Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Bora Kwon provided apologies for lateness.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th December 2024

Matters arising:

Wormwood Scrubs Meadow – Local Nature Reserve

Osama El-Amin (Trust Manager) noted that before beginning the consultation process with Natural England for the Local Nature Reserve (LNR), a few outstanding issues needed to be addressed. Firstly, influencing behaviour change of professional dog walking companies within the meadow area.

Secondly, officers were working with the grounds maintenance contractor to create a forward work plan for addressing performance issues across the site. Part of those issues relate to managing vegetation across the site, which would need to be rectified before we proceed with the LNR designation.

Faye Thomas (Co-opted Member) enquired about the timeline for proceeding with the consultation. Osama El-Amin noted that the LNR consultation is likely to take place in autumn 2024.

The Chair conveyed her support for this initiative and emphasised the importance of fostering positive behaviour change among dog walkers before this area could operate as a nature reserve. However, she acknowledged that implementing such changes might take some time and the capacity of the grounds maintenance contractor to improve their performance is imperative to the success of establishing this LNR.

Trust bank account

Nick Falcone provided an update, noting that a letter, signed by the Chair of this Committee was submitted to NatWest a month ago. A formal complaint was lodged with NatWest on 5^th March 2024 due to the extended delay in opening the Trust bank account. NatWest had acknowledged the complaint, and a response would be provided in 4 working days. Nick Falcone to monitor this response and feed back to the Trust Manager and Chair.

Action:Nicholas Falcone / Osama El-Amin

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th December 2023 were agreed as an accurate record.

Trust Finances Q.4 2023/24 performance and FY 2024/25 Budget

Carmen Lomotey (Advisor to the Trust) provided an overview and noted the  budget for 2023/24 was agreed with an anticipated net income outturn of £329,465. The current forecast at Q4 was a net income outturn of £564,843; a favourable movement from Q3 of net £235,378 compared to budget.

The Chair asked for further clarification to be provided on the impact on the actor strike on the income and expenditure. Carmen Lomotey explained the impact this had on the forecasted figure for filming and events noting that this had reduced by £5k.

The Committee noted the update.

Financial Year 2024/25 Budget

Carmen Lomotey summarised the proposed budget for 2024/25 along with details of movements and assumptions. She noted that the proposal for a 2024/25 net expenditure budget of £69,228. Although, income was budgeted at £88,507 higher than the current 2023/24 budget, expenditure was significantly higher, by £487,200, mainly due to the proposed investments.

Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted Member) asked if an analysis had been conducted on utilising the grounds maintenance depot on the Scrubs and its use by the other contract LOT’s within the Council, along with the costs associated with this. In response the Chair noted that this was work in progress, and a further update would be provided at a future meeting once the Linford Christie capital programme is underway.

The Committee approved the 2024/25 budget.

Trust’s Reserve Policy and Objective FY 2023/24

Nick Falcone noted as recommended by the Trust’s auditors (MHA) during the 2022-23 audit of the financial statements, the Trust Manager was now proposing a new reserves policy for the Trust which included a target range for the level of ‘free’ reserves. These reserves would help the charity in covering 6-12 months of core operating expenditure if the Trust were to restructure its operations and seek to reduce costs and / or increase income due to a loss of commercial income. The policy would be reviewed annually as part of the Trustee’s annual report. The Committee was asked to approve this reserve’s policy.

The Committee approved the Trust’s Financial Reserves policy.

Outdoor Learning Initiative – Wormwood Scrubs

Osama El-Amin noted that he was working with local parents to develop an outdoor learning offer on the Scrubs. The Committee was asked to approve a £10,000 budget to run a pilot outdoor learning programme in summer/autumn 2024. A 6–8-week programme delivered via local providers in collaboration with local primary schools would aim to see how this programme could be incorporated into the learning objectives of existing educational frameworks.

Once the pilot was completed, evaluation data would be gathered and used to inform a procurement process to license this activity to a community partner.

Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted Member) asked for further clarification to be provided around the location of this initiative. Osama El-Amin noted that the designated location for the proposed Forest School was around the back of Old Oak Community Centre.

Faye Thomas (Co-opted Member) asked if this area would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The next meeting is due to take place on 19^th June 2024.

The Committee noted the date of the next meeting scheduled to be held on 19^th June 2024.