Minutes – Community Affairs Committee – 7 October 2024
The agenda and papers for this meeting are available here: Agenda and papers – Community Affairs Committee – 7 October 2024
The minutes of this meeting are presented below.
You can also download a PDF copy of the minutes here: Minutes – Community Affairs Committee – 7 October 2024
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Minutes
Date: 7 October 2024
Time: 5.30pm – 7.01pm
Location: The Council Chamber – The Council House • North Street • CHICHESTER • West Sussex • PO19 1LQ
PRESENT: Councillors Apel, Chant, J Gershater, Kondabeka
EX-OFFICIO: The Mayor (Councillor Quail)
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: The Town Clerk, Deputy Town Clerk, Councillor Miall, Councillor Vivian, Communications, Civic and Council Support Officer, Communities Officer.
39. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
None
40. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE IN MATTERS ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS MEETING
Councillor J. Gershater is a trustee of Homestart.
Councillor Chant submitted recommendations for Chichester University and Chichester Fringe.
41. UPDATES ON ACTIONS FROM PREVIOUS MEETING
Minute 26 – Chairman to write to PRIDE Committee thanking them for their efforts in organising the first annual parade.
The Chairman advised that this had been COMPLETED.
Minute 27(c) – Sussex Police to be invited to attend a future meeting to respond to questions from the Committee.
The Communications, Civic and Council Support Officer advised that they would be invited to attend the December committee meeting.
The Committee also requested that the local area commander be asked to attend to explain the rationale behind the proposed police pod in the city.
Minute 30 – VE Day 80th anniversary working group meeting to be arranged.
The Town Clerk advised that a meeting had been arranged.
Minute 32 – Request volunteer from among Members to fill Outside Body vacancy with Friends of Valletta.
The Town Clerk reported that at present no volunteers had come forward and Cllr Scicluna remained the sole City Council representative on the organisation.
Minute 33 – Schedule repairs to the Mayor’s badge and chain.
The Communications, Civic and Council Support Officer reported that this was being scheduled for early in the new year.
Minute 34 – Chichester Gala 2025 working group meeting to be arranged.
The Town Clerk reported that a meeting had been arranged.
Minute 36 – Advise grant applicants of Committee decisions.
The Deputy Town Clerk reported that all applicants had been advised of the outcome of their bid.
42. CIVIC AND CEREMONIAL WORKING GROUP
The Mayor introduced the report and recommendations from the Civic and Ceremonial Working Group.
Councillor Knight proposed an amendment to the recommendations and requested that prayers be held before the start of the Council meeting to allow Councillors who did not wish to participate the opportunity to arrive after prayers had been said.
The Committee RESOLVED to adopt the proposed amendment to the procedure for prayers, which in future will not form a part of the Council meeting and thus will be removed as an agenda item. Prayers will now be held in the Council Chamber before the Council meeting begins.
The Committee RESOLVED adopt in full the recommendations in the report, subject to the amendment to the procedure for prayers and the removal of recommendation 8.3 (It should be clearly communicated to charities designated as the mayor’s charity that the responsibility for organising fundraising events rests with them).
43. COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE BUDGET 2025/2026
The Deputy Town Clerk introduced the report showing the current budget and expenditure items for the committee.
The Deputy Town Clerk mentioned that the Hanging Baskets and Flowers maintenance is due to increase in future years.
The Committee then considered the current budget and requested that the following recommendations be made to the Finance Committee:
- That reserves for twinning groups be capped at £5k, and if the reserve held is higher than this, no allocation be made in that year.
- To remove the European Association of Historic Towns subscription.
- That any Walled Town Symposium subscriptions and events be funded from the existing international relations budget and the separate budget line be scrapped.
- That a Deputy Mayors allowance of £500 be created, to help with the cost of sharing The Mayor’s duties.
- The Cemetery budget to be reduced to £30K next year.
The Committee requested that a paper be prepared for the Finance Committee looking at the value and costs of the services we co-fund across the City.
The Committee also requested that Deputy Clerk review the Free Use expenditure allocation to ensure that the amount is correct, as there had been a change in the Free Use arrangements for events held outside of business hours.
44. CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU (CAB) AT THE COUNCIL HOUSE
The Town Clerk advised that the latest report from the CAB including data for September had been received, including a case study highlighting how a resident had been helped.
Since the service launched 38 individuals have been helped with 77 separate issues and have recouped over £30,000 in additional benefits and successful dispute resolution.
The committee requested that attendance figures be monitored to see if the service is being well used enough.
45. ITEMS FOR NEXT AGENDA
None were suggested.
46. PUBLIC SECTOR BODIES (ADMISSION TO MEETINGS ACT) 1960
The committee RESOLVED that the public and press be excluded from this meeting for agenda item 47 and 48 due to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted namely financial and business affairs of third parties and award nominations.
47. CONSIDERATION OF GRANT APPLICATIONS
The Deputy Clerk introduced the discretionary grant applications:
(i) Small grant applications
- Second Chance Chichester
The committee RESOLVED to request further information on how the funds will be spent, so that the application can be further considered at the December meeting.
The Committee AGREED to grant an urgent request of £1,000 to the Chichester Rotary Club to fund the purchase of the City Christmas Tree, additional lights and decorations, to be located at the Market Cross.
48. CHICHESTER CITY COUNCIL ANNUAL AWARDS 2024
To confirm outcomes of the nominations for City Council Annual Awards 2024.
Arts Science and Culture Awards
Civic Awards
Community Awards
Heritage Awards
Small Business Awards
Following presentations of the nominees open to all Councillors on 7th October 2024, the Committee RESOLVED to confirm the Award winners as per the proposed schedule of recommendations.
49. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
DATE OF NEXT ORDINARY MEETING: 2 DECEMBER 2024
The meeting closed at 7.01pm
ACTIONS ARISING FROM THIS MEETING
| Minute ref. | Agreed action | Assigned for action to |
| 41. | Invitation to Sussex Police to attend December’s Community Affairs meeting. Further invite to the local area commander. | Communications, Civic and Council Support Officer |
| 42. | To remove section 8.3 from Civic and Ceremonial report Deputy Town Clerk | Deputy Town Clerk |
| 42. | Remove prayers from future Full Council agendas and invite Councillors to prayers prior to meetings. | Council Services and Support Manager |
| 43. | To raise recommendations to the Finance Committee | Deputy Town Clerk |
| 47. | To request grant applicant to clarify what the money will be used for. | Deputy Town Clerk |
| 47. | To include the grant application response to the next Committee meeting. | Communications, Civic and Council Support Officer |
| 48. | Inform all City Council Annual Award Winners of the outcome and to note that the ceremony will take place in February. | Deputy Town Clerk |