Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - South Cambs Hall. View directions

Contact: 03450 450 500 Email: Democratic.Services@scambs.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Councillors Clare Delderfield, Sue Ellington and Peter McDonald sent apologies for absence. Councillors Heather Williams and Bill Handley substituted for Councillors Ellington and McDonald respectively.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

In respect of Minute 4 (Community Chest), Councillor Jose Hales declared a non-pecuniary interest as a trustee of Melbourn Village College.

3.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 69 KB

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2019 as a correct record.

Minutes:

The Committee authorised the Chairman to sign, as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2019.

4.

Community Chest: Funding Applications pdf icon PDF 115 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Grants Advisory Committee considered a report on an application from Melbourn Village College, deferred from the meeting on 29 March 2019, for funding towards the purchase of craft supplies and organisation of a trip for vulnerable students.

 

The Programme Manager reported that material supporting documents had still not been received.

 

Councillor Heather Williams said that the Committee should consider whether the trip had already been scheduled, in which case a decision on funding was essential today. However, the Programme Manager confirmed that, should Members feel unable to determine this application, it might nevertheless be possible for officers to identify funding opportunities from elsewhere.

 

Councillor Dr. Claire Daunton initiated discussion about the relationship between Village College and the young carers group seeking grant aid. This raised a question as to ‘ownership’ of the application.

 

Councillor John Williams (Lead Cabinet Member for Finance) asked the Grants Advisory Committee to remember that the current criteria dictated that Local Authority schools could not receive funding from the Community Chest. Melbourn Village College was an Academy, funded by central Government. He suggested that all schools should be treated in the same way, regardless of status.

 

Councillor Jose Hales wondered whether the solution might be for a grant application to be made by a third party. This might also enable South Cambridgeshire District Council to support financially a larger and more diverse section of the community.

 

The Grants Advisory Committee deferred this application again so that a satisfactory resolution could be found, to include

·         The status of Academy schools with regard to the Community Chest criteria

·         Ownership of the present application

·         Alternative sources of funding

5.

Community Chest: Review pdf icon PDF 109 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Grants Advisory Committee considered a report on possible amendments to the Community Chest grants criteria.

 

Members discussed the proposed changes highlighted in the Appendix attached to the report. They agreed that the determining factor for whether Parish Councils could apply for funding should be the number of dwellings subject to Council Tax rather than the number of electors. Members asked officers to produce some examples of the kind of ‘special circumstances’ in which an alternative method of calculation might be appropriate, and to report back to the Committee in due course.

 

The Programme Manager undertook to provide some examples to help identify special circumstances.

 

Members agreed that the application form should specify what could not be funded by the Community Chest.

 

The criteria must be specific about the qualification needed to allow Parish Councils to apply for funding, bearing in mind that Parish Councils can raise precepts.

 

The Grants Advisory Committee requested officers to revise the Community Chest criteria in relation to applications from Parish Councils and the way Parish Councils should be categorised, subject to a preferred definition of the phrase ‘special circumstances’.

6.

Date of next meeting

Friday 31 May 2019 starting at 10.00am

Minutes:

The Grants Advisory Committee noted that its next meeting would be on 31 May 2019, starting at 10.00am.