Decision details

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Roger Mace)

In accordance with Section 100B of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chairman agreed to consider the report as an item of urgent business as it would enable Cabinet to consider allocation of the City Council’s Area Based Grant (ABG) for 2008/09. 

Cabinet considered a report that sought approval for the allocation of the City Council’s Area Based Grant (ABG) for 2008/09, in particular to provide continuing support for Neighbourhood Management commitments in Poulton and the West End of Morecambe into the new financial year.

The options, options analysis, including risk assessment, were set out in the report as follows: 

Option 1: Use the ABG allocation to continue to fund Neighbourhood Management commitments in Poulton and the West End, and put into place arrangements for allocating the remaining £26,000.  The report back on the future of Neighbourhood Management would provide an opportunity to review the effective use of ABG not allocated to meet existing commitments.

Option 2: Allocate the ABG for other purposes, and develop an exit strategy for the existing Neighbourhood Management Project.  Realistically, existing commitments could equate to the amount of ABG, but a full analysis would be needed to determine this.

The key risks and opportunities of not using the ABG for continuation of Neighbourhood Management are :

·         Limited savings potential in 2008/09, as funds are already committed.  This would mean that there may be little left for allocating to alternative initiatives for that year, although it would give greater choice and flexibility for 2009/10 onwards.

·         Other works in Poulton and West End would be unfinished, and this could have an adverse impact on the perceived success of the projects to date.  There may be reputational risks for the Council in this regard, although this will depend also on the perceived value of the works not completed.

·         Work to roll out Neighbourhood Management to other parts of the district would not be finished and lessons learned/best practices may not be maximised.

·         There could be an adverse effect on local communities in Poulton and West End which are now showing signs of cohesion (especially in Poulton).  Funding (either in 2008/09 or future years) would be freed up, however, giving the opportunity to provide or safeguard other services, in either the same or alternative communities.

Option 1 was the preferred option.  This would ensure that existing commitments were met with further options for sustaining Neighbourhood Management and for determining the future use of ABG being brought back to Cabinet.

It was moved by Councillor Roger Mace and seconded by Councillor John Gilbert: -

“That the recommendations, as set out in the report be approved, subject to amendment to (1) and (3), as set out below:

(1)     That for April 2008 Area Based Grant be used to continue existing arrangements for Neighbourhood Management in Poulton and the West End of Morecambe and a report on future options be brought back to Cabinet in April 2008. 

(3)     That allocation of the remaining Grant in 2008/09 be subject to a further report to Cabinet.” 

Members then voted as follows.

Resolved:

(6 Members voted in favour (Councillors June Ashworth, Jon Barry, Eileen Blamire, Abbott Bryning, John Gilbert and Roger Mace) and 1 Member abstained from voting (Councillor Tony Johnson)

(1)               That for April 2008 Area Based Grant be used to continue existing arrangements for Neighbourhood Management in Poulton and the West End of Morecambe and a report on future options be brought back to Cabinet in April 2008. 

(2)               That work on options to develop Neighbourhood Management arrangements for the District be considered and brought back to Cabinet. 

(3)               That allocation of the remaining Grant in 2008/09 be subject to a further report to Cabinet. 

(4)               That the General Fund Revenue Budget be updated accordingly. 

Officer responsible for effecting the decision:

Corporate Director (Community Services). 

Reason for making the decision:

The two Neighbourhood Management projects in Poulton and West End have been successful in reducing levels of deprivation.  The ABG allocation is the only available source of funding for these projects to continue in 2008/09.  If the ABG is not allocated to the Neighbourhood Management projects existing commitments must still be met. 

The decision enables Cabinet to consider options to develop Neighbourhood Management arrangements for the District at the April, 2008 meeting.