To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 8 July 2014 (Minute Nos. 129 - 133) as a correct record.

Meeting of Policy Development and Review Committee on Tuesday, 8th July, 2014

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 8 July 2014 (Minute Nos. 129 – 133) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for  themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

Councillor John Coulter declared an interest as he was a Member of Faversham Town Council and a Trustee of Faversham Municipal Charities.

Councillor Mike Henderson declared a Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interest on the ‘Review of Volunteering Strategy’ item as he was involved in several voluntary groups.

The Chairman acknowledged and advised that most Members of the Committee were likely to be involved in varying degrees in various voluntary organisations throughout the Borough.

The Committee is asked to consider the Community Asset Transfer Policy.

The Cabinet Member for Localism, Head of Property Services and Economy and Community Services Manager have been invited to attend for this item.

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Localism, the Head of Property Services and the Economy and Community Services Manager to the meeting.  He explained that the first version of the Community Asset Transfer Policy had been approved by Cabinet in August 2009.  It had been developed out of a need for a clear framework to structure the transfer of community assets.  The Policy had been revised and updated in April 2013 in response to comments from the Council’s external auditors.

Members’ made the initial following comments:  some of the addresses in the appendix were incorrect; the Policy was a little ‘underwhelming’, with not much ‘zeal’ in promoting the transfer of assets to community groups; the future was uncertain with possible change in administration, it would be good to get assets into good community management now; the default position should be that local community groups should be trusted to get on with it and that assets should be transferred to the community; some assets listed as Swale Borough Council (SBC) assets were misleading as in some cases SBC was listed on the deeds, with no management involvement; and some organisations were being held back due to misunderstandings in relation to leasehold/freehold status.

The Head of Property Services advised that organisations could opt for longer term leases if they wished to.

The Cabinet Member explained that asset transfers varied in their complexity with some being straight forward and others requiring significant input from all parties to resolve complex and protracted issues.

In response to a question, the Head of Property Services explained that the gaps in the column ‘Status of Community Asset Transfers’ in Appendix II were because there was no work being carried out on that particular asset, i.e. the occupiers had no desire for a Community Asset Transfer (CAT).

In response to a question, the Cabinet Member advised that all voluntary groups were able to request a CAT, and it was up to the community to come forward to be considered for a CAT.

Members made further comments which included:  it was difficult  to ensure the policy worked well, so that progress was made; it was important for SBC to talk with the organisations listed in the Appendix; SBC needed to invite organisations to come forward and help them towards a CAT in order to make the policy work; the path prospective organisations needed to take could be daunting for some, with a range of departments to negotiate with, if SBC talked to them that could help to move things forward; try to find out what was stopping organisations coming forward for a CAT, was SBC doing anything wrong; the organisations should not be put under any financial risk; freehold option could result in financial instability for an organisation; there were communication issues – were organisations aware of what opportunities regarding CATs were available to pursue; and there were positive and negative factors in terms of rental options of assets by an organisation.

The Economy and Community Services Manager  ...  view the full minutes text for item 210.

The Committee is asked to consider the Volunteering Strategy.

The Cabinet Member for Localism and the Head of Economy and Communities have been invited to attend for this item.

The Cabinet Member for Localism introduced the report which had previously been reviewed by the former Policy Overview Committee.  He explained that the aims of the Policy was to make it work and to set targets.  It should guide what the Council did, improve the capacity of groups with training, and deliver more opportunities for volunteering, especially for young people as this could increase their experience and be beneficial for future job opportunities.  Members now had an opportunity to review how the Policy had worked and how it could be improved.

In response to a question, the Economy and Community Services Manager explained that currently there were no comparable figures with other local Kent authorities on the amount of people who participated in volunteering.  She explained that statistics for this were being looked into.  The Cabinet Member for Localism advised that the national figure was 25% involvement, Swale was 21-22%, and it was hoped to get up to 25%.

The Economy and Community Services Manager explained that young people were being encouraged to participate in volunteering.  This was being done via the Swale Youth Forum and through schools.  An SBC apprentice would soon lead on this work and engage and expand on what had been carried out so far.

In response to a question, the Economy and Community Services Manager explained that there were around five or six FTE working with  89 voluntary groups in Swale, with further expert advice received from other departments.

A Member welcomed the Policy but raised concern with the skills that were needed to be a trustee on an organisation and suggested that training was necessary to allow business skills to be learnt.  He suggested SBC staff and Councillors be encouraged to volunteer and opportunities for this needed to be increased.  He questioned the accuracy of figures on page 31 of the report and suggested the figures should be higher.

A Member considered that finding new volunteers was an issue.  He suggested that this was a communications problem.

The Cabinet Member for Localism acknowledged the need for trustees and that they were a crucial part in the volunteering sector.  He advised that there would be training opportunities for trustees in the future, along with the introduction of mentoring.  He advised that SBC was able to promote and facilitate volunteering opportunities and provide good publicity, and to ensure that the capacity for volunteers to run their organisations was there. 

Councillor Mike Henderson proposed that the Committee recommended that Cabinet ensured that the Trustee Network was rolled-out in October 2014; that trustee training be developed; the figures in the report be updated; and more publicity, to include who to contact, further information, and  Swale  Councillor and officer volunteer numbers.

The Chairman welcomed identifying the volunteering figures within SBC, he advised that the Trustee Network was scheduled to be rolled-out in October 2014, and that the Cabinet Member for Localism had reported that training would be available for trustees.

The Economy and Community Services Manager explained that some  ...  view the full minutes text for item 211.

The Committee is asked to review and discuss the Committee’s Work Programme for the remainder of the year.

The Policy and Performance Officer drew attention to the Committee Work Programme.  Discussion ensued on the timing and potential length of discussion on the proposed items.  In particular, Members were concerned that sufficient time be given to the item on Planning Enforcement Strategy and Service Charter and that this be the sole substantive agenda item at a future meeting.