Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors M Crane, S Duckett W Nichols and J Shaw-Wright, and from P Chambers and A Wray.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Board members should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not (in the case of Selby District Councillors) already entered in their Register of Interests.

Board members should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Board members should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the member may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Board members are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Central CEF Partnership Board held on 2 October 2019.

The Partnership Board considered the minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 2019.

RESOLVED:

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Partnership Board meeting held on 2 October 2019.

To receive any reports and updates from the Chair (oral report).

The Chair explained that the reason the consultation event in December had not been held was due to the election and the restrictions of purdah.

In addition to District and County Councillors, there will be up to 8 admitted co-opted Members on the Partnership Board. Normally the 8 would comprise up to 4 town or parish council representatives and up to 4 other community representatives co-opted by the Partnership Board, but the Partnership Board shall be free to determine a different proportion if it sees fit.

Co-opted members must be formally approved by the Partnership Board and will have voting rights in respect of any decisions or recommendations made by the Board.

The Board are asked to consider any proposals to fill the vacancy for a co-opted Member. This vacancy has arisen as Councillor Steve Shaw-Wright is now a District Councillor, and therefore automatically has a place on the Central CEF Board in this respect.

Prospective co-optees have been asked to submit a 250 word statement, setting out who they are and why they would like to be on the Central CEF Board. At the time of agenda publication, no statements have been submitted.

The Board discussed the current co-opted member vacancy and noted that the no applications had been received. The vacancy would continue to be advertised.

To consider the Central CEF budget.

The Board noted the budget update, which confirmed a remaining balance of £25,132.17. Some funds had been received back from the Hagges Wood Trust and from the CEF films, as illustrated in the budget.

It was suggested that the £400 set aside in the budget for refreshments at the beginning of the year would be removed as this expenditure had now occurred through the production of flyers and the provision of refreshments at previous forum meetings.

RESOLVED:

i.          To note the budget update.

ii.        To amend the budget to reflect the expenditure of the £400 set aside for flyers and refreshments for forums.

To consider the funding applications received, with reference to the funding framework and the recommendations of the Central CEF Funding Sub-Committee. The Sub-Committee will report their recommendations to the Board at the meeting.

The Board noted the Funding Framework.

This application was considered by the Board at their meeting on 2 October 2019, but was deferred so that SDDF could submit further information regarding the work undertaken on other CEF funded SDDF projects (from the Tadcaster and Villages and Southern CEFs) before a decision is taken on the SDDF’s current funding application to the Central CEF.

This additional information has been received by way of project monitoring reports from the Tadcaster and Villages and Southern CEFs. These are appended with the application.

The application was for £4,430 for the Selby District Disability Forum.

The Board received the recommendations of the Funding Sub-Committee which had met prior to the Board to consider the application. The Funding Sub-Committee recommended to the Board that the application for funding be refused due to their concerns about the applicants asking that some of the financial information was not disclosed publicly. The Board concurred with the views of the Sub-Committee that the reasons given were not explained well enough, and that details about employees and salaries and general expenditure and income should be open and transparent.

The Board also agreed with the Sub-Committee’s assessment that the estimated costs of the mystery shopper element of the project were more than would be expected, and that the existing Disability Discrimination Act, which could be used to make businesses improve access for disabled people, was already an option available to those wanting to ensure accessibility. 

RESOLVED:           

To recommend that the application for £4,430 from Selby District Disability Forum for the ‘Central CEF Disability Positivity’ project be refused.

The funding application was for £4,904 from Age UK Selby for the ‘Selby Bingo Group’ project.

The Board received the recommendations of the Funding Sub-Committee which had met prior to the Board to consider the application. The Funding Sub-Committee recommended to the Board that the application for funding be approved.

The Board, like the Sub-Committee, agreed that the proposed bingo group addressed a need in terms of tackling loneliness and isolation, showed working in partnership with other organisations (i.e. using the Working Men’s Club as a venue), and was a sustainable project due to the small fee charged to each attendee per session

RESOLVED:           

To recommend that a grant of £4,904 to Age UK Selby for the ‘Selby Bingo Group’ be approved, as outlined in the application.

To consider progress and developments related to the Central CEF Community Development Plan.

The Development Officer explained that the new draft Community Development Plan for Central CE, as appended to the agenda, was quite different from the other four CEFs, but that this was a good thing as the Central CEF area was not the same as the rest of the District.

The Board noted the four new priorities as set out in the CDP; activities for young people, community safety and the perceived risk of crime, developing community spaces for wider use and education and employment.

Board Members suggested posting future forum meeting dates for the CEF on the Selby SOS Facebook page, as it reached a large local audience; the Democratic Services Officer was asked to raise this again with the Council’s Communications Team.

