Agenda item

Consideration was given to the report of the Service Manager Policy & Partnerships.

The Service Manager Policy and Partnerships advised that the report provided an update on progress achieved towards a Blaenau Gwent Participatory Budget programme overseen by the Public Services Board.  In relation to the Participatory Budget £100,000 had been identified to take this process forward in 2021/22, and he informed Members that further funding could be available during this financial year.

In response to a Member’s question regarding the use of consultants, the Service Manager said that additional funding had been requested from partner organisations to reduce the amount of money spent on a consultancy approach.  Discussions had been held with the Participatory Budget (PB) Steering Group on the most suitable approach to take forward and they had recommended that the services of a consultant who specialised in delivering virtual Participatory Budget programmes be employed to oversee delivery of the programme.  This would ensure that the Participatory Budget was effectively operated with appropriate advice and guidance and the community provided with the best opportunity to take forward grant arrangements.  The Member felt it would be more appropriate to refer to consultants as specialist contractors in relation to the Participatory Budget programme.

A Member raised concerns regarding future increases to specialist contractor’s fees and also stressed the need for a wide range of people from the community to participate on the PB Steering Group to ensure greater coverage of skills and suggested the Council’s Citizen’s Panel could be invited to participate as part of this programme.  The Service Manager reassured Members that a capped fee arrangement had been put in place regarding the specialist contractor’s fees to ensure value for money.  In relation to the community involvement in setting out the Steering arrangements, he again reassured Members that the intention was to ensure that all communities were actively involved to represent the public and to ensure that it is an effective process.  He felt that with the involvement of the specialist contractor, they would have the experience to reach the right people and advise on what had worked well in other areas.  He would take the Members comments on board as part of the Steering process.

A Member enquired regarding the actual cost of the specialist contractor and other partner’s contribution towards that cost.  The Service Manager said from the £100,000, 10% could be deemed for administrative fees.  Feedback from a specific specialist contractor was that the fee could potentially be £14,000 to £18,000, depending on the number of events held.  This had been reported back to the Public Services Board to identify additional funding beyond this grant to support that process, and a number of Public Services Board partners had identified additional funding to support their arrangement, although there was no specific figure at this stage.  From a scrutiny perspective there would be clarity on the actual spend and this would be monitored by the Public Services Board Scrutiny Committee and reported to the Public Services Board in accordance with monitoring arrangements outlined in the report.

He advised that the Steering Group would set the arrangements around what could be bid for and felt this was a good opportunity for elected Members to get messages out to community groups and organisations to take part in this opportunity.   He added that as this was a community based project all elected Members would be kept up to date on progress and key information on how to be actively involved.  He felt the use of a specialist contractor was a real opportunity to ensure this was a success in Blaenau Gwent.

A Member commented that the use of a specialist contractor in this instance was money well spent as a number of community groups and organisations would be looking to apply for money and the process needed to be open and transparent.  The Service Manager pointed out that the specialist contractor was a very successful company in ensuring that the participatory budgeting processes across the UK were implemented effectively and provided the maximum benefits in the community.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 1; namely that the Public Services Board Scrutiny Committee accept the report as provided prior to it being submitted to the Public Services Board.