Agenda item

Report No: GWP/SE/17/002

(Councillor Sarah Broughton declared a local non-pecuniary interest in Appendix 15: Application from 'Our Special Friends' as she was an acquaintance of the applicant. In respect of Appendix 17: Application from ‘Suffolk Cinema Network’, in the interests of openness and transparency, Councillor Jim Thorndyke wished it to be recorded that he was involved with the operation of Stanton Village Cinema; however, he considered the applicant was not connected to this initiative. Councillor John Burns declared a local non-pecuniary interest in Appendix 20: Application from 'Haverhill Community Trust' , as a trustee of this organisation in his capacity as a Haverhill Town Councillor. All three Members remained in the meeting for the consideration of these items.)

 

The Working Party considered Report No: GWP/SE/17/002, which sought approval for a number of applications submitted for Community Chest funding in the 2018/2019 financial year.  The recommendations of the Grant Working Party would be considered by Cabinet on 5 December 2017 for approval.

 

Applications for Community Chest funding for 2018/2019 closed on 29 September 2017.  A total of 18 applications were received from a wide variety of organisations as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report. Applicants could apply for a maximum of two years, and if applicable, this was also summarised in Appendix 1.

 

As indicated above, £7,000 had previously been allocated in 2016/2017 for 2018/2019,  as part of two-year funding agreements, as follows:

 

 

(a)     Suffolk Accident Rescue Service (SARS):	£2,000
(b)     Theatre Royal (Bury St Edmunds):	£5,000

 

 

These allocations were noted by the Working Party and no further discussion was held on these grants.

 

There were a number of potential synergies between the applications and as such they were grouped in the following categories for consideration by the Working Party:

 

·         Health

·         Family Support

·         Counselling

·         Advice, Advocacy and Support

·         Arts, Sports and Young People

 

Each application was required to be evaluated in accordance with the eligibility and selection criteria set out in Appendix 2, and was considered in turn.

 

Following due consideration, the following was agreed:

 

The Working Party considered the following applications fully met the eligibility and selection criteria and supported the allocation of the full amount for each project in 2018/2019, as applied for:

 

 

(a)     Mentis Tree CIC; and

(b)     Haverhill Community Trust.

 

The Working Party considered that the following applications met the eligibility and selection criteria; however as the Council had not previously granted Community Chest funding to these organisations before, Members felt that the allocation should be granted for one year only and not for two years, as applied for, in order that these organisations could firstly be given the opportunity to adequately demonstrate the benefits and success of their individual projects, or seek alternative funding sources in future years, as appropriate:

 

(a)     Anglia Care Trust (for a reduced amount of £5,000, see below);

(b)     St Nicholas’ Hospice Care (Barrow); and

(c)     Sporting 87.

 

The Working Party considered that the following applications met the eligibility and selection criteria and were satisfied that funding should be recommended to be allocated for 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, as applied for:

 

(a)     St Nicholas’ Hospice Care (Bury St Edmunds);

(b)     St Nicholas’ Hospice Care (Haverhill);

(c)     HomeStart Mid and West Suffolk (for a reduced amount of £10,000 for each year, see below);

(d)     Relate Norfolk and Suffolk;

(e)     Our Special Friends;

(f)      REACH Community Projects;

(g)     Citizens’ Advice Bureau Suffolk West; and

(h)     Suffolk Cinema Network.

 

In respect of the above organisations, they would be asked to submit an evidence-based report (in addition to the usual monitoring reporting), detailing the benefits and success of their individual project in 2018/2019 so a re-assessment could be made before releasing funding for 2019/2020.

 

Regarding the application submitted by the Anglia Care Trust for support towards funding the delivery of a countywide outreach service aimed at reducing the negative impact of alcohol, the Working Party considered that funding should be awarded to cover individuals specifically residing in the St Edmundsbury area and that as several other organisations provided help with alcohol related issues, it was important to monitor and measure the success of this project and whether it had generated positive outcomes.

 

The Working Party recognised the benefits of the project and considered it met the eligibility and selection criteria; however, it felt that an allocation of £5,000 in 2018/2019 only instead of the £10,000 that had been applied for in 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, was a more appropriate amount for the reasons given above.

 

Regarding the application submitted by HomeStart Mid and West Suffolk for support towards funding the ongoing development of a HomeStart service within Haverhill, the Working Party initially expressed concern that no match funding had been sought and therefore the organisation needed to be encouraged to seek additional funding sources.  The Council had supported other HomeStart projects in previous years; however these projects had not received the level of funding applied for in this instance.

