Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Sarah Craddock Email: scraddock@westminster.gov.uk; 020 7641 2770
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Membership The Director of Law to report that Councillor Gotz Mohindra was substituting for Councillor Robert Rigby. Minutes: 1.1 It was noted that Councillor Gotz Mohindra was substituting for Councillor Robert Rigby.
1.2 The Chairman welcomed Councillor David Harvey (Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community) to the meeting.
1.3 The Chairman advised that Councillor Richard Holloway (Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Young People) would not be attending the meeting. Any questions that Members had regarding his portfolio would be placed on the Committee’s Action Tracker.
1.4 The Chairman congratulated Melissa Caslake on her new position as Bi-Borough Executive Director of Children Services and also congratulated and welcomed Miranda Gittos as the new Interim Director of Family Services.
1.5 The Chairman announced that both Louise McCullough and Brenda Morrison had decided to step down from the Committee and that their replacements would be announced shortly. The Chairman thanked Louise and Brenda for all their hard work over the years and wished them well for the future.
1.6 The Chairman welcomed Sarah Mitchell, Director, from Heart of the City who would be contributing to the Voluntary and Community Sector Support Report.
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Declarations of Interest To receive declarations of interest by Members and Officers of any personal or prejudicial interests. Minutes: 2.1 No further declarations of interests in respect of items to be discussed were made, other than those noted in the circulated schedule as set out below in paragraph 2.2.
2.2 Table of Member’s interests tabled at the Committee Meeting was as follows:
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To agree the minutes of the meetings held on 21 June 2017. Minutes: 3.1 RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2017 be approved for signature by the Chairman as a true and correct record of the proceedings.
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Trackers and Work Programme PDF 89 KB a) To note the progress in implementing the Committee’s Recommendation and Action Trackers.
b) To provide comment and input into the Work Programme for 2017/18. Additional documents:
Minutes: 4.1 ACTION AND RECOMMENDATION TRACKERS
4.1.1 RESOLVED: That the Action and Recommendation Trackers be noted.
4.2 COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME
4.2.1 RESOLVED: That the Work Programme be noted.
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Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community PDF 213 KB Councillor David Harvey (Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio. Minutes: 5.1 The Committee received a written update from the Cabinet Member who responded to questions on the following topics:
5.2 ACTION: That the timeframe for the Leaf Removal Programme be sent to Committee Members.
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Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Young People PDF 305 KB Councillor Richard Holloway (Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Young People) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio. Minutes: 6.1 The Committee received a written update from the Cabinet Member which covered current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.
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To review and contribute to the draft Voluntary and Community Sector Strategy and the relet of the Voluntary and Community Sector support contract.
Minutes: 7.1 The Committee received a report outlining the work of The Voluntary and Community Sector Support Service managed within the Council. The Committee noted that the service acted as a coordinator between the Council and the large and complex range of organisations that make up Westminster’s Voluntary and Community Sector. The Committee further noted that a full procurement process had recently been undertaken to secure a new, long term contract for delivery of these important services.
7.2 The Committee welcomed Sarah Mitchell from Heart of the City who outlined the work of her organisation and contributed to the discussion especially regarding Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) and how the Council could encourage businesses (especially small to medium size businesses) to get involved in volunteering within the borough to give back to the community. The Committee noted how Heart of the City encouraged their organisations to focus on trying to get their responsible business practices to align with their core business strategy so that volunteering was not just seen as an added extra but that it was contributing to their business plan, staff morale and the profit of the business. The Committee considered the huge impact it would have if Westminster based businesses found opportunities to support the voluntary sector in the City through a responsive CSR brokerage Service.
7.3 The Committee discussed that Westminster had a large, diverse and very active Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) which had already contributed to the achievement of a wide range of City for All outcomes and that the sector would have a significant and increasing role in local service delivery in the future. The Committee then highlighted the need to support employers to develop Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes and to find creative ways to engage people and businesses and make them aware of how they could contribute to their Communities such as by providing them with information through their Business Rate bills. The Committee noted that the new contract would make a major contribution to ensuring Westminster had a strong Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) which was fit for the future.
7.4 RESOLVED: The Committee made the following comments which would be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community for consideration:
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Open Spaces and Biodiversity Strategy: Draft for Public Consultation PDF 1 MB To review and input into the draft strategy. Minutes: 8.1 The Committee received a report on the draft Open Spaces and Biodiversity Strategy for the Council which reflected assets that were both owned or managed by the Council and those which were not such as the Royal Parks and private spaces. The Committee noted that the aim of the consultation was to develop an accessible and engaging document that would appeal to a wide public audience as well as complementing existing statutory policies.
8.2 The Committee heard that throughout the strategy and the accompanying action plan there was a strong focus on partnership working and the role everyone, including residents, could play in maximizing the impact of all available green space. The Committee then discussed the range and value of Westminster’s impressive network of ‘green assets’ including parks, gardens and green infrastructure and the creative and innovative ways that roof gardens, living walls and small spaces were being shaped to promote biodiversity and green areas.
8.3 The Committee considered the possibility of working with the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), productively using the space around housing estates and widening public access to green spaces. The Committee noted the importance of maximizing the benefit out of all spaces such as introducing window boxes, green hoarding and community food growing as all green infrastructure had many environmental benefits for wildlife, air quality and even reducing anti-social behaviour in the City.
8.4 The Committee noted that the document was due to be launched for full public consultation very shortly and responses would be welcome through the autumn.
8.5 RESOLVED: The Committee made the following comments which would be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community for consideration:
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Reports of any urgent safeguarding issues Verbal Update (if any) Minutes: 9.1 The Chairman advised that there was nothing to report.
10. TERMINATION OF MEETING
10 .1 The meeting ended at 8.45pm
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Any Other Business the Chairman considers urgent |