Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Ray Catt.

There were none.

Order of the Court of Common Council, 19 April 2012, appointing the Committee and approving its Terms of Reference (copy attached).

The Committee received an Order of the Court of Common Council of 19 April 2012 appointing the Committee and approving its Terms of Reference.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.29. The Town Clerk read a list of Members eligible to stand and Billy Dove, being the only Member who expressed his willingness to serve, was duly elected as Chairman of the Committee for the ensuring year.

            The Chairman welcomed Alderman Alison Gowman and Ian Seaton to their first meeting of the Committee and also took the opportunity to thank Alderman John Garbutt and Alderman The Hon. Philip Remnant for their contributions over the past year, now that their service on the Committee had come to an end. Particular thanks was expressed Deputy Bill Fraser, a past Chairman of the Committee, whose service on the Committee had also now come to an end.

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30. A list of Members eligible to stand was read, and both Deputy Ayers the Chief Commoner and Deputy & Sheriff Wendy Mead declared their willingness to serve if elected.

A ballot having been taken, votes were cast as follows:-

Deputy Ken Ayers, the Chief Commoner                                 -           3 votes

Deputy & Sheriff Wendy Mead                                     -           9 votes

Deputy & Sheriff Wendy Mead was therefore duly elected as Deputy Chairman for the ensuing year.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 15 March 2012 (copy attached).

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 15 March 2012 were approved.

To receive a progress report of the Chief Grants Officer (copy attached).

The Committee received the regular progress report of the Chief Grants Officer which highlighted the various activities that were on-going or had recently concluded.

          An update was provided on the Prime Minister’s Summit on Giving which had been scheduled for 8 May 2012 at the Natural History Museum but had now unfortunately been cancelled.

          RESOLVED: that the contents of the report be noted.

To consider the Chief Grants Officer’s reports on grant recommendations, as follows (copies attached):-

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer, introducing the grants programmes and stating that a total of forty-seven applications would be dealt with at the meeting, of which four were strategic initiatives, sixteen were recommended for grants and twenty-four recommended for rejection, with a further two to be withdrawn and one lapsed.

          RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer recommending grants to organisations.

          During consideration of the applications before the Committee, the following comments were made by Members of the Committee and relevant officers:

·         In respect of Annex 1 (Waltham Forest Community Transport), the Chamberlain made reference to the low reserve position of the organisation. Whilst an updated budget had now been received, there had not been sufficient time in which to examine the figures and accordingly it was suggested that the grant be approved subject to this updated budget sheet being deemed satisfactory.

·         In relation to Annex 5 (British Red Cross), the Chamberlain expressed concern as to the level of reserves presented in the report, commenting that the unrestricted funds listed were incorrect and noting that the financial observations section of the report did not list this figure or compare those funds held against the organisation’s reserves policy. Members were advised that the organisation held free reserves as at 31 December 2011 of £41.4m and that the reserves policy was to hold £15m. A draw-down from these reserves in 2012 of £14.8m had been identified, along with a further draw-down of £6.2m in 2013; however, this left the organisation with some £5.4m still held in reserves for which expenditure was not identified, and accordingly the Chamberlain felt that he must express his considerable concern as to whether additional funds from Trust were needed to fund this project. A Member echoed the Chamberlain’s concerns and made reference to the considerable funds which the Corporation had already provided to the Red Cross over the years.

The Grants Officer commented that, whilst the reserve figure did indeed appear to be large, it was important to remember that the organisation was also substantial, with the figure accordingly commensurate. The vast experience of

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer recommending twenty-four grant applications in the Working with Londoners programme be rejected for the reasons identified in the schedule attached to the report.

          RESOLVED: That the grant applications detailed in the schedule attached to the report be rejected.

To consider reports of the Chief Grants Officer as follows (copies attached):-

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer providing an introduction and background to four strategic initiatives to be considered by Members.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer reviewing the Learning and Knowledge Sharing Strategy 2011/12 and seeking approval for the proposed 2012/13 Strategy.

RESOLVED: That Members:-

·                approve the strategy and programme of activities for 2012/13 as set out in the report; and,

·                approve a budget of £124,000  to implement the programme, to be costed against the budget for Strategic Initiatives 2012/13.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer proposing the funding of a strategic initiative aimed at developing reporting skills amongst young people.

RESOLVED: That Members approve a grant of £50,000 for the Dickens Social Reporters Initiative 2012, to be costed against the budget for Strategic Initiatives 2012-13.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer seeking approval for a further annual allocation from the Strategic Initiatives budget to continue the ‘Greening the Third Sector’ programme of Eco-Audits.

RESOLVED: That Members approve the allocation of £75,000 to the ‘Greening the Third Sector’ programme, to be charged against your 2012-2013 Strategic Initiatives budget.

          The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer relative to two applications that had been withdrawn by the applicants and one application that had lapsed.

          RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

          The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer advising Members of a variation to one grant agreed by the Chief Grants Officer since the last meeting of the Committee.

          RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer relative to two visits that had been undertaken.

          RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer detailing the seventy-one monitoring visits which Officers intended to conduct in 2012-13.

It was clarified that dates had not been provided so as to afford Members the opportunity to identify those visits which they might be interested in attending; Members were subsequently asked to contact Tim Wilson in order that a convenient date for a visit could be scheduled.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer outlining proposals for the implementation of your policy on delegated authority for decisions on small grants.

RESOLVED: That:-

·      the Chief Grants Officer be given delegated authority to make decisions on applications of up to £5,000; and,

·      decisions on applications of over £5,000 and up to £25,000 be usually made through the delegated authority of the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act as follows:-

Item No                                                                                  Exempt Paragraphs

16 - 17                                                                                                     3

RESOLVED: - That under Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act as follows:-

Item No                                                                       Exempt Paragraphs

            16 - 17                                                                                       3

There was one question.

There were no urgent items.