Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Ken Brough, Miss Sarah Busby, Cllr Mary Douglas, Mr John Hawkins, Mr Kaylum House, Cllr Chris Hurst, Cllr George Jeans, Cllr Alan MacRae, Cllr Sheila Parker, Cllr Pip Ridout, Cllr Ricky Rogers and Mrs Lynne Swainston.

The Chairman informed the meeting of the recent very sudden death of Cllr Chris Hurst’s father. Members joined the Chairman in requesting the Democratic Services Officer to write to Cllr Hurst extending the Committee’s condolences at this very sad time.

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 25 March 2014. (Copy attached)

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 25 March 2014 as a true record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item.  Please contact the officer named above for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named above no later than 5pm on Tuesday 22 April 2014.  Please contact the officer named on the first page of this agenda for further advice.  Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

There were no members of the public present or councillors’ questions.

A report presenting the conclusions and recommendations of the Positive Leisure-time Activities for Young People Task Group is attached for endorsement.

This Task Group was established by this Select Committee at its meeting on 28 January 2014 and endorsed by the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee on 5 February 2014.

Cllr Jon Hubbard, Chairman of the Task Group will present the report.

If endorsed, this report will be referred to Cabinet who will take the final decision regarding the options at an extraordinary meeting on 15 May 2014.

Consideration was given to a report which presented the conclusions and recommendations of the Positive Leisure Time Activities for Young People Task Group.

In introducing the report, the Chairman paid tribute to the intensive work carried out by members of the task group which included Kaylum House, the Committee’s children & young people’s representative.   He reminded the Committee that on 21 January 2014 Cabinet considered a part 2 report proposing that it reviewed how it met its statutory duty to secure young people aged 13-19 access to sufficient positive leisure-time activities that improved their wellbeing, and sufficient facilities for such activities. The report set out a range of options, with a provisional recommendation to develop a community led approach, subject to formal consultation. This originally included saving £500k from the youth services budget, but following a resolution at Full Council on 4 February, the required savings were reduced to £250k.

The report stated that the proposals should be robustly scrutinised by the Children’s Select Committee. On 28 January the Committee established a task group to respond to the consultation. All non-executive members were invited to express an interest in sitting on the task group and membership was selected as far as possible to achieve a geographical and political balance.

The task group met on six occasions and received written and verbal evidence from elected members, senior officers, youth workers, voluntary and community sector youth groups and young people.  It also obtained additional evidence by attending various youth groups throughout the County.

Because the task group’s job was to respond to the consultation, it focused on considering the pros and cons of each of the four options proposed to Cabinet.  The task group was largely in agreement with the report to Cabinet in concluding that there were significant flaws in Options A, B and C.

Because Option D – a community-led approach – was put forward as the preferred option, the task group placed more emphasis on considering this. However, the task group had significant concerns about the preferred option - Option D – in its current form.

The Committee noted the task group’s views that Option D in its current form could lead to:

1.    An overall reduction in the provision of positive leisure time activities for young people due to a) the loss of open-access youth work, and b) the swallowing-up of the proposed new area board funding for youth activities

2.    A less coherent offer of positive activities that did not meet the needs of all young people in Wiltshire, particularly those from vulnerable groups;

3.    A reduction in capacity for developing new YAGs, supporting existing YAGs and a consequent reduction in young people’s ability to shape the services in their communities;

4.    A significant negative impact on those VCS youth groups that currently relied on the support and advice of the Integrated Youth Service to operate effectively;

5.    A reduction in young people’s ability to access supportive relationships with trained youth workers;

6.    A reduction in the preventative  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

To note that the next scheduled meeting will be held on Tuesday 3 June 2014, to be held in the Kennet Room at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

Resolved:

To note that the next scheduled meeting would be held on Tuesday 3 June 2014, to be held in the Kennet Room at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.