Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall

Contact: Rob Cowan  Email: legalanddemocratic@watford.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

6.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE/COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

 

7.

DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS (IF ANY)

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest.

 

8.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 40 KB

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 May 2015 to be submitted and signed.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 May 2015 were submitted and signed.

 

9.

FEEDBACK FROM WARD COUNCILLORS pdf icon PDF 21 KB

To receive correspondence from Ward Councillors regarding their local community centres.

Minutes:

Members noted the written feedback provided by Ward Councillors regarding their local community centres.

 

No further responses had been received since the publication of the agenda.

 

10.

ACTIVITY SHEETS FROM COMMUNITY CENTRES pdf icon PDF 948 KB

To receive activity sheets from community centres detailing the activities available.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members noted the activity sheets from the community centres detailing the activities available.

 

11.

OFFICERS' REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS pdf icon PDF 27 KB

To receive the review and recommendations of the community centres by the Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services and Corporate, Leisure and Community Section Head.

Minutes:

The Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services (Head of CSCS) and Corporate Leisure and Community Section Head (CLC Section Head) presented Members with recommendations for each of the centres.

 

The Head of CSCS informed Members that, following the Task Group meeting of 12th May 2015, officers had taken on board Members’ comments which had helped officers to crystallise their thoughts regarding the community centres and had informed the structure of the recommendations. It was noted that the recommendations took into account that each centre was at a different stage of their journey towards becoming self-sustaining.

 

Councillor Connal spoke at the meeting regarding Holywell Community Centre. She informed Members that she had visited the centre and met with one of the user groups.

 

Councillor Connal provided officers and the Members of the Task Group with a report and a flyer produced by the centre providing information regarding the centre’s activities, community events, private hire events and their business plan for 2015-16.

 

There was discussion around the centres providing robust business plans.

Councillor Joynes queried how detailed the business plans were expected to be.

 

The Chair noted that all centres were different and not all of them had the expertise to produce a good business plan. He wanted to ensure that Cabinet had balanced and complete information to ensure an informed decision was made. Councillor Rogers suggested providing the centres with a template to work from however it was noted a common template would be impractical given the different centres had different needs. For example the Meriden Community Centre’s business plan would need to focus on capital whereas the West Watford Community Association would need to focus on services. Furthermore, some of  the centres were managed by organisations with the competence to produce business plans though officers did provide support and guidance to those that need it.

 

It was agreed that all the organisations managing community centres be required to submit a business plan by September 2015 detailing their vision and plans for future service delivery and sustainability beyond 2016.

 

The Chair stated that there were two questions which needed to be considered in determining whether community centres continued as a commissioning priority. First, whether the centre was needed and second, how the centre was managed. The Chair noted deprivation in the local area was one way in which need for a community centre could be established. It was noted that Meriden Community Centre was located in the area with the highest level deprivation in Watford, followed by Centrepoint, Leavesden Green, Holywell, Orbital and WWCA.   

 

The Head of CSCS noted that these community centres had been included in the Commissioning Framework in the past as they were located in recognised  areas of deprivation.

 

Councillor Joynes believed the centres needed to define their roles and that marketing needed to be focused on getting users through the door. She noted it was a matter of both ‘what you offer’ and also ‘how you offer it’.


Councillor Mehta stated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

 

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