Agenda, decisions and minutes

Received from Councillors Janet Burgess MBE and Anjna Khurana.

None.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

·         if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

·         you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b)   Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c)  Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d)    Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e)    Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f)   Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

(g)   Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital.  

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None.

CONFIRMED as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 March 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and the Chair be authorised to sign them

AGREED recommendation

RESOLVED:

That the membership of the Voluntary and Community Sector Committee, appointed by the Executive on 27 May 2021, its terms of reference and dates of meetings for the municipal year 2021/22, as set out at Appendix A of the report of the Acting Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer, be noted.

Reasons for decision

To inform members of the remit of the Committee

Other options considered

None

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted

None

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reasons for decision – as specified in the report

Other options considered – none

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted – none

RESOLVED:

(a) To continue with delegated authority to the Fairer Together Director, in consultation with the Executive Member for Community Development, to make decisions which are related to Covid responses in the community and also for events which will take place in the short term, to prevent delays to decisions and funding being allocated and with due regard to the Government road map and any possible changes to this.

(b) To resort back to 3 rounds per year for Local Initiative Funding, with decisions which are outside of the scope detailed in resolution (a) above being considered by the Voluntary and Community Sector Committee for approval. This will mean that the application deadlines for the next two rounds for this financial year will be in early September (agreed by November 2021 VCS Committee) and late December 2021 or early January 2022 (agreed by March 2022 VCS Committee).

(c) That funding be awarded for events/gatherings with the following conditions:

 · Organisations running large open events to contact the Safety Advisory Group, have a lead event safety manager and a comprehensive risk assessment completed.

 · If activities were not permitted due to government guidance, the event must be cancelled but the organisation(s) may hold the funding allocation until such time as the event can run, including carrying funding over to the next financial year. Organisations will also be given the opportunity to delay events or change the use of the project funding

·       Government guidelines on social distancing must not be breached and event organisers must follow any guidance in place at the time.

· For events awarded funding, the funding to be released no earlier than the month before the event, to allow for essential checks with the organisation having real time information on the roadmap and restrictions.

(d) That the LIF awards approved under delegated authority by the Corporate Director of Housing, in consultation with the Executive Member for Community Development, on 23 March and 17 May 2021 and set out in appendix A to the report, be noted.

Reasons for decision

The Local Initiatives Fund was an effective way of addressing local priorities and provided a mechanism for Ward councillors to support small projects which might otherwise not be funded. Proposals submitted for approval represented a wide range of activity and would deliver significant benefit to local communities.

Other options considered

None

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted

None

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reasons for decision – as specified in the report

Other options considered – none

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted – none

RESOLVED:

(a) That funding of £40,000 per annum, totalling £110,000 over the programme period July 2021 to March 2024, be approved to deliver against the recommendations of a review of capacity-building, as detailed in section 3.6 of the report of the Executive Member for Community Development.

(b) That funding of £35,000 per annum, totalling £96,250 over the programme period July 2021 to March 2024, be approved to deliver against the recommendations of a review of volunteering, as detailed in section 3.6 of the report of the report of the Executive Member for Community Development.

(c)  That funding of £30,000 per annum, totalling £82,500 over the programme period July 2021 to March 2024, be approved within the Equalities and Cohesion Networks strand to support a disability focussed network, as detailed in section 3.6 of the report of the report of the Executive Member for Community Development.

(d) That funding of £30,000 per annum, totalling £82,500 over the programme period July 2021 to March 2024, be approved to work with Islington’s Black Caribbean community, with the aim of developing a programme of capacity-building support to establish a formalised group of community representation, as detailed in section 3.6 of the report of the report of the Executive Member for Community Development. .

Reason for decisions

The VCS Partnership Grants Programme 2021-2024 built on the overarching aim of the Council’s work with the voluntary and community sector to support the Council priority of making Islington a fairer place and the ambitions for the community through the Fairer Together programme.

Other options considered

None

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted

None

AGREED RECOMMENDATION

Reasons for decision – as specified in the report

Other options considered – none

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted – none

RESOLVED:

That funding be awarded to Voluntary Action Islington and Octopus Community Network’s consortium bid to lead all three Fairer Together Local Wellbeing Networks in the borough, as detailed in appendix 1 of the report of the Executive Member for Community Development.

Reason for decision

The Council had a strong partnership with the voluntary, community and not-for-profit sector and valued highly the role that local independent organisations played in meeting the needs of some of Islington’s most disadvantaged communities.

Other options considered

None

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted

None

Noted.

Reasons for decision – as specified in the report

Other options considered – none

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted – none

RESOLVED:

That the funding decisions made by Islington Council’s Community Chest (ICCC) Panel in relation to the second and third rounds of ICCC grant funding for 2020/21, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report of the Executive Member for Community Development, be noted.

Reasons for decision

The decisions on grant awards had already been made by ICCC and therefore the report was for the Committee’s information only.

Other options considered

None.

Conflicts of interest/Any dispensations granted

None.

On behalf of the Committee, Councillor Comer-Schwartz congratulated Kevin Turner, the current Voluntary Sector and Equalities Development Manager, on his appointment as a Grants Manager at the Cloudesley Foundation.  She thanked him for all of his valuable service to the Council and wished him well for the future.