Agenda item

Report No: EXC/SA/18/014

Shadow Executive (Cabinet) Member: Robert Everitt

Lead Officers: Davina Howes and Lucy Pettitt

 

RESOLVED:

That:

 

(1)     the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2019/2020, as previously approved in 2017/2018 as part of two-year funding agreements, be noted, (Report No: CAB/SE/17/071 refers) namely:

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2)     the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2019/2020, as detailed in Report No: GWP/SE/18/002, be approved, namely:

 

(a)     HomeStart Mid and West Suffolk	£9,889.85
(b)     Mentis Tree CIC	£10,775
(c)     Bury St Edmunds Concert Youth Band	£3,290
(d)     Millennium Farm Trust – Artful Farm	£6,800
(e)     Honington and Sapiston Village Hall	£3,240
(f)      Stradishall Village Review Group	£13,926

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3)     subject to the budget setting process for 2020/2021, and subject to the satisfactory submission of evidence-based reports detailing the benefits and success of each individual project in 2019/2020, the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, be approved, namely:

	2019/20	2020/21
(a)     Gatehouse	£10,000	£10,000
(b)     Suffolk Accident and Rescue Services (SARS)	£5,000	£5,000
(c)     Bury Drop in	£12,288	£12,288
(d)     REACH Community Projects (separate project to that detailed in (1)(g) above)	£9,360	£9,360
(e)     The Voluntary Network – Community Transport	£14,337	£15,800
(f)      Haverhill Community Trust	£24,371	£25,168

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4)     No Community Chest funding for 2019/2020 be awarded to:

 

(a)     Leading Lives;               

(b)     The Voluntary Network – Connect and Support;  

(c)     Aspect Living- Meals on Wheels;            

(d)     EPIC Dad;

(e)     Families and More – Growing Against Violence;

(f)      Fresh Start – New Beginnings;

(g)     Survivors in Transition;

(h)     Lions Club, Bury St Edmunds; and

(i)      Multicultural Women’s Group, Bury St Edmunds Limited.                

 

(5)     The Portfolio Holder for Families and Communities, in consultation with the Grant Working Party, be asked to exercise his existing delegated powers for making individual portfolio holder decisions, to make a decision(s) on utilising any unallocated 2019/2020 Community Chest funding to projects, as appropriate and justifiable and to a maximum of £21,403.35 as set out in paragraph 1.7.9.

 

(Councillor Robin Millar declared a local non pecuniary interest for being associated with the EPIC Dads organisation, and being known to the applicant of Our Special Friends in a personal capacity.  He remained in the meeting during the consideration of this item but did not vote.)

 

The Shadow Executive (Cabinet) considered the above report which sought approval for the allocation of St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s (SEBC) Community Chest grant funding to various organisations for the 2019/2020 year.

 

Applications for SEBC Community Chest funding for 2019/2020 closed on 28 September 2018.  A total of 21 applications had been received from a wide variety of organisations as detailed in Appendix 1 to Report No: GWP/SE/18/002.  The Community Chest budget for 2019/2020 was £281,483,with £95,139.20 also available for allocation through carried over unspent funds from previous years.  £231,942.00 of the 2019/2020 budget was committed in 2017 for second year funding, as listed in the first recommendation and noted by the Shadow Executive. The remaining budget available for 2019/2020 was therefore £144,680.20.  Applicants could apply for a maximum of two years.

 

On 5 November 2018, SEBC’s Grant Working Party had considered each application in turn, which was required to be evaluated in accordance with the eligibility and selection criteria set out in Appendix 2 to Report No: GWP/SE/18/002.  The Working Party’s recommendations were now presented to the Shadow Executive (Cabinet) for approval.

 

Councillor Robert Everitt, one of the Shadow Executive (Cabinet) Members with the responsibility for Families and Communities, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Shadow Executive, including that in his capacity as SEBC Portfolio Holder for Families and Communities, he had attended the meeting of the Grant Working Party and commended their thorough approach to considering each application in turn.  The Working Party had recommended for funding those that were considered to satisfactorily meet the eligibility and selection criteria, with some being recommended for two-years’ funding subject to the satisfactory submission of evidence-based reports detailing the benefits and success of each individual project in 2019/2020.

