There were no apologies for absence.

The minutes from the Community, Health and Leisure Committee meeting held on 5 September 2016 were approved as a true record subject to an amendment to wording in Minute 123, para 4 to read “A request was made by Cllr Mrs Hubbard  that volunteers should be recognised and acknowledged”.

The Committee received an informative presentation on Local Children’s Partnership Boards from Dan Stoten, Commissioning Manager for Children and Families, South Essex Children’s Partnership Board, for which he was thanked.

Report to follow.

Members were reminded that it had been agreed at the 6 June 2016 Community, Health and Leisure Committee that the Council would commission a specialist team of consultants to undertake a value for money review and options appraisal of the Council leisure facilities which would include the Brentwood Centre, six community halls managed by Brentwood Leisure Trust, Hartswood Golf Course and the Council’s play areas. The consultants appointed after following procurement guidelines were 4Global.

The Leisure Strategy was one of the key strategies set out in the Vision for Brentwood 2016-19 document. In order to deliver a successful Leisure Strategy, Members and Officers needed to have a complete picture of the cost of the current provision, how it measured in value for money terms and the options available to them with any risk profiles associated with its leisure facilities.

The draft report from 4Global was received on 25 November and would be analysed and the recommendations interrogated and challenged by relevant officers including the Chief Executive and Section 151 officer. A report would then be made to the Community Health and Leisure Committee with final recommendations for Members to consider. As this was an extensive and important piece of work it was proposed that a special Community, Health and Leisure Committee be convened in February 2017 solely to consider the Leisure Strategy.

Cllr Parker MOVED and Cllr Ms Sanders SECONDED the recommendations in the report and following a full discussion it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

1. That Officers note the update from 4Global and review the suggested recommendations.

2.  That an additional special Community Health and Leisure Committee be convened in February 2017 to discuss the recommendations for the Leisure Strategy.

Reasons for Recommendation

As part of the Council’s due diligence in delivering a successful Leisure Strategy, Members and officers needed to have a complete picture of the current associated costs and the risk profiles of the Borough’s Leisure facilities.

Comments received from Sport England  as part of the Local Development Plan consultation stated that a Leisure Strategy was required that assessed Council owned sports and leisure facilities in order that the Council could continue to work with partners to ensure that appropriate provision was made for the residents of Brentwood. The strategy should not only consider how the Council could provide services, but also how other partners could do so. The strategy should also use current sports facility evidence to identify strategic priorities to then inform what would be included in the Council’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan. Following this feasibility work, the Council would then be able to determine which projects would be funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and those which would be funded by planning obligations.   

 (Cllr Reed declared a non-pecuniary interest under the Council’s Code of Conduct by virtue of being an independent trustee of Brentwood Leisure Trust; Cllr Clarke and Cllr Wiles each declared a non-pecuniary interest by virtue of being  Council representatives for Hartswood Golf Club and Brentwood Rugby Club respectively).

The Council had a number of fees and charges relating to the services it provided. As part of the budget setting process, these charges were reviewed on an annual basis by the relevant committee. Whilst some of the fees and charges were statutory and therefore determined through legislation, the Council must also review its charges for discretionary services to ensure that they reflected the current costs of service provision.

Recommended amendments to the fees and charges were appended to the report for Members’ consideration and if approved, these would be incorporated into the budget setting process to take effect from the following financial year.

Cllr Parker MOVED and Cllr Wiles SECONDED the recommendation in the report and following a discussion it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

That Members agree to the proposed charges for 2017/18 as attached in Appendix A subject to the budget setting process.

Reasons for Recommendation

Officers review the fees and charges annually and this will be used to inform the 2017/18 budget setting process.

Members were advised that an application had been received from Shenfield Environmental Partnership for a contribution towards a ‘Shenfield Village Sign’, from the Brentwood Community Fund. The decision on this funding was to be determined by Members in a separate report at the current Committee meeting.

To receive the grant monies it was required that all the relevant permissions and licenses had been applied for and approved. Essex County Council as the Highway authority had given consent for the sign to the Council under Section 42 of the Public Health Acts Amendments Act 1890 subject to Brentwood Borough Council complying with a number of conditions as set out in Appendix B to the report.

Cllr Reed MOVED and Cllr Wiles SECONDED the recommendation in the report and following a discussion proposed the wording of the recommendation be amended to read as follows:

That Members agree to issue a license for the erection of the Shenfield Village Sign and request that the Brentwood Borough Borough Council crest be added to the supporting post.

A vote was taken on a show of hands and the MOTION was LOST.

Subsequently, Cllr Reed MOVED and Cllr Wiles SECONDED the original recommendation and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

That Members agree to issue a license for the erection of the Shenfield Village Sign.

