ORANGE CITY COUNCIL
Services Policy Committee
Agenda
1 August 2017
Notice is hereby given, in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 that a Services Policy Committee meeting of ORANGE CITY COUNCIL will be held in the Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Byng Street, Orange on TUESDAY, 1 AUGUST 2017.
Garry Styles
General Manager
For apologies please contact Michelle Catlin on 6393 8246.
Services Policy Committee 1 August 2017
2.1 World War I Centenary Community Committee Minutes 18 July 2017
3.1 Children's Services - Cessation of Community Support Programme (CSP) Funding
Services Policy Committee 1 August 2017
The provisions of Chapter 14 of the Local Government Act, 1993 (the Act) regulate the way in which Councillors and designated staff of Council conduct themselves to ensure that there is no conflict between their private interests and their public role.
The Act prescribes that where a member of Council (or a Committee of Council) has a direct or indirect financial (pecuniary) interest in a matter to be considered at a meeting of the Council (or Committee), that interest must be disclosed as soon as practicable after the start of the meeting and the reasons given for declaring such interest.
As members are aware, the provisions of the Local Government Act restrict any member who has declared a pecuniary interest in any matter from participating in the discussion or voting on that matter, and requires that member to vacate the Chamber.
Council’s Code of Conduct provides that if members have a non-pecuniary conflict of interest, the nature of the conflict must be disclosed. The Code of Conduct also provides for a number of ways in which a member may manage non pecuniary conflicts of interest.
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Recommendation It is recommended that Committee Members now disclose any conflicts of interest in matters under consideration by the Services Policy Committee at this meeting. |
TRIM REFERENCE: 2017/1616
AUTHOR: Jan Richards AM, Manager Central West Libraries
EXECUTIVE Summary
The meeting of the World War I Centenary Community Committee was held on Tuesday 18 July 2017 but did not have a quorum. A record of the meeting is presented to the Services Policy Committee for information.
Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan
The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “8.4 Our Community – Acknowledge our diverse cultural heritage by encouraging and implementing programs and events that tell the stories of the urban, village and rural community and their people”.
Financial Implications
Nil
Policy and Governance Implications
Nil
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That as there was not a quorum, Council note the recommendations made by the World War I Centenary Community Committee at its meeting held on 18 July 2017.
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further considerations
Consideration has been given to the recommendation’s impact on Council’s service delivery; image and reputation; political; environmental; health and safety; employees; stakeholders and project management; and no further implications or risks have been identified.
Attachment
1 Minutes of the Meeting of the World War I Centenary Community Committee held on 18 July 2017
ORANGE CITY COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE
World War I Centenary Community Committee
HELD IN Orange City Library, Byng Street, Orange
ON 18 July 2017
COMMENCING AT 4.00pm
1 Introduction
Attendance
Manager Central West Libraries, Mrs J Sykes, Mr L McGaw, Senior Library Officer, Research Librarian, Museum and Heritage Coordinator.
As there was no Councillor in attendance, the Meeting did not have a quorum. The items were discussed to be confirmed at the next meeting.
1.1 Apologies and Leave of Absence
In the absence of the Chairperson, the Committee requested that the Manager Central West Libraries chair the meeting.
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RECOMMENDATION Mr L McGaw/Mrs J Sykes That the apologies be accepted from Cr John Davis OAM and Ms Elizabeth Griffin for the World War I Centenary Community Committee meeting on 18 July 2017. |
1.2 Acknowledgement of Country
1.3 Declaration of pecuniary interests, significant non-pecuniary interests and less than significant non-pecuniary interests
3 Presentations
4 General Reports
The Committee considered the information from the Minister for Veterans Affairs and supported the sites for soil collection as outlined in the documentation. Les McGaw advised that soil had already been collected from the Orange Cenotaph. Members look forward to working with the organisers as part of this project.
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TRIM Reference: 2017/1502 |
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RECOMMENDATION Mr L McGaw/Mrs J Sykes That the Action Plan for the World War I Centenary Community Committee be reviewed and updated.
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The Meeting Closed at 4.30PM.
TRIM REFERENCE: 2017/1336
AUTHOR: Melissa Stanford, Senior Children's Services Coordinator
EXECUTIVE Summary
The Department of Education and Training has provided notification that operational funding provided through the Community Support Programme (CSP) for Children’s Services will cease effective from July 2018.
Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan
The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “9.2 Our Community – Ensure the precincts, buildings, programs and activities provided by the Council’s children’s services are professionally managed”.
Financial Implications
The loss of CSP funding will impact on all of Council’s Children’s Services budgets, except for Before and After School Care services which are not eligible to receive CSP funding. The greatest impact will be on the Family Day Care, Occasional Care and Spring Street Children’s Centre budgets, as these services currently receive the larger amounts of funding.
