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COUNTY COUNCIL LOCAL COMMITTEE FOR SOUTH LAKELAND
Meeting date: 23rd September 2011
From: Chief Executive’s Office
BUDGET WORKING GROUP REPORT
1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 This report presents the minutes from the Budget Working Group held on 31st August 2011 and brings forward the recommendations of the Working Group.
2.0 STRATEGIC PLANNING AND EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS
2.1 The Local Committee has established a Budget Working Group to monitor its budget, lead on developing the Area Plan and make recommendations on the disposition of unallocated resources.
3.0 RECOMMENDATION
That Local Committee
3.1 Receives the minutes of the Budget Working Group held on 31st August 2011.
3.2 That Local Committee considers the amendments below to the Neighbourhood Forum Grant Criteria in order to ensure equity across the area:
i) The maximum grant award should be increased to £1,500 in all Forum areas
ii) Kendal Forum should allow applications from individuals who are representing County or Country
iii) The maximum award for funding individuals in all Forum areas should be increased from £150 to £250
iv) The criteria are amended to state that “Public events will only be funded in exceptional circumstances and if an entrance fee is to be charged usually only a guarantee against loss will be considered.”
v) The line stating that the Forum does not fund “Parish and District Councils, except in exceptional circumstances” to be removed completely
vi) To make clear that the Neighbourhood Forums will not provide retrospective funding.
vii) The line stating that “your group conforms to the Forum’s sustainability checklist as appropriate” to be removed completely
3.3 Local Committee are asked to agree, subject to confirmation from the High Furness Local Area Partnership and SLDC, that Egton with Newland, Mansriggs and Osmotherly parishes are transferred into the Low Furness & Ulverston Local Area Partnership and Neighbourhood Forum areas.
3.4 That Local Committee does not support the application for funding by the Quaker Tapestry.
3.5 That Local Committee agrees to award a grant of £5,000 to Kendal Arts International towards staging the Olympic Festival event in Bowness on 21st June 2012, from the Economic Initiatives Budget.
4.0 BACKGROUND
4.1 The minutes and reports of the Budget Working Group meeting held on 31st August 2011 form Appendix 1 of this report.
5.0 OPTIONS
5.1 Local Committee may choose to decline the recommendations of the Budget Working Group.
6.0 RESOURCE AND VALUE FOR MONEY IMPLICATIONS
6.1 Local Committee vired £30,000 into the Economic Initiatives budget in May 2011 to leave a spending limit of £30,000.
6.2 The recommendation if approved would allocate £5,000 to the specific project and leave a balance of £25,000 available to allocate.
6.3 The recommendation if approved to transfer Egton with Newland, Mansriggs and Osmotherly parishes from High Furness to the Low Furness and Ulverston Local Area Partnership and forum area, will reduce the High Furness Forum spending limit from £3,768 to £3,247 and increase the Low Furness and Ulverston forum spending limit from £9,812 to £10,333.
7.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1 No Legal Implications on this report
Jill Stannard Chief executive
6th September 2011
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Notes of the Budget Working group meeting 31st August 2011 Appendix 2 Neighbourhood Forum Grant Criteria
Electoral Division(s): All in South Lakeland
* Please remove whichever option is not applicable
Executive Decision Yes*
Key Decision No*
If a Key Decision, is the proposal published in the current Forward Plan? N/A*
Is the decision exempt from call-in on grounds of urgency? No*
If exempt from call-in, has the agreement of the Chair of the relevant N/A* Overview and Scrutiny Committee been sought or obtained?
Has this matter been considered by Overview and Scrutiny? No* If so, give details below.
Has an environmental or sustainability impact assessment been No* undertaken?
Has an equality impact assessment been undertaken? No*
N.B. If an executive decision is made, then a decision cannot be implemented until the expiry of the eighth working day after the date of the meeting – unless the decision is urgent and exempt from call-in and necessary approvals have been obtained.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT COUNCIL OR EXECUTIVE DECISIONS [including Local Committees]
“No previous relevant decisions”.
CONSIDERATION BY OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY
“Not considered by Overview and Scrutiny”.
BACKGROUND PAPERS
“No background papers”.
REPORT AUTHOR
Contact: Karen Johnson karen.johnson@cumbria.gov.uk 01539 713157.
Appendix 1
Notes of the meeting of South Lakeland Local Committee Budget Working Group held on 31st August 2011.
Attended by: G Cook (Chair), J Willis, I Stewart, J Airey, K Lancaster Officer(s): K Johnson
1. Apologies: None
2. Declarations of Interest: No declarations of interest were made
3. Matters Arising from the Minutes of the last Meeting: Members requested that the ASM confirm with Glynis Andrews of Member Services where November’s Local Committee meeting is to be held.
