To consider any requests received in accordance with part 4, section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.
Minutes:
The Committee received a deputation from Ceri Williams. Sona Mahtani and Richard Hawkins were also part of the deputation party. The following points were noted as part of the deputation:
a. The deputation party raised concerns that none of the questions that they had raised previously at the Cabinet Member Signing on 19th March had ben satisfactorily answered.
b. Ms Williams commented that there had been no consultation or proper process involved in the transfer of the Youth Zone budget.
c. Concerns were also raised around OnSide’s governance profile and the fact that they had presented a niche one site solution that did not reflect the views of the local community.
d. The deputation party raised further concerns around the fact that no tender process had been undertaken, as Council officers had suggested that no similar providers could be found. Ms Williams questioned the fact that the Council was also proposing to provide match funding to OnSide, particularly in light of there being no open tendering process.
e. The deputation party highlighted that in the response to their questions at the 19th March Cabinet Member Signing, officers had advised that the £250k un-budgeted funding would have to be found from elsewhere within the service’s budget.
f. Additional concerns were put forward about the proposed central location of the Youth Zone site and a lack of any evidence that the police supported the location.
g. The deputation party questioned why the decision was being taken in Purdah by an outgoing administration against a backdrop of concerns from the local community. The deputation party requested that the decision be deferred until after the local elections being held on 3rd May.
In response to the deputation the following questions were put forward by the Committee:
a. The Committee sought clarification around concerns with youth provision at Bruce Grove. In response Ms Mahtani advised that they were concerned that the Council was seeking to create new facilities rather than investing in the existing services and that as a result, a number of staff would be transferred into the new facilities, seemingly without consultation.
b. The Committee also sought clarification from the deputation party about whether they had received the letter of support for the proposal from the Police, following the assurances given at the meeting of 19th March. In response Ms Williams advised that she had not received the letter and that it was not part of the documents included in the agenda pack for this meeting.
c. In response to a query about whether the deputation party were aware of other local providers who could potentially provide youth services, the Committee were advised that the whole building centred model was wrong. Instead, the key element of youth work was around building trust with the young people and that should be the focus of any successful model. There were existing spaces within the borough that could be used to hold youth services and funding should be diverted to investing in existing services.