Issue - meetings

To review the operation of the Developing Communities Fund.

This report was considered by the Scrutiny Commission on 8 November. An extract from the minutes of that meeting is attached.

Members reviewed the operation of the Developing Communities Fund including the eligibility of projects, the evaluation criteria and process, governance and the allocation of funding to be made available for the future. A member suggested that parish teams required more support but that they needed to have a clear idea of the scheme including costings and timescales prior to applying.

A member queried the progress of the equivalent fund for the Hinckley area and in response it was explained that £300k had been set aside but a mechanism for allocation was being drawn up.

It was moved by Councillor Morrell, seconded by Councillor Surtees and

RESOLVED – the continuing programme as detailed in the report be approved.

To review the operation of the Developing Communities Fund.

In reviewing the operation of the developing communities fund, it was noted that during the first programme some issues had come to light such as the capacity of parishes to run projects, the level of grant, time taken for the process and VAT issues. Minor changes to the criteria were proposed for the second phase of funding.

It was acknowledged that more assistance was required for assessing the applications and it had also come to light that many parishes did not have the skills or resources to manage such large projects so support to parishes in managing the projects would be beneficial.

In relation to the suggestion that the minimum level of funding should be lowered, a member suggested that increasing the upper limit for the Parish & Community Initiative Fund may be more appropriate.

A member expressed concern about linking eligibility for the fund to neighbourhood development plans, and it was also suggested that a community’s neighbourhood plan may be preventing access to higher levels of funding.

RESOLVED – Council be RECOMMENDED to consider the following:

(i)            Officer support for project management is required, but the fine line between enabling and project managing be addressed;

(ii)           Expansion of the Parish & Community Initiative Fund rather than reducing the lower limit of the Developing Communities Fund;

(iii)          Changes to the challenging timescales;

(iv)         Creation of a toolkit to support parishes through the application and project management processes.