Decision details

On 28 February 2020 the Grants Advisory Committee met to decide how to allocate the funding for existing Mobile/Community Warden schemes as part of the Council’s scheme of grants to the voluntary sector.

Mobile and Community Wardens Schemes (sometimes called Community Care Schemes) exist in South Cambridgeshire to support older people to live independently in their homes and in the community they know, and which knows them.

The warden schemes are complementary to statutory care services and do not duplicate or replace the medical or social care services that individuals may also require.  They can help to combat loneliness and social isolation and can provide significant benefits to clients at relatively low cost. They are seen by clients and their families as a vital community-based service.

South Cambridgeshire District Council has been providing grant funding to Mobile and Community Warden Schemes for many years.  The grant application process was run from November to January.

Grants Advisory Committee recommended to fund the Mobile Warden Schemes to the sum of £27,350 in order to fund the returning schemes the full amount of funding.

GAC has recommended that the additional £6,430 required for this be used from the sum of £10,000 that had been set aside for the now disbanded Children and Young People’s Area Partnership, which needed to be reassigned.

The remaining £3,570 will be added to the Community Chest (see separate decision sheet).

To award the Mobile Warden Schemes the grant funding for 2020/21 as per table 1 below.

To support a valuable community led service within each of these wards/villages in keeping with the Council’s aims and objectives.

The decision to award the grants as per Table 1 was made taking into consideration:

a)    the amount of grant funding requested,

b)    the fees charged by to the client 

c)    the number of clients supported in the previous year,

d)    income and expenditure for the previous year,

e)    the schemes finances, and

f)     the amount of reserved and unreserved funding.

Table 1: Proposed Grant Allocation

Option 1: Agree to fund, subject to Council approval of the budget, local Mobile and Community Warden Schemes to keep in line with the budget.

Option 2:  Agree to fund, subject to Council approval of the budget, local Mobile and Community Warden schemes with a 2% inflationary increase from last year (unless they have asked for less/the same as last year).

Option 4: Award an alternative amount of funding to each scheme, including zero funding, up to amount of funding available.

All the above options were rejected as Grants Advisory Committee recommended funding all the schemes to the full amount they had requested given the schemes will have to undertake training in order to apply next financial year.