Accessibility settings

In order to remember your preferences as you navigate through the site, a cookie will be set.

Color preference

Text size

Issue - meetings

Community Funding Scheme

Meeting: 06/01/2021 - Executive (Item 71)

71 Community Funding Scheme / S106 Panel pdf icon PDF 208 KB

To approve a new Community Funding Grants scheme as a way forward to allocate outstanding funds for future community projects and to approve the amended composition of the S106 Panel.

Subject To Call In:: Yes - No action to be taken until the expiry of the call-in period.

Decision:

1.       That the creation of a Community Grants Scheme be APPROVED.

2.       That the development of the scheme be delegated to the Head of Development Services and the Head of Finance and Asset Management, including the formation of criteria and the consultation process to be undertaken to allocate the grants.

3.       That the S106 Panel comprise:

·        The Lead Member for Community.

·        The Lead Member for Built Environment.

·        The Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management.

·        The Lead Member for Health and Wellbeing.

·        Local Member(s) for where the S106 derived as well as from the Ward the funding crosses into (where applicable).

Any Lead Member who cannot attend the meeting can nominate a substitute from the Membership of the Executive Committee.

Minutes:

71.1          The report of the Head of Development Services, circulated at Pages No. 59-62,  outlined a new community funding grants scheme as a way forward to allocate funds of £57,700 for future community projects and proposed refining the composition of the Section 106 Panel. Members were asked to approve the creation of the scheme; delegate development of the scheme to the Heads of Development Services and Finance and Asset Management, including the formation of criteria and the consultation process to be undertaken to allocate the grants; and to approve an amendment to the composition of the Section 106 Panel and the consultation process.

71.2          The Community and Economic Development Manager explained that there were two elements to the report; firstly, a new time-limited community grants scheme for capital projects as a way of allocating the £57,700 which was available as a consequence of the withdrawal of the grant offer to Wormington Village Society, and secondly, to refine the composition of the Section 106 Panel to add a Member and to ask for representations from local affected Members in advance of meetings of the Panel rather than having them attend the Panel.

71.3          During the discussion which ensued, a Member expressed the view that the current Section 106 Panel worked well as it was and she did not see the need for an additional permanent Member. In response, the Community and Economic Development Manager explained that the recommendation to increase the number of Panel Members to five was about there being an odd number which was more usual for the Membership of Committees and Working Groups but also the suggestion that the additional Member should be the Leader of the Council made sense as he was also the Lead Member for Economic Development/Promotion. Another Member indicated that this was a relatively small amount of money for community grants and she questioned what the time limit for spending the funds was. She also understood the role of the Section 106 Panel was to consider disputed Section 106 applications for funding and she questioned how many of those were outstanding. In response, the Community and Economic Development Manager explained the intention that the Section 106 Panel be used for the decisions on the community grant funding as well as for Section 106 applications. The community funding would be promoted through Parishes and community groups and local media for a period of approximately 10 weeks to try and encourage applications – it was anticipated the funding would be allocated in one meeting of the Panel but if not a second meeting would be called. In terms of outstanding Section 106 funds, to his knowledge there were currently none outstanding. At the present time, the Section 106 Panel met three or four times a year and usually had around four or five applications to make a decision on; it was not possible to predict when they would come through as it depended on trigger points etc. The Lead Member for Built Environment indicated that it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71

Action By: HDS HF&AM