Family Day Care, in particular, relies on the funding to pay for the wages of the Coordination Unit staff. If eligible, Council’s Children’s Services will apply for funding under the new Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) which was announced as part of the Jobs for Families Child Care Package. The first CCCF funding round is expected to open early in the 2017/18 financial year, with funding available to successful applicants from July 2018.
Policy and Governance Implications
Nil
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1 That the report on Children’s Services – Cessation of Community Support Programme Funding be acknowledged. 2 That the Council undertake a review of the current Children’s Services business models and determine appropriate fees and charges of for each service for consideration in the 2018/22 Delivery/Operational plan. |
further considerations
The recommendation of this report has been assessed against Council’s other key risk categories and the following comments are provided:
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Image and Reputation |
Council has been providing these services for more than 40 years and is highly regarded by both users of the services, the community and other local and government agencies, for the quality of education and care provided. A clear direction in service provision is essential from when the CSP ceases until further information is provided about CCCF, including if Council’s Services are eligible to apply, and what amount of funding will be provided. |
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Employees |
It is important that Council has a clear direction for the provision of services to provide a stable environment for staff and users of the services provided by Council. |
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Stakeholders |
Council needs to provide a clear direction on the continued provision of services to ensure that families are provided with stability regarding the future of their child’s education and care. This direction will also provide staff with a level of stability. |
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Council will be aware that a review of Children’s Services was conducted in 2010 to ensure that services were appropriate and sustainable. Since that time Council have continued to monitor the performance of Children’s Services and adjust the services to reflect the needs and demands of the community and to increase centre based fees to achieve break-even basis.
In the year end 30 June 2017 the estimated net result of the Children’s services is expected to be around $60,000.
An important element of the overall funding of Children’s services is the support the service receives from the Australian Government under the Community Support Program (CSP).
The CSP assists child care providers to establish or maintain viable services in parts of the country where they might not otherwise be viable or able to meet the unique requirements of the community, such as in disadvantaged or regional and remote areas.
On 1 April 2015, Council was advised of the early termination of the Community Support Programme Funding Agreement for Family Day Care services by the Early Childhood Education and Care Directorate, effective from 30 June 2015.
To be considered for CSP funding in 2015/16, Family Day Care services was required to re-apply for funding under new eligibility criteria introduced in 2014. Orange Family Day Care was successful in re-applying for the CSP funding, however under new criteria the service has continued to see a decline in funding as follows:
|
Year |
Amount |
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2013 |
$122,710 |
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2014 (introduction of new criteria) |
$104,296 |
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2015 |
$ 92,833 |
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2016 |
$ 87,975 |
On 19 May 2016, Council was notified by the Department of Education and Training that as part of the new Jobs for Families Child Care Package, the Community Support Program (CSP) will cease for all services currently accessing the funding on 1 July 2018.
For those services that continue to be eligible for the CSP, funding agreements for 2017/18 will be amended with new terms and conditions reflecting the program's cessation on 1 July 2018.
For Council, the amounts of funding that were received for each service for the 2016/17 financial year were:
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Service |
Actual amount |
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Orange Family Day Care (Operational Support) |
$96,922 |
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Spring Street Children’s Centre (Operational Support) |
$75,214 |
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Courallie Park Child Development Centre (Operational Support) |
$45,904 |
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Yarrawong Children’s Centre (Operational Support) |
$50,343 |
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Orange Occasional Care – model strategy (Operational Support) |
$18,533 |
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Orange Occasional Care (Operational Support) |
$75,629 |
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Before and After School Care (Sustainability Assistance) |
$4,180 |
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Total |
$366,725 |
In anticipation of the cessation of CSP, the Department of Education and Training have recommended that services review their current business models with a view to making changes that will improve sustainability and viability over the coming years.
Council’s Children’s Services will review their current business models and determine appropriate fees and charges for each service during the 2017/18 financial year for implementation in the 2018/19 financial year.
The Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) that was announced as part of the Jobs for Families Child Care Package, is designed to make the child care system more affordable, more accessible, and more flexible and targeted to those who need it most.
Council’s Children’s Services which currently receive CSP, will be able to apply for funding under the CCCF. Under the CCCF, child care services will be able to apply for supplementary funding through a grants program to:
· reduce the barriers in accessing child care, in particular for disadvantaged or vulnerable families and communities
· provide sustainability support for child care services experiencing viability issues
· provide capital support to increase the supply of child care places in areas of high unmet demand.
The CCCF includes three key grant opportunities:
· Open competitive (for approved child care services)
· Restricted non-competitive (for specified services)
· Connected Beginnings
The first CCCF funding round is expected to open early in the 2017/18 financial year, with funding available to successful applicants from July 2018.
