Agenda item

Benn Cain, Member Services Officer, introduced item two.  Benn reminded members that this was a standing item that was presented at the beginning of every annual Board cycle.  The report presented asked members to agree the Board’s terms of reference, formally note the membership of the Board for 2019/20, agree to the Board’s outside body appointments, note the meeting dates of the Board and review and appoint member champions. 

Following this update, members’ discussion focused primarily around the possibility of appointing a member Champion for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities as this is a long standing issue for councils, as well as the links with other community safety issues such as anti-social behaviour. There was cross-party agreement in principle to making such an appointment, subject to consideration being given to the appointment by Lead Members and a further report to the next Board meeting, to bring other members up-to-speed with the work the LGA had been doing on GRT issues.  Members agreed that any work-stream of this type needs to not only focus on issues arising from unauthorised encampments, but also issues that GRT communities are facing – particularly for GRT women, education and health access. 

The Chair concluded the discussion by mentioning the engagement the LGA had had with the All Party Parliamentary Group, and the Select Committee inquiry which had requested a submission from the LGA. However, the LGA declined this as it was felt that the organisation did not have best practice evidence from councils to provide helpful input to the Inquiry.  The Chair agreed in principle to a member champion being appointed, subject to an update paper to be brought to the next Board meeting.  

Regarding the other Member Champions, the Chair requested that lead members meet after the Board meeting to appoint members to these roles. 

During the discussion the following action was noted:

-       A GRT update paper to be presented at the next Board meeting.  Following this, the Board will agree if a Member Champion needs to be appointed. 

Decisions

-       Members agreed to the Board’s Terms of Reference. 

-       Members noted the membership of the Board for 2019/20.

-       Members agreed to the Board’s Outside Bodies appointments:

o   National FGM Centre Advisory Board – Cllr Anita Lower to continue to Chair the Board, with Cllrs Jo Beavis and Farah Hussain to attend the meetings in order to enable some succession planning at the end of the 2019/20 cycle.

o   National Oversight Group on Domestic Abuse – Cllr Simon Blackburn.

o   Serious Violence Taskforce – Cllr Simon Blackburn.

o   Events Security Group – Cllr Dave Stewart with Cllr Kate Haigh as a substitute.

-       Members noted the dates of the future Board meetings for 2019/20.

-       Members reviewed and agreed to the Board Member Champions role descriptions.

-       Lead members agreed to the following:

o   Abuse, exploitation and modern slavery – Cllr Alan Rhodes.

o   ASB – Cllr Bridget Smith.

o   Bereavement Services – Cllr John Pennington.

o   Community Cohesion and Integration – Cllrs Farah Hussain and Mohan Iyengar.

o   Licensing and regulatory services – Cllrs Kate Haigh and Eric Allen.

o   Domestic Abuse – Cllrs Lois Samuel and Jim Beall.

o   Prevent and counter-extremism – Cllrs Blackburn, Dalton and Stewart.

o   Drowning Prevention – Cllr James Dawson.

o   Scambassador – Cllr Hannah Dalton.