Issue - meetings

Councillor J. McIlroy

To consider the Community Letting Policy (formerly Community Asset Policy).

Cabinet considered a report the Community Lettings Policy (formerly known as the Community Asset Policy).

Cabinet noted that the policy was new and that historically requests from organisations to lease surplus Council assets had been dealt with in a variety of ways.

Cabinet agreed that the new policy provided a more joined up approach, especially when considering whether surplus assets should be offered to community organisations, who provide such valuable services to residents, and will ensure there is close liaison between the assets and community wellbeing teams.

Cabinet further noted that officers had considered the request made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding what assistance could be given to smaller fledgling organisations and acknowledged that the Community Lettings Policy would apply to organisations looking to take a lease of 5 years or more but for those starting up, and looking at a lesser period of time, a licence would be considered which would allow them to build up their service offer and demonstrate that they have a sustainable business model, which would put them in a much stronger position to be able to take on a lease of a building or piece of land in future.

Alternative options considered and rejected by the Cabinet:

To continue to deal with requests from organisations in an ad hoc fashion as and when they come forward. This would not necessarily expose the opportunity to everyone within the wider community, there was also a risk that the Council may not achieve best value for money. Continuing this approach would not maximise openness and transparency and runs the risk of potential challenge.

Resolved to:

1)    approve the Community Letting Policy attached at Appendix 1 and the Stage 1 Further Information Form, Stage 1 Matrix Scoring Form, Exceptional Circumstances Form and Flow Chart;

2)    approve the list of properties/sites to which the Community Letting Policy applies;

3)    approve the named roles of the Councillors who will make the final decision (as per paragraph 1.17 of the report).

Reasons for decision:

The Council regularly has calls for the use of its assets by a range of organisations and community groups. It is critical that the Council advertises any opportunities which come up for the assets that it owns and assess them in an open and transparent way. This policy sets out how the Council will achieve this.

Councillor J. McIlroy

To consider the Community Asset Policy and any recommendations arising from the Extraordinary Overview and Scrutiny Committee which is considering this matter at its meeting on 22nd September 2020.

Cabinet considered a report on the proposed Community Asset Policy which set out how the Council will advertise any opportunities which arise for the use of its assets to organisations and community groups, and how applications would be assessed in an open and transparent way.

The Leader invited Councillor V.J. Leighton, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to address the Cabinet on the recommendations from the extraordinary meeting held on 22 September 2020. The recommendations were:

1.    This Committee invites Cabinet to order a reconsideration of the policy taking into account Overview & Scrutiny Members' views and come back with a revised report and score card, to better reflect supporting organisations, including small and young organisations, of value to the community, giving Overview & Scrutiny members 10 days to make submissions.

2.    That further work is done to collate a full list of all assets to which this policy relates and that this will be appended to the policy.

Councillor Leighton reported that the principle of the introduction of a policy for open and transparent assessment of the borough's municipal assets was welcomed across the Committee. 

However, the Committee expressed concern that the points-based system of evaluating applications for leases of assets was weighted towards established organisations with existing funding.  Whilst the committee understood the need for a proper assessment of the potential viability of applicants to ensure best use of the Council's assets and resources, smaller or newer organisations with potentially much to offer would not fare so well if the decision rested on the matrix result. The committee therefore felt that score should be balanced by greater weight being placed on criteria such as value to the borough. Councillor Leighton explained the request that Overview and Scrutiny Committee might have an additional opportunity to make submissions before a final decision was made by Cabinet, reflected the depth of concern. 

The Committee also agreed that for clarity and transparency, the list of assets should be updated to include all community assets owned by the Council and that this was appended to the policy. 

The Deputy Leader, Councillor J. McIlroy, who had attended the Overview and Scrutiny Committee welcomed their comments and agreed they were valid points for consideration.

He was content with the second recommendation which would ensure everyone understood which of the Council’s buildings would be offered out to the community.

He agreed there was an opportunity to refine the policy and the scorecard to better reflect supporting smaller and younger organisations of value to the community. However, he felt it was not necessary for the revised policy and scorecard to then be re-circulated back to Overview and Scrutiny Committee members for their views as he and the officers were confident they understood what changes the Committee was seeking.

He said it was important that the policy (as revised) was implemented as soon as possible so that community groups could start to bid for and access these opportunities as soon as they arose.

Councillor McIlroy recommended that the Cabinet  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2766

To consider the report to Cabinet on the Community Asset Policy, and make any recommendations the Committee considers appropriate for consideration by the Cabinet at its meeting on 23^rd September 2020.

The Group Head for Regeneration and Growth, Heather Morgan, gave an outline of the proposed Community Asset Policy which was due to be considered at the Cabinet meeting on 23 September. She explained how the Council would advertise any opportunities which arose for the use of its assets to organisations and community groups and the new three stage process by which the Council would make a decision on who to lease a building or piece of land to.

The Committee welcomed the principle of the Policy in that it would bring an open and transparent process to the assessment of applicants for use of the borough's municipal assets.

Members accepted the need for a proper assessment of the potential viability of applicants to ensure best use of the Council's assets and resources.  However, they were concerned that the points-based system of evaluating applications was weighted towards established organisations with existing funding and that small or new organisations, such as those that emerged during the pandemic, with much to offer to local communities would not do so well on the basis of a scoring matrix.

The Committee agreed that new, or small local organisations and community groups may meet the criteria through the benefits they could bring to the local community and the Borough, which were outweighed by their score on the points-based system and that the Council should encourage and support applications from such groups.

The Committee requested that a complete list of the Council’s assets to which the Policy relates, be appended to the Policy so that it was clear which buildings and pieces of land were covered by the Policy.

Resolved to recommend to Cabinet:

1. This Committee invites Cabinet to order a reconsideration of the policy taking into account Overview & Scrutiny Members' views and come back with a revised report and score card, to better reflect supporting organisations, including small and young organisations, of value to the community, giving Overview & Scrutiny members 10 days to make submissions.

2. That further work is done to collate a full list of all assets to which this policy relates and that this will be appended to the policy.

Cabinet member: Cllr Jim McIlroy

To consider a report on a Community Asset Policy.

This item was withdrawn at the meeting.