Meeting documents

The PAG received a report which asked Members to agree the process to award funding for the community project grants for the period 2019/20 and to agree the Service Level Agreement funding for a three year period, subject to a signed service level agreement to key organisations delivering services to vulnerable persons in South Bucks.

The voluntary and community sector provided support and services to meet a wide range of needs that would not otherwise be provided by statutory services. The Council currently provided funding to the voluntary sector through; the Chairman’s Fund, the award of Community Development grants, and the allocation of the Community Lottery Fund. The Council also awarded funding to key organisations delivering services for vulnerable persons in South Bucks via a service level agreement (SLA).

It was explained to the PAG that the SLAs as set out in recommendation 1 had been recommended for a three year period to ensure that these organisations did not lose out on funding through the unitary transition, although the SLAs could be brought to an end at any point should the Council choose to do so. It was noted that the CAB also received external funding and all organisations were recognised as valuable to residents.

Recommendation 2 which related to the continued funding of £8,000 to Buckinghamshire County Council to provide the voluntary sector infrastructure support contract within the South Bucks District and the wider Buckinghamshire area would only be for the period 2019/20 as there would be no commitment required for 2020/21 as this would fall within the unitary budget.

The PAG was advised that for the past two years, the Council received match funding from Heart of Bucks for its Community Grant awards, however the feedback received was that this had not met the Council’s expectations. It had therefore been suggested that the Community Development Grant, Lottery Community Central Pot and funds from the Chairman’s Fund be combined to establish the South Bucks Community Grants which would be administered by the Council.

Following a detailed discussion, where alternative options, including an amount allocated per Member to award amounts to organisations in their wards was discussed; the PAG agreed that the most appropriate way forward would be to retain £5,000 from the Chairman’s Fund for small awards to be distributed by the Chairman and amalgamate the remaining funds into a combined Community Grants pot. This pot would be allocated following an application process in which each Ward Member would be consulted prior to any decision by the Healthy Communities PAG to recommend the award of funding.

There was discussion that the award of funding should be via a ward budget process but concern was raised that similar schemes saw money left over in the budget as Ward Members had not awarded their full allocation. It was acknowledged that there was more than one member for the majority of wards and hoped that this meant with active encouragement, applications would be received and an award granted.

The PAG agreed that the proposed grant criteria should be amended to ensure the process was flexible, applications from organisations would be encouraged and none would be put off from a lengthy process for a relatively small award. The PAG suggested removing, or at least amending the ‘Purchase of equipment’ section from the proposed criteria to help achieve this. It would be important to ensure that the criteria however remained consistent with the Council’s goals and that there was a clear process in place.

The importance of marketing the grants was emphasised and it was suggested that the Council runs a publicity campaign involving social media promotion, informing Parish Councils, creating posters for prominent places and encouraging ward members themselves to raise awareness, monies equivalent to £1,222 per Councillor would be made available. The PAG agreed that applications should be able to be applied for up to a sum of similar order and suggested that a minimum level of £200 per application be set.

The timescales involved meant that applications needed to be received by and reviewed in October 2019, if demand was greater there was a chance that additional reserves could also be made available at this time. Once ward members had been consulted on an application, it would then be presented to this PAG to agree the awards.

The Head of Healthy Communities advised that he would review the criteria and circulate this to PAG Members for approval prior to being presented to Cabinet on 27 June 2019. A briefing note for Councillors would also be provided so that they could inform the Parish Councils in their ward.