Agenda item

Report attached.

Members considered a report of Councillor Munsif Dad, Leader of the Council, updating Cabinet on the Governance arrangements for the £20,000 Cabinet Action Fund.  The Leader provided a brief introduction to the report.

Councillor Noordad Aziz indicated the process was more transparent than the previous Community Chest scheme and would lead to a fairer distribution of funding to community groups.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The Leader of the Council had announced to Cabinet at its meeting on 30^th July 2024 that a Cabinet Action Fund of £20,000 would be created to provide vital support to residents and address needs within the community.

A sum of £20,000 had been identified from within the current revenue budget that could be used for this purpose for 2024/2025, and which could also be used in respect of the Cabinet Action Fund in future years’ budgets.

Charities and community groups across all wards in the Borough would be invited to request grant funding from the Cabinet Action Fund.  They would be asked to complete a short and simple application form to explain how much funding they were requesting and what they wanted to use the money for.  These forms could be returned by email or handed to a ward councillor for delivery to the Council.

The intention was that these grants would be awarded to constituted and well-established community organisations and charities across the Borough, with each charity and community group being required to hold their own designated bank account.

The Fund would allow the Cabinet to address issues that might arise across all wards within Hyndburn and the Cabinet would collectively consider how they could use this money to:

• Support voluntary organisations or key service providers that might be under pressure;
• Support the provision of events that benefited the community;
• Address pressing community needs.

The grants might be used for both revenue and capital purposes, but would not be given where funding would create on-costs or future maintenance costs for the Council unless those could be accommodated within existing budgets.

It was proposed that the grant requests would be assessed by a Cabinet Working Group comprising 3 members of the Cabinet and that their recommendations for the award of funding would be presented to the Leader and Executive Director (Resources) for approval and payment.

It was also proposed that a regular update would be made to Cabinet on the level of grants awarded and the community benefits and achievements that had been generated.

The grants awarded under the scheme were not considered to meet the definition of subsidy within the Subsidy Control Act 2022, as the aim was not to subsidise commercial enterprises bringing goods and services to market.  Instead, the funding would be directed to voluntary and not for profit organisations to support voluntary, community activities in the Borough.

The request process would enable bids for support to be received throughout the financial year.

The request process would not be too onerous, as the total budget was £20,000.  However, each request would be asked to state the community benefit that would be achieved by receiving any funding.

The Cabinet Working Group would consist of the following elected members:

·      Cllr Noordad Aziz – Joint Deputy Leader of the Council 

·      Cllr Vanessa Alexander – Resources & Council Organisation

·      Cllr Kimberley Whitehead – Culture, Heritage & Arts

All payments would be made by BACS into the organisation’s bank account as requested along with their request for support.  Before Payment was made the recipient would be asked to counter-sign a simple offer letter.  This would enable the Council to recover the funding should the money not be spent or be misspent by the applicant.

The grant would have to be used for the purpose stated in the request for support and evidence of this might be required, should the Council request it.  In the event of the funding not being spent in accordance with its purpose, the Council would require organisations to return any used grant back to the Council.

All organisations would need to agree to the Council undertaking public relation activities in relation to the grant award and progress.

Alternative Options Considered and Reasons for Rejection

Members could decide not to set up the proposed fund.

Resolved                                    -    That Cabinet:

(1)   Agrees the process for approval of any requests to, and payments from, the Cabinet Action Fund, as detailed in the report

(2)   Forms a Cabinet Working Group (comprising 3 Cabinet members) to evaluate applications for funding from the Cabinet Action Fund and make recommendations to the Leader of the Council and Executive Director (Resources).

(3)   Notes that Cabinet will receive further reports setting out how the Cabinet Action Fund has been spent and what has been achieved or delivered with the funding.

(4)   Approves the use of the £20,000 from within existing budgets and any virement that may be required to transfer funds in accordance with the Financial Procedure Rules.