(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Blamire)
Cabinet received a report from the Head of Community Engagement to consider and confirm arrangements for application and decision making processes for Second Homes Funding for 2012 – 2013.
The options, options analysis, including risk assessment and officer preferred option, were set out in the report as follows:
|
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Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Risks |
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Option 1 A two fold process to include smaller and larger grants with indicative allocations |
Flexible approach that allows funds to be steered towards projects of all sizes
Inclusive and accessible for organisations of all sizes and varying capacity
Allows investment in both larger, collaborative initiatives with longer term benefits and also specific initiatives assisting individual organisations and the services they deliver
Likely to promote good value for money by encouraging applications for funding at levels appropriate to the size and scope of the project |
Range of proposals likely to be broader making decision making processes more complex |
Categories will need to be treated separately to ensure fair consideration of bids |
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Option 2 All grants limited to £10,000, or agreed alternative ceiling, to support individual bids to support development and sustainability
|
Easier to access for all eligible organisations
Possible to approve more individual applications |
Larger initiatives creating higher, longer term benefits would not be eligible.
No scope to underpin support structures which are required by many organisations
Lost chance to increase sustainability, develop sector wide opportunities and achieve efficiencies in relation to VCF and Arts organisations for the future
Administrative costs likely to increase |
None specifically noted |
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Option 3 All grants limited to £50,000 or agreed alternative ceiling, to support larger collaborative bids to create longer term sustainable benefits across organisations |
All funds focused on larger initiatives with wider and longer term benefits |
Likely to exclude smaller organisations
Likely to preclude specific, smaller scale but useful initiatives |
None specifically noted |
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Option 4 Carnforth Local Information Centre is funded, at this stage, within Options 1 and 2 |
This would provide the funding to allow the Information Centre to continue for a further two years |
No means of assessing the proposal against scheme criteria No current arrangements in place to assist other organisations facing immediate difficulty. |
No clear business plan has been submitted and assessed so no way to ascertain whether the Information Centre will be able to operate at a sustainable level after funding has ceased |
The officer preferred option was Option 1. This approach was accessible to more potential applicants and encouraged a broader range of proposals. Any additional complexity arising from this was likely to be very manageable within the processes proposed.
Cabinet members views were sought on Option 4, which could be considered alongside the funding arrangements described in Option 1 or 2.
Councillor Barry proposed, seconded by Councillor Blamire:-
“(1) Cabinet approves the proposed arrangements to allocate £294,808 of Second Homes Funding through an open bidding process to Voluntary, Community, Faith and Arts organisations including Friends Groups.
(2) That the fund is promoted as the Take Pride Community Fund.
(3) That an advisory panel is established to consider funding applications, recommend allocations and oversee progress with final funding allocations being determined by Cabinet.
(4) That Cabinet appoints Councillors Barry and Blamire as the relevant city council portfolio holders to act as members of the advisory panel and requests that Lancashire County Council nominate the relevant county council portfolio holder to the advisory panel.
(5) That applications are now invited for investment grants leading to development of the Voluntary, Community and Faith sector and the Arts sector in line with the options agreed by Cabinet in May 2012 (Minute 8 refers).
(6) That the specific request for funding support from Carnforth Local Information Centre is not approved at this time, but Cabinet invites the Carnforth Local information Centre to bid for the investment grants through the bidding process.
(7) That the remaining £13,847 of unallocated Second Homes funding from 2011 – 2012 is used to provide the necessary administration resources to ensure the funds are managed and monitored in line with the council’s role as accountable body and county council requirements.”
Councillors then voted:-
Resolved:
(6 Members (Councillors Barry, Blamire, Bryning, Leytham, Sands and Smith) voted in favour, and 1 Member (Councillor Hamilton-Cox) abstained.)
(1) Cabinet approves the proposed arrangements to allocate £294,808 of Second Homes Funding through an open bidding process to Voluntary, Community, Faith and Arts organisations including Friends Groups.
(2) That the fund is promoted as the Take Pride Community Fund.
(3) That an advisory panel is established to consider funding applications, recommend allocations and oversee progress with final funding allocations being determined by Cabinet.
(4) That Cabinet appoints Councillors Barry and Blamire as the relevant city council portfolio holders to act as members of the advisory panel and requests that Lancashire County Council nominate the relevant county council portfolio holder to the advisory panel.
(5) That applications are now invited for investment grants leading to development of the Voluntary, Community and Faith sector and the Arts sector in line with the options agreed by Cabinet in May 2012 (Minute 8 refers).
(6) That the specific request for funding support from Carnforth Local Information Centre is not approved at this time, but Cabinet invites the Carnforth Local information Centre to bid for the investment grants through the bidding process.
(7) That the remaining £13,847 of unallocated Second Homes funding from 2011 – 2012 is used to provide the necessary administration resources to ensure the funds are managed and monitored in line with the council’s role as accountable body and county council requirements.
Officers responsible for effecting the decision:
Head of Community Engagement
Reasons for making the decision:
Requirements for the use of the available Second Homes funding were entirely consistent with the Priorities, Outcomes, Success Measures and Actions identified in the Council’s Corporate Plan 2012 – 15. The VCF and Arts sectors were important to the local economy and also in terms of the valuable services they deliver. However, both sectors were affected by the impact of funding cuts and other economic factors. The funding available provided an invaluable opportunity to generate new ideas, promote cooperation and deliver benefits for the district. Key themes of the proposed bidding arrangements were longer term sustainability and building on collaboration, to create the resilience needed for the future so that services and benefits for the district were protected.