Agenda and minutes

Members were informed that it was decided at Annual Council on Thursday 18 May 2023 that the Chairman of Charities and Trust Committee remain as Councillor Paul Snape.

Resolved – That the update be noted.

There were no Declarations of Interest on this occasion.

Members were informed that it was decided at Annual Council on Thursday 18 May 2023 that the Vice-Chairman of Charities and Trust Committee remain as Councillor David Smith.

Resolved – That the update be noted.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 15 November 2022 be approved and signed by the Chair as an accurate record.

The Committee received a report on the Stafford 14-19 Business Plan and were asked to review and approve the updated Stafford 14-19 Partnership Business Plan 2019-2024.

Members discussed the report, Councillor Snape made a query in relation to the Blessed William Howard Academy on whether they were still invested with the Stafford 14-19 partnership to which it was confirmed they were still actively engaging in the Partnership. Councillor Smith asked whether we still had the resources to maintain the support. The case officer confirmed that should requests remain at the level currently being requested there would likely be insufficient funds to support such requests in full after 2025. The Stafford 14-19 Partnership staff had been made aware of this and would be taking this into consideration in their future business planning. However,  sufficient resources were available for the request being made for 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Resolved – That (a) the Committee approve the updated Stafford 14-19 Partnership Business Plan 2019-2024(hereinafter called the Business Plan)

(b) That the Committee approve the funding request to the Staffordshire Education centre Charity as set out in the Business Plan for 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic years.

(c) That the Committee approve Staffordshire County Council’s Assistant Director for Skills and Employability to continue to be authorised to approve the release of funds set out in the details of the report.

The Committee received a report on the Tamworth Youth Centre Fund and were asked to review the contents of the report to approve the revised scheme wording as shown in appendix 1, note the updated valuation and to agree to the surrender of the lease of the land to Staffordshire County Council.

Members discussed the report and Councillor Snape asked the case officer to confirm that the valuation was the best value. This was confirmed by the Assistant Director for Commercial and Assets, other similar buildings haven’t had very much interest for existing use commercially except for redevelopment, it is a dated building that did not hold much re-use potential and therefore more suited to redevelopment. Councillor Hewitt asked for the officers to confirm if there had been any local objections. The Officer advised that the majority of the consultation responses were in agreement to this proposal.

Resolved – That (a) the Committee approve the revised scheme of wording as shown in Appendix 1;

(b) That the Committee note the updated valuation advice in accordance with Charity Commission disposal rules;

(c) That the Committee agrees to the surrender of the Lease of the land to Staffordshire County Council; and

(d) That the Committee delegate approval to the Assistant Director for Commercial and Assets to agree the final terms of the sale except for the price, the details of the lease surrender, and to agree the fund management arrangements.

The Chairman to move:-

Part two

(reports in this section are exempt)

Resolved - That the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business which involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972 indicated below.