Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2014.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 1 December 2014 were approved as a correct record.

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

To consider whether it is in the public to exclude the public during consideration of agenda item 4 “Report into SMBC public buildings with provision of community use” which contains information “not for publication by virtue of Category 3 ‘Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority)’ as set out in the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

RESOLVED – That in order to prevent the disclosure of information which was not for publication relating to the financial or business affairs of the any particular person (including the authority), the disclosure of which would not be in the public interest, would not be fair and would be in breach of Data Protection principles, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the ‘not for publication’ appendices to agenda item 4 “Report Into SMBC Public Buildings With Provision Of Community Use”.

The report provides the CRMG Scrutiny Panel with a variety of confidential information in relation to the SMBC public buildings with provision for community use across the Borough. This includes both Council owned and third sector owned facilities, where data has become available.

Copies of confidential spreadsheets showing (a) Council and third sector buildings with provision for community use (b) Libraries and (c) Stockport Homes together with maps showing all Council owned public buildings have been distributed to Councillors separately.

The Scrutiny Review Panel is recommended to consider the report and provide comments.

Officer contact Murray Carr on telephone number 0161 474 3019 or alternatively emailmurray.carr@stockport.gov.uk.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) in order to provide the Panel with a variety of confidential information in relation to the Council’s public buildings with provision for community use across the Borough and to include third sector owned facilities where data has become available.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·         Councillors raised concerns over the geographical distribution of community buildings owned by the Council or Stockport Homes, noting that 7 wards have none.

·         It was further noted that the Brinnington & Central ward had 7 community buildings owned by the Council or Stockport Homes.

·         Members voiced concerns surrounding the sustainability of Voluntary Management Committees and queried what support they get from the Council.

·         Councillors questioned why Stockport Homes had taken over the ownership and operation of some buildings and requested to know if there were any on-going payments from the Council to Stockport Homes’ Housing Revenue Account.

·         Members recognised that community groups are not bound by ward boundaries and may have lots of local community building provision nearby but not in their specific ward.

·         Noted that the Council gains little income from community buildings.

·         Recognised that community buildings known by the Council that are privately owned and operated had been included in the report to provide a better outlook, however there may be more that the Council are unaware of.

·         Councillors queried if the capital gained from selling property assets could be put into a central fund for the purpose of reinvesting into community buildings.

RESOLVED – That a final report be drafted with the inclusion of the following points in the conclusion:-

·         The geographical equality of provision within the Borough and the need to consider communities ahead of wards.

·         The need to evaluate the sustainability of Voluntary Management Committees.

·         Consideration to be given to buildings in very poor condition and future options including cost of required work to be explored.

·         The potential for the establishment of a fund for Area Committees to bid into to support improvements to community buildings, which could be funded from the receipts from the sale of community assets.

·         The need to maximise the income and the possibility of improving the marketing of community buildings.

·         The information considered the Panel’s recommendations to form part of the work currently being undertaken in relation to the Locality Operating Model as part of the Investing in Stockport  Programme.

RESOLVED – That the Democratic Services Manager submit a draft summary report to the members of the Panel for comment, before drafting a final report to be submitted to the Corporate, Resource Management & Governance Scrutiny Committee following approval from the panel.