Cardiff Council Cyngor Caerdydd Executive
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CARDIFF COUNCIL CYNGOR CAERDYDD EXECUTIVE BUSINESS MEETING: 17 FEBRUARY 2011 CORPORATE DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK FOR GRANTS 2011/12 REPORT OF CITY & COUNTY TREASURER AGENDA ITEM: 7 PORTFOLIO : FINANCE AND SERVICE DELIVERY Reason for this Report 1. To agree grant proposals for 2011/12 as an integral part of the budget strategy. Background 2. The Executive has previously agreed a decision making timetable for grants in line with the budget strategy under the auspices of the Voluntary Sector Compact (Appendix A). 3. The Tripartite Voluntary Sector Compact was established in March 2006 and reported it’s achievements over the last eighteen months to it’s Annual Meeting on 9 December 2010 (Appendix B) . New priorities are being developed into an action plan and will be considered alongside the draft Integrated Partnership Strategy – ‘What Matters’ 1. This will further improve the potential of the local voluntary sector and community groups to play a full and active part in the development of policy and the associated delivery of local services. 4. This report provides an overview of portfolio grant proposals for 2011/12 and seeks agreement of the Executive, subject to Council approval of the 2011/12 budget. Issues Budget Strategy 2011/12 5. The recent Budget Strategy 2011/12 report of the 22 October 2010 addressed the potential impact on the voluntary sector. The report explained that the voluntary sector is a significant partner in delivering council functions and is seen as a major player in contributing to local community life. This view is supported by the fact that, during 2009/10, voluntary sector organisations were in receipt of public funding and 1 Draft Integrated Partnership Strategy – ‘What Matters’. - http://www.cardiffproudcapital.co.uk Page 1 of 8 support from the Council in excess of £40million 2. In addition, the value of volunteering to the Cardiff economy is estimated to be worth over £200 million per annum. 6. The budget strategy report further explained that the Council Executive would resist passing on significant cuts to its voluntary sector partners, if at all possible, but went on to explain that efficiencies were needed in the medium term and the Council would work with the sector to rationalise costs. Provisional Local Government Settlement 2011/12 7. The Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2011/12 was published by the Welsh Assembly Government on the 23 November 2010 and provided Cardiff with an increase of 0.05% on revenue funding on the previous year. 8. Although this is a more favourable settlement than had been expected, as compared to the Welsh Assembly Government’s financial planning assumptions, it primarily relates to a growing population and still leaves the Council with significant levels of savings to be identified, simply in order to maintain existing services. In particular the settlement includes an expectation of protection for Schools and Social Care budgets with increasing budgetary pressures already evident in the current year in both these areas. Also, there is still uncertainty regarding the level of funding the Council will receive from specific grants provided by the Welsh Assembly Government and any reductions will require consideration as to their impact on the budget and the services the Council can provide. Corporate Grant Arrangements 9. The existing grant arrangements, developed in partnership with the voluntary sector, have been reviewed and improved ahead of considering grant budgets for 2011/12. These procedures ensure that service areas have not viewed grants as a soft option from which to find savings and recognises the additional resources and added value the voluntary sector can provide. 10. Prior to the assessment process service area grants officers met to discuss assessment arrangements. This meeting and the further discussions held have allowed officers to share grants information, and focus on those organisations in receipt of multiple grants across the Council. Funding provided to local organisations from other sources was also circulated e.g. Cardiff & Vale University Health Board funding; Cymorth Funding; and Voluntary Action Cardiff’s Impact Plus Funding. 11. With the launch of ‘ What Matters – The Cardiff 10 Year Strategy, both the application and assessment arrangements have been updated to reflect the emphasis on delivering the agreed seven high level outcomes 2 Local Government Data Unit – Wales. Local Authority Funding of the Voluntary Sector 2009/10 to be published in Spring 2011. Page 2 of 8 and the use of Results Based Accountability (RBA) as a methodology for measuring outcomes 3. 12. In the event of service areas considering proposals to disinvest in a particular project Risk and Equality Impact Assessments have formed part of the overall grant assessment. Equality Impact Screening of all proposals contained within the Corporate Grants Framework has been conducted. 13. In addition to the general criteria and service specific criteria for grants, officers reviewed the advice provided by the Welsh Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) (Appendix C). This recommended that voluntary organisations should ensure that funders understand the total value and impact of their services such as: focussing on preventative services, which help to reduce the cost of care on the public purse at a later date; and building capacity in communities that enable people to support each other and promote well-being. Grant Proposals 2011/12 14. The grant assessment arrangements for 2011/12, were undertaken in full consultation with relevant Council officers. Grant proposals for 2011/12 are summarised in the attached overview (Appendix D – to follow) and are subject to the approval of the Council budget 2011/12. The following issues should be noted: i. Corporate Grant Budgets - Community Facilities/Innovations A small saving (£22,000) has been made to the Community Facilities Grant Scheme, as organisations currently in receipt of funding will come to the end of their three year agreements on 31 st March 2011. Given the financial uncertainty, these organisations were allowed to make a request to continue funding for a further year and a number of these have been agreed (Appendix D - pages 3 – 4). Under the Innovations Grant Scheme recipients will be in their final year of funding in 2011/12, and as such, both of these Corporate Grant Schemes will be reviewed ahead of 2012/13. ii. Adult Services and Learning Disability Grants The Executive will recall the intention to assess Learning Disability Grants (Appendix D – pages 10) against the criteria specified within the Cardiff Commissioning and Funding Framework - outlined in the corporate grants report, 18 th February 2010. The assessment is now complete and will see approximately £680,000 of grant funding transfer to contractual arrangements. It is envisaged that the remaining Adult Services grant provision will be assessed to determine the appropriate governing arrangements. iii. Advice Services The development of advice services has been the subject of Welsh Assembly Government and Legal Services Commission proposals on commissioning new provision. In connection with this, Council grant 3 Results Based Accountability (RBA) - http://www.resultsaccountability.com Page 3 of 8 funding of advice services is currently being reviewed and it is intended that current funding arrangements will initially continue at current levels. However, funding will be re-allocated in accordance with the review during 2011/12 (Appendix D – pages 16). In-principle Notifications, Formal Offers and Terms & Conditions 15. Notifications have been sent to organisations advising of in-principle proposals (subject to approval of this report and the Council budget) during February 2011. These early notifications are beneficial from a business planning perspective, especially so given the well documented public funding concerns, though for legal reasons they explain that organisations should not rely on the proposal to make commitments at that stage. Formal offer letters will be circulated once the Council budget has been set and, where applicable, on the determination of a grant agreement. 16. During the 2010/11 grant assessment process officers were encouraged to explore with organisations the potential for efficiency savings in future years i.e. sharing accommodation and reducing their operational costs. In advance of 2011/12 the Council will review its grant agreement terms and conditions to ensure that organisations in receipt of Council funding fully understand that there is an expectation for them to deliver operational efficiencies. 17. Following the motion to Council, passed on the 17 th June 2010 in respect of shared parenting and the principles enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Council service areas involved in grant funding relevant third sector organisations will review the governing arrangements to ensure these principles are adopted and promoted. Current Voluntary Sector Compact Initiatives 18. Building on the drive to deliver medium and longer term efficiency savings the Executive should note the following initiatives which have been designed, in-part, to mitigate the potential for future Council grant reductions: Voluntary Sector Centre Project The Council has been successful in securing an officer secondment from the Welsh Assembly Government for a 2 year period to progress the Voluntary Sector Centre Project (Appendix E). A project steering group has been established with representation from key voluntary