Agenda Item No_____15_______
REVIEW OF OUTSIDE BODIES
Summary:
Conclusions:
This report provides the Committee with information on
five Outside Bodies referred for review from Full Council
on 30 May 2012. It was due for discussion at the
meeting of Overview and Scrutiny of 24 July 2012 but
was deferred because of other items on the agenda.
This version of the report includes additional information
requested by Members.
Norfolk Tourism and the North Norfolk Community
Transport Partnership should be removed from the
Council’s schedule of approved Outside Bodies.
Representation on the Norfolk Playing Fields
Association, Norfolk Rural Community Council and the
North Norfolk Skills Partnership requires further
consideration.
Recommendations:
1. To recommend to Full Council that the North
Norfolk Community Transport Partnership and
Norfolk Tourism should be removed from the
Official List.
2. To further consider the value to the Council of
continued representation on the Norfolk Playing
Fields Association, Norfolk Rural Community
Council and the North Norfolk Skills Partnership.
Cabinet Member(s)
Ward(s) affected
Mr K Johnson
All
Contact Officer, telephone number and email:
Mary Howard, 01263 516047, mary.howard@north-norfolk.gov.uk
1.
Introduction
1.1
At Full Council on 30 May 2012 a report on Outside Bodies was presented by
the Legal and Democratic Services Manager. She identified five Bodies
where responses from Members (or a lack of response from the Outside
Body) indicated that it would be useful for representation to be reviewed by
the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The purpose of the review would be to
decide if continued representation was of value and in the best interests of
the Council. This was agreed by Members.
1.2
The five Bodies referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were the
Norfolk Playing Fields Association, the Norfolk Rural Community Council,
Norfolk Tourism, the North Norfolk Community Transport Partnership and the
North Norfolk Skills Partnership.
1.3
In preparing this report, reference has been made to the information already
on file from a review undertaken annually by Democratic Services.
Information on funding has been obtained from the Accountancy Team and
lead officers have been interviewed, where applicable. Reference has also
been made to the Corporate Plan. Further information was requested by
Members in July 2012 and is included in this report.
2.
The process undertaken by Democratic Services before the Annual
Meeting of Full Council
2.1
Each year Outside Bodies are sent a questionnaire to confirm contact details,
terms of reference and aims, the number of Members appointed to each
body, the numbers of meetings and attendance. Confirmation is also sought
that the organisation is requesting appointment for the forthcoming municipal
year.
2.2
Members are sent a questionnaire requesting confirmation that they were
invited to meetings, the number of meetings convened and the number
attended. They are also asked to comment on the following
•
The value contributed by the organisation to the quality of life in North
Norfolk and to the Council’s priorities.
•
Whether representatives had received a briefing from an Officer or
outgoing Member before attending the first meeting.
•
The best method for reporting on the work of the organisation.
•
The reason for representing the Council on the organisation, that is,
specific interest/knowledge or relevance to Ward.
Democratic Services consults both the Outside Body and the Member
representative in order to gain a more complete picture of the work of the
Body and its value to the District.
3.
Information gathered in the 2012 review
3.1
Norfolk Playing Fields Association
The Organisation did not respond to the questionnaire or subsequent
reminder. The NNDC representative said that he had never been invited to a
meeting.
3.2
Norfolk Rural Community Council
The Organisation responded that the Council was entitled to appoint a
representative. Meetings were held quarterly and there was also an Annual
General Meeting. No information on the attendance of the NNDC
representative was provided. The NNDC representative said that he received
information about the organisation but had never been invited to a meeting.
3.3
Norfolk Tourism
The Organisation did not respond to the questionnaire or subsequent
reminder. The NNDC representative said that she had not yet been invited to
a meeting.
3.4
North Norfolk Community Transport Partnership and North Norfolk
Skills Partnership
No appointment had been made to these organisations in 2011 – 2012
because it had been understood that they were linked to the North Norfolk
Community Partnership, the future of which was under review. As part of the
2012 review there had been attempts to seek clarity, but these had been
unsuccessful.
4.
Links to the Corporate Plan
•
Norfolk Playing Fields Association: tenuous link to Coast, Countryside and
Built Heritage.
•
Norfolk Rural Community Council: Localism
•
Norfolk Tourism: Jobs and the Local Economy D
•
North Norfolk Community Transport Partnership: tenuous link to Jobs and
the Local Economy
•
North Norfolk Skills Partnership: Jobs and the Local Economy B
5.
Further Information gathered for the purpose of this report
5.1
Norfolk Playing Fields Association
The Norfolk Playing Fields Association receives no funding from the Council.
The aims of the Norfolk Playing Fields Association are “to support the saving
of threatened recreational facilities and to extend the benefits of playing fields,
playgrounds and open spaces to all members of the community. Grants are
for capital projects and priority is given to projects that involve children’s play.”
Applicants for grant funding must be members of the Norfolk Playing Fields
Association. North Norfolk District Council is a member. Grants are for small
amounts.
