Agenda item

To provide an update on the available community spaces in the borough that can be used by voluntary and third sector organisations.

The Chair introduced the Spaces for Community Use item and in doing so reminded members that Councillor Mili Patel, Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources & Reform and Tanveer Ghani, Director of Property and Assets had unfortunately had to send their apologies. The Chair proceeded to extend the Committee’s thanks to Councillor M Butt, Leader of the Council, Denish Patel, Head of Property and Minesh Patel, Corporate Director of Finance and Resources who had subsequently attended in order to respond to any Committee queries on the report.

Councillor M Butt introduced the report that responded to a previous Committee request to receive a paper on the available community spaces in the borough that could be used by voluntary organisations, such as charities, arts and cultural groups (“third sector” groups) to carry out their work and to include the help offered by the Council to support these types of groups in finding appropriate spaces to let.

In introducing the report the following key points were highlighted:

·                 The Council’s active and positive relationship with third sector organisations and recognition of the valuable support that they provided to residents.

·                 In recognition of the social value that third sector groups contributed to the community, the Council were committed to supporting their work where possible, by providing council owned assets to community groups at low rent levels to support groups to deliver their services to residents.

·                  50% of the Council’s overall commercial property portfolio were let to third sector organisations that delivered public value.

·                 Despite the low rental levels set for these lettings, arrears for Community Groups were of the highest amount against other letting types as had been detailed within section 3.3 of the report.

·                 Officers advised that the commercial property portfolio was a key resource for the Council to collectively provide economic return and social value. In respect of this, it was key to strike the right balance between providing social value alongside key services for residents and the Council receiving economic return to sufficiently cover the operating costs and maintenance.

·                 The Committee noted the impact which the Cost of Living crisis coupled with ongoing cuts to local government funding had placed on the Council meaning it was imperative that the use of Council owned assets were maximised. It remained a high priority to support third sector groups, in line with the Borough Plan, however this could not be at a detriment to the Council’s financial position.

·                 The Committee were advised that moving forward a revised Property Strategy would be produced to re-define some of the existing policies to ensure that support could be given to third sector groups as well as the Council meeting their legal duty under section123 of the Local Government Act (LGA) to achieve best price on their lettings.

·                 Through the process of generating a revised Property Strategy the importance of third sector groups being able to demonstrate their social value, community impact and alignment with the Borough Plan would be a key factor in the Council’s consideration as to whether a reduced rent could be offered. It was felt that by streamlining the Property Strategy the Council could provide more effective management of the Council’s property estate and deliver both economic and public outcomes in line with the Borough Plan.

Councillor Conneely thanked Councillor M Butt for introducing the report and asked Committee members if they had any questions or points of clarification in relation to the report.

The following key issues were raised:

·                 The Committee recognised the challenging position that the Council was in, in terms of seeking a balance between the needs of third sector groups, the social value for the community and the need for the Council to generate revenue to support the maintenance of a sustainable commercial property portfolio. In recognising the challenges, the Committee agreed that it was justified to revise the Property Strategy and provide an appropriate level of challenge to third sector groups who would benefit from reduced letting rates in order to sustainably deliver their work.

·                 In response to a Committee question in relation to how the Council could achieve the best outcome for residents in light of the challenges discussed, the Committee were assured that the financial hardship being experienced by many community and voluntary groups had been recognised and it remained a priority to support these groups where possible. Alongside this there would however, be a requirement as part of the revised Property Strategy to dive deeper into the benefit and reach of community groups who were paying a reduced rent in Brent to assess how the benefits to the community balanced against the reduced rental income to the Council.

·                 The Committee noted the difficulties in some groups being able to demonstrate their reach across the community. Officers advised that the Property and Assets team planned to work closely with Lorna Hughes, Director of Communities and her team to explore how outcomes could be measured in the community to support third party groups in demonstrating their reach and impact.

·                 In response to a Committee concern raised that third sector groups would be disadvantaged by the revised Property Strategy and potentially priced out of being able to operate their services in Brent, the Committee were reassured that the Council wanted to continue to support the valuable work of third sector groups in Brent, as demonstrated by 50% of Council assets being let to third sector groups. It was however crucial to recognise that a more streamlined approach was necessary moving forward to ensure the Council delivered the services residents needed by supporting the groups that could offer the highest social value to the Community aligned with priorities identified in the Borough Plan as well as ensuring that the Council’s assets supported economic sustainability. The Committee noted that historically the Council had provided very long leases to groups, however there were cases where particular groups had changed the way they delivered services and they consequently no longer aligned with Brent priorities, which the revised policy had also been designed to address.

