Agenda item

Consider report by Service Director Customer & Community Services.  (Copy attached.)

With reference to paragraph 11 of the Minute of 9 February 2017, regarding the Council’s decision to allocate £500k in 2017/18 for the purpose of participatory budgeting, there had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Customer & Communities proposing a model and budget allocation for the Scottish Borders Council Localities Bid Fund.  Mrs Jenni Craig, Service Director Customer and Communities, was in attendance to present the report. The initial allocation of funding to promote community participatory budgeting through a Localities Bid Fund was part of a wider response to the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.  A number of models, learning and best practice had been considered by the Communities and Partnership Team.  This had included the recent participatory budgeting (PB) project undertaken by Burnfoot Community Futures (BCF) who had decided to adopt a Community PB model which had since been recognised as best practice by Scottish Government – see link to summary video of the project.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ple5NzPJPu0&feature=youtu.be. The proposed Localities Bid Fund model was based on this and was detailed in Appendix 1 to the report. 

8.2       The agreement by Council on 9 February 2017 was to split the Localities Bid Fund across the 5 Locality Committees with the proposed budget allocation being by head of population.  In order to reopen discussion on the way the Fund would be allocated it was moved by Councillor Paterson, seconded by Councillor Marshall, and unanimously agreed that Standing Orders be suspended to allow reconsideration of the allocation.  Councillor Aitchison, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and Locality Services, spoke in favour of the report and, seconded by Councillor Haslam, moved in support of the recommendations subject to the following changes to the model presented:-

(a)          That in the table within Appendix 1,

(i)            at ‘Who decides’ the wording be replaced with:-

·                     The Locality Committees, supported by SBC officers – assess and screen the initial bids to ensure appropriateness and a fit with agreed local priorities;

·                     The agreed projects go forward to a community vote

(ii)        replace ‘who can submit a bid’ with ‘who can submit a bid and/or vote’

(b)          That an additional recommendation be added as follows:-

‘that following consultation with the Locality Committee Chairs, a further report be brought to Council in September 2017 recommending a process for determining funding applications and voting processes.’

Councillor McAteer, seconded by Councillor Marshall, moved as an amendment that recommendation 2.1(a) of the report be amended to read as follows:- ‘ that funding allocation of the Localities Bid Fund be an average of the per head of population, with a Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) weighting as detailed in paragraph 6.4 of the report’.

VOTE

On a show of hands Members voted as follows:-

Councillor Aitchison’s Motion -           26 votes

Councillor McAteer’s Amendment -     7 votes

The Motion was accordingly carried.

DECISION

DECIDED:-

(a)          that the funding allocation of the Localities Bid Fund be by per head of population as detailed at 6.4 of the report;

(b)          to approve the proposed model as detailed in Appendix 1, subject to the amendments in paragraph 8.2(a) above; and

(c)        that, following consultation with the Locality Committee Chairs, a further report be brought to Council in September 2017 recommending a process for determining funding applications and voting processes.