Scottish Borders Council

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Via MS Teams

Contact: Jenny Wilkinson, Clerk to the Council  Tel: 01835 825004 Email:  jjwilkinson@scotborders.gov.uk

Link: link to live meeting

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Introductions

Minutes:

The Chairman, Councillor Tatler, welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained that as there had been a change of Portfolio holders in the Council since the last meeting, he had now replaced Councillor Aitchison as Chair of the Working Group, being the Portfolio holder for Community Development and Localities. 

2.

Minute pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Consider Minute of Meeting held on 19 September 2019 and confirm Terms of Reference.  (Minute and Terms of Reference attached)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Copies of the Minute of the last meeting of the Working Group, held on 19 September 2019, had been circulated.  The work of the Group had been delayed due to the Covid pandemic.  Councillor Robson asked for clarification of the membership of the Working Group, referring to a request from the Scottish Borders Community Council Network (SBCCN) to have a representative join the Working Group, and asking whether this request would need to be considered by full Council.  The Chairman confirmed his understanding was that the report to Council in March 2019 had agreed to the establishment of the Working Group and its membership.  The Community Councils in each Area Partnership locality had been asked to agree a representative and a substitute representative for the Working Group.  The Clerk to the Council confirmed that any change in membership would need to be referred back to Council as a recommendation by the Working Group.  The papers for the Working Group were circulated to every Community Council, including the SBCCN, and the meetings were livestreamed to allow anyone to make comment.  The Community Council representatives would feed back to the Community Councils in their particular area.  Comm. Councillor Kerr confirmed that he was a member of the core group of the SBCCN.  No member of the Working Group proposed any change to membership. 

 

DECISION

AGREED to approve the Minute of 19 September 2019, including confirming the Terms of Reference for the Working Group. 

3.

Scottish Borders Community Council Scheme 2014 pdf icon PDF 153 KB

Consider current Scheme and methodology of review.

 

Papers attached:

(a)     Scottish Borders Community Council Scheme 2014;

(b)     Scottish Government Model Scheme for Community Councils and Annex;

(c)     Scottish Government Model Constitution; and

(d)     Scottish Government Model Standing Orders.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

3.1       With reference to paragraph 4 of the Minute of 19 September 2019, copies of the current Scottish Borders Community Council Scheme of Establishment, along with the Scottish Government Model Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils, Model Constitution and Model Standing Orders.  The Clerk to the Council advised that there was no statutory timeline for the review of the Scheme but hoped that a new Scheme would be approved by Council by the end of 2021.  This would depend on the amount of work required, resources available and the deployment of staff to aid in Covid recovery.  In response to a question about the lack of a substitute representative for Community Councils in the Tweeddale area, it was explained that at the time the Working Group was set up only one nomination had been received from the Tweeddale Area.  Mr Peter Maudsley had volunteered to be the substitute member, and the Chairman confirmed that a substitute representative from Tweeddale could be included in the Working Group with the agreement of all Tweeddale Community Councils.  With regard to how the Community Council representatives communicated with the Community Councils in their area, this was a matter for each area.  Some areas already had a network set up of Community Council Chairs/representatives where information could be cascaded.  The Clerk then referred to other local authorities Schemes for Community Councils and how best these may be reviewed by the members of the Group.

 

DECISION

AGREED:

(a)     the Clerk to the Council would send the contact details of Mr Taylor to the Tweeddale Community Councils so they could liaise with him on any matters for consideration by the Working Group;

 

(b)     the Clerk to the Council would put each of the other local authority Community Council Schemes onto Modern.gov and provide members of the Group with the link to these; and

 

(c)     members of the Working Group would look at the other Schemes – in particular those from rural areas - to see what should be considered for inclusion in the new Scottish Borders Scheme. 

 

3.2       Members of the Group then gave a first look at the Scottish Borders Community Council Scheme:

 

(a)     Purpose

In response to a question about whether other local authority Schemes mentioned the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, the Clerk to the Council advised that from memory, some Schemes did but not all. 

 

DECISION

AGREED that when reviewing other local authority Community Council Schemes, members of the Group would check on any mention of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

 

(b)     Procedure for Establishment

Cllr Tatler referred to the number of electors in Community Council areas and the Clerk to the Council advised that some other areas had formulae for calculating numbers that members of the Group may wish to consider.  Some flexibility for numbers would be needed to take account of the rural diversity of the Borders.  In response to a question about the inclusion of Bowden Village Committee within the Scheme, the Clerk to the Council advised that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Dates of Future Meetings

Consider dates and timeline for future meetings.

Minutes:

The Group considered potential dates and timing of future meetings, agreeing that at least 6 weeks should be allowed to give the Community Council representatives time to speak with the other Community Councils in their area. 

 

DECISION

AGREED that the next meetings of the Group would be at 6:00 p.m. via MS Teams on Thursday 18 March and Thursday 27 May 2021.

5.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

No other items of business were raised.  Cllr Tatler thanked everyone for their contributions and the meeting drew to a close.

 

CONTACT US

Scottish Borders Council

Council Headquarters Newtown St. Boswells Melrose TD6 0SA

Tel: 0300 100 1800

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