The Committee will be invited to appoint a Chair and Vice-Chair for the remainder of the municipal year.

The Head of Legal and Member Services invited nominations for the Chair.

On a motion by Councillor Mooney seconded by Councillor Hackett it was –

Resolved (8:0) – That Councillor R Gregson be appointed Chair of this Constituency Committee for the remainder of this municipal year.

Councillor Blakeley queried why members of the Committee were asked in an email to make nominations for the Chair in advance of the meeting. The Head of Legal and Member Services responded that he would make enquiries into this and ensure a response was provided. Notwithstanding any previous communications it was a decision for this Committee and the item had been placed on the agenda as the first item of business.

Councillor Gregson then took the Chair

The Chair then requested nominations for Vice-Chair.

On a motion by Councillor Abbey seconded by Councillor Williamson it was –

Resolved (7:0) – That Councillor B Mooney be appointed Vice-Chair of this Constituency Committee for the remainder of this municipal year.

Councillor Blakeley queried why members of the Committee were asked in an email to make nominations for the Vice-Chair in advance of the meeting. The Head of Legal and Member Services responded that he would make enquiries into this and ensure a response was provided. Notwithstanding any previous communications it was a decision for this Committee and the item had been placed on the agenda as the first item of business.

Members are asked to consider whether they have any disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

Members were asked to consider whether they had any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

No such declarations were made.

The Head of Legal and Member Services introduced a report and apologised for the lateness of its circulation on Constituency Committees and their terms of reference.

An amended Article 10 of the Council’s Constitution was approved by Council on 30 April 2013 which put in place the necessary provision for the appointment of Constituency Committees and for those Committees to discharge such functions as may be delegated to them from time to time by the Executive and / or the Council. It also set out the scope of the Constituency Committee’s role in acting as a voice for the community with respect to a range of matters including the development of an area plan and making recommendations to the Executive in respect of any funding allocated to the Committee.

On 14 October 2013, Council formally appointed Members to all the Constituency Committees and made provision for each Constituency Committee to co-opt up to 6 community representatives.

The report set out considerations and a proposed approach for further developing an individual terms of reference for each Committee and for amending the Council’s Constitution to ensure that Article 10 was fit for purpose for the future operation of the constituency working model.

It was proposed that:

·  A future review of the Council’s Constitution include an updated Article 10 relating to the terms of reference for the Constituency Committees, which both provided further clarity on the decision-making powers of the Committees as services and budgets were devolved, and ensured that all Committees had the scope and flexibility necessary to drive forward the constituency working model and deliver the functions increasingly devolved to them;

·  The Committee develops a committee procedure rules ‘handbook’ which sets out over and above the terms of reference in the Council’s Constitution how it would operate. The handbook might include sections on:

o  Aims of the Committee in respect of the role it wishes to take in the local area;

o  Specific committee procedures relating to the operation of meetings;

o  How the Committee will be supported by Council officers;

o  Specific provisions dealing with the role of the Chair, Vice Chair, community representatives;

o  The role of the Committee in influencing the contribution of partners;

o  meetings;

o  Agreed arrangements/procedures for dealing with budget allocation and expenditure;

o  The process and criteria for establishing constituency ‘task and finish’ groups.

Caroline Laing, Constituency Manager, outlined a proposed approach for the Task and Finish groups and their terms of reference, including the suggestion that they should consist of six elected members in a 4:2 ratio, together with two community representatives.

On a motion by Councillor Abbey, seconded by Councillor Lewis, it was –

Resolved –

(1)  That the proposed approach outlined in paragraph 3.1 of the report be agreed.

(2)  That an elected Member led ‘Task and Finish’ Group of six Members (4:2), plus two community representatives, to develop the Committee’s Handbook and to make recommendations as to any amendments required to Article 10, be established.

(3)  That officers seek nominations  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To present a “State of Constituency” picture to consider priorities for the remainder of 2013/14.

A presentation will be made on this item.

Caroline Laing, Constituency Manager gave a presentation to the Committee on a ‘State of the Constituency’ picture.

She highlighted the Neighbourhood Plans, emerging issues and key points from an initial Constituency Profile produced by Public Health. She proposed the creation of a ‘Priority and Spend Task & Finish Group’ which could undertake more work in identifying priorities. A constituency profile would be shared with Members to help in this task and help in determining longer term priorities for 2014/15 onwards.

