Agenda and minutes

To note that Councillor Karen Scarborough is replacing Councillor Richard Beddoe.

1.1       It was noted that Councillor Karen Scarborough had replaced Councillor Richard Beddoe and that Councillor Ruth Bush had replaced Councillor Papya Qureshi.

1.2       The Chairman welcomed Steve Summers (Cabinet Member for Sports, Leisure and Open Spaces) to the meeting.

1.3       The Chairman also welcomed Chris Lloyd, Communities Development Manager (Libraries), who was attending the meeting to take part in the Review of the Westminster Volunteering Services discussion.

1.4       The Chairman advised that Councillor Danny Chalkley (Cabinet Member for Children 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.

To receive declarations by Members and Officers of the existence and nature of any personal or prejudicial interests in matters on this agenda.

2.1       No further declarations of interests in respect of items to be discussed were made, other than those noted in the circulated schedule.

2.2       Table of Members’ interests tabled at the Committee Meeting was a follows:

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2015.

3.1       RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2015 were approved for signature by the Chairman as a true and correct record of the proceedings subject to the following matter arising that Councillor Ian Bott wished to record his apology for his absence at the meeting.

To note the progress in implementing the Committee’s Recommendation and Action Trackers.

4.1       Councillor Bush advised that as Chair of the Westminster Faith Exchange she was happy for the Council to ask the Faith Exchange to communicate useful information to local residents.

4.2       RESOLVED: That the Action and Recommendation Trackers be noted.

Councillor Steve Summers (Cabinet Member for Sports, Leisure and Open Spaces) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.

5.1       The Committee received an update from the Cabinet Member who responded to questions relating to:

·         the new location and decant of the Paddington Children’s Library.

·         the temporary location of the Marylebone Library.

·         the improvements made to Broadly Street Gardens.

·         the refurbishment of the lift at the Pimlico Library.

·         the location of public realm and art work in open spaces in Soho.

·         the availability of green open play space in the Marylebone Street Ward.

·         Westminster Advice Service Partnership.

·         the public consultation of Tamplin Mews Gardens.

·         the London Youth Games.

·         the success of the ActiveWestminster Awards, the opportunities available to young people through the MCC Lords School Offer and the Launch event in early summer 2015.

5.2       ACTIONS:

1.    That further updates be sent to the Committee regarding Paddington Children’s Library, Marylebone Library and Broadly Street Gardens.

2.    That a briefing note be sent to the Committee on the work carried out by the Westminster Advice Service and their partner organisations.

3.    That all Westminster’s secondary schools be invited to attend the MCC Lords School Offer Launch event in Summer 2015.

4.    That an item reviewing Sport in Westminster Schools be added to the Work Programme.

Councillor Danny Chalkley (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.

6.1       The Committee received a written update from the Cabinet Member which            covered current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio. 

6.2       ACTIONS

1.    That a briefing note, and if necessary a confidential briefing note, be sent to the Committee updating them on the position at George Elliot Primary School.

2.    That a briefing note be sent to the Committee to include information on:

a)    Paragraph 1.1: the number of children in the borough who were granted at least one of their top three preferences for schools in previous years.

b)    Paragraph 1.4: the reduction in adoption and foster care placements.

c)    Paragraph 1.14: the details and impact of European Nationals adolescents arriving in the UK alone.

d)    Paragraph 1.18: how the target figure of 30 families had been identified in paragraph 1.18.

e)    the Council’s work on reducing childhood obesity.

f)     private fostering arrangements within Westminster.

3.    That all future briefing notes include table formatted data for the past five years where applicable.

4.    That the Scrutiny Officer undertakes some research into the numbers of children being informally fostered by extended family members/family friends and the impact this has on the children, schools and Council.

To review the Volunteering Services.

7.1       The Committee received a report on the design and implementation of the Westminster Volunteering Brokerage Service. 

7.2       The Committee welcomed Councillor Steve Summers and Callum Whittaker, Policy Officer, who discussed with the Committee the new Team Westminster Volunteering Strategy which would provide a host of new services that would contribute to the delivery of the core Better City, Better Lives commitment to increase the number of people who volunteer in the city. 

7.3       The Committee welcomed Chris Lloyd, Communities Development Manager (Libraries), who discussed with the Committee how the library service used volunteers as part of their service delivery.  Chris explained that volunteers added value to the work being carried out by the library staff and in return benefited from training, work experience and personal gain and development.  He advised that volunteers were from all age groups and community backgrounds, although there were only a small number of teenage volunteers. 

7.4       The following key themes emerged from the Committee’s discussion:

·         the difficulty of measuring the monetary value of volunteering to services and the community.

·         the need to remind people that the Volunteering Strategy was introduced not to replace people in paid employment but to encourage people to volunteer because of the positive effect volunteering could have on an individual and the community.

