Agenda and draft minutes

Stephen McBarron, Steve Harris and Mark Rollinson.

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Chief Democratic Services Officer at least 24 hours before the meeting.)

There were no appeals against refusal of inspection of documents.

1 To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information within the meaning of Section 100I of the Local Government Act 1972, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2 To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3 If the recommendation is accepted, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That, in accordance with Regulation 4 of The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 or Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as appropriate, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of those parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:-‘

There were no exempt items.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.)

A formal late item was added to the agenda with the approval of the Chair. The late item was a report for the Kings Award for Voluntary Service and the Kings Award for Enterprise Schemes. Minute no. 45 refers.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

Cllr Rontree declared an interest in relation to Agenda Item 9 Finance Update Report, as he is a member of the Kirkstall Festival Committee, who had applied for funding.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

·  Lorraine Cooper – Co-opted Member for Armley

·  Catherine Pearson – Co-opted Member for Armley

·  Jonathan Butler – Co-opted Member for Bramley & Stanningley

·  Tamsin MacDonald – Co-opted Member for Kirkstall

In accordance with Paragraphs 4.16 and 4.17 of the Community Committee Procedure Rules, at the discretion of the Chair a period of up to 10 minutes may be allocated at each ordinary meeting for members of the public to make representations or to ask questions on matters within the terms of reference of the Community Committee. This period of time may be extended at the discretion of the Chair. No member of the public shall speak for more than three minutes in the Open Forum, except by permission of the Chair.

On this occasion there were no members of the public who wished to speak.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 21^st November 2023, for approval as a correct record.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 21^st November 2023, be approved as a correct record.

It was noted that at the previous meeting Members had made a request to find out what had happened to cinema equipment, which had been purchased by the Community Committee. The Locality Officer offered to investigate this matter and report back to Members.

This report provides the Inner West Community Committee with an update on the King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS) and the King’s Award for Enterprise (KAE) schemes.

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships introduced a report that provided information regarding the King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS) and the King’s Award for Enterprise (KAE) schemes.

The report asked members to identify groups/organisations who might qualify for the schemes and explore whether there are any ways the Lieutenancy can help the committee in the work they do with the local community.

The Deputy Lieutenant for West Yorkshire attended the meeting and explained that the cost of applying for the award is free, and the lieutenancy are looking at liaising with local community groups and organisations. Members were asked to provide any local group names, and/or contact details to the lieutenancy, so they can get in contact with them and provide them with some information regarding the award, as well as the criteria.

The award is not easily obtained and provides organisations and businesses the use of the logo on all correspondence and use for their own benefit. The award is seen as a ‘prestige’ and will potentially help organisations and groups obtain additional funding from other sources, they receive a certificate and glassware, and the award is for the lifetime of the group or organisation.

Organisations such as DAZL Dance and Friends of Roundhay Park have previously won the award.

Members were asked to get in contact with Ms Baker if they had any organisations and groups in mind for the lieutenancy to contact, to recognise the work of organisations and groups across Leeds.

It was noted that the groups or organisations could have paid staff but must be predominately led by volunteers. The group or organisations must have been running for 3 years.

The application is online, and assistance can be given by the lieutenancy to complete the application. They should be nominated by a beneficiary, and they should also have 2 letters of support. If they were not success in this round, they had to wait for 3 years before applying again.

For the Kings Award for Enterprise should be able to show they meet the criteria for international trading, innovation, social mobility and sustainability. They keep the award for 3 years.

Ms Baker can be contacted on the following email: susan.baker@ntlworld.com

and/or at the following address: West Yorkshire Lieutenancy Office, Bowcliffe Hall, Bramham, Wetherby, LS23 6LP.

The scheme is open from 1^st June 2024 until 15^th September 2024.

RESOLVED – To note the verbal update and comments during discussion of this item.

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships provides the Community Committee with an update on the budget position for the Wellbeing Fund, Youth Activity Fund, Capital Budget, as well as the Community Infrastructure Levy Budget for 2023/24.

This report updated the Community Committee on the budget position for the

Wellbeing Fund, Youth Activity Fund, Capital Budget, as well as the Community

Infrastructure Levy Budget for 2023/24.

The Locality Officer presented the report highlighting the following points:

·  Paragraph 10 in relation to the Subsidy Control Act 2022, was highlighted for information. It was noted that a briefing session would be provided for Members.

·  Members were informed of a 15% cut in funding for Wellbeing and Youth Activity Fund for 2024/25.

·  The Wellbeing Fund had a remaining balance of £18,794.70 A full breakdown of the projects was listed in Table 1

·  Members were requested to give consideration on applications for the Wellbeing Fund and the Youth Activities Fund as set out at Paragraph 22 of the submitted report.

·  It was noted that since the last meeting on 21^st November 2023, there had been 1 project approved by delegated decision notice for:

o  Armley Leisure Centre Youth Space - £7,945.00

·  No projects had been declined since the last meeting.