4. Neighbourhood Forums The ASM gave a brief update on the current budget position and a breakdown of forum grant spending this year to date.
IS advised that he is aware that SLDC is currently looking at its grant spending and suggested that, in view of the reduction in availability of funding at both County and District level, it might be appropriate for some of the grant award processes of the two authorities to be joined, with Neighbourhood Forums providing an ideal format for this. Final decisions on grant awards would remain separate to each authority. The ASM was asked to explore the possibilities of this with Debbie Fox at SLDC and to report back to Budget Working Group.
Forum Grant Criteria At the July meeting of Local Committee, members had expressed an interest in carrying out a review of the criteria for awarding Neighbourhood Forum grants as there are currently some inconsistencies between areas. Budget Working Group was presented with a copy of the current criteria with the differences highlighted and it was agreed that in the interests of equity there should be consistency across all areas. Members emphasised that officers should continue to ensure that groups applying for grants can demonstrate that wherever possible they are raising funds elsewhere. After further discussion the following recommendations were proposed:
Recommendation
That Local Committee agrees that:
The maximum grant award should be increased to £1,500 in all Forum areas
Kendal Forum should allow applications from individuals representing County or Country
The maximum award for funding individuals in all Forum areas should be increased from £150 to £250
The criteria are amended to state that “Public events will only be funded in exceptional circumstances and if an entrance fee is to be charged usually only a guarantee against loss will be considered.”
The line stating that the Forum does not fund “Parish and District Councils, except in exceptional circumstances” to be removed completely
Under “What doesn’t the Forum fund” the wording of the line stating “> Costs of projects which have already been started” will be amended to emphasise that applications for retrospective funding will not be considered
The line stating that “your group conforms to the Forum’s sustainability checklist as appropriate” to be removed completely
5. Local Area Partnerships Members were advised that the request from Egton with Newland, Mansriggs and Osmotherly parishes to transfer from the High Furness Local Area Partnership to the Low Furness & Ulverston Local Area Partnership was discussed and agreed at the Low Furness & Ulverston LAP meeting on 9th August. High Furness LAP will discuss the matter at its forthcoming meeting on 29th September.
Historically the parishes have always had stronger community links with the Ulverston area. As the LAP areas have the same footprint as the Neighbourhood Forum areas, any transfer would have a slight effect on grant funding for the two areas, with Low Furness & Ulverston gaining approx £500 in the current year and High Furness reducing by that amount. There will be no effect on the County Council’s funding for Local Area Partnerships. Members also asked that the ASM confirm with her contact that there is no objection at SLDC.
It is understood that the Better Highways programme, which works to the LAP/Forum area footprints has already re-aligned its work areas to include the parishes within the Low Furness & Ulverston team.
Recommendation
That Local Committee agrees, subject to confirmation from the High Furness Local Area Partnership and SLDC, that Egton with Newland, Mansriggs and Osmotherly parishes are transferred into the Low Furness & Ulverston Local Area Partnership and Neighbourhood Forum areas
6. Grant & Funding Applications
a) The Quaker Tapestry As part of its Community Connections Initiative, a 3 year programme to ensure the sustainability of The Quaker Tapestry Exhibition, the Café and the Friends Meeting House, the organisation has applied to South Lakeland Local Committee for a £5,000 grant from its Economic Initiatives fund. The grant would go towards the purchase
of new travelling boxes to enable the tapestry to be displayed at exhibitions around the country and also towards installing a community Wi-fi connection within the Meeting House and Café in Kendal.
Members felt that as £15,000 of funding had already been secured from Cumbria County Council through the Regeneration Fund that it would not be appropriate to recommend any further funding from Local Committee.
Recommendation
That Local Committee does not support the application for funding by the Quaker Tapestry. b) Kendal Arts International This organisation is seeking £5,000 from South Lakeland Local Committee’s Economic Initiatives fund towards an event to be held on 21st June 2012 at the start of the Festival to mark the London 2012 Olympics. It also coincides with the Olympic Torch Relay arriving in Bowness on the same day. The Festival event will be one of only five being held around the country. This is in addition to the main Lakes Alive programme and therefore requires separate funding to enable its delivery.
Members agreed that as this would be an important opportunity in terms of promotion of the local area on a national scale and the great potential economic benefit therefore the application should be supported.