·                 The Committee were advised that enhancing the formal process around lettings to third party groups would lead to clearer guidance for groups in relation to expectations of how their service could run in Brent. The Committee were advised that the London Community Kitchen provided a good example of a third sector group that had recently worked successfully with the Council under a formal structure providing a broad reach using the Civic Centre kitchen and food preparation area to cook and deliver meals to Brent and Harrow communities who faced food poverty.

·                 In response to a further query in relation to the support offered to third sector groups with particular regard to lettings for smaller organisations who would not require a whole unit and may benefit from being linked up with other small groups to optimise their letting opportunities, the Committee were advised that where possible the Council would support groups to accommodate this and signpost accordingly. An example of a positive outcome in relation smaller groups was shared with the Committee as it was noted that the former Picture Palace in Harlesden had been recently acquired by the Council as part of the Town Centre regeneration programme. The purchase coincided with the development of the Black Community Action Plan and as such resulted in the decision being taken to dedicate the building for delivering a new community centre that would be run by a consortium of local charitable organisations. The Committee noted the scheme as a good example of the Property Strategy working in alignment with the Borough Plan to provide residents with a valuable community asset.

·                 The Committee requested further information as to how potential and existing third sector groups would be supported to secure tenancies as it was felt that some groups were not aware of the funding streams available to them. The Committee were advised that the Council remained focused on supporting the community and voluntary sector to flourish in Brent and as such signposting to grant programmes and alternative funding streams was a conversation that would continue to take place and be built upon to support particularly smaller groups in accessing funding opportunities that would help them to secure a tenancy and deliver their objectives to the community. The provision of business rates discounts and security of tenure were also highlighted as additional support measures that could be offered, where relevant.

In relation to a Committee query regarding the recovery plan for the rent arrears accrued by third sector groups the Committee were advised that where necessary the Council was actively engaged in supporting those tenants to put a recovery plan in place. It was noted that many of the tenants who had fallen behind in rent during Covid 19 had requested that their debt incurred for that period of time was written off as opposed to working with the Council to agree a recovery plan. Officers advised that they aimed to recover as much debt as possible, however due to the unique situation of Covid 19 it was likely that a proportion of the Covid 19 related debt would need to be written off.

·                 In response to a Committee query in relation to the provision of community space in new developments, the Committee were advised that at early planning stages officers liaised with developers to advise that consideration should be given where appropriate for new developments to include community spaces with appropriate nomination rights.

·                 The Committee raised concern that some community spaces designated for tenant and resident associations were not being utilised due to access issues, additionally the Committee queried what the Council were doing to engage tenants in using their community spaces. Officers agreed that it was a priority moving forward to ensure that tenant and resident associations were aware of the spaces they were able to use and that they were accessible.

• The Committee recognised that the Council still needs to show value for money when letting out spaces, and in turn this would mean that there needed to be a transparent process for deciding which CVS groups any lets were made to.

·                 The Committee required clarification on how it was communicated to the public and community and voluntary sector groups when leases became available. Officers advised that when a lease expired the asset would not automatically come back to the Council as the tenants had the right to renew their lease at market rent, however available leases were advertised when available.  In future, at the Committee’s request, it was agreed that this information could be shared with Ward Councillors so that they could ensure that local community groups who may have an interest in leasing the space were made aware.

At this stage in proceedings, the Committee agreed to apply the guillotine procedure under Standing Order 62(c) in order to extend the meeting for a period of 15 minutes and enable the remaining business on the agenda to be completed.

In summarising the discussion, the Chair thanked all those present for contributing to the review and discussion on Community Spaces, with the Committee supporting the approach outlined and recognising that it was now an appropriate time to revise the Property Strategy to ensure the best outcomes were achieved for both residents and the Council in maintaining their assets.

As no further issues were raised the Chair then drew the item to a close and the Committee RESOLVED to note the contents of the report.

The Committee noted the following suggestions for improvement:

Recommendations

(i)              The revised draft Property Strategy (inclusive of the section that explicitly deals with community use) and the Asset Review findings report to be reviewed by the Committee at a future meeting.

(ii)             The Committee felt that priorities for the revised policy should include increased opportunities for partnership work with CVS groups and priority given to groups that promoted social value in line with Brent’s strategic priorities and its legacy as a Borough of Culture.

(iii)           The inclusion of community spaces to be consistently encouraged and raised with developers making planning applications.

(iv)           Local Ward Councillors to be informed when community properties became available to let with a clear process outlined regarding the criteria and assessment for eligibility