Agenda item

i.          Bristol City Council Offer

ii.         Draft proposal from working group on way forward

Cllrs Nicola Beech and Asher Craig joined the meeting during these discussions.

The NP Co-ordinator introduced this report which set out some local decision making models for discussion.  In light of the significant financial pressures facing the council it was important to find a way of sustaining and building on the experience, knowledge and community action that to date had been very effective in St George but with less resource from the city council.  He pointed out that these proposals were not fully worked up and the council was looking to develop these ideas with Neighbourhood Partnerships during the March 2017 round of meetings.  There will be a formal consultation on the results of these discussions starting in May 2017.

The Chair indicated that members of St George NP had held working group sessions on 8th and 16^th February to discuss how this NP should respond, whether the Partnership should continue and if so in what form.  A number of priorities had emerged from these discussions, together with a proposal for the structure of a new community led organisation ‘Proposals for a new Community Group for St George’ which had been circulated with the agenda papers. A summary work plan/key milestones was also circulated with the following key objectives:-

·       To ensure that the St George NP considers its future beyond June 2017

·       To provide all the stakeholders (including citizens and community/voluntary organisations) an opportunity to discuss and agree way forward

·       Set-up an agreed structure to replace the existing NP structure, with clear mandate from local community stakeholders beyond June 2017.

The NP agreed in principle with the proposals and work plan as set out.  The following comments were made during the discussion that took place:

·       It was suggested that ‘St George Community Network’ was a more appropriate name for the new group as it moved away from the old style Partnership, to provide a fresh start and better reflected one of its key priorities to act as a community of community groups.  However, it would be for the new organisation to confirm its name at the AGM on 21 June 2017.

·       NP members were asked to volunteer to join an ‘interim committee’ that would guide the formation of the new group until its own committee can be elected at its first meeting.  The next meeting of the ‘interim committee’ will be on Thursday 27 April 2017.

·       The St George Community Network will be launched at a public meeting to be held on Wednesday 17th May – the planned date for the next NP Forum.

·       As mentioned earlier in the meeting members of the Traffic and Transport and the Environment sub-groups were keen to continue their role under the new organisation.

·       It was anticipated that should the new organisation be seen to be successful, there was a chance that it would continue to receive funding from the council in future depending on the budget situation.  At the Cabinet meeting on Monday 30th January 2017 it was confirmed the cuts had been ‘re-profiled’ so that while the cut of £500k in 2017/18 still goes ahead; the cut to the second half of the budget (£562k) will now be delayed until 2019/20.  In the meantime, it was important to use any funding received by the new organisation as seed funding in order to attract external funding and become sustainable in the longer term.

·       Cllr Asher Craig, in her capacity as Deputy Mayor – Communities (Public Health, Public Transport, Libraries, Parks) explained that she had just come from a meeting with Neighbourhoods Directorate so was able to share the  options for re-drawing the geographical areas for CIL and S106 funding in future which had been discussed.  This was to create cross boundary opportunities and promote working together.  The NP supported the option to reduce the existing 14 NP areas to 6 geographical areas.  The original proposal for 3 areas was considered to be unworkable as the areas were too large.

·       It was suggested that the new organisation should meet quarterly as longer intervals could cause difficulties considering bidding cycles for external grants.

·       Following the informal consultation with NPs in March, a further discussion will be taking place with all Councillors and the results will be subject of the formal consultation in May 2017.

·       There was some discussion on the merits of joining forces with one of the existing community associations in St George but it was agreed that maintaining a physical building brought with it additional complexities and it was better for the new group to start small and build upon the success of the existing NP.