 

The Working Party recognised the benefits of the project and considered it met the eligibility and selection criteria; however, it felt that an allocation of £10,000 in 2018/2019  and 2019/2020 only instead of the £19,846 that had been applied for in 2018/2019 and £20,202 in 2019/2020, were more appropriate amounts for the reasons given above.

 

The following applications were not supported on this occasion and would not be recommended for funding:

 

(a)     Abundant Life Church (Epic Dad);               

(b)     Sharing Parenting, Clare; and

(c)     Rural Coffee Caravan.                  

 

Reasons for this included:

 

• not meeting the eligibility and selection criteria;
• the quality of the application;
• lack of justification for the amount of funding requested and how it would be utilised;
• similar projects already existed in St Edmundsbury, therefore some projects could be consolidated with other existing organisations through effective collaborative working;
• whether the objectives of the project would benefit sufficient numbers of the community; and
• projects could be funded by alternative funding sources.

 

If the Working Party’s recommendations were approved by Cabinet, the officers would provide individual feedback to those applicants that had been unsuccessful.

 

Regarding the application submitted by Suffolk Family Carers for support towards carer support and training programmes, the Working Party was minded to set aside an allocation of £10,000 in 2018/2019 instead of the £18,005 requested; however Members wished to obtain further information on the proposed project and previous successes before making a recommendation to Cabinet. Whilst the Working Party recognised their important work, some reluctance to support the full application was expressed as it amounted to approximately 90% of the total project cost and Members felt Suffolk Family Carers needed to access other funding sources.

 

Similarly, in respect of the application received from The Restoration Trust, the Working Party wished to obtain further information regarding the purpose of the project and its previous successes.  The application was considered not to contain sufficient information and there was some discussion on the applicant’s financial situation and that as similar projects already existed in St Edmundsbury, whether it could be consolidated with other existing organisations through effective collaborative working.

Once this information was gathered, it was agreed that the Working Party would be consulted by email to ascertain whether it wished to confirm its intention to recommend grant funding to the above two organisations or not.  

 

 

RESOLVED:

That

 

(1)     consideration of the following applications be deferred to enable further information/clarification to be sought on the relevant application, namely:

 

(a)         Suffolk Family Carers: £18,005; and

(b)         The Restoration Trust £3,542 (2018/19) and £3,611 (2019/20).

 

(2)     Having obtained the further information/clarification required on each of the two applications above, further discussion be undertaken on them with the Grant Working Party by email, following which delegated authority be given to the Head of Families and Communities, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Working Party to determine the level of grant (if any) to be recommended to Cabinet for approval. 

 

RECOMMENDED That:

 

(1)    the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2018/2019, as previously approved in 2016/2017 as part of two-year funding agreements, be noted, namely:

(a)    Suffolk Accident Rescue Service (SARS):	£2,000
(b)    Theatre Royal (Bury St Edmunds):	£5,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (2)   the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2018/2019, as detailed in Report No: GWP/SE/17/002, be approved, namely:

 

(a)    Anglia Care Trust:	£5,000
(b)    St Nicholas’ Hospice Care (Barrow):	£1,712
(c)     Mentis Tree CIC:	£9,000
(d)    Sporting 87:	£6,000
(e)    Haverhill Community Trust:	£6,030

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3)    subject to the budget setting process for 2019/2020, and subject to the satisfactory submission of evidence-based reports detailing the benefits and success of each individual project in 2018/2019, the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, be approved, namely:

 

	2018/19	2019/20
(a)    St Nicholas’ Hospice Care (Bury St Edmunds):	£6,532	£6,533
(b)    St Nicholas’ Hospice Care (Haverhill):	£8,909	£8,909
(c)     HomeStart Mid and West Suffolk:	£10,000	£10,000
(d)    Relate Norfolk and Suffolk:	£5,000	£5,000
(e)    Our Special Friends:	£6,000	£6,000
(f)     REACH Community Projects:	£10,000	£10,000
(g)    Citizens Advice Bureau Suffolk West:	£182,000	£182,000
(h)    Suffolk Cinema Network:	£3,500	£3,500

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4)    No Community Chest funding for 2018/2019 be awarded to:

 

(a)    Abundant Life Church (Epic Dad);               

(b)    Sharing Parenting, Clare;  and

(c)     Rural Coffee Caravan.  

(Councillor Ian Houlder left the meeting following the consideration of the application submitted by Mentis Tree CIC and Councillor Margaret Marks left the meeting during the consideration of the application submitted by Haverhill Community Trust.)