Agenda item

Members to receive presentation from the Assistant Director (Leisure, Community and Cultural Services) on the Annual Grants.

Members received a presentation from the Assistant Director (Leisure, Community and Cultural Services) on the Annual Grants.

The Annual Grants were due to open on Monday 31 July 2023 and close on Sunday1 October 2023.

There will be a pre grants board meeting with Chair and Vice chair of the grants board to answer any queries and questions.

Grants Board receive the applications and agree the awards in November. Welwyn Hatfield Annual Community Grants are available to specific organisations to help fund core running costs of the project.

The Community Grant funding is for projects that make a positive impact on the community.

Organisations can apply for grant funding of up to £20,000. Funding applications over £20,000 will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and for those organisations who have been affected negatively by Covid-19.

Members were shown the current eligibility criteria for annual grants.

Applications must demonstrate a positive contribution to one or more of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s priorities. This works well in ensuring a central thread runs through our purpose. These are:

·       Attractive and accessible green spaces

·       Evolving, vibrant town centres and a growing economy

·       Quality homes through managed growth

·       A sense of community where people feel safe

·       A well-run Council which puts our customers first

The criteria has remained the same for a long period of time.

It is known that some organisations have received funding year on year from the annual grants fund.

Some of these organisations also receive other grant funding from the Council.

Some smaller organisations do not want to apply for the larger funding pots as they think they will not be successful.

As a new Grants Board there is an opportunity to review the criteria to enable more organisations to benefit.

Implementation will then be applied to the Annual Grants applications that open at end of July.

Some suggestions for discussion:

·       Reduce the maximum grant from £20k to £10k per application

·       Reduce the % payable for workforce salaries from 99% to 50%

·       Introduce a 12 month wait between successive funding bids

·       Ringfence an allocation (£10k) to introduce a smaller grants pot of a maximum £500.00 to enable start up activity or to assist with administration i.e opening bank accounts etc

The following points were noted:

·       Members did not want to reduce the funding to £10,000 but wanted to give the funding to areas where it makes maximum use.

·       It was noted the overall pot of money for annual grants was £73,000.  Members asked if they could increase the amount as the costs for running charities are increasing.   Officers would look into it.

·       It was noted that the reason for the meeting was to have a discussion about the criteria and possibly making changes to it.

·       Members were worried about reducing the workforce salary to 50%.

·       Members stated in regards to ‘Introduce a 12 month wait between successive funding bids’, could the council possibly change it to “If you are successful you will be a lower priority next year”.

·       In regards to Ringfencing an allocation (£10k) to introduce a smaller grants pot, members wanted the last sentence to be changed to assisting with constitution and not bank accounts.

·       Members who were new to Grants Board asked if the Annual Grants have been successful in the past as it is getting harder to fund charities in Welwyn Hatfield? Officers stated that the committee did make decisions on the organisations, they looked at strengths and weaknesses of the bids. Guidance was given to members on bids and the criteria during the meetings.

·       Members did not want to restrict the criteria for annual grants and wanted to make consistent decisions.

·       It was noted that at the last meeting, money was left over and members asked if the money could be rolled over?   Officers stated that the money could be rolled over and used to fund annual grants or be used in the community partnerships team.

·       The needs for charities is growing and financial inclusion is important. The council need to educate people on how to complete the forms and support them and give them the tools to help them.

·       Members suggested having a workshop for charities or a trustee workshop by possibly using the money left over to help charities to write constitutions or policies.

·       Members asked if the application form could be simplified? Officers said they will look into the language of the form.

RESOLVED:

(1)  Officers will look into the evaluation criteria, scoring matrix and framework for workshops.

(2)  Officers will look into changing the wording of “Ringfence an allocation (£10k) to introduce a smaller grants pot of a maximum £500.00 to enable start up activity or to assist with administration i.e opening bank accounts” so it includes the constitution.