Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting

The minutes of the Housing and Community OSC meeting on 23^rd Jan 2019 were agreed by Members and signed by the Chair.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies received from Cllr Conway and Cllr England as he was asked to sub at SPAE

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)           may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

There was no declaration of interest.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation

There was no public participation.

None.

L Roberts presented a presentation and explained how the budget will be staying the same.

Cllr Mahmood asked if the budget was spent last year.

L Roberts said yes we always make sure it’s spent and all individual cases are reviewed.

Cllr Mahmood referred to allocations, and asked how it’s done?

L Roberts said we get new ones and established ones they vary.

Cllr Mahmood said it is very important to get new ones on board.

Cllr Pringle asked how we publicise it, is it just on the website.

L Roberts said mainly on the website but councillors make it clear in their areas about the grant. We do support people if they speak to us about it and we also advertise it in the digital digest.

Cllr Harden said bids up to £500 and £10,000 have been approved those that put in higher bids of up to £10,000 have to be approved by himself. The £500 bids are not well presented but those that know about it take advantage so it does get used but it could be promoted more.

Cllr Pringle asked what the criteria was for a registered bid/charity.

Cllr Harden said the application is on the website it can be as simple as a recommendation from a Cllr.

Cllr Adeleke said what is the upper limit.

Cllr Harden said £500-£5,000 approved by an officer panel and £10,000 has to be approved by himself.

Cllr Adeleke asked what happens to the sub loss.

L Roberts if they’re not successful we make other recommendations of funding available.

Cllr Adeleke expressed how fantastic this was and needs to be publicised more and what great initiative used by DBC.

Cllr Harden said if you remember a few years back we did have a big cheque which we presented people. We do encourage the groups to publicise it themselves.

Cllr Adeleke suggested if we could tie something into the contract to make them publicise it.

Cllr Harden said that some organisations don’t have the time to do press releases, we do our bit and advertise it but a lot of these small organisations don’t have the time or resources. Sometimes the papers don’t always publish the stories, we do the best we can.

F Williamson gave a brief update on her presentation. There is one change, which is the Team Leader for the Private rented sector, which had been discussed at the January meeting.

Cllr Mahmood referred to page 38, there was a variation in graphs, the income and grants and the contribution figures are high. (Those in red)

N Beresford said that these refer to the flexible home grant funds and the homelessness reduction act and income from temporary accommodation. She confirmed that they are both positives.

Agreed