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 Community Fund of £36,300 was currently allocated within and existing 2019/20 budget, and grants of up to £4,000 were available to applicants.

The funding was open from 1 April until 27 September 2019. A summary of the applications and the officers scoring sheet is attached in Appendix B of the report.

Cllr Reed and Mrs Davies declared an interest of their association to one or more of the applicants for the fund and left the Chamber.  Cllr Mrs Tierney declared a non pecuniary interest as a trustee of Brentwood Leisure Trust.

Cllr Poppy consulted with the committee their views on Parish Councils applying for the Community Fund.  The chair asked officers to review the current guidelines around this and bring it back to the next Community and Health Committee.   

Cllr Poppy MOVED the motion and Cllr Mrs Tierney SECONDED the recommendation in the report.

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

Members were asked to 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 of the report).

Once reviewed the applications were scored by a panel of officers and a representative from AXIS looking at the following key priorities:

·         Evidence that the bid meets the criteria, the Council’s priorities and expected outcomes

·         Evidence that the community has been involved in the development   and implementation of the project

·         Evidence that the bid supports the promotion of volunteering and community participation

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

·         Evidence that the project is sustainable once the Council’s contribution

has ceased.

Once the applications were scored, they were ranked by their overall score.  The recommendations by officers of the projects that met the Council’s key priorities and expected outcomes, the amount of funding recommended is attached in Appendix B of the report.

Those applications marked as green were recommended to receive funding.

Notifications would be made to all those applicants that applied. Successful applicants would also have to agree to any terms stipulated within the conditions of the grant being awarded. Successful applicants would also need to complete a self-monitoring report once their project has been completed.

Any unsuccessful applicants to the Community Fund would be offered the following support: Face to face 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 included tips on submitting a good funding application. Members would also be asked   to assist in this process; Organisations would also be signposted to the Open

Community on the Council’s website to look at other sources of external funding to support their project if applicable.

Fees and charges made by the Council for various services are reviewed on an annual basis by the relevant Committees relating to the services provided.  Recommended amendments to the fees and charges are incorporated into the budget setting process to take effect from the following financial year.

Cllr Poppy MOVED the motion and Cllr Mrs Tierney SECONDED the recommendation in the report.

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

Agree to the proposed charges for 2020/21 as attached in Appendix A, B and C of the report subject to the annual budget setting process.

Reasons for Recommendation

Officers review fees and charges annually and this will be used to inform the 2020/21 budget setting process.

The Council’s organises Strawberry Fair, Family Fun Days, Lighting Up Brentwood and Shenfield Christmas Fayre. The planned event programme for 2020/21 was before Members in Appendix A of the report, which would be subject to Members agreement and also subject to the annual budget setting process.

Cllr Poppy MOVED the motion and Cllr Mrs Tierney SECONDED the recommendation in the report.

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

Agree to the Event Plan for 202/21 as set out in Appendix A of the report, subject to the annual budget setting process.

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 would work with the local business clusters, community groups and voluntary sector organisations to develop the community events so that they will enhance and support the local community.

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) had been in place in Brentwood Borough Council since February 2011.  All food hygiene visits made to premises were conducted at no cost to the business, which included  requested second visits to the business for the sole purpose of increasing their FHRS “star” rating, which is to their business benefit.

There was an opportunity to introduce a charging regime using powers available in the Localism Act for one part of FHRS: requests for a FHRS re-rating inspection. Charging was previously specifically excluded by the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) contract with local authorities to deliver FHRS, but they have reconsidered this position and now advise that it is possible to charge for this service under the powers granted to local authorities by that Act.

Cllr Poppy MOVED the motion and Cllr Mrs Tierney SECONDED the recommendation in the report.

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

1.    Note this report and basis for the proposed changes to the operation of FHRS in Brentwood Borough Council; and

2.    Approve the introduction of a charge of £180 for re-rating  inspections based upon full cost recovery with effect from 1 April 2020, reviewed in line with the fees and charges policy annually thereafter.

Reasons for Recommendation

This service was delivered free of charge. Brentwood currently received between 8 and 10 requests for reinspection per year. The income for the current year to date, where the council to charge, would have been £1,440  based on a fee of £180.

The number of requests received annually was however likely to increase with the recent introduction of online food delivery platforms. Agreed changes to the operation of two major online delivery platforms, driven by the FSA, means that those platforms do not permit membership below a rating of 3 FHRS. It is anticipated that businesses will want to request more re-rating inspections in order continue trading on such platforms, together with showing  the best ratings which places increased pressure on resources unless we are able to recover the charges.