the new homes bonus grants criteria and scoring matrix.  The officer’s recommended scores were set out in the report.  The committee assessed the applications against the grants criteria and the officer’s recommended scores as follows.

Dean Court Community Association (Cumnor) VNHN\25

Car park improvements (with Sovereign) and acoustic panels in the hall.

The officer recommendation was to award 100% of the amount requested based on the grant scoring system.

Councillor Judy Roberts declared an interest in this application as the chair of the trustees. She stood down from the committee to speak in support of the application then left the meeting taking no part in any discussions or voting on this item.

RESOLVED (for 15; against 0; abstentions 0)

To agree the officer recommendation

The Abingdon Bridge VNHB\27

Outreach work on legal highs

The officer recommendation was to award 75% of the amount requested based on the grant scoring system.

Tricia Wormald, a representative of the Abingdon Bridge, spoke in support of this application.

RESOLVED (for 14; against 0; abstentions 2)

To increase the score awarded for the community benefit criterion from 1 to 3 points after receiving additional information about the number of beneficiaries and level of need from the applicant at the meeting.

Abingdon on Thames Town Council VNHB\16

Fun in the Park 2016

The officer recommendation was to award 100% of the amount requested based on the grant scoring system.

Councillor Alice Badcock declared an interest in this application as an Abingdon town councillor. She stood down from the committee to speak in support of the application then left the meeting taking no part in any discussions or voting on this item.

Councillors Mike Badcock, Margaret Crick, Robert Hall, Vicky Jenkins, Monica Lovatt and Sandy Lovatt declared an interest in this application as Abingdon town councillors. They stood down from the committee and left the meeting taking no part in any discussions or voting on this item.

In the chair’s absence, Cllr Ed Blagrove took the chair.

RESOLVED (for 9; against 0; abstentions 0)

To agree the officer recommendation

South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance (SOFEA) VNHB\23

“Futures placed” (recruitment service linked to their “Get to Work” programme)

The officer recommendation was to award 75% of the amount requested based on the grant scoring system.

Richard Kennell, a representative of SOFEA, spoke in support of this application.

RESOLVED (for 16; against 0; abstentions 0)

To increase the score awarded for both the funding the project and organisation’s contribution criteria from 1 to 3 points and the community benefit score from 1 to 2 points following an update from the applicant at the meeting.

South & Vale Carers Centre VNBH\2  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.