Issue - meetings

A number of options were presented to the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7 October 2021 in respect of Tonbridge Forum and the Parish Partnership Panel.

The proposals relating to the Forum are set out at 1.2 of the attached report.  The recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were considered by Cabinet on 12 October and Council on 26 October.

The Chairman provided a verbal statement on the outcomes of the review of Tonbridge Forum. The proposals relating to the review of the Forum and engagement were set out at paragraph 1.2 of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee report of the 7 October 2021 which were subsequently agreed by Cabinet on 12 October 2021 and Council on 26 October 2021.

The Chairman advised that the Forum was initially set up as a means for disseminating information between the Council and groups working in the Tonbridge Community and had therefore been renamed as the Tonbridge Community Forum as it better illustrated that the forum was a town group focussed on residents of the town and not the wider borough.

The purpose of the forum was to enable the Borough Council and Tonbridge based organisations to share information, consult and communicate on enhancing the well-being of the town through the identification of problems and the joint working towards solutions.  The hope was for the groups to work together with the sole purpose of co-operation to benefit the residents, to enhance the experience for the residents of the town and for the voluntary groups/organisations to exchange ideas, work collaboratively and seek advice and guidance from Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, Kent County Council and the Kent Police.

The Chairmanship of the Forum would consist of a Chairman from the majority group of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and two vice chairman, one from an opposition party and one from the Community Group membership (who must not be a Councillor). The membership of the Forum would be councillors from each of the Tonbridge Wards plus the Chairman.  It was highlighted that all member groups must be a recognised bona fide group with regular meetings, records of Minutes of Meetings and not be affiliated with any particular political party.

With regards to the agenda for meetings, this would be agreed by the Chairman and Vice Chair at least 10 days before the meeting date and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Councillors, Kent County Council and Kent Police may be called to the meeting to make official statements if there was relevant news to report and respond to questions.