Issue - meetings

AGREED that:

(a)      the recommendations of the Portfolio Holders as detailed in Appendices A and B of the report be agreed in order that the proposed projects can proceed;   

(b)      the extant awards under the former Parish and Town Council Initiative Fund in Appendix A are approved as recommended; and the recommendations of the Portfolio Holders detailed in Appendix B be approved as proposed; and

(c)      officers be requested to consider and report back to the Cabinet on what additional support we could offer to community groups.

The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Organisational Development and Governance presented a report detailing recommendations made by relevant Portfolio Holders in respects of grant applications submitted under the District Council’s Community Grant Scheme and recommendations for the extant awards under the former Parish and Town Council’s Initiative Fund.

It was noted that following the launch of the new Community Grant Scheme, 21 applications were received for the first round and 20 were approved by the Cabinet at their meeting held on 12 July 2022, with the awards totalling £73,543. A further 14 applications had been received for this second round of the scheme, which totalled £55,959 which would effectively create an overspend of £29,902.

Each application had been considered by the relevant Portfolio Holder based on the primary focus of the proposals, and the recommendation for each submission was presented to the Cabinet for approval. In considering the applications the Portfolio Holders were mindful of the available budget and made a number of partial awards towards projects which reduced any overspend to £2,619.

 AGREED     (with 4 votes for an 1 abstention) that:

(a)          the recommendations of the Portfolio Holders as detailed in Appendices A and B of the report be agreed in order that the proposed projects can proceed;  

(b)          the extant awards under the former Parish and Town Council Initiative Fund in Appendix A are approved as recommended; and the recommendations of the Portfolio Holders detailed in Appendix B be approved as proposed; and

(c)          officers be requested to consider and report back to the Cabinet on what additional support we could offer to community groups.

Reasons for Decision

The schemes have been assessed by Portfolio Holders and Members in respect of alignment to the Council’s wider ‘Community Plan’ objectives and each will provide community value and benefit when delivered.

The extant awards approved under the former Parish and Town Council’s Initiative Fund remain important community projects, therefore offering an extension of time to deliver the projects is appropriate.

The schemes submitted under Round 2 of the Community Grant Scheme as recommended will deliver valuable community benefits aligned to the current approved Community Plan objectives.

Options Considered

That the awards as recommended are increased which would require further additional budget provision or the awards are further reduced proportionately to meet the available budget.