Arising from a report of the Head of Communities and Governance, the Community Well-being Policy Development Group had recommended that:
a) The grant for the Grand Western Canal be removed from the grants budget and be paid from the New Homes Bonus;
b) The revised grants for 2016/17 be approved;
c) The authority put in place procedures to ensure that monitoring of activity and finances of those in receipt of grants takes place in the future; and
d) The Community Well Being Policy Development Group Grants Working Group be involved in any initial discussions regarding the setting of proposed cuts to future grants.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Arising from a *report of the Head of Communities and Governance, the Community Well-Being Policy Development Group had recommended that:
a) The grant for the Grand Western Canal be removed from the grants budget and be paid from the New Homes Bonus;
b) The revised grants for 2016/17 be approved;
c) The authority put in place procedures to ensure that monitoring of activity and finances of those in receipt of grants takes place in the future; and
d) The Community Well Being Policy Development Group Grants Working Group be involved in any initial discussions regarding the setting of proposed cuts to future grants.
The Cabinet Member for Community Well-Being outlined the process that had taken place with regard to the recommendation for the allocation of grants and the recommendation that the 2016 contribution towards the Grand Western Canal of £45,000 be funded from the New Homes Bonus and that a meeting take place between this authority and Devon County Council with regard to the level of future funding.
Consideration was given to the funding for the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and the lack of feedback received by the Council Departments with regard to issues raised by residents with the CAB. Information was provided as to the breakdown of the grants paid by North Devon, West Devon, Torridge and Devon County Council to the CAB. The introduction of Service Level Agreements with grant recipients was also suggested
RESOLVED that subject to a further reduction of £5K to the Citizens Advice Bureau grant, the recommendations of the Policy Development Group be approved.
(Proposed by Cllr R L Stanley and seconded by Cllr P H D Hare-Scott)
Notes:
i) Cllr C R Slade declared a personal interest as a Member of the Grand Western Canal Joint Advisory Committee;
ii) *Report previously circulated copy attached to minutes.
48 GRANT PAYMENTS TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS 2016/17 (0.30.23) PDF 1 MB
To receive an update to the report for Grant Payments to External Organisations 2016/17, from the Grants Working Group, who met following the last meeting of this Group.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Group had before it a report * from the Grants and Funding Officer regarding Grant Payments to External Organisations 2016/17, the minutes of a meeting of the Grants Working Group, which had met following the last meeting of this Group and an amended proposed recommendation.
The Head of Communities and Governance explained that funding for the Grand Western Canal had been removed from the Grants Budget. Future funding for this would be from the New Homes Bonus and a meeting would be put in place for January to allow a longer term business case to be discussed.
The Officer explained that the Working Group had met and their recommendations were included within the report.
Discussion took place regarding:
· The grant to the Crediton Arts Centre that the Working Group had recommended remain unchanged although its main purpose was not to help vulnerable people;
· The grant to Community Housing Aid Nightstop that was recommended to be cut by 20% and the fact that most of their clients were Exeter based but Mid Devon was contributing a higher grant.
It was RECOMMENDED to the Cabinet that:
a) The grant for the Grand Western Canal be removed from the grants budget and be paid from the New Homes Bonus;
b) The revised grant allocations for 2016/17 be approved.
(Proposed by Cllr R M Deed and seconded by Cllr Mrs H Bainbridge)
and
c) That the authority put in place procedures to ensure that monitoring of activity and finances of those in receipt of grants took place in the future;
d) And that the Community Well Being Policy Development Group, Grants Working Group, be involved in any initial discussions regarding the setting of proposed cuts to future grants.
(Proposed by the Chairman)
Note:-i) Report previously circulated and attached to Minutes.
ii) A proposal to remove the grant for the Crediton Arts Centre was not supported.
iii) Cllr J B Binks declared a personal interest as she knew some members of the Crediton Arts Centre.
40 Grant Payments to External Organisations 2016/17 PDF 1 MB
To receive a report from the Grants and Funding Officer seeking Member approval for the level of grant awards to external organisations for 2016/17.
Minutes:
The Group had before it a report * from the Grants and Funding Officer seeking Member approval for the level of grant awards to external organisations for 2016/17.
The Head of Communities and Governance outlined the contents of the report, explaining that the authority had paid grants for a number of years and that in 2011 there had been 25 organisations that received grants totalling £250K. In 2012/13 a fundamental review of the grants process was undertaken and this prioritised the recipients into three groups, high priority, medium priority and low priority. Those of low priority received a tapered reduction in their grants to the end of 2014/15. At this time Members also agreed to allocate £32K to a seed fund so that organisations could put in bids for projects. Since then the Authority had worked with organisations to help them become more self-sufficient. The Grants and Funding Officer had brought in a considerable level of funding to the District over the last few years.
Last year a reduction of £20k was made to the grant budget and remaining funds in the Seed Fund were allocated.
In accordance with the process previously agreed by the Group organisations were asked to submit annual accounts, which formed appendix 4 of the report, along with an impact assessment. Each organisation had been/were being given the opportunity to come along to a meeting of the Group to explain what they did and how the grant was spent.
The Officer went on to remind the Group that it was a reality that cuts had to be made and that it was not possible to fund community grants at the same level as in the past. A balanced budget had to be set by the authority and grants were discretionary and not a statutory service.
Referring to appendix 1 of the report the Officer worked through the list of recommended grant allocations for 2016/17, highlighting the following areas:
· Records submitted indicated that the Blackdown Support Group showed a profit and healthy reserve;
· The Citizens Advice Bureau had dealt with a lower number of queries in the last year than in previous years and the council itself was providing advice from Moneywise;
· Detailed financial information provided by the Crediton Arts Centre showed a healthy turnover, a profit of £40k and a healthy reserve;
· Sunnymead Community Association generated a substantial income and had healthy reserves;
· Grants payable to the Tiverton Museum and Tourist Information Service had been set for a three year period and were now in their final year of protection.
Discussion took place regarding:
· The overall budget for both discretionary and statutory services;
· The need to look at income and reserves within financial information provided by the organisations;
· The percentage of cuts to some organisations being higher than others;
· The need to maintain a presence in Crediton;
· The need to make savings in order to set a balanced budget;
· £100k that had been pledged towards the repair ... view the full minutes text for item 40