Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             after notifying the Chair at the start of the meeting.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to the business transacted at this meeting.

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985.

RESOLVED:  That all items be considered with the press and public present.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2004, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2004, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were received at this meeting under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 13 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions were received at this meeting under the provisions of the Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 13 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 14 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at this meeting under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 14 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

Report of the Director, Financial and Business Strategy.

The Panel received a report of the Director of Financial and Business Strategy which updated the meeting on the progress of the Strategic Review of Grants.

Officers informed the meeting that MORI had carried out all of the recent survey of community groups.  Officers explained that late circulation of the survey results had been unavoidable, as the compilation of the results had only just been completed.  Officers suggested that further discussions take place at the September meeting to allow further consideration of the results.  The survey sought across the board views on the community strategy and also teased out further information and demographic information.

The results of the survey highlighted several key issues:

-           The voluntary sector had little knowledge of the Grants process

-                  Voluntary organisations were not in favour of annual themes

-                  Voluntary organisations were not keen to increase emphasis on                   standards/awards such as Chartermarks

-                  They supported the idea of three year funding

-                  They felt the Council had a lack of knowledge of the voluntary sector

Officers commented that there appeared to be three questions where respondents had not been supportive of the suggestions made.  These were the questions relating to the idea of a yearly theme, increased emphasis on certain standards and the change to a grants-based system for the use of the community premises.

In response to questions from Members, officers explained that the Grants Unit had one part-time member of staff and were struggling for resources.  The Portfolio Holder had given authority to employ MORI, who officers judged had the expertise to tease out the necessary information.

In response to comments from a Member, officers agreed that they were a little disappointed with the low response rates from organisations.  Because of this, officers had requested that MORI carry out further in-depth interviews with voluntary groups.  In addition, umbrella groups such as HAVS were extensively consulted.

A Member noted that he was concerned that some organisations may not have understood the consultation, and therefore not returned it.  In response to further questions, officers confirmed that the questionnaire had been sent to groups already in receipt of funding.  A Member noted that Stanmore did not appear as a geographic area in the report.

A Member commented that he thought the survey had been a valuable exercise, although he would like to reserve detailed opinion for the next meeting, to allow Members more time to read the report.  He requested that officers provide benchmarking information on the amount paid in grants to voluntary organisations by other London Boroughs for the next meeting.  He added that there were also several other sources of funding for these organisations, and suggested that officers and organisations should work closer together to take advantage of that.

Members commented that they felt that the Grants Unit was under-staffed, and that although Harrow was generally a good grants authority, it had poor lines of communication with the voluntary sector.  Members also discussed the merits of the 80% rule for funding.

Members agreed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.