 

Councillor Everitt conveyed his thanks to the Families and Communities Officers who had worked closely with and encouraged organisations to apply for funding to help enable their respective projects to come to fruition.  He also explained that subject to approval, a total of £21,403.35 would remain available in the St Edmundsbury Community Chest Fund for 2019/2020.  In previous years, this balance, if left unspent could be carried forward to the next financial year; however, as FHDC and SEBC would no longer exist following the creation of West Suffolk Council from 1 April 2019, this would not be possible this year.  The Working Party had therefore considered it appropriate for St Edmundsbury’s Portfolio Holder for Families and Communities to exercise his individual decision making powers, in consultation with the Grant Working Party, to utilise the remainder by allocating suitable funding to other projects that may come forward or to increase the amount of funding already granted to those organisations listed above if it was considered appropriate and justifiable.

 

Nine applications had been considered not to be eligible for funding on this occasion, the reasons for which were provided in paragraph 1.7.8 of the report. Councillor Everitt acknowledged the value of the work of these  organisations and stated that officers provided feedback and supported unsuccessful applicants in trying to obtain alternative sources of funding.

 

A question was asked in respect of why the recommendations from the Grant Working Party were presented for approval by the Shadow Executive (Cabinet), which comprised all Shadow Executive Members (which were the same members as FHDC and SEBC Cabinet Members) and not by SEBC’s Cabinet only, particularly as those that had two-year funding allocations for 2018/2019  and 2019/2020 were approved by SEBC’s Cabinet only in 2017.

 

In response, Members were informed that the business case to create a single council for West Suffolk was only approved in September 2017 and as a consequence of this, the Joint Executive (Cabinet) Committee (comprising all FHDC and SEBC Cabinet Members) and the Shadow Executive (Cabinet) decision making arrangements were established in May 2018.  The decisions taken on this item would not come into effect until after 1 April 2019 when West Suffolk Council would be created, therefore it was pragmatic to include the item on this agenda.  The recommendations could however, have been presented to the Joint Executive (Cabinet) Committee and the decisions carried forward to West Suffolk Council as permitted under the consequential orders.  In any event, the decisions would not have been made by SEBC’s Cabinet only as it no longer met separately to FHDC’s Cabinet, unless exceptional circumstances required otherwise.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That:

 

(1)     the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2019/2020, as previously approved in 2017/2018 as part of two-year funding agreements, be noted, (Report No: CAB/SE/17/071 refers) namely:

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2)     the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2019/2020, as detailed in Report No: GWP/SE/18/002, be approved, namely:

 

(a)     HomeStart Mid and West Suffolk	£9,889.85
(b)     Mentis Tree CIC	£10,775
(c)     Bury St Edmunds Concert Youth Band	£3,290
(d)     Millennium Farm Trust – Artful Farm	£6,800
(e)     Honington and Sapiston Village Hall	£3,240
(f)      Stradishall Village Review Group	£13,926

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3)     subject to the budget setting process for 2020/2021, and subject to the satisfactory submission of evidence-based reports detailing the benefits and success of each individual project in 2019/2020, the allocation of Community Chest funding for 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, be approved, namely:

	2019/20	2020/21
(a)     Gatehouse	£10,000	£10,000
(b)     Suffolk Accident and Rescue Services (SARS)	£5,000	£5,000
(c)     Bury Drop in	£12,288	£12,288
(d)     REACH Community Projects (separate project to that detailed in (1)(g) above)	£9,360	£9,360
(e)     The Voluntary Network – Community Transport	£14,337	£15,800
(f)      Haverhill Community Trust	£24,371	£25,168

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4)     No Community Chest funding for 2019/2020 be awarded to:

 

(a)     Leading Lives;               

(b)     The Voluntary Network – Connect and Support;  

(c)     Aspect Living- Meals on Wheels;            

(d)     EPIC Dad;

(e)     Families and More – Growing Against Violence;

(f)      Fresh Start – New Beginnings;

(g)     Survivors in Transition;

(h)     Lions Club, Bury St Edmunds; and

(i)      Multicultural Women’s Group, Bury St Edmunds Limited.                

 

(5)     The Portfolio Holder for Families and Communities, in consultation with the Grant Working Party, be asked to exercise his existing delegated powers for making individual portfolio holder decisions, to make a decision(s) on utilising any unallocated 2019/2020 Community Chest funding to projects, as appropriate and justifiable and to a maximum of £21,403.35 as set out in paragraph 1.7.9.