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PRESENT: Councillors Mrs Bateson (Chairman), Bullock and Love.

Officers: Debra Beasley, Liz Hornby and Harjit Hunjan.

05/11 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

None were received.

06/11 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Mrs Bateson – Declared a Personal Interest in the Sunningdale Parish Council application due to being a Ward Councillor.

07/11 APPLICATION FOR BIG SOCIETY PROJECTS LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT FUNDING

Members noted the applications for funding that had been received.

Application from Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF)

Members considered an application for £10,000 of funding from Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF) and noted that the £10,000 requested would be match-funded. The Panel agreed that the funding would meet the following criteria:

1) increase volunteering
3) support the Borough’s Big Society projects
5) the setting up and development of voluntary organisations or social enterprises

After a short discussion it was agreed to award £10,000 subject to the following conditions:

Ø that the money be spent solely within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead;
Ø that the money be spent within twelve months of receipt of funding;
Ø to report how and where the funding was spent.

RESOLVED: That the Big Society Panel be recommended to award Berkshire Community Foundation £10,000 of Big Society LAA funding.

Application from east to west

Members considered an application for £50,250 of funding from east to west. The Members noted that the application was to enhance the role of the Police Community Youth Pastor who worked with a team in Dedworth, Datchet and other areas in and around Windsor. It was also noted that Runnymeade Council contributed to their funding as well although it was not known how much was awarded. It was also not known how many volunteers were involved although it was noted that it was hoped that work with Street Angels would increase. However, the Members agreed that this scheme did not fully comply with criteria and therefore did not wish to fund the scheme at this time. They requested that east to west provided the following details for further consideration by the Members –

Ø for a more detailed breakdown of the funding requested;
Ø full specification of the time and length of the project;
Ø provide information about what volunteering projects within the Royal Borough would be undertaken.

RESOLVED: That the Big Society Panel be recommended not to award east to west Big Society LAA funding based on the reasons as laid out above.

Application from Mums4Windsor

Members considered an application for £10,675 of funding for Samia Hassan of Mums4Windsor and noted that this scheme did not meet with the Big Society criteria due to it being a part of a wider organisation of ‘springboard training’ which this funding would pay for. This was not about increasing volunteering but about empowering women with no way of measuring how many women would volunteer at the end of the workshop. Members agreed not to approve this application.

RESOLVED: That the Big Society Panel be recommended not to award Mums4Windsor Big Society LAA funding based on the reasons as laid out above.

Application from Open Kitchen

Members considered an application for £3,200 of funding for Open Kitchen and noted that the scheme was a food share scheme along the idea of a food bank. Members agreed that the scheme met the following Big Society criteria:

1) increase volunteering;
3) support the Borough’s Big Society projects

Open Kitchen would seek support from local businesses and were already linked in with the Maidenhead Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Members noted that there was a growing need for foodshare schemes in Maidenhead, not just for homeless people, but for those elderly and disadvantaged people who struggled to meet their weekly food bills and were pleased to receive a donation of a food parcel to help them out. This was achieved via a voucher system, with one voucher equating to one food parcel. Members agreed to fund the scheme by £2,000 with the following conditions –

Ø that all food donations be voluntary and that no food should be bought with the funding;
Ø to assist with delivery and distribution;
Ø to ensure that all the funding assist residents of the Royal Borough

RESOLVED: That the Big Society Panel be recommended to award Open Kitchen £2,000 of Big Society LAA funding.

Application from Project Rainbow (St Mary’s Church, White Waltham)

Members considered an application for £20,000 of funding for Project Rainbow to develop onsite church hall premises which would provide facilities for young people and others to meet from both Church and community. The total cost of the project was £497,000 with £155,000 already available. Members noted that there was no volunteering aspect to the application and agreed that this project did not meet any of the criteria and therefore agreed not to fund the scheme.

RESOLVED: That the Big Society Panel be recommended not to award Project Rainbow Big Society LAA funding based on the reasons as laid out above.

Application from Sunningdale Parish Council

Members considered an application for £7,000 of funding for Sunningdale Parish Council and noted that the Council had embraced Big Society aims, most notably Adopt-a-Street, within the community and which included civic participation and volunteering. Members noted that the Parish Council had appointed a Big Society co-ordinator and that the funding would be used towards a Diamond Jubilee event in 2012. This was a one-day event titled “Sunningdale Music Festival 2012 – a day to celebrate together in Sunningdale”. Members agreed that the scheme met the following Big Society criteria as it would bring the community together with the hope that it would lead to more community projects:

1) increase volunteering;
3) support the Borough’s Big Society projects

The Members agreed to fund £3,000 with the following condition –

Ø that Big Society projects be promoted at the event, including Adopt-a-Street.

RESOLVED: That the Big Society Panel be recommended to award Sunningdale Parish Council £3,000 of Big Society LAA funding.

Application from Windsor and Maidenhead Local Police Area

Members considered an application for £60,000 of funding for the Windsor and Maidenhead Local Area Police and noted the following –

1. To increase by twenty the number of fully trained special constables. Members agreed that this did not meet any of the criteria and would therefore not fund this part of the application.
2. Support and accelerate the development of Street Angels initiatives. Members agreed that this did meet the criteria and would assist in funding this initiative.
3. Identify vulnerable people such as tramps and people with drug/alcohol dependencies for referral to community run schemes. Members agreed that they would partially fund this project.
4. Ascertain the extent of alcohol related anti-social behaviour on town centre egress routes and identify volunteers who can monitor disorder and provide evidence to licensing panels. Members agreed that this was a worthwhile project to fund as it met two of the Big Society criteria.
5. Use information identified in (4) to inform policy in respect of proposed “polluter pays” scheme. Members agreed that this project fell outside the Big Society criteria and would therefore not fund the scheme.
6. Set up volunteer ‘specific issue groups’ to monitor and solve problems identified in (4). Members agreed that this met with Big Society criteria and that funding would be awarded.
7. Gather evidence on licensing conditions complaints and initiate licensing proceedings where appropriate. Members agreed that this scheme did not meet with any of the Big Society criteria and would therefore not award funding.

After some discussion, Members agreed to award £10,000 to assist with the projects, as outlined above and agreed that the following conditions should apply –

Ø that funding would assist in the development of the Street Angels;
Ø that this funding would not be used for overtime payments to police officers in respect of Special Constable training.

RESOLVED: That the Big Society Panel be recommended to award Windsor and Maidenhead Local Police £10,000 of Big Society LAA funding.

08/11 APPLICATION FOR LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT FUNDING FOR NAMED PARTNERS

Application from Windsor and Maidenhead Volunteer Centre

Members considered an application for £41,000 of funding for the Windsor and Maidenhead Volunteer Centre in relation to the Local Area Agreement Funding for Named Partners and Members noted that the funding had already been allocated. It was noted that the WMVC wished to engage more businesses with the voluntary sector and hoped that some potential engagement could be through their website which was in need of updating. However, Members raised concern that no breakdown of the costs of building a new website had been provided and they therefore agreed that until a full breakdown of costs was provided, the funding would be withheld. All other aspects of the application were covered by Windsor and Maidenhead Voluntary Action’s Service Level Agreement.

RESOLVED: That the Big Society Panel be recommended not to award Windsor and Maidenhead Volunteer Centre their LAA funding until further detailed information on the project was given.

09/11 MEETING

The meeting, which began at 5.00pm, concluded at 6.20am