BARNSLEY METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL ABOLITION OF BRIERLEY TOWN COUNCIL FUTURE OF DISCRETIONARY AND OTHER SERVICES

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1 BARNSLEY METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF LEGAL AND GOVERNANCE ABOLITION OF BRIERLEY TOWN COUNCIL FUTURE OF DISCRETIONARY AND OTHER SERVICES 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 To outline the current anticipated position in respect of discretionary and other services provided by Brierley Town Council following the Town Council's abolition with affect from 1 st April, RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 That the currently anticipated position in respect of the discretionary and other services provided by Brierley Town Council following its abolition, as set out in the report, be noted. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 Full Council on 24 th September considered a report on the next steps in the making of an Order for the abolition of Brierley Town Council in the Civil Parish of Brierley. This followed on from the Community Governance Review undertaken in 2014/15 and the Community Vote in July 2015, with the latter concluding that local people supported the abolition of the Town Council and Parish. 3.2 Full Council authorised the Director of Legal and Governance to take the necessary steps to complete an Order for the abolition of the Town Council and the Civil Parish, with affect from 1 st April, Officers were also requested to work with Brierley Town Council on the transfer of assets and liabilities to Barnsley MBC in line with this timetable and agreed that any discretionary services provided by the Town Council should only be continued if this was cost neutral to Barnsley MBC. 3.3 This report seeks to set out the progress in this work and give an initial indication of the likelihood that discretionary services will indeed continue on this basis. 4. BUILDINGS 4.1 A number of buildings currently owned by Brierley Town Council will transfer to the ownership of Barnsley MBC. There is still a need to confirm that the required testing and certification checks have been undertaken for all of these buildings, together with any condition surveys and the consideration of any maintenance requirements. With this caveat, the anticipated position is as follows:- 1

2 a) New Options Community Centre and Gym Located at St Luke's Road, Grimethorpe, this property is leased to a third party and provides a gym facility, steam and sauna room and a range of classes and other community activities. A review of the current lease will be required, but on the basis that the current user can pay this and continues to cover the other building costs it is likely that this facility will continue. b) Welfare Hall, Grimethorpe Located off Clear View, this provides office accommodation for the Town Council, a large Welfare Hall and small meeting rooms. There is relatively limited community use to cover the overall operating costs of the building. It is therefore likely that the Welfare Hall will close, with the building secured pending consideration of longer term proposals. c) Council Chambers and Changing Rooms, Welfare Park, Grimethorpe This building has been out of use for some time, so it is not proposed to bring this back into use. The building will need to be made secure pending consideration of future options, although this property is covered by the covenant that relates to the Welfare Park. d) Grounds Maintenance Depot Located adjacent to Grimethorpe Park/The Dell, off Clear View, the cessation of the Town Council Grounds Maintenance Operation will mean that there is no longer a use for this building. The building will transfer to Barnsley MBC and be considered as part of the wider depots' review currently being undertaken. e) Brierley Miners' Welfare Park, Pavilion and Changing Rooms Located off Common Road/Park Avenue, Brierley, this provides changing rooms for the football pitches in the park, but the pavilion is used exclusively by Brierley Playmates to provide childcare. Although there is a need to review the terms of the lease to Brierley Playmates, this use is likely to continue if all costs are covered by the users. Use of the changing rooms could be covered by a sub-lease, if necessary. f) Park Housing Residential Property, Grimethorpe Located off Clear View, Grimethorpe and covered by the covenant relating to the Welfare Park, this property currently has a tenant on what is thought to be a secure tenancy. There will be a need to consider the need for investment in the property to bring it up to an appropriate standard. In the longer term, the house will be included in the forthcoming review of park houses. 5. LAND ASSETS 5.1 The Town Council has a number of land assets, mainly open space or parkland, the majority of which are held under covenant restricting their use. With this caveat, the anticipated position is as follows:- g) Former Dump-it Site, Grimethorpe Located off Acorn Way, Grimethorpe, there is no covenant on this site so there is a potential for a capital receipt. Options for disposal of the site are being explored. 2

3 h) Grimethorpe Allotment (41 plots) Located off Acorn Way, Grimethorpe, there is no covenant on this site but consent by the Secretary of State would be required to dispose of the land. A self-management agreement exits with Grimethorpe Allotment Association, which includes maintenance of the perimeter fence and paths. As the current rents levied by the Association cover all costs, it is proposed to continue with the self-management agreement. i) Brierley Allotment Site (24 plots) Leased by the Town Council from a private land owner, the lease will transfer to Barnsley MBC. All costs associated with the site are covered by current rents. A proposed self-management agreement with the Association has yet to be concluded but it is proposed to investigate a selfmanagement agreement with the Association. The site is currently on offer for sale to either the Brierley Allotments Association or Town Council in the estate of the last owner, with a covenant requiring continued use as allotments. As the Association has external funding for this purchase, a purchase of the site by them seems the most logical approach, and Barnsley MBC officers are providing what support they can for this process. j) Grimethorpe Welfare Park Covered by the Open Spaces Act and a covenant, with a skate park and children's play area already currently inspected by Parks Services. There are a number of activities that take place in the park for which standard Barnsley MBC hire charges would be levied in the future. k) The Dell Again covered by the Open Space Act and, it is thought, a covenant, and comprises a fishing pond, open spaces and woodland. It is likely that this will be maintained as it currently is, although the arrangements for grazing and fishing will be subject to a review. There is a possibility that a land sale might be considered, subject to the status of the site. l) Summer Meadow, Grimethorpe Adjoining Clear View, Mount Road, The Dell and old Willowgarth High School site. Used for informal grazing, there is potential for this to be sold by auction or the current grazing use to be put on a formal basis. m) Brierley Miners' Welfare Park Comprises football pitches, multi-games area and children's play area, together with a disused bowling green. The football pitches will be charged in accordance with Barnsley MBC's rates, including the use of the pavilion. The multi-games area and children's play area are already currently inspected by Parks Services. n) The Valley, Grimethorpe Open space, with a proposal for a basic re-vamp of the site using Section 106 monies. In the longer term, there is a potential for plots around the edge of the site to be sold for development. o) Millennium Green Green space located off Acorn Way, Grimethorpe, with a play area and multi-games area that are the responsibility of Parks Services for maintenance and inspection. This land will be maintained now by Neighbourhoods Services on a (reduced) Barnsley MBC schedule. The Millennium Green will fall under the Parks administration, although the monument on the green will become the responsibility of Asset Management. 3

