In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting. Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Friday 21st March.
Minutes:
(1) From Councillor Katherine Bance MBE (for written reply)
Are there any circumstances when a school operating in Bromley, whether LEA, Academy or Free, would have its deeds held by the DfE?
Reply:
The Council holds the deeds of all community schools and, where it owns the playing fields of church schools, it holds those deeds too.
In the case of academies, if the school was not foundation before its conversion the Council continues to hold the freehold deeds and in each case the lease is handed over to the academy’s solicitors to register on completion. If a school was already foundation then, on conversion, it will hold its own freehold deeds. So far the Council has not completed the grant of a lease of any free schools but where the Council was a landlord of a free school the same procedure would happen as with academies.
The Council has no information as to the arrangements academies and free schools have for keeping their deeds nor of any specific requirements that may be imposed by the Secretary of State.
(2) From Glenn Paten, Christ Central Church, Penge (for oral reply – question asked by Peter Heath of Christ Central Church)
At the time of the murder in 2013 the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Safety made a commitment to improve community safety for local people. Local youth and family services are surely a 'Big Society' solution to changing the face of our immediate community. This is a unique opportunity to build a better Penge.
Even at this late stage, will the Committee recognise the community need in Penge for the services Christ Central Church is providing at Snowdown Close and accept our lower offer for the former CAB building in the best interests of community cohesion, community safety and the well being of disadvantaged young people?
At the Chairman’s invitation, Mr Heath explained that the Church had been operating at Snowdown Close since August 2013, with a variety of activities for the community including education, youth work, dance classes and debt advice. Recognising the need in the community, the Church was keen to scale up its activities at Snowdown Close.
Reply:
The Portfolio Holder thanked Mr Heath for his question and the documentation supplied by the Church, and commented that the Council recognised the good work that Christ Central Church was doing for the community at Snowdown Close. The Council had looked at a variety of options for the property; in July 2013 proposals to dispose of it had been delayed to give community groups an opportunity to submit alternative proposals. He stated that he would consider all the representations that had been received, including the petition, the views of the ward members and of the Committee before making a decision.
The Chairman invited questions from other Members. Responding to questions from Councillor Getgood, who was a ward member, Mr Heath explained that the Church was engaging with up to 100 children with ages ranging from 5 to 19 and around 50 families from the estate. Positive activities were arranged to encourage the community, including sessions on debt advice, relationship counselling, street dance and sound production. An after-school homework club was proving particularly useful for parents whose first language was not English. All activities were provided by Church volunteers and the Church had spent about £2,000. The Church had started its work with a Soccer School about a week after the murder in the area – there had been some scepticism initially, but they had been welcomed by the Police and local Residents Associations. The building was being well-used, and the Church wanted to carry out further improvements. Mr Heath estimated that the Church had been carrying out about half of these activities before from its own premises in Green Lane. He was not personally aware of the Council’s legal position regarding the building, but he thought that Glen Paten was more aware of this.
The Chairman thanked Mr. Heath for his attendance and contributions.