Issue - meetings

To consider a report outlining proposals to support and strengthen the Voluntary and Community Sectors (VCS).  

RECOMMENDED that the Officer Scheme of Delegation in the Council’s Constitution be amended to reflect the changes at Resolution 1 below by, replacing paragraph 2.8 (“Determine applications for capital grants, including Local Area Capital Grants, and allocate core grant funding”) and paragraph 2.9 (“Approve Councillor Community Awards in accordance with the agreed criteria”) with:

(i)            “Determine applications for the small and medium sized grants fund on the basis of the financial limits and criteria determined by the Executive”, with authority delegated to the Head of Service with responsibility for Voluntary Sector funding, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for the Voluntary Sector funding.

(ii)          And “Enter into and manage service level agreements for commissioned VCS services on the basis of the financial limits and criteria determined by the Executive”, with authority delegated to the Head of Service with responsibility for Voluntary Sector funding, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Voluntary Sector funding.

(iii)         Removing the Councillor Community Awards Scheme from the Constitution with effect from the 2019/20 Municipal year.

RESOLVED that:

(i)            The Council’s financial support arrangements for the Voluntary and Community Sectors (VCS) be replaced, on a cost neutral basis, with: (a) A Small Grants Fund of £45,000 from 2020/21 (£30,000 for 2019/20), offering grants of up to £2,000, based on the criteria for award set out at Appendix 2 to the Executive’s report; (b) A Medium Grants Fund of £50,000 offering grants for expenditure from 2020/21 of £2,000 - £20,000, based on the criteria for award set out at Appendix 3 to the Executive’s report; and (c) A Commissioning Fund of £285,000 for expenditure from 2020/21, targeted at some of our currently core funded VCS partners whose services are central to our corporate priorities, as set out in paragraphs 11 and 12 of the Executive’s report and Table 11 of Appendix 1.

(ii)          The Head of Community Partnerships, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Community Partnerships and other Executive Members and Heads of Service as appropriate, be authorised to strengthen the Council’s offer of ‘in kind support’ to the VCS by: (a) Developing and introducing a policy for free / discounted use of Council meeting rooms; (b) Developing and introducing an employee volunteering policy, with an emphasis on skills based volunteering; and (c) Responding to specific in kind support requests from VCS partners.

(iii)         The Head of Community Partnership’s proposals to improve dialogue with the Council’s VCS partners, set out in paragraph 16 of the Executive’s report and paragraph 8.4 of Appendix 1, be endorsed.

(iv)         The Head of Community Partnerships be authorised to implement proposals to increase skills based volunteering, amongst the business community, local residents and the Council’s own workforce.

(v)          The Head of Community Partnerships be authorised to raise public awareness of the activities of the Borough’s VCS in order to give greater recognition of the value of volunteering to local residents.

(vi)         The Head of Community Partnerships be authorised to  ...  view the full decision text for item 15

Councillor R.H. Ashford, Executive Member for Community Partnerships, introduced a report setting out the findings of a review on how the Council supported the Voluntary and Community Sector. It was noted that the intention was not to reduce funding but to increase the impact and value of the support provided.

As set out in the report, the Executive Member for Community Partnerships highlighted that the review had identified a number of opportunities to strengthen the Voluntary and Community Sector and its impact. It was noted that these included updating the financial support that was available, alongside a host of opportunities to regularise and enhance the non-financial support to the sector, with closer alignment to the Council’s corporate priorities.

Councillor Ashford explained that the financial proposals, set out in the report before the Executive, would enable key partners to be supported through a new commissioning fund. In response to questions, it was noted that partners would be invited to enter into service level agreements with the Council, for up to 3 years. This would provide greater certainty for partners, which would enable them to focus on maximising and demonstrating the impact of funding provided by the Council.

In terms of proposals for a medium grants fund the Executive was informed that this would be the key source of financial support for most previously core funded organisations who were not moving to the commissioning fund.

In response to questions about the small grants fund, the Executive Member for Community Partnerships explained that this would place the onus on potential grant recipients to identify any unmet needs for residents and to demonstrate how small amounts of Council funding could help address these needs. It was noted that this fund, and the application process, would be piloted during 2019/20 and evaluated towards the end of the financial year to help inform arrangements for 2020/21 and beyond.

The Executive Member highlighted a number of opportunities in relation to non-financial support, including:

-       Providing greater in kind support such as access to staff expertise or the use of Council meeting rooms;

-       Improving understanding of the Voluntary and Community Sector’s support needs; and

-       Increasing skills based volunteering.     

During the discussion a number of issues were considered in relation to working with Voluntary Action Reigate and Banstead and opportunities for increasing work experience placements for all ages.     

RECOMMENDED that the Officer Scheme of Delegation in the Council’s Constitution be amended to reflect the changes at Resolution 1 below by, replacing paragraph 2.8 (“Determine applications for capital grants, including Local Area Capital Grants, and allocate core grant funding”) and paragraph 2.9 (“Approve Councillor Community Awards in accordance with the agreed criteria”) with:

(i)            “Determine applications for the small and medium sized grants fund on the basis of the financial limits and criteria determined by the Executive”, with authority delegated to the Head of Service with responsibility for Voluntary Sector funding, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for the Voluntary Sector  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15