Agenda item

(a)   Partnership Grant Funding Review

(b)   ‘Digital by Default’ Proposal

(c)   Performance Measures and Targets Review Proposal

O&S 12          

(a)   Partnership Funding Review

A report was considered by the Committee that presented the final report of the Partnership Funding Review Task and Finish Group.

The Group Chairman introduced the report and informed that the membership of the Task and Finish Group had been expanded following Council consideration of the draft Budget for 2018/19.  In addition, the Chairman wished to thank those 26 Members who had recently completed the Member Survey and emphasised that the results of this Survey had been given great recognition by the Group when it reached its final recommendations.

During the ensuing debate, particular reference was made to:-

(i)     the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).  Widespread disappointment was expressed amongst Committee Members that the Group had not recommended any reduction to the £5,000 annual grant allocated to the LEP.  Further doubts were raised over whether the Council was obtaining value for money for its £5,000 annual grant and the point was also made that these monies would be much better used to support other more local partnership arrangements that were being proposed to face reductions (e.g. the Youth Games; Junior Life Skills; Okehampton Community Transport; and Tavistock Ring and Ride);

(ii)    interpretation of the supporting comments in the presented agenda report that underpinned the Member Survey results.  Some Members took issue with some of the comments and felt that, in certain instances, they were rather misleading and therefore made it difficult to reach definite conclusions;

(iii)  those Partnerships deemed as being ‘statutory’.  A number of Members were unconvinced that those partnerships that were listed as being ‘statutory’ (Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum; Tamar Valley AONB; and the World Heritage Site) provided sufficient value for money.  In addition, discontent was expressed that the Task and Finish Group had seemingly accepted that the funding for these was ‘fixed’ and therefore unable to be reduced.  Such was the strength of feeling that some Members were firmly of the view that there was scope to reduce the funding allocated to these instead of some of the other partnerships that were proposed to lose monies;

(iv)  the work undertaken by the Task and Finish Group to reach this point.  A Member of the Group expressed his deep frustrations at the general direction that the debate had taken and, once again, highlighted the amount of time and effort that had been put in to produce this set of recommendations.  In addition, the Member reminded his fellow Committee Members that the Council was faced with meeting a significant budget gap and there was a need to take difficult decisions now;

(v)    the recommendations being to 2023/24.  Such were the difficulties in predicting the future financial position for the Council (coupled with the vast difference in Member opinions expressed), that a number of Committee Members questioned the actual need to make a series of recommendations that were looking so far in advance (i.e. to 2023/24).

As a consequence, it was PROPOSED and SECONDED and on being put to the vote declared CARRIED that the future funding should at this time only be agreed for 2019/20.

It was then:

RECOMMENDED

That the Hub Committee RECOMMEND to Council that:

1.     the Task and Finish Group future funding recommendations should at this time only be agreed for 2019/20; and

2.     all organisations be encouraged to seek alternative funding by drawing their attention to other potential income streams that are funded by WDBC.

(b)   ‘Digital by Default’ Proposal

The Committee considered the merits of setting up a Task and Finish Group to review access to the Council’s services.  In conclusion, the Committee recognised the intention of this proposal, but felt that it should be deferred for further consideration after the results of the Customer Satisfaction Survey had been published.

(c)   Performance Measures and Targets Review Proposal

Members were informed that the lead Hub Committee Member was currently undertaking a review into both the measures reported and the appropriateness of the targets that were aligned to these measures.  As a result, the Committee was assured that it would be in receipt of the concluding report following this review and it was therefore agreed that the proposal to establish a Task and Finish Group in this regard would not be pursued any further at this time.