Venue: Exe Room, Phoenix House
Contact: Julia Stuckey Member Services Officer
Link: audio recording
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APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of substitute Members (if any). Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillor E J Berry, who was substituted by Councillor R F Radford, Councillor Mrs S Griggs, who was replaced by Councillor R M Deed for this meeting, Councillor Mrs F J Colthorpe and Councillor P F Williams. |
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GRANT FUNDED AGENCIES Representatives from the Tiverton and District Community Transport Association and the Tiverton Museum will attend the meeting to give a short presentation about their work.
Minutes: Representatives from the Tiverton and District Community Transport Association and the Tiverton Museum attended the meeting to give presentations about their work.
Representing the Tiverton and District Community Transport Association, Ms Fay Ashton gave an introduction, in which she explained the work of the association. She highlighted the problems that elderly residents could suffer if they lived alone, had mobility issues or living in rural isolation. This was a local charity that had started in 1989 as a voluntary car scheme and in 1990 had added a ring and ride mini bus. The vision of the Association was to help individuals to have unhindered access to transport options. The mission statement of the Association was “to help people with special transport needs”.
The Association now covered the whole of Mid Devon, having recently taken over the Crediton side of the District.
Schemes now available included:
· The Ring and Ride scheme · Shopmobility · Voluntary Car schemes · The Passenger Club · Voluntary Accessible Car · Community Bus · Tivvy Getabout · Hatty and Cathy Scheme.
The Association also took bookings for non-emergency ambulance journeys and sign-posted callers to other services when required.
There were currently 62 volunteers, who between them had donated 6719 hours in the last year.
Fund raising was ongoing, with bric-a-brac sales and events planned.
Ms Ashton informed the Group that the Association was constantly reviewing its schemes, seeking to improve services and adapting to changing times.
Surveys had suggested that the people that accessed the town centre at Tiverton by using these schemes had spent over £24k in the last year.
The Association was looking to rebrand in the next year, to celebrate their 25th birthday and find a new, catchier name.
The Chairman thanked Ms Ashton for her presentation.
The Tiverton Museum was represented by Ms Pippa Griffith, Museum Director and Mrs Andrea Rowe, the Chair of Trustees.
Ms Griffith explained that the Museum had been in existence for 55 years and had a vast collection of artefacts representing Mid Devon life.
The Museum was popular with families and the introduction of free entry for children had increased visitor numbers. Explorer back packs were available for children to make their visit more interesting.
There was an education department which was used by local schools. The schools found this to be an excellent resource and 1200 pupils had been involved in the last year.
A toddler group had recently started and had been well received.
In a Daily Telegraph poll for family friendly museums Tiverton came in the top 20.
43% of visitors to the Museum were over 60, which included grandparents with their grandchildren. Reminiscence Therapy was available, where collections were taken out to residential homes and to community groups such as Age UK.
The Museum was fully accessible to people with disabilities.
The Museum had taken over the Tourist Information Service in 2013 which Ms Griffith considered had proved to be a beneficial agreement. Further information regarding this would be provided to the Group at a later meeting.
The Museum ... view the full minutes text for item 54. |
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PUBLIC QUESTION TIME To receive any questions relating to items on the Agenda from members of the public and replies thereto. Note: A maximum of 30 minutes is allowed for this item. Minutes: There were no members of the public present. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING PDF 161 KB To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on (attached). Minutes: The Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as a correct record and SIGNED by the Chairman. |
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CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS To receive any announcements that the Chairman may wish to make. Minutes: The Chairman had no announcements to make. |
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN (00:54:08) PDF 218 KB To receive a report from the Head of Communities and Governance updating Members on progress made with the Community Engagement Action Plan (2014-15) and to review the strategy and focus for 2015-16.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Group had before it and NOTED a report* from the Head of Communities and Governance updating Members on progress made with the Community Engagement Action Plan (2014-15) and to review the strategy and focus for 2015-16.
The Officer outlined the contents of the report and the action plan for 2015-16, explaining that this set out any consultation that was scheduled to take place in the next 12 months. She further explained that consultation would be put in place when the Council’s Corporate Plan was updated later in the year.
Note:- Report previously circulated and attached to minutes. |
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PERFORMANCE AND RISK (00:57:02) PDF 12 KB To consider a report of the Head of Communities and Governance providing Members with an update on performance against the corporate plan and local service targets for 2014/15 as well as providing an update on the key business risks Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee had before it and NOTED a report * of the Head of Communities and Governance providing Members with an update on performance against the corporate plan and local service targets for 2014/15, as well as providing an update on the key business risks.
The Officer highlighted the performance indicators for empty shops. Tiverton currently had 15 out of 244 shops empty which fell below the target of 20. Crediton had 10 out of 118 empty with a target of 10 and Cullompton had 15 out of 94 empty with a target of 14.
Discussion took place regarding good performance within leisure income and the Group requested that the Head of Communities and Governance pass on their thanks to the officers concerned.
Note: - Report previously circulated and attached to Minutes.
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FINANCIAL MONITORING (01:01:51) PDF 146 KB To receive a report from the Head of Finance presenting a financial update in respect of the income and expenditure so far in the year. Additional documents: Minutes: The Group had before it a report* from the Head of Finance presenting a financial update in respect of the income and expenditure so far in the year.
The Principal Accountant outlined the report, explaining that the forecast overspend for the year stood at just over £203K. This had increased by £30k since the last report to the Group. He explained that most of the overspend related to the Waste Service, which included the depot move.
The Officer explained that £82K of the overspend related to the services reporting to this Group.
The Leisure Service had an overspend of £116k. This was mainly due to salaries and auto-enrolment in the pension scheme. Income from all sites was down slightly on budget and improvements had been made to the entrance and gym at Culm Valley.
Planning had a £62K overspend, this was due to the Local Plan and restructure costs, from which savings would be made in the future. There had been increased income in Development Control.
Environmental Services had costs associated to the restructure but again, savings from this would be seen in the future.
Revenues and Benefits were performing well and were £138k under budget, mainly due to additional Housing Benefit Subsidy received from Government.
An outturn report for the full year would be presented to the Group at the June meeting.
Note: - Report previously circulated and attached to Minutes. |
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CHAIRMANS ANNUAL REPORT PDF 955 KB To receive the Chairman’s draft annual report on the work of the Group since May 2014, which will be submitted to Council on 29 April 2015.
Minutes: The Group had before it and NOTED a draft report * by the Chairman on the work of the Group since May 2014, a final copy of this report would be submitted to Council on 29 April 2015.
Note: - Report previously circulated and attached to Minutes.
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IDENTIFICATION OF ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING Note: This item is limited to 10 minutes. There should be no discussion on the items raised.
Election of Chair and Vice Chair Grant Recipient Presentation Financial Monitoring Performance and Risk Community Safety Partnership Plan 2012-2015 Minutes: Election of Chair and Vice Chair Grant Recipient Presentation Financial Monitoring Performance and Risk Community Safety Partnership Plan 2012-2015 Outturn report on the Town and Parish fund for 2014/15 and the Seed Fund. |