Agenda and minutes

Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires a record be kept of the Members present and that this record form part of the minutes of the meeting. Members who cannot attend a meeting should tender apologies to the Town Clerk.

Apologies had been received from Councillor Cursons substituted by Councillor Palmer and Councillor Perham substituted by Councillor Jones.

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor S Owen be appointed Chair of the Older Persons Sub-Committee for the municipal year 2021-2022.  There were no further nominations.  On being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Owen Chair of the Older Persons Sub-Committee for the municipal year 2021-2022.

Councillor Owen took the Chair.

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor J M Freeman be appointed Vice Chair of the Older Persons Sub-Committee for the municipal year 2021-2022.  There were no further nominations.  On being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Freeman Vice Chair of the Older Persons Sub-Committee for the municipal year 2021-2022.

(i)            Under the Localism Act 2011 (sections 26-37 and Schedule 4) and in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, Members are required to declare any interests which are not currently entered in the Member’s Register of Interests or if he/she has not notified the Monitoring Officer of it.

(ii)          Should any Member have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in an item on the agenda, the Member may not participate in consideration of that item unless a Dispensation has first been requested (in writing) and granted by the Council (see Dispensation Procedure).

Members were asked to declare any interests, including the nature of those interests, which they had in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.  No declarations were made.

To receive questions and statements from members of the public in respect of any item of business included in the agenda, as provided for in Standing Order No.s 3(f) and 3(g).

There were no questions from the public

To confirm the aims and objectives of the group.

The Sub-Committee received a report to update members on the progress of the project with the formation of this sub-committee to assist with the progression of work and to bring forward detailed recommendations for consideration (by Cultural and Economic Services Committee), and that the first step would be to run initially until 31 March 2022 when it’s need and purpose would be reviewed.

RESOLVED to note the report.

To receive and consider the summary of work including updates which furthers and informs the Group’s areas of focus and next steps.

The Sub-Committee received and considered a report giving a summary of work updates for the project and to inform of next steps and areas of focus.

Members were informed that the additional growth item of £50,000 had been proposed to be met from the Council’s 5-year Financial Plan ‘Future Projects’ and would be taken to the next Policy and Finance Meeting in February and then to Council for consideration.  The confirmed budget to date was £30,000 from Earmarked Reserves, Community Projects.

            UPDATES

A.   The project timeline was an estimate of how the project would progress and would be updated and amended when needed.  Any updates would be shared with committee members to keep them informed when changes were made.

B.   Leighton-Linslade Helping Hands Website (LLHH) had been created to offer an online presence for the existing Helping Hands community group.  This would be promoted through social media and town council publications indicating that Leighton-Linslade Town Council had assisted in the creation of the digital platform for LLHH.

C.   Directory/information hub of activities and service.  Work had begun on a temporary directory of information which would be added to the Town Council’s website as a first step towards a larger directory.

Research had continued with two projects being discovered, one locally, to highlight services for older people.  The local project was Leighton Road Surgery Digital Project, and their aim was to improve connections with housebound elderly patients.   Contact had been made with the co-ordinator and it was hoped to find out more about their project as soon as possible.

The other project came from the Carnegie Trust called Learning from Lockdown Report sharing information on how to eliminate digital exclusion and establish older people’s connectivity through digital platforms.  

Officers were also continuing to liaise with CBC officers exploring digital inclusion issues and it was hoped to continue collaboration to move this forward.  Once it had been established how the CBC project was progressing an invitation could be offered to CBC to attend a sub-committee meeting.  The Head of Cultural and Economic Services would follow this up and report back to members at the next meeting.

Two points for discussion were raised regarding the Grant Scheme and the branding/identity of the project. 

After discussion members agreed that a grant-based scheme would be a good idea, but any grant scheme offered would be separate to the general grant funding scheme already in place.   Specific criteria and guidance would need to be put in place to assess what the funding was needed for and whether it met the criteria required.

Members felt that grants should be given to established groups rather than start up organisations.  Some organisations who had existed before COVID might need help with training to restart and it was felt that the criteria should not exclude these groups becoming re-established.  A proposal for the criteria required should be drawn up before the next meeting of this committee and this could then be recommended to Cultural & Economic Services for endorsement.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider future meeting dates.

Cultural & Economic Committee Meeting – 1 March 2021.

The next meeting would be held on Thursday 6 May 2021 at 10.00 am.