To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-
The deadline for the submission of public questions is Thursday 7th November 2019.
The deadline for the submission of a statement is 12.00 noon on Wednesday 13th November 2019.
The deadline for the submission of a petition is 12.00 noon on Wednesday 13th November 2019.
Minutes:
A member of the public, Mr Roger West, asked the following questions.
Question 1:
How was it possible that the Kinson Community Association had not prepared Audited Accounts for many years whilst being managed by an employee of Bournemouth Borough Council? During this time I have been informed that over £100,000 has been found to be missing.
Response by the Chairman of the Committee:
The Police, legacy Bournemouth Borough Council (BBC), and the Independent Investigator (appointed by legacy BBC with the agreement of KCA) have not been provided with any evidence to substantiate allegations of theft of any financial sum or any other financial wrongdoing. The failure to prepare audited accounts is a matter for Kinson Community Association (KCA) and the Charity Commission, the following press release has recently been made by the Charity Commission.
‘The Charity Commission has opened an inquiry into Kinson Community Association (215169) due to concerns of mismanagement and/or misconduct at the charity. The community centre is set up to promote spiritual, mental, physical and social development to the Kinson community in Bournemouth. The inquiry was opened on 19 September 2019.
The charity was entered into a class inquiry in February 2018 to look into charities which had repeatedly defaulted on their statutory filing requirements. Despite continued engagement during the course of that inquiry the charity’s financial accounts for the FYE 31 December 2015 and 2016 are still outstanding and 31 December FYE 2017 are now also overdue.
These issues raise concerns over the charity’s accountability and transparency. As such, the inquiry will examine the governance, management and administration of the charity, including having regard to:
· the extent to which the trustees have complied with previously issued regulatory guidance.
· whether the trustees have properly exercised their duties and responsibilities under charity law in the administration of the charity and in particular their duty to account for the charity’s funds.
It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.’
Question 2:
The quality of the audio recording is very poor. Christchurch Council was much further advanced than this Council and video recorded their council meeting. When will BCP Council follow their example?
Response by the Chairman of the Committee:
BCP Council has inherited the audio equipment in each of the three main office locations. In order to provide recording facilities for all meetings, additional equipment has been installed in the committee room in Poole at no additional cost. However, it is acknowledged that the age and technical specification of the equipment at each site varies significantly and as consequence, audio recordings do vary in quality. It is not considered to be in the public interest to incur significant expenditure on upgrading the equipment in all meeting locations at this time.
At the meeting of Cabinet held on 13 November 2019, a Working Group was established to consider the options for the development and/or location of a 'Single Council Hub', as an integral part of the Council's Transformation Programme. The outcome of this work will help inform the future meeting space requirements. It will then be appropriate to define the specification requirements for the installation of new audio-visual equipment.