·  Monitoring information had been provided at Paragraphs 26-30 of the report, in relation to YMCA’s project “Community Youth Worker” which had been funded by the Community Committee.

·  The Youth Activity Fund has a remaining balance of £12,191.03. A breakdown of projects was listed in Table 2.

·  Information on projects in relation to Small Grants was set out in Table 3 and community skips provided by the Community Committee were shown in Table 4.

·  The Inner West Community Committee has a capital budget of £4,892.83 available to spend. Information was summarised for Members in Table 5.

·  The Community Committee currently has £69,498.13 available to spend. A list of projects funded to date was set out at Table 6.

At this point in the meeting Cllr Rontree declared an interest as he is a member of the Kirkstall Festival Committee. He provided some information when requested by Members but took no part in the decision making on this application.

Members discussions included:

·  Request for the Wellbeing figures to be checked that had been submitted in the report.

·  It was acknowledged that Bramley and Stanningley and Kirkstall had applied for large amounts of CIL money towards projects in the wards. It was suggested that Armley should also apply for CIL money for a large project which they had suggested at the November meeting.

·  Ring-fenced funding was proposed to be approximately £7,000 per ward. This could be used for applications in relation to Christmas Lights and Trees. Applications for these would be brought to the June meeting.

·  It was suggested that the General Advice Worker funded by Kirkstall be invited to a future meeting for an update of the work they were involved in.

·  A lengthy discussion took place in relation to the funding of Kirkstall Festival, which was proposed to receive funding from all three wards.

o  It was suggested that communication in relation to the event should be delivered to all three wards, so the whole Inner West community were aware of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships brings to members’ attention an update of the work which the Communities Team is engaged in, based on priorities identified by the Community Committee. It also provides opportunities for further questioning, or to request a more detailed report on a particular issue.

The update report brought to Members’ attention the work the Communities Team had been engaged in, based on the priorities identified by the Community Committee.

Members were advised of the update from Employment and Skills set out in the report at Paragraphs 20-69.

The Community Committee Champions provided the following updates:

Children and Families

This sub-group had recently changed the way it operated, and now focused on themes which had been provided by Members of the Committee.

The first theme had been in relation to housing specifically looking at overcrowding and homelessness and the effect on a child’s education, outcomes and wellbeing.

A meeting had taken place with the Executive Members and officers to discuss the band system for housing priority and see if this could be amended. A positive email had been received from the Chief Housing Officer, and this was read out to the Committee. It was the view that that this was encouraging as it had encouraged reflection, analysis, and debate about the matter, and this had been initialised by the sub-group.

 The Committee were informed that due to the review of the Community Committees a clearer role for the Children and Families Champion was to be rolled out across all Community Committees and this Community Committee had led that.

Employment and Skills

The information in the Update Report showed that Armley and Bramley were listed high in the areas of deprivation and NEET.

Members were informed of a scheme at the West SILC for a new post 16 site to offer employment through IKEA to retro fit a space, learning skills to become employable. Members were encouraged to visit.

 Leeds West Academy were also providing alternative provision for those who wished to work in the building industry. However, for pupils to gain access to an apprenticeship they needed Maths and English GCSE.

It was a suggestion that the sub-group may wish to focus on this area. Cllr Ritchie, Disability Champion said there are events and Job Fairs which look at access to employment for all.

It was noted that the Children and Families Scrutiny Board are scrutinising EHCP’s and how they are completed.

Environment

The sub-group is due to meet next month. It was noted there is a pilot scheme to look at reducing indoor pollution, which can exacerbate conditions such asthma.

Community Safety

The sub-group is to meet on 27^th March at 10.00am via MS Teams. Subjects for discussion would include:

·  Neighbourhood Watch

·  Prevention of graffiti

·  Cold Calling Zones

·  Pub Watch

RESOLVED – To note the content of the report and information provided at the meeting.

To receive the report of report of the City Solicitor which requests Members to give consideration to agreeing the proposed Community Committee meeting schedule for the 2024/2025 municipal year.

The report of the City Solicitor requested Members to consider agreeing the proposed Community Committee meeting schedule for the 2024/2025 municipal year.

The proposed Community Committee meeting dates were set out at Paragraph 5 of the submitted report.

RESOLVED – To agree the following dates and times for the Inner West Community Committee for municipal year 2024/25:

·  Tues, 2 Jul 24, 6pm

·  Tues, 3 Sept 24, 6pm

·  Tues, 19 Nov 24, 6pm

·  Tues, 4 Mar 25, 6pm

It was acknowledged that this meeting would be the last Community Committee for Cllr Gruen and Cllr McKenna, as they were stepping down at the next election.

The Committee gave them a round of applause for the hard work they had done in the Inner West Community area.

The meeting concluded at 19:50