Meetings are essentially Member Forums and the Lead Officer believes that
NNDC should continue to be represented by an Elected Member. He has
recently had correspondence from the Norfolk Playing Fields Association
urging that a Member should attend meetings and has written to confirm that
NNDC has a representative, with contact details for that individual.
5.2
Norfolk Rural Community Council
The Norfolk Rural Community Council has not received funding from the
Council since January 2008. Its stated aims are:
•
Community Support - helping Communities all the way from identifying
needs to delivering solutions with friendly support and genuine
expertise.
•
Rural Advocacy - to provide a voice to rural communities to ensure
that decisions on services, policies and strategies do not discriminate
against them and adequately serve and reflect their needs.
•
Developing Solutions - to research, consult and develop initiatives to
solve the problems faced by our communities.
These aims are encapsulated in North Norfolk District Council’s Corporate
Plan 2012 – 2015, “To empower individuals and local communities to have a
greater say in their own futures” therefore the work of this organisation is
clearly in line with the aims of the Council. However Members are asked to
consider if the Council should continue to be represented on this body or
whether it would be sufficient to receive information by other methods, e.g.
the Members’ Bulletin.
5.3
Norfolk Tourism
Norfolk Tourism last received funding from the Council in 2003. The
Economic and Tourism Development Manager has explained that Norfolk
Tourism is the governing body for tourism in Norfolk and is under the
auspices of Norfolk County Council. It is a partnership of tourism businesses
and local authorities from across the county who also work closely with
regional and national bodies. Local authorities are represented by the
relevant portfolio holder.
Norfolk Tourism is, therefore, not a Council appointment and should be
removed from the Council’s schedule of approved Outside Bodies.
5.4
North Norfolk Community Transport Partnership
The North Norfolk Community Transport Partnership has been dissolved. It
should, therefore, be removed from the Council’s schedule of approved
Outside Bodies.
5.5
North Norfolk Skills Partnership
The North Norfolk Skills Partnership last received substantial funding in
September 2011. It is the skills and training arm of the North Norfolk Business
Forum. Partners include schools, colleges, Job Centre Plus and Learning for
Everyone. The lead officer at NNDC is the North Norfolk Learning & Skill
Project Manager who has provided the following description of the
Partnership:
“We at the District Council understanding the affects of market failure on the
economy of North Norfolk created two bodies which fulfilled the corporate
aspirations of this Council centred on business development and skills
support.
The North Norfolk Skills Partnership has operated since 2006 as a sister
organisation to the North Norfolk Business Forum, both set up by NNDC. It is
a collaboration brought together of organisations involved in skills
development in North Norfolk. The reason for its being is to provide a
collective voice for the identified needs of learners in the District in response
to lack of mainstream provision. It is largely a gathering of public, private and
third sector training providers. It has always strived to respond to the skills
needs of the local business sector as identified by the North Norfolk Business
Forum. Resulting from this collaboration is a better understanding of the
issues and lobbying for better penetration of service delivery and strategic
projects.
In the last twelve months we have carried out an organisation and business
review. This has concluded that we need ever greater co-working with the
Business Forum. The Forum is embracing this approach and an initial piece
of work to survey current local business skills needs by interviewing the
various chairs of the sector foras has been published.
The agenda for skills is complex, ranging as it does from the performance of
schools, through to lifelong learning as a personal development tool. The
range of interested parties, government programmes and funding bodies is
also complex.
Supporting skills in North Norfolk is a corporate priority. As such the Skills
Partnership is a vital body to assist the understanding of the local issues
related to employability and skills and to lobby for specific action in response
of market failure.
The Learning 4 Everyone initiative is recognised as the delivery arm of the
Skills Partnership. It has focussed on providing information, advice and
guidance on employment and learning needs as well as a rapid response to
redundancy service, including employability workshops and other short
training courses.”
Officers advise that, although there is no official representative, the meetings
are attended by a Member who has a specific interest and whose expertise is
valued. As a direct response to this report the North Norfolk Learning & Skill
Project Manager has sent a memo to Corporate Leadership Team advising of
the situation and suggesting that representation should be formalised.
6.
Conclusions
Norfolk Tourism is not a Council appointment and should be removed from
the Council’s schedule of approved Outside Bodies. North Norfolk Community
Transport Partnership no longer exists and should also be removed from the
schedule. Representation on the Norfolk Playing Fields Association, Norfolk
Rural Community Council and the North Norfolk Skills Partnership requires
further consideration.
7.
Implications and Risks
It is in the interests of the authority to ensure that the outside bodies that the
Council appoints Members to are relevant to the aims and objectives of the
Council.
8.
Financial Implications and Risks
Except for the North Norfolk Skills Partnership, the Outside Bodies under
review are not in receipt of funding from the Council.
9.
Sustainability
There are no sustainability issues in this report.
10.
Equality and Diversity
The Council’s schedule of approved Outside Bodies needs to reflect the
needs of all Residents of the District.
11.
Section 17 Crime and Disorder considerations
There are no Section 17 issues as a direct result of this report.