Agenda item

To consider the recommendations for Community Grant allocation for 2025/26 from the Task and Finish Group.

The Panel considered the proposed community grant funding for the 2025/26.

The Service Manager Revenues, Benefits and Customer Services reported that this was an annual report.  A full review of the community grant process had been undertaken in 2024 to streamline the process, given the volume of applications received in the previous year.  A task and finish group had been set up to consider the member community engagement grants, revenue and capital applications, community transport schemes and a community lottery scheme.  The group considered how to distribute an additional £40,000 which had been added to the existing budget.

The Task and Finish Group having considered the members community engagement grants recognising that the annual amount of £600 had not been increased for a number of years felt that the grant should be increased to £1,000 per year, which would enable more money to be distributed directly in their wards.  The revenue and capital grant applications had followed a more streamlined process to simplify administration, and the recommendations were included in the report.  It was highlighted that organisations seeking revenue grants which were considered to be key partners, were recommended to be awarded a three-year funding agreement, which would give them greater financial security.  As part of this agreement, the organisations would be set targets and objectives and receive regular monitoring.  It was proposed to continue to support two community transport schemes, Group Hire and Call & Go until 31 August 2025, when the contracts were due to come to an end.  Finally, the group considered the merits of a community lottery scheme which could generate circa £67,000 to support local groups.  This would require some initial set up costs and officer time, but the running costs of a lottery scheme were minimal. 

The Chairman of the Community Grants Task and Finish Group addressed the Panel and expressed his thanks to members of the task and finish group for their work in the grant process.  He highlighted that the funding requested from the applications was greater than that available.  The more streamlined approach for assessing applications had helped the process, enabling more focussed discussion.  The proposal to increase member engagement grants would enable councillors to award more funding in their area to support the local community.  He expressed his support to a community lottery scheme which would help local charities and organisations.

It was questioned by a Panel member whether the proposed three year funding agreement with key partner organisations was advisable, given the uncertainty of local government at the current time.  The Strategic Director for Housing and Communities acknowledged this but felt that a Service Level Agreement would provide a commitment to key partner organisations working in the community, often supporting vulnerable people, which would provide them with stability of funding for the duration of the agreement.  Officers would provide support and regular monitoring to ensure key objectives were met.

RESOLVED:

The Panel recommended the following to Cabinet:

1.     That Councillor Community Engagement Grants be increased from £600 to £1,000 a year from 1 April 2025;

2.     That Community grants totalling £152,500 in revenue grants and £77,871 in capital grants, be approved, as detailed in Appendix 1, for inclusion in the Medium-Term Financial Plan and proposed budget for 2025/26;

3.     That the Community Transport Grants totalling £44,359 be approved, as set out in paragraph 28; and

4.     That officers be requested to produce a detailed report on how a community lottery scheme could be successfully run in the District, and the short to long-term implications for the Council, and for the report to progress through the Council’s decision-making process.