Agenda and minutes

No substitutes were required.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Jim Thorndyke be elected Chairman of the Grant Working Party for the year 2017/2018.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Margaret Marks be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Grant Working Party for the year 2017/2018.

No apologies for absence had been received.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2016 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Report No: GWP/SE/17/001

The Working Party received Report No: GWP/SE/17/001 which provided monitoring reports of projects that had been awarded grants from the 2017/2018 Community Chest. The report firstly updated the Working Party on the first quarter monitoring of the respective projects listed in paragraph 1.1.3 from April 2017 to June 2017. Members’ asked questions of the Families and Communities Officer relating to some of the organisations that had been awarded grants to which comprehensive responses were provided.

Members’ then received monitoring reports of projects that had been awarded Community Chest grants under two year funding agreements, as approved by Cabinet in February 2016. The report provided the first quarter monitoring of the second year (2017/2018) of the respective projects listed in paragraph 2.1.2 from April 2017 to June 2017.

Members’ felt that where possible, further information should be provided to ensure organisations that had received grants under two year funding agreements were adequately demonstrating that the money awarded was funding successful projects rather than the organisation’s operational costs. The Families and Communities Officer assured Members that grant agreements were in place between the Council and each organisation which required adherence to criteria that would prevent grants being spent in areas not specified in their original application form. A discussion was also held on some difficulties experienced with obtaining feedback on a project from a specific organisation that had a two-year funding agreement in place. Whilst there were no concerns regarding project delivery, monitoring information was not forthcoming at the present time; however this would be followed up accordingly.

The report also sought consideration of future arrangements for assessing applications to Community Chest funding for 2018/2019 and a proposed evaluation process was attached as Appendix A. The Families and Communities Officer highlighted that following the initial assessment of applications, the Working Party would receive a summary of each of the applications and the full applications would only be available on request. In response to Members’ questions, the Officer explained how the Community Chest scheme for 2018/2019 had been publicised, including that enquiries would be undertaken to publicise the scheme further via social media; and confirmed that the budget available for funding was £281,483. This 2018/2019 budget was a reduction of £95,498.00 from the 2017/2018 year as the funding previously provided by Suffolk County Council to specifically fund projects associated with improving health was only available for one year.

The Working Party noted Report No: GWP/SE/17/001 and confirmed the proposed evaluation process for assisting the consideration of Community Chest applications for 2018/2019, attached as Appendix A was acceptable.

The Working Party is requested to NOTE the following date for a future meeting in 2017:

·         Monday 6 November: to consider applications submitted for 2018/19 Community Chest funding

The meeting will commence at 5pm, in GFR14 at West Suffolk House.

The Working Party noted that the next meeting would be held on Monday 6 November 2017 at 5pm in GFR-14 at West Suffolk House.  This meeting had primarily been arranged to consider applications submitted for 2018/2019 Community Chest funding.