Recommendation
That Local Committee agrees to award a grant of £5,000 to Kendal Arts International towards staging the Olympic Festival event in Bowness on 21st June 2012 c) South Westmorland Local Area Partnership At its meeting on 26th July 2011 the South Westmorland LAP discussed the reduction of the 541 bus service from Bowness to Kendal from two days per week to one day per week. The LAP agreed that it wished to support the running of the service on Wednesdays for one year, commencing on 4th May 2011. The cost is to be shared with a contribution from the LAP, from each of the parishes affected and it was suggested that the balance required of £1320 might be sought form South Lakeland Local Committee.
Members from other divisions who have faced a similar situation expressed concern over the legality of using LAP funding to support County or District services that have been withdrawn and some had also been advised that the service could not continue to run under the same service number. The ASM was asked to clarify the situation with Cheryl Cowperthwaite, the Acting Passenger Transport Manager.
It was also pointed out that other members have supported additional bus services but have used funding from their £12k Revenue Scheme to do so. IS agreed that rather than seek funding from Local Committee he would earmark £650 from his own Revenue Scheme for the 541 service and the ASM agreed to speak to Cllr Bland to obtain his agreement to the same. The request for funding would therefore go forward to September Local Committee as part of the £12k Revenue Scheme report and pro-forma.
7. Any Other Business The ASM updated members on the staffing situation within the Area Support team. A new Area Engagement Officer, Alison Love, has been recruited to an 18.5 hour post starting on 3rd October and Zoe Sutton will join as a 22 hour Engagement Support Officer from 19th September.
8. Date of next Meeting
Provisional dates for meetings during the weeks commencing 2nd October and 12th December to be circulated by KJ/GH
Appendix 2
SOUTH LAKELAND NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUMS Grant Fund Information Sheet
If your group needs a grant for a project which involves local people working together for community benefit, please read on……………...
Who can apply for a grant? You can apply for a grant if you are:-
1. > an established group run by a committee with a written constitution or set of rules and a group bank account (requiring two or more signatures for withdrawals, one of whom must be the Treasurer) (maximum award £1000). £750 in High Furness > in the process of setting your group up (maximum award: £250) > an individual representing County or Country (maximum award: £150). Kendal Forum does not fund individuals at all
2. non-profit making and your work benefits your local community
3. operational within the XXXXXXX Neighbourhood Forum area (list of parishes within the Forum area) If you are affiliated and part of a national charitable body, you must demonstrate that any grant awarded would be of direct local benefit or used within the local community.
4. organising a public event. If an entrance fee is to be charged, only a guarantee against loss will be considered.
What does the Forum fund? > Capital costs eg. building work, equipment > One-off project costs eg. equipment
What doesn’t the Forum fund? > Operational or running costs or staffing for the group, except in the case of a new group. > Religious organisations except where there is clear evidence of wider community benefit. > Party political organisations > Parish and District Councils, except in exceptional circumstances. (Low Furness & Ulverston criteria do not exclude funding for parish councils. Historically other forum areas have given funding to parish councils [up to a maximum of £150] towards work on Parish plans) > Schools and school based projects unless there is clear evidence of wider community benefit. > Costs of projects which have already been started.
It is important to the Forum that:- > your group is trying to raise funds, either through group activities or from other funding organisations. > your group conforms to the Forum’s sustainability checklist as appropriate. > your project is of benefit to the local community. > Your group agrees to all the points in the ‘General conditions for the offer of financial assistance’ sheet.
PROCESS > Request a grant application pack, which is available by post or email or can be downloaded from website. > Read the grant fund information sheet, application form and general conditions. > Complete and submit application form – remember to include all the supporting information and documents required. > Applications should be submitted [4 weeks] before the Forum date and we will acknowledge receipt of your application. >You will be contacted if any additional information is required . >If your application is eligible, you will be invited to present it at a Neighbourhood Forum meeting. Grants will not be considered if a group representative does not attend the Forum meeting. At the Forum you need to give a short presentation (2-3 minutes) about your application. >The Forum decides whether or not (to recommend that) a grant be made. The amounts of grants awarded are decided by County Councillors after the Forum meeting. > After the Forum you will receive a letter to confirm whether your application has been successful and the amount awarded. You should receive a cheque 2-3 weeks after the confirmation letter. > Six months after the grant is awarded you will receive a project completion form to fill in and return, with receipts and other evidence of the work done. >At any time if you have any questions about your application or the grant process please contact XXXXX on 01539 713419 or email XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Neighbourhood Forums were set up by Cumbria County Council to give local people an opportunity to have a say in policy and decision making. Forums are public meetings which welcome local people, community groups and Councillors to discuss issues and to recommend action. If you would like more information about Neighbourhood Forums or Forum grants, please contact XXXXXXXX (details above)