Leisure, Arts And Communities Committee - 19/08/2002

At a MEETING of the NEIGHBOURHOOD RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 19th August 2002.

Present:-

COUNCILLORS

Councillor WRIGHT, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 24th June 2002 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I SERVICE PLAN 2001/2002

There was submitted Report No 614-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development advising the Committee of the Department's performance against indicators identified in the Service Plan 1999/2002.

The Committee noted the contents of the report and the progress achieved.

II SOCIAL INCLUSION PARTNERSHIP - ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES 2002/2003

There was submitted Report No 615-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development making recommendations for the further allocation of Social Inclusion Partnership funding 1 and 2 for the financial year 2002/2003 and recommending a number of grants from the SIP1 and 2 Small Grants Fund.

The Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(a) to agree the further allocation of Social Inclusion Partnership funding 2002/2003 as detailed in Section 6 of the report;

(b) to note the Partnership's recommendations for the allocation of Social Inclusion Partnership 1 and 2 Drugs Misuse funding as detailed in Section 8 of the report;

(c) to note the Partnership's recommendation to transfer Social Inclusion Partnership 1 funding from Happyhillock Resource Base to Brooksbank Neighbourhood Centre as detailed in Section 7 of the report; and

(d) to agree the award of Social Inclusion Partnership 1 and 2 Small Grants as detailed in Appendices C and D of the report.

III LITERACIES INITIATIVE

Reference was made to Article V of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 14th January of this year when the Committee was advised of approval from the Scottish Executive for a Literacies Initiative which the City Council was co-ordinating on behalf of a range of agencies in Dundee.

There was submitted Agenda Note AN163-2002 advising that the Personnel and Management Services Committee had established the post of Literacies Implementation Manager at its meeting on 11th February 2002. Having advertised this post nationally, the Partnership had been unable to recruit an applicant who met the person specification.

It was therefore recommended that the post of Literacies Implementation Manager be deleted and the following course of action be pursued as an alternative:-

The Section Leader, Community Learning (Post No 163) be allocated one additional day per week to carry out co-ordinating tasks related to the Literacies Action Plan and that the focus of these tasks be primarily co-ordination and liaison with others who would be assigned specific pieces of work which would otherwise have been undertaken by the Co-ordinator on a full-time basis.

Secondly, it was recommended that CM Associates who assisted the Partnership in preparing the original Literacies Action Plan be recruited to take forward specific elements of the plan on the understanding that the expenditure incurred in extending this relationship be contained within the funding previously approved for the post of Literacies Implementation Manager.

There were no financial implications to Dundee City Council arising from these proposals. The Chief Executive, Directors of Personnel and Management Services and Support Services had been consulted.

These proposals had been discussed with the Community Learning Partnership and the Literacies Sub-Group, both of which supported these recommendations.

The Committee approved accordingly.

IV NORTH EAST DUNDEE CREDIT UNION LIMITED

There was submitted Agenda Note AN166-2002 updating the Committee on the situation with North East Dundee Credit Union Limited, hereafter referred to as NEDCU.

NEDCU had been moribund since August 1998 but was technically still a registered Credit Union with assets and liabilities under the 1979 Credit Union Act.

The assets included members' shares that had not been repaid and the residual grant from DCC grant funding to cover the costs of the winding up and closure process.

Since 1998 several attempts had been made by NRDD and the Financial Services Authority to encourage the officers of the Credit Union to complete the closure process.

Contact was made by the secretary of NEDCU on 17th June 2002 asking for help to resolve the situation before 1st July 2002 - the date that the new legislative measures for Credit Unions came into force.

The FSA required the appropriate forms to be completed and returned to them with the details of the arrangements to be made for dealing with assets and liabilities before 1st July 2002. The FSA had suggested that NEDCU arrange for a person or organisation to act as trustees for the disposal of the Credit Union?s assets until such time they were paid to the shareholders.

The secretary was advised of the need for speed in dealing with this matter to meet the deadline.

After investigation of various options, it was decided the best option would be for Dundee North Law Centre to act as trustees with any residual funds attributed to them to cover any unforeseen costs.

The secretary of NEDCU was informed of this on 29th June 2002. DNLC had confirmed their agreement to act as trustees and informed the secretary of NEDCU of their requirements.

On 16th July 2002, the FSA confirmed that NEDCU had been effectively deregistered from 1st July 2002 which meant that legally this Credit Union no longer existed and that the FSA were satisfied with the arrangements now in place for dealing with the Credit Union?s assets and liabilities.

The Committee noted the current position.

v REVISION OF LIBRARY OPENING HOURS IN NEIGHBOURHOOD LIBRARIES

There was submitted Report No 616-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development seeking approval to amend library opening hours in neighbourhood libraries.

The Committee approved the changes to library opening hours as outlined in the report.

vi CONFERENCE - 19TH AND 20TH NOVEMBER 2002: CARDIFF

There was submitted Agenda Note AN167-2002 reporting that the Convener, Councillor Helen Wright, had been invited to attend the 21st General Council of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award which was to be held on 19th and 20th November 2002. The conference to be held on Tuesday, 19th November at the Millennium Stadium and Wednesday, 20th November at St David's Hall, Cardiff.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award General Council charged no conference fee and the Convener's travel and subsistence would be paid for in the normal approved manner.

The Committee approved Councillor Wright's attendance.

VII ADULT EDUCATION FUND (GRANTS TO INDIVIDUALS)

There was submitted Report No 617-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development seeking approval to extend the eligibility criteria of the Adult Education Fund to include those undertaking study within adult literacy programmes.

The Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(a) to acknowledge the benefit of the small individual grants to adults with disadvantage undertaking part-time vocational courses of study when funds are unavailable from other sources; and

(b) to approve the extension of eligibility criteria to include non-accredited, vocationally relevant courses of study for adults with literacy, numeracy, English for speakers of other languages and/or lip reading needs.

VIII ADULT EDUCATION FUND II 2002/2003

There was submitted Report No 618-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development making a recommendation for a grant award from the Adult Education Fund. The grant would be met from the Department's Revenue Budget 2002/2003.

The Committee approved payment of the recommended grant of 750 to the Broughty Education and Recreation Association.

IX SUPPLY OF TWO 15 SEAT COMMUNITY TRANSPORT MINIBUSES

There was submitted Report No 619-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development detailing tenders received for the supply of two 15 seat community transport minibuses and requesting a decision on acceptance thereof.

The Committee approved acceptance of the tender submitted by A M Phillip, Muiryfaulds, Forfar in the amount of 38,000 excluding VAT.

X NON-RECURRING REVENUE GRANTS FUND III 2002/2003

There was submitted Report No 620-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development making a recommendation for grant award from the Non-Recurring Revenue Grants Fund. The grant award would be met from the Department's Revenue Budget 2002/2003.

The Committee approved payment of the recommended grant of 200 to the Girls' Brigade Dundee Division.

XI NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS FUND II 2002/2003

There was submitted Report No 621-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development making recommendations for grant awards from the National Organisations Fund. The grant awards would be met from the Department's Revenue Budget 2002/2003.

The Committee approved payment of the recommended grants as follows:-

Councillor Glen declared an interest in this item and took no part in the discussion.

HELEN WRIGHT, Convener.