Agenda item

There will be a verbal discussion on this item.

The Neighbourhood Co-ordinator advised the NP that a large part of the Council budget had been frozen as a result of the financial crisis with which it was faced, including Neighbourhood Partnerships. Very significant cuts (96% of the current budget) were proposed to the NP programme across the city.

Members noted the following situation in terms of remaining funding which was available in addition to different proposals for future arrangements:

(1)        £350,000 across the city remained for Small Grants, from which £30,000 was currently available for BCR NP. However, proposed cuts of £100,000 would result in the remaining £250,000 being transferred to a Central Grant Fund to be managed by the Quartet Foundation;

(2)        Every small grant previously agreed for this financial year had been paid. However, whilst the funding had been provided, there was frequently no longer any resource to deliver the necessary work ie tree planting, road schemes, playgrounds for parks. Nevertheless, due to the current situation, some officers temporarily had more time than before to help with implementation of these projects since they had been removed from other work;

(3)        It was noted, for example, that trees would not be planted until the next planting season (ie not until December 2017 to March 2018);

(4)        Only £223.48 of CIL was available for use by the NP. Section 106 funding was, however, not part of the freeze;

(5)        The key decisions relating to the NP budget would be taken at Cabinet on 30th January 2017 and then at full Council on 21st February 2017. NP members were urged to make their views known at these meetings by submitting statements and questions as appropriate;

(6)        A meeting of Cabinet with stakeholders was taking place on 4th February 2017. However, the future of Neighbourhood Engagement remained uncertain;

(7)        This was a very difficult situation but did need some more clarity. It appeared that the approach was to allow local people throughout the city to decide whether or not they wanted to adopt a policy of future community engagement. In the meantime, measures were being put in place to set up a Bank Account and for officers to continue to provide support in the interim;

(8)        Any new measures may require a different geographic approach;

(9)        Local traders from the area had spoken to the Mayor to indicate that they had found the NP very useful to them;

(10)      Any successor body would operate in a different way. There would be less opportunities to contact Council officers and more responsibility for Councillors to ensure Neighbourhoods issues were dealt with and for groups requesting funding to take action themselves but given assistance where available. The financial status of groups such as VOSCUR and Quartet needed to be reviewed in view of the situation;

(11)      It was proposed that there would be no further funding for local traffic schemes, that the library service would be reduced to the Central Library only and that funding for the Parks would be budget neutral;

(12)      Some Councillors from the NP had attended the first meeting of the Task Group at which NPs had been invited to become involved in neighbourhood engagement through the establishment of a community interest company to run a hub and act as a local community association to promote development in an area. It was noted that most of the NO would be attending subsequent meetings of this group;

(13)      The Street Scene group already operated with a constitution and a bank account with the support of the Police and council officers. Any alternative arrangement would need to safeguard these arrangements. It was also noted that other groups such as Sustainable Redland and Bishopston, together with the Redland and Cotham Amenities Society, also operated under similar arrangements;

(14)      Whilst the BCR NP area was better resourced than other areas, the level of deprivation was not as high as other areas and, therefore, future support might be less likely. It was, therefore, important for the NP to demonstrate that there remained pockets of need which existed and which did still require support;

(15)      Any future organisation needed to be properly constituted and to provide an effective voice for the community.