This Council has always supported the hard-working parish councils that do so much for the villages of South Cambridgeshire. The decision made by the Liberal Democrat Administration to bar parish councils from accessing the Community Chest funding is already causing surprise and dismay among small villages. This Council calls on the administration to re-consider its decision.
Decision:
The following motion was LOST:
This Council has always supported the hard-working parish councils that do so much for the villages of South Cambridgeshire. The decision made by the Liberal Democrat Administration to bar parish councils from accessing the Community Chest funding is already causing surprise and dismay among small villages. This Council calls on the administration to re-consider its decision.
Minutes:
Councillor Peter Topping moved the following motion:
“This Council has always supported the hard-working parish councils that do so much for the villages of South Cambridgeshire. The decision made by the Liberal Democrat Administration to bar parish councils from accessing the Community Chest funding is already causing surprise and dismay among small villages. This Council calls on the administration to re-consider its decision.”
Councillor Topping spoke of his concern that parish councils were no longer able to apply for Community Chest funding. He argued that parish councils were at the centre of their villages and that it was wrong that those who, as parish councillors, worked hard to represent and promote the interests of their villages, were now unable to seek Community Chest funding for local projects. He noted the argument that parishes could precept to fund projects but referred to previous instances where, for example, bids from schools had been rejected on the basis that funding could be accessed from an alternative source. Councillor Topping believed that the Grants Advisory Committee could use its discretion carefully to evaluate any grant bids and argued that there was a precedent and ability to manage the process without excluding parish councils. He explained that in some cases, bids for Community Chest funding could leverage bigger sums from other grants providers, such as the Big Lottery Fund. In that context, he noted that bigger grants providers required bidders to demonstrate an appropriate level of governance and process but suggested that this was not necessarily appropriate or practicable for smaller community groups and, as parish councils already had the necessary structures in place, this created a level of inefficiency. Councillor Topping therefore encouraged the Council to review the decision to preclude parish councils from applying for Community Charge funding and to take account of the impact of the decision on the parish councils who were working hard to look after the interests of their villages.
Councillor Heather Williams seconded the motion.
During discussion on the motion:
· Councillor John Williams, the Lead Cabinet Member for Finance, observed that unlike the District Council, parish councils did not have a cap on the amount of Council Tax they were able to raise. He acknowledged that there were a number of very small parishes where it would be difficult for the parish to raise any meaningful level of precept and an exemption had been made for such parishes. However many parish councils would be able to precept for the cost of particular projects. The Lead Cabinet Member for Finance reported that the Community Chest scheme still allowed the Council to provide funding to grass roots based community groups and indeed £10k of grants had recently been approved to village community groups from all over the District and for a variety of schemes. However the revised scheme meant that parishes needed to precept for specific projects in their villages.
· Councillor Bridget Smith, the Leader of the Council, acknowledged the point raised by Councillor Topping about trigger funding. However she noted that parish councils could also provide trigger funding to support community groups. The constraints now facing the District Council in terms of its funding meant that it had to ensure that its limited resources were focused on the right priorities. At the recent Cabinet and Parish Liaison Forum, discussions had taken place on the scope for more decisions being taken at a local level and the power for parishes to raise precepts to respond to local priorities had been acknowledged.
· Referring to the earlier comments regarding the limited resources available, Councillor Nick Wright was sceptical that changes in the Council’s financial circumstance since May 2018 were such as to justify the change in policy to exclude parish councils from the Community Chest scheme.
· Councillor Peter McDonald indicated that the parish councils within his ward were cognisant of the pressures on the Council’s resources and understood the reasons for the change in the policy. He also pointed out that there had been cross party agreement at the Grants Advisory Committee for the changes to the Community Chest policy.
· Councillor Sarah Cheung Johnson was also mindful that the policy appeared to have received cross party support and was disappointed that any dissent to the proposals had not been aired at Grants Advisory Committee. She also felt that it was not appropriate to conflate how much the Council valued its parish councils with this policy change.
· Councillor Cheung Johnson and Councillor Clare Delderfield did not agree that community groups would find it difficult to develop their own governance arrangements to underpin bid submissions and felt that such groups would be able to prepare bid submissions with support from parish councils.
· Councillor Sue Ellington indicated that she did not recall a vote being taken on the matter at the Grants Advisory Committee so suggested it would not be accurate to say that there had been unanimous agreement. As the only member of her group on the Committee she had tried to work in a constructive way and concerns around the position of small villages that were unable to precept had been raised as part of the policy review.
· Councillor Philippa Hart commented that grants decisions used to be made solely by the relevant Lead Cabinet member and expressed the view that the introduction of the Grants Advisory Committee had achieved a more transparent and inclusive arrangement for reviewing applications.
· Councillor John Batchelor agreed that large villages would be able to precept for the cost of any specific projects. However he had reservations about where the line was drawn to define those parishes which were deemed small and therefore able to apply for Community Chest funding. He understood that only 6 parishes in the District fell within this category. Councillor John Batchelor felt that other smaller parishes did not have the infrastructure to organise locally and suggested that the definition of smaller parishes might merit review.
· Councillor Heather Williams, in seconding the motion, shared earlier expressed concerns about where the line was drawn to define which parishes were “small” for the purposes of the policy. She noted that only parish councils or parish meetings with less than 160 registered electors could currently apply for Community Chest Funding and cited how this criterion affected parishes in her ward. Councillor Heather Williams also pointed out that Council Tax was collected on the basis of households, not electorate, and felt that the link to the number of electors was unfair as not everyone qualified for inclusion on the electoral roll. Additionally she noted that whilst small community groups could apply for funding, if the scheme was on parish council land, the parish council was expected to contribute 50% of the cost and felt this discouraged proactive groups from being able to apply for funding.
· Councillor Topping, in summing up, echoed several points made earlier in the debate.
Upon being put to the vote, votes were cast as follows:-
In favour (11):
Councillors Ruth Betson, Dr. Shrobona Bhattacharya, Tom Bygott, Grenville Chamberlain, Graham Cone, Sue Ellington, Mark Howell, Peter Topping, Bunty Waters, Heather Williams and Nick Wright.
Against (27):
Councillors Philip Allen, Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Anna Bradnam, Dr. Martin Cahn, Sarah Cheung Johnson, Gavin Clayton, Dr. Claire Daunton, Dr. Douglas de Lacey, Claire Delderfield, Neil Gough, Philippa Hart, Geoff Harvey, Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Pippa Heylings, Steve Hunt, Alex Malyon, Tony Mason, Peter McDonald, Brian Milnes, Judith Rippeth, Nick Sample, Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Ian Sollom, John Williams, Eileen Wilson.
Abstain (1):
Councillor Peter Fane
The motion was therefore declared lost.