Agenda and draft minutes

Councillors Jose Hales and Sue Ellington sent apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on Friday 29 May 2020 as a correct record.

The Grants Advisory Committee authorised the Chairman to sign, as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held 29 May 2020

It was noted that the recommendations would be published as an addendum to the report to Cabinet.

It was remarked that the next round of the Zero Carbon Committee grant would have three main project streams:

·       Cycling

·       Tree planting

·       e-bike streams

Cllr Daunton queried if a school apply could apply for a garden. In reply, officers stated that a school could apply for a garden, but only if it was open to the public outside of school hours.

It was noted that there would be a Zero Carbon webpage with FAQs for residents.

The topics have been streamlined to provide easier guidance to Parish Councils and community groups & for officer time to judge these schemes.

Officers had remarked that they had preliminarily scheduled a session on Monday 6 July 2020 to outline the scheme to the community.

Officers informed that committee that they intended to provide appointment slots, similar to a surgery, towards the end of July for applicants to receive advice on any proposed applications.

It was remarked that any applications that were received in the previous year but were not successful could apply again if they wished, along with any information that may have been missing previously.

Cllr McDonald queried if weight could be given to applicants that are using South Cambridgeshire suppliers. Trevor Nicoll noted that as South Cambridgeshire District Council would be carrying out some of the procurement work, local suppliers could be prioritised. Cllr John Williams remarked that the Value for Money policy would also apply.

It was noted that organisations could submit more than one application if they wished  however, as the criteria stated that allocation of funding would take into account the aim of achieving a good spread of funding across the district; it was remarked that this would be kept in mind with regards to deciding if funding were to be awarded for more than one project from any one village.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Members of the Grants Advisory Committee agreed by affirmation to:

       I.          approve changes to the Zero Carbon Communities Grant Scheme, as outlined in paragraph 11, which result in a more focussed scheme providing funding to projects under three themes:

·       Cycling

·       Community buildings

·       Tree-planting and other nature-based solutions

     II.          Delegate to the Head of Shared Waste Services and Environment the authority to make minor changes to the scheme documents in Appendices A and B (Information for Applicants and application form questions) as necessary for clarity.

The date of the next meeting will be Friday 31 July 2020 at 10:00am.

Friday 31 July 2020 at 10:00am