Live broadcast to start at 7pm and available for repeat viewing.

Apologies had been received from Cllr Tierney and Cllr Cloke was substitute.  Apologies were also received from Cllr Laplain.

In the absence of the Vice-Chair, Cllr Poppy MOVED and Cllr White SECONDED that Cllr Hones act as Vice-Chair for the duration of the meeting.  This was AGREED.

The Minutes of the previous Community & Health Committee held on 6^th December 2021 were agreed as a true record.

Members noted the Chair’s update and thanked the Chair and officers accordingly.

No papers.

This presentation provided Members the opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved by this Committee for the municipal year 2021-22.  This is keeping in line with Council’s Corporate Strategy 2021-2025.

No Papers

A presentation was made to Members on behalf of Everyone Active updating the Committee on the past three months since taking over the running of the Brentwood Centre.

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. This report outlined proposed changes to the Community Fund which will create a more efficient and meaningful scheme, both for the Council and recipient.

Mrs Anderson summarised the report.

Cllr Poppy Moved and Cllr Hones SECONDED the recommendations in the report.

Following a full discussion a vote was taken and Members

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

R1. Agree to the proposed changes to the Brentwood Community Fund, outlined in point 6.

Reasons for Recommendation

Each application will continue to be subject to a robust, independent and transparent scoring process to ensure fairness in the allocation of funding.  Applications will be scored by a panel of officers and representatives from external funding partners, considering the following key priorities:

a)    Evidence that the bid meets the criteria, the Council’s priorities and expected outcomes;

b)    Evidence that the community has been involved in the development and implementation of the project;

c)    Evidence that the bid supports the promotion of volunteering and community participation;

d)    Evidence that the applicant has sought additional external funding or in-kind value (such as the use of volunteers) for the project; and

e)    Evidence that the project is sustainable once the Council’s contribution has ceased.

f)       Evidence that the applicant has taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint.

g)      Evidence that the applicant has awareness of safeguarding and reporting procedures.

Once the applications are individually scored, they will be ranked by their score. Applications scoring over the 60% threshold will be given priority, receiving funding in rank order until all the funding has been allocated.

Successful applicants will still need to agree to any terms stipulated within the conditions of the grant being awarded and complete a monitoring report once their project has completed.

Any unsuccessful applicants will continue to be offered the following support: telephone call or online meeting with a member of the Community Services team to review their prospective application; offered a funding training session via Brentwood Council for Voluntary Services which includes tips on submitting a good funding application and access to My Funding Central, an up-to-date database of thousands of funding streams for the sector.  Members will also be asked to assist in this process.       

Officers will review the impact of the above recommended changes annually and will advise Members of any further changes that are required.

Traditionally the Council has organised Strawberry Fair, Family Fun Days, Lighting Up Brentwood and Shenfield Christmas Fayre. Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic the delivery of the event programme had to be changed such as on-line delivery or smaller scale events. The Planned Event Programme for 2022-2023 came before Members in Appendix A, subject to Members agreement, budget allocation and sponsorship contribution.  

Cllr Poppy Moved and Cllr Hones SECONDED the recommendations in the report.

A vote was taken and Members RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

Agree the proposed event plan for 2022-2023 as set out in Appendix A, subject to budget allocation and sponsorship contribution.

Agree for Officers to look at alternative event delivery options.

Reasons for Recommendation

The Community Event Programme provides a platform for all service areas across the Council to promote new initiatives, projects or as a means of consultation with the public. The Council will work with local business clusters, community groups and voluntary sector organisations to develop the community events so that they will enhance and support the local community.

There were no items of urgent business.

                                                            The meeting concluded at 20.05