Reasons for Recommendation

The Highway Authority, Essex County Council had provided consent to Brentwood Borough Council to install the sign subject to the Council complying with the conditions set out in Appendix B. Brentwood Borough Council would in turn issue a license to Shenfield Environmental Partnership so that they were able to undertake the installation of the sign. This was subject to them complying with the conditions set out in the license and also receiving the desired amount of funding from Brentwood Borough Council and from Essex County Council’s Community Initiatives Fund to progress the works. The implications for complying with the consent from Essex County Council would provide Members with the information they required to make an informed decision.

Members were reminded that the Brentwood Community Fund was set up to give Brentwood’s communities the opportunity to provide local initiatives to improve the quality of life for local people living in the borough. The fund had £16,300 available in total in the current financial year, and grants of up £2,000 were available for applicants.  Application to the fund could be made from 8th April until 4th  September 2016. A summary of the applications and the officers scoring sheet was attached to the report as Appendix B.

Twenty four applications had been made to the Community Fund requesting a total of £41,896.40.

A summary spreadsheet of officer recommendations and a copy of all of the application forms had been made available to all Members who had had the opportunity to provide comments on the applications to the Chair of Community, Health and Leisure Committee prior to the meeting.

If the proposed list was approved clarification would to be sought regarding the situation of Applicant 12 before the grant was awarded.  If it transpired that the group was no longer in operation, the grant would be given to the applicant who was first reserve on the list.

Cllr Parker MOVED and Cllr Wiles SECONDED the recommendation in the report, subject to the possible replacement on the list of Applicant 12 with Applicant 24 as described above.  Following a discussion it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

That Members agree to fund those projects highlighted in green as outlined in Appendix B out of the Community Fund.

Reasons for Recommendation

Each application had been subject to a robust, independent and transparent scoring process to ensure fairness in the allocation of funding (Appendix C). Once received the applications were scored by a panel of officers looking at the following key priorities:

•           Evidence that the bid met the criteria, the Council’s priorities and        expected outcomes

•           Evidence that the community had been involved in the development and implementation of the project

•           Evidence that the bid supported the promotion of volunteering and community participation

•           Evidence that the applicant had sought additional external funding or in kind value (such as the use of volunteers) for the project

•           Evidence that the project was sustainable once the Council’s contribution had ceased.

(Cllr Mrs Davies declared a non-pecuniary interest under the Council’s Code of Conduct by by virtue of involvement with Brentwood Community Print and through that connection, Brentwood Theatre Trust; Cllr Reed declared a pecuniary interest under the Council’s Code of Conduct by virtue of being employed by Brentwood Theatre Trust.  Both Members left the Chamber and took no part in the discussion or vote. Cllr Clarke declared a non-pecuniary interest under the Council’s Code of Conduct by virtue of his daughter volunteering at Brentwood Community Print).

Members were reminded that currently the Council organised Family Fun Days, the Strawberry Fair, Lighting Up Brentwood and Shenfield Christmas Fayre.  The planned events programme for 2017/18 was appended to the report as Appendix A, which was subject to Members’ agreement and also to the budget setting process.

There was a full discussion regarding events that had taken place during 2016 and the huge contribution made by Kim Anderson and the Community Services Team was acknowledged by the Committee.  On behalf of the Borough, Members thanked those officers for their hard work and dedication in organizing the events for the benefit of Brentwood residents.

Cllr Reed proposed that an annual celebration of St Thomas be considered to be undertaken with lottery funding from 2018 and would liaise with officers accordingly.

Cllr Parker MOVED and Cllr Ms Sanders SECONDED the recommendation in the report, a vote was taken on a show of hands and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

That Members agree to the Event Plan for 2017/18 as set out in Appendix A, subject to the budget setting process.

Reasons for Recommendation

The Community events programme provided a platform for all service areas across the Council to promote new initiatives, projects or as a means of consultation with the public. Officers would work with local businesses, community groups and the voluntary sector to develop the community events that would enhance and support the support the local community. 

Members were reminded that at the meeting of the Community, Health and Leisure Committee on 5th September 2016, it was resolved to approve the draft revision to the CCTV Code of Practice for consultation with the Police and relevant stakeholders.

Member approval was now sought  for the revised Code of Practice, which had been amended having regard to current guidance from the Surveillance Camera Commissioner and Information Commissioner.

Cllr Parker MOVED and Cllr Wiles SECONDED the recommendation in the report, a vote was taken on a show of hands and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

That the revision of the Brentwood CCTV Code of Practice

incorporating the requirements of the Information Commissioner and Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s Codes of Practice is formally adopted following consultation with the Police and relevant stakeholders.

Reasons for Recommendation

To keep policies and operating procedures up to date.

There were no items of urgent business.

__________________________

The meeting ended at 20.30 hrs.