Agenda item

To receive the final report of the Area Boards Task Group. – Please note that this report will be published as an agenda supplement.

The Chairman introduced a report which presented the findings and recommendations of the Area Board Task Group for endorsement by the Committee and referral to the Cabinet Member for response. At the Committee’s meeting on 25 January 2022, a request was received from the Executive to establish a task group to provide Scrutiny input into the council’s Area Boards arrangements. The task group was asked to provide Overview and Scrutiny input into an Executive review of:

a)    The future development and implementation of Area Board local priority setting;

b)    The operation of Area Board working groups; and

c)     Area Board grant criteria.

The Task group considered 16 Executive proposals and the report sets out 24 recommendations, which were considered during 6 meetings over a 4-week period.

The Chairman thanked all those involved and invited members to ask any questions arising from the report.Positive feedback was received for Draft Proposal 12 within the report, with the opinion expressed that that capital money should not go towards towns and parish councils and that the revenue option would be positive as there are instances when towns and parish council support groups for older and younger people. It was also suggested that Draft Proposal 12, Option B be tightened to stress that revenue grants for towns and parish councils cannot be used for capital purposes. Further praise was also given to Draft Proposal 15, which would change the matched funding level from £1,000 to £500 for all grants.

It was stated that smaller Area Boards may not have the capacity to take the lead and that the local priorities chosen by Area Boards could be different to those set within the Wiltshire Council Business Plan. It was clarified by Rhys Schell, Communities Specialist Manager, that there would be local dynamics to the process and that conversations would have to take place with Community Engagement Managers in order to identify priorities as there is only a finite amount of projects that can be worked on. It would also be possible for Area Boards to choose fewer priorities and thereby focus resources into areas that they feel are important. It was also stated that there could potentially be a tension between Business Plan priorities and those of local community groups.

It was stated that although the escalation method on page 12 was welcomed, it was suggested that clearer guidance should be provided as to whether once escalated the Area Board can choose to override a decision. In response, it was noted that there was a flow chart for decision making included within the report. Furthermore, Rhys Schell, clarified that the concept would be that grant applications would be reviewed and if deemed unacceptable would be returned to the applicant with reasoning for them to rework or withdraw.

Cllr Allison Bucknell, Portfolio Holder for Area Boards, was invited by the Chairman to provide a response, to which she stated that as the Area Boards have delegated powers to deliver, they need to work towards the Business Plan and would need to assess local needs against this. Regarding resources, Cllr Bucknell stated that there had been discussions about the varying sizes of Area Boards and that Boards would have to work out a way of doing things differently, potentially through oversight to manage workload.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of the Council was invited by the Chairman to provide a response, to which he noted that the report was good and had unanimity on the principles. The Leader identified that a key issue within Area Board funding is clarity between capital and revenue spending, with a recent Area Board cited as being an example of how the process was not working due to blurred distinction. The Leader also agreed that it would be positive to have a mechanism in place to assess whether grant applications were acceptable or not and that there is great importance in aligning Area Boards with the Wiltshire Council Business Plan as they would be spending money raised by the tax payer. This could be possible so long as Area Boards set out the core issues they want to address in line with the Business Plan in order to empower communities. It was also added that the Leader has asked officers to look at the decision-making process of Area Boards, with potential changes to the constitution to take place.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

1.     To endorse the report of the Task Group and refer it to the Cabinet Member for Governance, IT, Broadband, Digital, Licensing, Staffing, Communities and Area Boards for response at the Committee’s next meeting (while noting that the individual Cabinet Member decision on this matter will be taken prior to this).

2.     In addition to the Task Group’s recommendations, to ask the Cabinet Member to consider and respond to the other key points raised by the Committee.

3.     Regarding Proposal 12, Option B, to recommend that the wording be amended to clarify that the revenue funding granted to town and parish councils cannot be used for capital purposes.