The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ferguson, Oxley and Thompson with no substitutions appointed.

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Monday, 17 November 2025.

It was unanimously RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on Monday, 17 November 2025, be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Personal Interest, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Councillors in relation to any item on the agenda for this meeting.

Subject to providing two working days’ notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

No Questions on Notice pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38 had been submitted by Members for this meeting.

To provide an update on the Task and Finish work to date in respect of Joint Working with Town and Parish Councils and to recommend that the workstream be extended and refocussed in the context of forthcoming Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation.

The Chairman of the Committee reordered the agenda in the interests of the efficient conduct of the meeting, and therefore agenda item 9 was brought forward for consideration before agenda item 6.

Members were presented with a report of the Corporate Director (Planning and Community) which provided an update on the Task and Finish Group’s work to date in respect of joint working with Town and Parish Councils and which recommended that the workstream be extended and refocussed in the context of forthcoming Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation.

It was reported that the scope of that Task and Finish Group had originally been to look at opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration between Tendring District Council and Town and Parish Councils within the District. However, shortly after the Group had its inaugural meeting on 18 November 2024 (the only meeting that had been held to date), the English Devolution White Paper and announcements in respect of Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Greater Essex as well as major changes in national planning policy had been published.

The Committee was informed that those changes had resulted in significant attention from Members and Officers being diverted onto understanding the potential implications for Tendring and in resources being focussed on considering and providing input into the business case submissions in respect of LGR and engaging Town and Parish Councils in early discussions, particularly around the potential implications for growth in the Local Plan as well as future governance arrangements and stewardship of assets.

Members were further informed that whilst there had been agreed actions from the inaugural meeting on 18 November 2024 (as set out in the A.5 report and attached minutes), they had not been progressed as intended at the time for the reasons mentioned above; and so it had been recommended that the timeframe for the Task and Finish workstream be extended for a six month period to July 2026; that the inquiry be refocussed on positive joint working with Town and Parish Councils in the context of forthcoming Devolution and LGR; and that the Group reflects on some of the constructive and collaborative work that had taken place in the last year, including engagement on the Local Plan and exploring the implications and opportunities around assets.

It was unanimously RESOLVED that:

(a)   the Task and Finish Group looking into opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration between Tendring District Council and Town and Parish Councils within the District should work to an extended timeframe to July 2026 and refocus its inquiry in the context of forthcoming Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR);

(b)   the inquiry continues, where it left off, with the actions agreed at its inaugural meeting on 18 November 2025 albeit, again in the context of the changing landscape around Devolution and LGR;

(c)   in doing so, the Group reflects upon the engagement and collaboration that has taken place over the last year – including (but not limited to) in respect of communicating and discussing the potential implications of Devolution  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

The Stakeholder Engagement Lead will be attending the Committee as a representative of the Managing Director of Konectbus. Their presence will provide members of the Committee with the opportunity to make enquiries, seek clarification, and engage directly on matters relating to local transport and community and mainstream links.

The Chairman of the Committee noted for the public record, that Members had prepared questions prior to the meeting, upon which Officers had drafted responses. Those questions and responses were not read out individually but were referenced several times in supplementary questions. It was therefore agreed that those questions would be included in the minutes.

Members received a presentation from the Stakeholder Engagement Lead for Konectbus. The presentation provided an overview of operational improvements, including enhanced punctuality and reliability statistics. It also outlined the Tendring BSIP grants and associated additional services, developments within the commercial network, progress on Park and Ride and Demand Responsive Transport initiatives, and matters relating to socially necessary travel.

Members were invited to raise local transport concerns and discuss opportunities for collaborative work to strengthen transport links for residents. Discussions focused on residents’ priorities and potential measures to improve the provision and reliability of public transport services.

The report provides the Committee with an overview of grant funding opportunities available in the district, and update in respect of a future Council grant funding policy.

The Head of Health and Partnerships presented Members with the report of the Assistant Director (Sport, Culture and Health) which provided the Committee with an overview of grant funding opportunities available in the District, and an update in respect of a future Council grant funding policy.

It was reported that at its meeting held on 20 September 2024, the Cabinet had approved an external funding review which had examined the Council’s funding of external organisations and had provided for a protocol to follow for allocating funding.

As part of the recommendations an external funding policy had been required to be written and a policy had currently been in the process of being developed for adoption for use across the Council, which would be used in the management of future funds.

Members heard that the proposed draft External Funding Policy would be approved by the Leader of the Council, in his capacity as Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder and would also be presented to a future Audit Committee meeting for their support and assurance on the governance process.

It was reported that the initial external funding review and subsequently the adopted policy would apply across all areas of the Council allocating grant funding and would complement the provisions of the Council’s Constitution.

The Committee was advised that in terms of any budget proposals which may have included allocation of any external funding, those had not yet been considered by the Cabinet for 2026/27, and therefore had not been included within the report.

The Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) will formally come into being on 1 April 2026. The Chief Executive Designate (Tom Abell) of the Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) has been invited to attend the Committee’s meeting. His presence will provide members of the Committee with the opportunity to make enquiries, seek clarification, and engage directly on matters relating to local health and care priorities.

Regrettably, Tom Abell, the Chief Executive Designate of the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board had been unable to attend the meeting. This report was therefore DEFERRED to the meeting of the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee, due to be held on 10 February 2026.

To enable the Committee to consider the recommendations made to it as set out in the final report from the Council’s Youth Provision of School Aged Children Task and Finish Group.

Members were presented with the Final Report of the Council’s Youth Provision of School Aged Children Task and Finish Working Group which allowed the Committee to consider the recommendations made to it.

It was reported that the Task and Finish Group had examined the extent of information for youth provision of school aged children outside of that school/educational establishment and the opportunity for that provision to be adjusted/supported with improvements for mental health and reduced prosperity anti-social behaviour.

There had been two meetings of the Task and Finish Group between February and November 2025. The Group’s final report had been set out in Appendix A, attached to the report A.4.

The Committee RESOLVED :

(a)   to recommend to Cabinet that a platform is provided for children and young people to access information about activity which is taking place in their community;

(b)   to endorse this recommendation, including the proposal to develop the existing Active Essex, ‘Find Your Active’ database to be promoted through the Community Sports Partnerships section of the developing ‘Active Tendring’ website; and

(c)   to note that funding for that work had been subject to agreement by Cabinet in a separate report (due January 2026), which had provided an update on progress on the implementation of the Sport and Activity Strategy, and sought agreement to a number of budget allocations including the development of the ‘Find Your Active’ webpage.