Agenda and minutes

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 Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting.)

There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.

There were no resolutions to exclude the public.

There were no late items.

There were no declarations of interest.

Apologies were received from Councillors Carter and Wood and also from co-optee Reverend Ayres.

On this occasion no members of the public had attended the meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th March 2014.

RESOLVED – The Minutes of the meeting held on 12^th March 2014 were confirmed as a correct record.

Minute 67 Declaration of Interest and 76 Wellbeing Fund Report

Councillor Coulson brought to the attention of the Committee that he also had an interest in the Pudsey Wellbeing Centre as a Board Member.

To receive the minutes of the Environment Sub Group meeting held on 22 January 2014

Minutes of the Environmental Sub-Group meeting held on 22 January 2014 were noted by the Area Committee.

To receive the minutes of the Area Chairs meeting held on 28^th February 2014

Minutes of the Area Chairs Forum meeting held on 28^th February 2014 were noted by the Area Committee.

To receive the report of the City Solicitor which explains the arrangements for the election of Chairs for Community Committees and that in line with this process, to recommend that this Area Committee elect a Member to the position of Community Committee Chair for the 2014/2015 municipal year.

The City Solicitor submitted a report outlining the arrangements for the annual election of Chairs for Community Committees and which sought the Committee to elect a Chair for the duration of the forthcoming 2014/15 municipal year.

The only nomination received in relation to the Chair of West Outer Community Committee was that of Councillor Jarosz.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Jarosz be elected Chair of West Outer Community Committeefor the duration of the 2014/15 municipal year.

Cllr. Jarosz thanked Members for their support and said that she was looking forward to meeting with the new Area Lead and moving forward with the work of the Committee into the new municipal year

To receive the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Citizens and Communities) putting forward a number of themed topics for Members to consider.  These topics will form the basis for the Outer West Community Committee engagement activity in 2014/15.

The report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Citizens and Communities) outlined the new proposals for the introduction of a new approach to area working arrangements to be implemented at the beginning of the 2014/15 municipal year.

The new approach seeks to strengthen local democratic engagement and increase community engagement and involvement in local decision making. The development of the Community Committees replaces the existing Area Committee arrangements.

The Committee were asked to identify which topics they would like to focus on in 2014/15. It was recommended that in this first year that three Community Committee topics were chosen.

Members were directed to 3.5 of the submitted report which highlighted some key areas of focus after earlier discussions with members.

Members’ attention was drawn to Appendix 1 of the submitted report which provided members with a list of common issues for consideration.

Discussion took place amongst the members on the merits of all the issues listed with specific discussion on summer holiday provision, social isolation of older people, patient empowerment, engagement with local employers in relation to employment for young people and debt advice. Members were of the view that they wanted to focus on the topics that would provide the most impact locally.

The Area Leader suggested to members that they may wish to link issues and combine topics. Members were of the view that this would be a good approach. The Area Support Officers were asked to bring a paper to the July meeting which outlined this approach.

Members were informed that the Area Support Team were developing a Community Engagement Plan which would support the development and review of the West Outer Business Plan. The Community Committees Engagement Plan will be brought to the July meeting.

Members discussed and suggested options for ways to engage with all the community including, community notice boards, social media, texts, leaflet drops, local publications, and a website.

Members wanted to broaden the ways in which the committee engage, to reach those in the community who would not normally engage with the committee.

Members requested that the Communications Plan included current engagement costs in comparison to the proposed engagement costs.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

a)  Choose a number of topics that could be combined to support the Community Committee’s focus of work over the coming year, to be presented in a report for consideration at the first meeting of the Community Committee in July;

b)  Request that a draft engagement plan be developed for the topics, for consideration at the first meeting of the Community Committee in July;

c)  Request that a draft communications strategy is developed to ensure a framework for communication between all key stakeholders.

To receive the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Citizens and Communities) this report provides Members with an update on the budget position for the Wellbeing Fund for 2014/15. The report highlights the current position of the Small Grants and Skips and those grants and skips that have been received or approved since the last meeting. It also provides an update on the Youth Activities Fund.

The submitted report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Citizens and Communities) provided members with an update on the budget position for the Wellbeing Fund for 2014/15. The report provided the current position of the Small Grants and skips and those Small Grants and skips that had been received or approved since the last meeting.

An update was also provided for the Youth Activity Fund and those projects seeking support through this ring-fenced allocation.

Members attention was drawn to Appendix 1 of the submitted report which informed members of the current budget position for Wellbeing projects showing the amount approved by the Area Committee and the value of the funds spent to date. The Wellbeing Budget statement also outlined the current budget position of those projects funded in previous years which still have funding left to spend. Projects received by the area committee are listed in Table 1 below.

In relation to Appendix 5 Committee Members discussed the project in detail with one Member of the committee suggesting that the application should be rejected as the project should be funded by Housing Leeds.

Appendix 6 was discussed by Members at length and they were of the view that the project would not benefit the children within the community as a whole and the show was to be held at a theatre outside the area.

Cllr. Marjoram left the meeting at 13:55. *

On Cllr. Marjoram’s departure, the Community Committee became inquorate, therefore the committee was unable to make any formal decisions for the remainder of the meeting. It was noted that Cllr Marjoram had indicated prior to leaving the committee that he wished to support the last two wellbeing applications entitled Farnley Cluster Summer Fun Day and Outer West Cluster / Breeze, three mini Breeze Sessions in all Outer West wards.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

·  Note the current budget position for the Wellbeing Fund 2014/15;

·  Note the current position of the Small Grants and skips budget and those Small grants and skips that have been approved since the last meeting;

·  Note the budget position of the Capital Grants budget and those capital grants received: Note the current position of the Youth Activity Fund;

Table 1: Determined projects seeking funding as follows;

(*Recommended approval – due to the meeting being inquorate at this point)

Members raised their concerns with the lack of communication from Ahead Partnership in relation to meeting with them on an individual basis to discuss future partnership working in other west outer wards.

RECOMMENDED – That the Area Support Team contact Ahead Partnership on behalf of the Members.