Depending on the level of funding under the CCCF Council will then be able to determine the impact on the Children’s Services budgets, and the likely cost or otherwise for the delivery of these services.
TRIM REFERENCE: 2017/1278
AUTHOR: Jan Richards AM, Manager Central West Libraries
EXECUTIVE Summary
This report provides information on tutoring fees and options for provision of facilities for this purpose.
Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan
The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “8.3 Our Community – Ensure the precincts, buildings, programs and activities provided by the Council’s Cultural Services are professionally managed”.
Financial Implications
Nil
Policy and Governance Implications
Nil
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That the report on Tutoring Fees be acknowledged. |
further considerations
Consideration has been given to the recommendation’s impact on Council’s service delivery; image and reputation; political; environmental; health and safety; employees; stakeholders and project management; and no further implications or risks have been identified.
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
A submission was received on the fees and charges component of the Draft Delivery/Operational Plan about tutoring fees charged when a business uses the Library facilities to delivery their tutoring classes.
The intent behind charging for the conduct of tutoring in the Library relates to the management of the facility. If any person was able to use the Library for the purpose of conducting a private business for personal gain the operations of the Library would be significantly impacted.
This Policy of charging tutoring fees was first introduced into Central West Libraries in 2011 in response to the increasing number of commercial tutors operating their businesses from branch libraries, particularly Orange.
While once such interaction would take place in the student or tutor’s home, increased awareness of child protection issues has made this a less popular option. The Library is open for extended hours seven days a week and provides ancillary services including free internet access and copying facilities. It is a safe and welcoming environment.
While it is pleasing to see the Library used for this purpose, it does raise a number of issues including:
· Disruption to other clients, especially when tutoring is undertaken in a group situation.
· The Library’s duty of care in regard to children and young people being tutored in the Library.
· Contravention of Library Regulation 2010 (Library Act 1939) Section 14:
A person must not, without the consent of the governing body for the library, use any library for any other purpose than reading, consulting or borrowing the library material of the library or using any other library service or information service.
· Insurance and liability.
Subsequently a series of measures were put in place that apply to commercial and non-commercial tutors equally. This encompasses proof of public liability insurance noting Council’s interest and a letter of consent from the parents/guardians of any minor being tutored.
In addition, commercial tutors (those charging students a fee) are required to pay $5 per student per session (maximum session length two hours). No fee is levied for not for profit organisations.
The success of this approach relies on the integrity of tutors to identify themselves as such to Library staff, to complete the requisite paperwork and, where appropriate, pay the fee. This fee has not increased since the Policy was introduced in 2011.
The issue surrounding tutors in public libraries is constantly being assessed by Library Managers across the state. A survey undertaken in May 2017 revealed an uneven response.
Some, like Central West Libraries, charge a fee (Port Stephens: $20 for commercial tutors, $10 for not for profit providers; Waverley: $10 per hour), others request a ‘reasonable’ donation (Tenterfield). Many libraries that have private study rooms require that commercial tutors use them and pay the advertised fee (Kiama, Inverell, Narrabri, and Northern Beaches). Others limit the places in the Library where tutoring can occur (Macquarie Regional Library (Dubbo), Ryde). Many consider the issue problematic but difficult to address – one such response was “It’s becoming a major issue for us and we have discussed ways to deal with it but not come up with an acceptable solution”.
At the Council Meeting of 13 June 2017, the following issues were raised by Councillors:
1 A report on the impact if Council were to remove the fee for tutoring in the Library, to include the number of tutors operating in the Library and how many students pay for tutoring in the Library.
2 That the option of making the East Room or West Room of the Gallery available for tutoring be explored
3 That OCTEC be approached to determine if OCTEC was able to make room available for this purpose.
In response, the following information is provided.
1 In the past 12 months Council generated $2,720 in fees for tutoring services.
The above fees correlate to 544 sessions however this does not include students tutored under not for profit arrangements. The number of tutors (who have identified themselves) currently operating within the Library per annum is eleven. However should the Library be able to be used by any person for this purpose, it is expected the number will increase significantly which will negatively impact on the operation of the Library.
2 The East Room and West Room is available for hire by any user at the rate of $31.50 per hour as detailed in Council’s Schedule of Fees and Charges.
3 Council has contacted OCTEC in this regard. OCTEC have advised that they are unable to provide this service.
Council should also be aware that there are significant costs in the provision of space for this program which includes:
· Staffing so that the required level of supervision can be provided
· Consumables such as cleaning and utilities
· Provision of equipment
The objector also stated that they felt the cumulative fees were excessive. This reflects the usage by commercial tutors who are using Council facilities for the purpose of conducting a for profit generating enterprise.