Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Items
No. Item

68.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest received in matters under consideration.

 

69.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2022 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

 

(Jane Lythgow - 01274 432270)

 

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2022 be signed as a correct record.

 

70.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

 

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

 

(Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict
documents.

 

71.

REFERRALS TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

No referrals were made at the time of the publication of the agenda.

 

Minutes:

There were no referrals were made to the Committee.

 

72.

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE PREVENT STRATEGY IN THE BRADFORD (Previous Reference Minute 19 2020/21) pdf icon PDF 276 KB

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “AF”) outlines the approach to delivering the national Prevent strategy in the Bradford district and highlights progress made in the last twelve months against the District Prevent Action Plan.

 

At the meeting on 18th March 2021, the Committee requested more detailed outcomes against projects being delivered as part of the Prevent Strategy for the District and the attached Appendix 1 addresses that request.

 

Recommended –

 

That the progress on work undertaken in implementing the Prevent agenda in Bradford and its approach to supporting vulnerable people be acknowledged. 

(Ian Day – 01274 433507)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “AF”) outlined the approach to delivering the national Prevent strategy in the Bradford district and highlighted progress made in the last twelve months against the District Prevent Action Plan.

 

At the meeting on 18th March 2021, the Committee requested more detailed outcomes against projects being delivered as part of the Prevent Strategy for the District and the attached Appendix 1 addresses that request.

 

It was explained that as the Covid pandemic continues, it is still having a considerable impact on the risk from extremists and radicalisation. These groups continue to utilise the online space to spread hate, conspiracy theories and mistrust between communities. Far right groups particularly, have continued to use conspiracy theories about COVID-19 as a recruiting tool to attract younger supporters into their realms during 2021.

 

Self-initiated terrorism continues to be a risk, due to the low sophistication of

the methods used and the ease at which things can be planned. The

continued isolation and suspicion amongst some individuals, makes the

potential for such attacks high. This is not linked to any particular ideology and

very much taps into suspicion over the pandemic, narratives associated with

free speech, conspiracy theories and those with mixed, unclear and unstable

ideologies.

 

The Independent Review of the national Prevent programme is due to be published. Bradford Prevent has fully participated and welcomes hearing the results.

 

The specific programmes delivered in the district were alluded to and they were detailed in the report.

 

During the discussion the Chair stated that at a local level, the Prevent

Programme had delivered some tangible outcomes, with good input and

engagement from the community, elected Members and Council officers.

However he expressed concern that at a national, the delays in the publication of the long awaited independent review on the Prevent Programme was causing resentment around the Programme and impacting on delivery at a local level.

 

Officers acknowledged that delays to the outcomes of the national review were a concern, however the pandemic had played a part in this delay.  However they were happy to express the Committee’s concerns to the Home Office around the delays and the need to urgently publish the findings.

 

A Member stated that the report did not contain tangible outcomes that were measurable against the objectives of the Programme, or what social value it had achieved.  In response it was stated that ultimately the aim was to ensure that individuals referred to the Programme were de-radicalised, however this was difficult to measure in an exact manner.  However changing of perceptions had been recorded, and therefore the benefits from the Programme could be seen.

 

A Member in welcoming the benefits of the Programme in a Bradford context, expressed concerns at recent events in the Ukraine and ensuring that individuals were not tempted to travel to the region to fight.  In response it was stated that as a Council the message was to try and help and provide support locally to refugees  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

73.

VOLUNTEERING INITIATIVES ACROSS THE BRADFORD DISTRICT- PROGRESS REPORT pdf icon PDF 166 KB

The Strategic Director, Place, will present a report (Document “AG”) which provides an update on the work of volunteering initiatives supported by the Council and external partners.

 

Recommended –

 

1.    That the initiatives and volunteering that support services to local communities be acknowledged.

 

2.    That the Strategic Director, Place, be requested to provide an update on the impact of the VCSE Service Improvement Programme and the Volunteer Coordinator to support volunteering across the district in 12 months-time.

 

(Ian Day – 01274 437399)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Strategic Director, Place, presented a report (Document “AG”) which provided an update on the work of volunteering initiatives supported by the Council and external partners.

 

It was explained that Bradford District has a strong and vibrant civil society sector with an estimated 5,000 plus voluntary and community groups, 30,000 regular volunteers and 100,000 occasional volunteers committed to making Bradford District a better place to live.  Our projects are connecting more and more people to volunteering opportunities in which they can make a difference. We also support community organisations offering volunteering opportunities to provide valuable local services in challenging financial times.

 

Volunteering also provided a platform for communities to engage in neighbourhood activities through events and enabling them to self-identify the key issues that they want our support with. This collective working of people in common causes brings down barriers to integration and cohesion in neighbourhoods, helps to strengthen our communications generally and improve environments where they live.

 

Members welcomed the volunteering activities undertaken in the district and welcomed that the better coordination of activities, would encourage more volunteering, however it was acknowledged that many volunteering activities remained anonymous.

 

In response it was stated that Citizen Coin would be a useful tool in accruing benefits for volunteers, as well as encourage more people to volunteer.

 

Resolved –

 

1.    The Committee acknowledges the initiatives and volunteering that supports services to local communities.

 

2.    This Committee requests that a further report be presented in 12 months, which focuses on an update on the impact of the VCSE Service Improvement Programme and the Volunteer Co-ordinator to support volunteering across the District.

 

ACTION:  Strategic Director, Place