Agenda and minutes

To note any substitution of Board Members made in accordance with Council Procedure Rules.

Note: Councillor R.Lass Chaired the start of the meeting in the absence of the Chairman.

There were no substitutions.

To note any apologies.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J.Caliskan and J.Weston.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2020 (previously circulated).

The Minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2020 were approved as a correct record.

The hard copy of the Minutes would be signed by the Chairman as soon as it was reasonably practicable or alternatively, electronic signatures would be arranged after the meeting.

To note declarations of Members’ disclosable pecuniary interests, non-disclosable pecuniary interests and non-pecuniary interests in respect of items on the Agenda.

Councillor L.Chesternan declared a non-pecuniary interest in any relevant items on the Agenda by virtue of being a Member of Hertfordshire County Council.

Councillor S.Markiewicz declared a non-pecuniary interest by virtue of being a Member of the Board of Welwyn Hatfield Citizens Advice. Councillor S.Markiewicz would not participate in the discussion for the Citizens Advice application nor take part in the vote.

Report of the Corporate Director (Housing and Communities) detailing the applications for Small Community Grants.

Members received a report of the Corporate Director (Housing and Communities) which detailed the applications that had been received for Small Community Grants.

The 2020/21 Small Community Grants Criteria had been slightly adjusted to provide opportunities for those community organisations who had been negatively affected by COVID-19 to apply for assistance.

The report noted that Small Community Grants were limited to a maximum of £2,000 per application however the Board was able to increase this should they deem it appropriate.

There was £227,000 in total available during the financial year 2020/21 to be awarded through the grants process.

£175,034 had been ring fenced for the distribution of Annual Grants payments to those organisations awarded their grant during the 2019/20 awarding judgement period.

In 2020/21 there would be no Queens Jubilee Awards being distributed. These funds (£6000) would be moved into the Small Community Grants pot.

There was £52,366 available for the Grants Board to distribute to organisations that requested funding through the Community Small Grants fund.

Eleven applications had been received for the first round of Small Community Grants (Appendix 1) for 2020/21 financial year. A second round of funding would open later in 2020 prior to judgement early 2021.

A total of £21,815 had been applied for in this round of funding, however one organisation had submitted two applications. The Board were only allowed to support a maximum of 1 application per organisation in a 12months period, therefore, the maximum total Councillors were able to grant was £19,815.

The Council looked to support projects which helped achieve at least one of the following priority areas: maintain a safe and healthy community, protect and enhance the environment, meet the borough’s housing needs, help build a strong local economy, engage with our communities and provide value for money.

Herts Ability (application 1)

Herts Ability had applied for a grant of £2000 for the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to enable a safe re-opening of their centres in accordance with Government guidelines.

The Board agreed that Herts Ability was a great organisation and the grant would allow them to continue to provide their services in these difficult times. The Board commented that they were proud to have this organisation in Welwyn Hatfield.

The application was unanimously agreed and a grant of £2000 was APPROVED.

Herts Ability (application 2)

Herts Ability had submitted a second application for a grant of £2000 to help cover the cost of the rental and service charges at the Woodside Centre for the three months during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The Board considered this application alongside Herts Ability’s first application and decided that as they were only able to award one small grant application the former application was the more important of the two.

Councillor L.Chesterman advised that she may be able to consider making a donation to Herts Ability from the Hertfordshire County Council Locality Grant which would help fund the cost of the rent.

REFUSED the application.

Note: Councillor S.Markiewicz joined the meeting and resumed the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The Board decided to change the start time of the Grants Board meetings to 7pm to make allowances for Members who worked full-time.