Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Ascot and Bray - Town Hall

Contact: Andy Carswell  01628 796319

Items
No. Item

35.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence

Minutes:

No apologies for absence were received.

36.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 133 KB

To receive any declarations of interest

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were noted.

37.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 58 KB

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on August 17th.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, August 17th were agreed as a true and accurate record.

38.

Member Participatory Budgets pdf icon PDF 136 KB

To note the update.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Governance, Partnerships, Performance and Policy informed the Sub Committee that more Members had committed funds to projects since the last meeting; however, there were still more who had not yet committed any funding.

 

The Principal Member for Neighbourhood Planning, Ascot & The Sunnings & Communications indicated that she thought that she had set aside funding for new bike sheds at Charters School, but this was not reflected in the report. The Head of Governance, Partnerships, Performance and Policy said that this would be double checked.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services asked if Members who had outstanding funds to allocate had been sent email reminders requesting that they commit to a project. She stated that she could not recall receiving any correspondence to this effect. The Head of Governance, Partnerships, Performance and Policy said this would be checked and reminders would be sent to Members via email.

 

The Chairman asked what would happen to the money in any unallocated budgets, after Council agreed to discontinue the Cabinet Participatory Budget Sub Committee. The Head of Governance, Partnerships, Performance and Policy stated that future Member Participatory Budget allocations are likely to be considered at Grants Panel instead. He added that a discussion on whether to allocate budgets quarterly or twice a year would take place at the next Annual Grants Panel.

 

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the progress to date in implementing the Member Participatory Budgets programme for 2016/17 be noted.

39.

Neighbourhood Participatory Budget Scheme - Results of Public Vote pdf icon PDF 151 KB

To consider the report and make recommendations.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members of the Sub Committee noted that the number of votes cast in the most recent round of the Neighbourhood Participatory Budget Scheme had fallen by 92 per cent compared to previous rounds. The Head of Governance, Partnerships, Performance and Policy stated that it was not known what had caused such a sharp decrease, but it was thought that voter fatigue may be a key factor.

 

The Strategy and Performance Manager noted that one of the projects that had applied for funding was already in receipt of Greenredeem points and suggested that in future projects should be encouraged to join the Greenredeem scheme.

 

After some discussion Members decided that the autumn round of projects should instead be encouraged to apply for funding from the Grants Panel, and that none of the projects that had applied for funding in this round of voting would be allocated any funds.

 

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That no funds are allocated to any projects in this round of voting for the Neighbourhood Participatory Budget Scheme. .

 

 

40.

Schools Participatory Budget Scheme - Results of Public Vote pdf icon PDF 154 KB

To consider the report and make recommendations.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members noted the number of votes received and the appropriate weighting to be given to each of the school projects to have participated in the most recent round of voting.

 

It was noted that there were funds available from the last round of voting, as the full available amount of £33,000 was not allocated on that occasion. It was therefore decided that there was sufficient budget for the top six schools in the current round of voting to be given funding.

 

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That:

·         £6,000 be allocated to Maidenhead Nursery School

·         £6,000 be allocated to Furze Platt Junior School

·         £6,000 be allocated to The Windsor Boys’ School

·         £6,000 be allocated to Hilltop First School

·         £6,000 be allocated to Eton Wick C.E First School

·         £5,000 be allocated to The Lawns Nursery School

 

It was noted that this was the final meeting of the Cabinet Participatory Budget Sub Committee after Council agrees to approve disbanding the Panel. The Chairman asked to place on record his thanks for everybody who had been involved with the Sub Committee.