·         the importance of raising the profile of volunteering by publicising volunteering opportunities to Further Education Colleges and new arrivals to the City and by actively promoting awareness of volunteering in the City using market stalls, office foyers, youth clubs and the Lord Mayor’s Parlour.

·         the importance of developing Apps and on-line portals to encourage volunteering participation to ‘busy’ people so that they could have the opportunity to volunteer for ‘one off projects’.

·         the importance of targeting secondary schools and youth groups to inform teenagers of the benefits of volunteering to themselves and their community and the importance of the time credit service to young people and new volunteers even if established volunteers or  older people did not feel it was necessary.

·         the need to make use of existing resources such as the Westminster Guides and how best to raise their profile and make them more accessible.  The Committee noted that whilst Westminster was increasing their investment in volunteering many other London Authorities were reducing their budget.  

·         the need for organisations to have a proper recruitment process, work programme and training schedule in place for their volunteers so that they  feel appreciated and part of the workplace.

·         the need for professionally paid staff to continue to be responsible for the Council’s core legal statutory obligations such as in the care industry

7.5       The Chairman thanked everyone who had given up their time to attend the            meeting and contribute to the discussion.

7.6       RESOLVED: That the following recommendations be reported to the Cabinet        Member for Sports, Leisure and Open Spaces for consideration for developing his Volunteering Strategy:

1.  That the Committee welcomed the new Team Westminster Volunteering Strategy and acknowledged and recognised the wide network of volunteers working within  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider the overall performance of the leisure facilities contract and provide input to help shape the future specification and required outcomes for the new contract.

8.1       The Committee received a report outlining the planned strategy relating to the re-procurement of the Council’s sports and leisure facilities contract in the summer 2016. The Committee heard that the contract was performing well and key performance indicators were positive.  The Committee noted that the contract generated a net financial surplus to the Council each year which provided funding for wider sports development activities.

8.2       The Chairman welcomed Richard Barker, Director of Sports, Leisure and Open Spaces, who discussed with the Committee that the sports and leisure management contract made a positive contribution to a variety of Council and partner outcomes including ‘Better City, Better Lives, the Public Health Outcomes Framework, particular ’Utilisation of green space for exercise/health reasons’ and the ‘Proportion of physical active and inactive adults indicators’, the Volunteering Strategy and engagement of schools utilising the facilities for coaching and PE & School Sport.

8.3       The following key themes emerged from the Committee’s discussion:

·         the new contract would improve financial return to the Council, provide capital investment for improved facilities and encourage the market to come back with solutions regarding outreach work to inactive groups.

·         the importance of outreach work and the promotion of everyday activities to the inactive and elderly population by finding venues to hold sport and leisure activities nearer to their homes/communities.

·         the possibility of including  Key Performance Indicators in the new contract to encourage inactive residents to participate in sport for public health benefits.

·         the need for the new contractor to be committed to equal opportunities and be mindful of cultural community groups in Westminster.

·         the need to note that the new contract did not cover the whole sports and leisure offer to Westminster residents.

·         the importance of looking at other large procurement contracts to see if any lessons had been learnt when going through the process.

8.4       The Committee congratulated Westminster City Council’s Sports and Leisure Unit in coming up with creative solutions to ensure their continued success and on the excellent variety of sports and leisure facilities available in Westminster.

8.5       ACTIONS

1.    That a briefing note be sent on how the  income of £900,000 was utlilised by

the Council through different sports and leisure projects.

2.    That a briefing note be sent to the committee highlighting the wider work of the Sports and Leisure Unit (not just the facilities contract)

8.6       RESOLVED:

1.    That the Committee acknowledged that the procurement process was on track to commence in February 2015 and that the new contract would improve financial return to the Council, provide capital investment for improved facilities and encourage the market to develop solutions for outreach work.

2.    That the contract should include key performance indicators to encourage the new contractor to promote everyday activities to the inactive and elderly population (including by finding venues to hold sport and leisure activities nearer to their homes/communities).

3.    That consideration should be given to some elements of payment by results in the contract when achieving greater participation by low participation groups.

4.    That  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report for Information Only.

9.1       The Committee received an update on the needs of children of Service Personnel

9.2       RESOLVED: That the Committee receive an annual update on the needs of children of Service Personnel.

To discuss the Committee’s Work Programme.

10.1     The Committee agreed that it would consider the School Organisation Strategy and The new Sport and Physical Activity Strategy for Westminster at its next meeting.

10.2    The Committee agreed that it would hold additional meeting on Tuesday 21 April.

10.3    The Chairman advised that he would send a note inviting members to participate in a Task Group on reviewing sport in schools.

Verbal Update (if any)

11.1     Resolved: The Committee noted that there was nothing to report. 

12.1     The Chairman gave details of his visit with Councillor Ian Adams and Councillor Karen Scarborough to the Policy and Scrutiny Team in the Houses of Parliament.