It was also suggested that CEF meeting dates are agreed for the next municipal year earlier in order for one flyer to be printed to cover the whole year, and for meeting dates to be advertised months in advance. Board Members asked that this be considered further by Democratic Services.

The Board acknowledged that Selby was in fact a very safe place to live, and people’s perceptions of crime were not always quite correct. Antisocial behaviour was a worry for a lot of local residents and problems like litter and dog waste were annoyances for many that, if tackled, would make a big difference to how people saw the area.

It was agreed that there was almost a barrier between young people and the rest of the community, and that more should be done to tackle this and provide more for youth in the community.

The Board supported a suggestion to ask Inspector Martin Wedgewood to the next Forum to talk about crime in the local area and the perception of crime.

Board Members also agreed that filling the vacancy on the Board with a young person or youth representative could go some way to beginning to forge links with local young people. Councillor Lunn confirmed that he would approach the student governors at Selby College to see if there was any interest amongst them to fill the current vacancy on the Board.

RESOLVED:           

i.       To ask the Council’s Communications Team if they or the CEF would be able to post future meeting information on the Save Our Selby Facebook group.

ii.     To ask Democratic Services to consider agreeing meeting dates earlier for the next municipal year, in order to facilitate the production of a single flyer for the whole upcoming year.

iii.    To ask the Democratic Services Officer to invite Inspector Martin Wedgewood to speak at the next forum meeting in February 2020.

iv.    To ask Councillor C Lunn to approach the student governors at Selby College to see if there was any interest amongst them to fill the current vacancy on the Central CEF Board.

To ask the Board to discuss for which previous funding/projects they would like the Central CEF plaques awarded to.

Suggestions from the Chair include:

-       Flaxley Road TATA – Defibrillator

-       Selby Abbey

-       Hagges Wood

-       Selby Rugby Club

-       Brayton Community Centre

The Board noted the five proposed recipients for the Central CEF plaques, as set out in the agenda.

The Board expressed concerns about the sustainability of the materials the plaques were made out of, and how they would degrade if they ended up in landfill.

It was suggested that going forward certificates could be issued instead of plaques.

The Board asked that the matter be referred back to CEF Chairs.

RESOLVED:

                        To refer the matter of plaques back to CEF Chairs.

To remind members of the Partnership Board, of the CEF Code of Conduct.

The Chair explained that the Code of Conduct had been included with the agenda as a reminder for the Board as to how business should be conducted at meetings.

The Board suggested that the Code of Conduct be amended to remove the following sentence at paragraph 5 (Discrimination):

‘All those who attend meetings have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their race, colour, ethnic or national origins, nationality, gender, marital status, age, sexuality, religion or any other matter.’

The Board felt that the point could be suitably made by removing the above sentence and the paragraph reading simply as follows:

‘No CEF member will discriminate on any ground against any other member of the group or the public, in line with the Equalities Act 2010. Discriminatory language will not be used in discussions.’

RESOLVED:

To refer to CEF Chairs the suggested amendment to the CEF Code of Conduct, as set out above.

To discuss ideas to promote the Central CEF.

The Board considered and agreed the draft communications guide pack produced by the Communications Manager which could be sent to applicants that were successful in being awarded grants by the Central CEF.

RESOLVED:

To adopt the communications pack produced by the Communications Manager which going forward would be sent to all applicants that were successful in being awarded grants by the Central CEF.

To discuss any points of interest relating to the Central CEF that should be forwarded to Selby District Council’s Communications Team to undertake publicity work.

The Board had no suggestions for points of interest relating to the Central CEF that should be forwarded to the Communications Team for publicity work.

To consider the following completed impact reports:

-       Hagges Woods Trust – ‘Transportation Funding for Selby Primary Schools to Visit Three Hagges Wood-Meadow’, £1,000

-       Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles – ‘Selby Park Picnic Brass Events Programme 2019 – Celebrating the Park in this, the 950^th anniversary of Selby Abbey’, £3,000

-       Yorkshire Energy Doctor, ‘Central CEF Community Energy Ambassadors’, £2,670

The Board received and noted the impact reports set out in the agenda.

RESOLVED:

To note the impact reports from Hagges Woods Trust, Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles and the Yorkshire Energy Doctor.

To confirm the date and location of the next Central CEF meetings:

The Board noted that Inspector Wedgewood would be asked to attend the next forum on 26 February 2020 to talk about crime and policing in Selby.

RESOLVED:

To note the dates of the next Central CEF meetings, to be held on 26 February 2020 (Forum) and 8 April 2020 (Partnership Board).