Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

To receive the notes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 13 June 2024

The notes of the meeting held on Wednesday 13 June were received.

To receive any declarations of interest from members of the Task and Finish Group

There were no declarations of interest.

·       To receive an update from the Head of Property and Facilities and review details of further community leases

·       To discuss definitions of Social Value

·       To draft a framework document to assist officers in assessing social value when considering community leases

·       To discuss any further actions required and consider the drafting of a final report

Members were referred to the interim report of the Task and Finish Group and confirmed that they agreed with the contents. The outstanding actions, and next steps, were noted.  The Chairman confirmed that a meeting would take place with the Director of Resources on 2 October and that references to the review of the Constitution, in 6.1 of the interim report, would be taken forward.

The Committees Officer provided an overview of the definitions of social value being used by Councils in other parts of the country.  Whilst there was an obligation for social value to be considered in procurement processes, under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2013, many areas were considering social value definitions in the provision of other Council services. 

Newham Council had used their definition of social value to develop a process for providing discounts to relevant organisations hiring their community centres.  A document, setting out this policy, had been circulated prior to the meeting and was discussed by the group.

It was agreed that a definition of social value would be outlined by the Chairman and circulated to Members for consideration. A draft framework document would then be prepared, based on the agreed definition, with a similar scoring system to that in the Newham document.  It was suggested that this framework be applied to one or two community leases to see how this might work in principle. A threshold limit was also recommended, with the suggestion that any decisions above that limit should go to Cabinet or Council for consideration.

Members discussed methods for defining social value and whether these would assist in linking any framework document to the existing plans and priorities of Horsham District Council. 

The Head of Property and Facilities shared a spreadsheet containing details of community leases and the contents were discussed.  This would be circulated to members at the end of the meeting.

It was felt that the work of the Task and Finish Group had been positive, and officers were thanked for their assistance.  It was likely that a further meeting would be required to finalise matters and consider the drafting of the final report.