The emerging issues had predominantly been identified in workshops with Members but had also been informed from partner agencies.

Resolved -

(1)  That the contents of the presentation be noted.

(2)  That the creation of a ‘Priority and Spend Task and Finish Group’ to agree key priorities and spend for the remainder of 2013/14 and in the longer term, be agreed.

(3)  That the Task and Finish Group be comprised of six Members (4:2), plus two community representatives.

(4)  That officers seek nominations from Members of the Committee for participation in the Task and Finish group.

To confirm budgets and promote a debate on the various processes utilised to affect spending.

A presentation will be made on this item.

Caroline Laing, Constituency Manager, gave a presentation to the Committee on the Constituency Committee budget and financial protocols. The Committee had a budget of £50,000 for 2013/14 plus a recently announced ‘Love Wirral’ grant of £10,000. A further £25,000 would be made available from Public Health funding. How this money would be distributed would be a decision for the Committee and recommendations from the Task and Finish group would come back to the Committee in February, 2014. She also suggested that a Small Grants Fund and a Problem Solving Fund could be established.

In respect of the Small Grants Fund, the process would be agreed by the Committee at its December, 2013 meeting and decisions on awarding of grants at the February, 2014 meeting.

In respect of the Problem Solving Fund, the Committee could devolve a small budget to the ‘Priorities and Spend Task and Finish Group’, recommendations would be made via the Constituency Manager and spend agreed would be reported for information to each Constituency Committee. This would allow for a quick response to neighbourhood issues and test innovative responses.

Responding to questions from Members, Caroline Laing and Jacqui Cross, Neighbourhoods Programme Manager, made the following comments:

·  All information had been updated of those regular contacts for local groups and with an agreed communications strategy Caroline Laing was confident of getting the message out within timescale for groups to apply to the Small Grants Fund.

·  There was a commitment from other partners, such as the police and fire service for additional funding and this would be based around need rather than a consistent amount across each constituency.

·  There had been a lot of positive discussion with public sector partners following the establishment of a Wirral Public Service Board.

·  A briefing note related to the Love Wirral Grant would be sent to all members and all relevant data would be made available to explore and interrogate to help in informing priorities.

The Chair thanked Caroline for her informative presentation and it was then –

Resolved –

(1)  That the proposed financial processes be noted.

(2)  That the ‘Priority and Spend Task and Finish Group’ be as agreed in minute 4 above.

To provide an update on the selection of community representatives. To discuss various options open to the committee to enable development of the individual representatives appointed / to be appointed. Agree a suggested process to maximise community representation across the constituency.

A presentation will be made on this item.

Councillor Abbey thanked everybody who had applied to be a Community Representative. He stressed the importance of encouraging young people to be involved and gave the names of five Community Representatives recommended by the Selection Panel for co-opting onto the Committee with a sixth place being reserved for the co-opting of a young person.

It would be for the officers to identify one young person to be co-opted as a Community Representative through Youth Forums and schools.

Caroline Laing, Constituency Manager, gave a presentation to the Committee on the selection of Community Representatives. She highlighted the limitations of the recruitment process and outlined the need to review recruitment of the next cohort of Community Representatives. Consideration could be given to a possible borough-wide event to generate interest and help with recruitment not just of CRs but also interested individuals. This event could also be used to facilitate networking and skill building.

She also reported upon the idea of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) as an approach for work in the Constituency and elaborated upon the idea of ‘community connectors’ and ‘pioneers’.

Resolved –

(1)  That the process adopted to select the Community Representatives be agreed.

(2)  That the co-option of five Community Representatives as follows:

Mr Ken Harrison, Mr Brian Higgins, Mr Anthony Jones, Mr, Keith Raybould and Mr Paul Roberts with the reservation of one place for the co-option of a young person, be agreed.

(3)  That the contents of the presentation be noted and agreed as a way forward.

Agree the venue(s) for future meetings.

The Chair suggested that the Committee could have two venues which it could use alternately, one being the Town Hall, Wallasey and another venue in the Leasowe / Moreton area.

A Member suggested that with six wards in the constituency it would be fairer to have three locations where the committee could meet.

Resolved –

(1)  That officers look at availability and find the most suitable venue in the Moreton / Leasowe area for the next meeting on 11 December, 2013.

(2)  The Committee discuss the possibility of a third venue at its next meeting.