Agenda item

The report will seek Cabinet Member approval to establish ward budgets and agree the allocation of £10k for each ward. The report will also seek Cabinet Member approval for the process and criteria as set out in the appendices to this report and seek agreement for the necessary officer delegations to administer the ward budgets.

The Cabinet Member introduced the report, which sought Cabinet Member approval to establish ward budgets and agree an allocation of £10k to each ward. The report also sought Cabinet Member approval for the process and criteria, as set out in the appendices A & B of the report.

The Assistant Director of Environmental Services and Community Safety advised that Ward Members were expected to make recommendations on the spending of the ward budgets to the named officer and the named officer would then review applications for money from budgets. The funded projects would be published on the website. It was noted that arrangements would be reviewed after the first 12 months of operation to assess the effectiveness of the process.

Cllr Engert noted that local residents groups had expressed dismay with dismantling of the Muswell Hill Area Forum. Cllr Engert also requested a number of points of clarification on the report. Firstly, Cllr Engert asked whether officers would be available to attend any community meetings that were arranged using the ward budgets and whether there would be an associated cost with asking that officer to attend. The Assistant Director of Environmental Services and Community Safety responded that officers would be expected to attend a community meeting in the same way that they would for any other meeting, such as a resident’s association meeting and that requests for officers to attend would need to come through the individual services via the relevant Head of Service.

The Senior Corporate Lawyer commented that community based meetings held under the ward budget process would be informal and would not be recognised as being a formal council meeting.

Cllr Engert also enquired whether posters for any community meeting would need to be approved and conform to agreed corporate standards. The Assistant Director of Environmental Services and Community Safety agreed to discuss this with the Head of Communications and feedback to Cllr Engert.

Cllr Engert queried the stipulation that Ward Members must agree on the allocation of projects under the ward budgets, particularly in the instances where the wards are split between Labour Members and Lib Dem Members. The Cabinet Member responded that all three Members have been elected to represent the ward and that a consensus would still be required. The Cabinet Member commented that differing opinions were as likely to occur in wards where the representation was not split across two parties. Cllr Engert suggested that group leaders may need to remind Members of their responsibilities.  The Assistant Director of Environmental Services and Community Safety commented that any issues like this would be captured through the review process.

Cllr Engert asked whether the projects required a minimum budget of £1000 and whether there could be some discretion in this. The Cabinet Member commented that the process was designed to prevent the need to administer a high number of small pots of money and that a minimum threshold of £1000k after Members have approved and looked at what was coming through was purposefully decided as the best way forward. Particularly in terms of ensuring there was sufficient oversight on how the money was spent.

Cllr Engert noted a number of concerns that she wished to be taken in to account. Firstly, that the administration of the Making the Difference Fund turned out to be a very time consuming process. Cllr Engert also noted that there was significant protests from groups who were not chosen under the Making the Difference Fund and enquired how the reputation of Councillors and officers would be protected from aggrieved resident groups. The Cabinet Member noted that there was strict criteria laid out in the report about the types of projects that could be funded and that any project that was funded would have to impact and benefit all communities and that this would be a universal offer for everyone.  The Assistant Director of Environmental Services and Community Safety added that the EQIA attached to the report recommended that an annual review be carried out to monitor the cumulative impact of ward budgets and the effectiveness of any mitigation measures.

The Cabinet Member noted that cross party training would be organised for all members.

The Cabinet Member:

Resolved

1. That  a budget of £10k is allocated to each ward;
2. The process and criteria for allocating ward budgets as set out in appendices to A and B of this report;
3. To delegate to the Assistant Director of Environmental Services and Community Safety authority to determine applications for ward budget funding;
4. To delegate to the s151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities, authority to make any necessary changes to the process for awarding money from ward budgets, including changes to the officer responsible for determining applications for ward budget funding;
5. That there will be an annual review and evaluation.