4 6. GROUNDS MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS 6.1 The majority of the public open space listed above is on a weekly grass cutting and litter picking schedule, with additional cuts or works undertaken occasionally as conditions require. When these areas of open space pass to Barnsley MBC, the frequencies will be reduced to the standards currently used for this Council's facilities. In summary, this would mean: grass will be cut once every three to four weeks, subject to weather and ground conditions; weed spraying on the streets will be once per year; litter picking will be done on a reactive basis; bed maintenance will be done once per year; fly tipping will be removed within seven days; boundary hedges will be cut once per year. The service is making the necessary adjustments to staffing and rotas to achieve this, using the 30,000 previously allocated to grounds maintenance in Brierley and Grimethorpe. 6.2 In addition to the large areas of public open space referred to at Section 5 above, there are a number of other sites throughout the Parish Council area where litter picking and grass cutting is undertaken. This includes the walled gardens area, on Regina Crescent, Windmill Avenue, Brierley Road, Fenton s, St Luke's Church, Bank House, Raymond Avenue, Oldroyd Avenue and Brierley Park Top Meadow. These areas are being reviewed by Neighbourhood Services against current Barnsley MBC schedules. It is likely that minimal maintenance will be undertaken in some of these areas and may not be undertaken at all in others. In the longer term, it is possible that there will be potential for volunteers to take over the maintenance of the spaces and the Area Governance Team will work with the local community on this in due course. 6.3 The Town Council also maintains the Grimethorpe Memorial Cenotaph (at St Luke's Church) and the Brierley Memorial Cenotaph (at St Paul's Church) in preparation for Remembrance Day. These will transfer to the Parks Services and Bereavement Services respectively and will be maintained in line with Barnsley MBC s existing policy and approach adopted across the borough for other war memorials. The establishment of Friends groups to maintain the fabric of the memorials will require further investigation, although it should be noted that the Church is legally responsible for this in the case of the Brierley memorial. 6.4 Within this overall approach, Members need to be aware that work is still being done to assess the full implications of the land assets that will transfer to Barnsley MBC. As a result, there may be areas of open space or undeveloped land where a further assessment of the Council s occupier s liability position means that additional maintenance costs will arise. However, these costs would be incurred directly in response to the Council s legal obligation, based on an assessment of risk, rather than on a discretionary basis, so would be consistent with the overall approach of not incurring additional discretionary expenditure. 7. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 7.1 The proposed approach for each building or site should minimise the financial implications of abolition to Barnsley MBC. The intention is that those facilities that remain in use will not result in an additional financial liability to the Council. However, even if properties are taken out of use (for example the Welfare Hall, Grimethorpe), the cost of securing the buildings and other occupier s liabilities in respect of maintenance will place some financial liabilities on Barnsley MBC. These 4

5 continue to be calculated and will be considered as part of Budgetary Procedures 2016/ Accordingly, a further report will be submitted setting out the more detailed financial implications of those non-discretionary elements that arise from the abolition when these are been fully assessed. This will also need to take into account other financial pressures that will now fall on Barnsley MBC, for example in relation to outstanding loan repayments. These will be considered as part of any ongoing financial pressures which the authority faces in dealing with its Medium Term Financial Strategy. 8. EMPLOYEE IMPLICATIONS 8.1 All current employees of the Town Council will become redundant upon abolition. It is the responsibility of the Town Council to deal with those employees in accordance with the statutory requirements, although Barnsley MBC's Human Resources Service is supporting the Town Council in this work. Insofar as this report proposes that Barnsley MBC continues to provide some of the services currently provided by the Town Council, there will be no TUPE transfers as the Regulations expressly exclude changes in employer arising out of an administrative re-organisation of public administrative authority. 9. BACKGROUND PAPERS Correspondence received in response to the consultation exercise. Legislation and guidance on Community Governance Reviews. Reports considered by Council on 5 th February and 24 th September, Available for inspection in the office of the Director of Legal and Governance, Westgate Plaza One, Barnsley. Telephone for further information. Officer Contact: Ian Turner Telephone No: Date: 7 th December 2015 Democracy/Meeting Cabinet/Reports/CSU Reports/2015/Cabinet Report re Brierley TC Future of Discretionary and Other Services