Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council Community, Environment and Partnerships Committee Meeting

Councillor Taylor was replaced by Councillor Rhatigan.

Councillor Williams declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to item 6 of the agenda as he had been involved in a number of applications for grant funding in a range of capacities.

There were no urgent matters.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Cabinet Member for Partnerships introduced the report which updated the committee on the progress of the White Ribbon and Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) accreditation.

Councillor Howard-Sorrell spoke to the Committee on the importance of passing the original motion and ensuring that the proposed steps were taken.

The Committee then received a presentation from the White Ribbon Coordinator and the Strategic Housing Lead Domestic Abuse.

The Committee discussed the report and presentation and made the following comments:

• Thanked Officers for the presentation and the work carried out so far.

• Stressed the importance of a broader conversation around domestic abuse.

• Concern was raised over the increase in statistics.

• Requested more information in relation to the housing numbers for domestic abuse cases.

• Reference was made to the recent example of a police officer who had been abusing for 20 years and it was stressed that people needed to feel safe in order to report incidents.

• It was important that the Council and housing associations were easy to approach.

• It was suggested that the website should include more information to allow people to access services that are available to them.  However, the Committee acknowledged that the website was due to be updated shortly following a press release.

• Were pleased that there were resources available to the Council on a two-year basis to support the completion work required.

• Acknowledged that longer term stays in the refuge wasn’t always a negative outcome as sometimes it was the individuals/families preference.

• It was important to ensure that workplace support was available for anyone sharing their own experiences.

The Committee requested a written response on the following issues:

·       How often refuge accommodation was not available when required.

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·       How long families had to wait in a refuge.

·       How many people would want to stay long term in the Borough if they were able to.

·       How could people replace the day-to-day items they may have left behind when leaving their previous unsuitable accommodation.

The Committee acknowledged that Hampshire County Council was the responsible authority for the refuge and therefore Officers would have to request it from them if the information was held.

The Committee agreed that they would like to be informed by email when the quarterly updates were available and that the item would come back to the Committee on an annual basis before Officers were due to update Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance( DAHA).

Resolved: The Committee notes the report and provides its comments to the Officers and Cabinet Member.

The Cabinet Member for Partnerships introduced the report which advised the Committee that the council had undertaken a review of its community and voluntary sector grant funding to ensure that the funding models and streams remained fit for purpose and that the council investment in the sector achieved the best possible outcomes.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:

• Questioned whether there were any plans to extend the number of organisations that received strategic funding or to vary the organisations that received support.

• Acknowledged that the intention going forward was to provide funding on a three-year basis in order to allow important organisations to plan ahead in order to continue operating such as Citizens Advice.

• Stated that the Hampshire County Council’s Councillor grant scheme had a wider scope than the council’s scheme and it was felt that the current scheme was too narrow.

• Members did not want any drastic changes made to organisations who receive essential support to continue operating such as Citizens Advice.

• Made reference to the increase in running costs and questioned whether the council could provide any support. The Economy, Arts and Culture Manager responded that the council could provide advice and direct them to potential energy saving schemes.

• Stated that the data showed a trend of grants provided at a fixed rate or a reduction and that the grants should be increased if possible.

• Acknowledged that any underfunding from the Councillor grant scheme would go to the Strengthening communities fund.

• Some Members shared positive experiences of applying for Local Infrastructure funding (LIF), but members hoped that the Community Infrastructure Fund(CIF) application process would be simpler than LIF.

• Requested the addition of an environmental and climate change sentence to 2.25 of the report to include it in the type of services and activities that could be funded.

• Would also like to see training requests or guest speaker sessions included in the Councillor grant scheme criteria.

• Support should be provided to smaller charities who were unfamiliar with the application process.

• Noted that there were government restrictions on the funding provided through the Shared Prosperity and Rural England Prosperity Funds including the annual allocation, which has been set by Government.

• Requested that the table showing the grants awarded per scheme include that total spend.

The Committee acknowledged that in response to issues raised, work was underway to:

• Link the grants to specific council priorities

• Review the support on a regular basis so that the support was fit for the future.

• Ensure that enough resource was provided to see a project through to completion.

• Engage with BVA to ensure that advice and guidance was provided to prospective applicants.

Resolved: The Committee

• notes the change from Strategic Grant Funding to Strategic Partner Contribution as approved by Cabinet on 8 November 2022.

• notes the community and voluntary sector grant funding streams for 2023/24 as approved by Cabinet on 8 November 2022.

• Provides its views to the Cabinet Member for Partnerships. 

The Chair introduced the work programme and gave a brief overview of the items that would be included on the agenda for the upcoming meetings.

The Chair advised that the Community Assets and expired leases report would not be ready for the March meeting and instead the Committee would receive a report on Community Safety.

Members asked if an update on the status of the topics suggested at the meeting could be circulated. The Democratic Services Officer agreed to provide this after the meeting.

Members questioned the reason as to why a workshop on the Leisure Park had not been arranged as requested, The Chair advised that the work had been carried out by the Economic Planning Housing Committee instead as per the agreed protocol to avoid duplication but that he would speak to the Cabinet Member to reconfirm the position.