On 26 November 2021 Grants Advisory Committee met to consider making several amendments to the Community Chest Grant (CCG) Criteria, proposed as follows:
1. To include biodiversity grants (formerly Wildlife Enhancement grants) as a £10,000 ringfenced fund within the CCG grants criteria. Bringing this fund in line with the CCG provides a transparent application process and could result in more than the original £10,000 being allocated towards biodiversity. Parish Councils would be eligible to apply for this funding as they are for the Council’s Zero Carbon Communities (ZCC) funding if they are not already in receipt of a grant from the Council’s ZCC fund for the same financial year.
2. To include a one-off allocation of £50,000 from existing and available Council post-Covid funding into the CCG for Community Led Plans work and distribute in accordance with the CCG criteria. This sum would be allocated from adoption of the changes until the end of the current Community-Led Plan project (October 2023, in line with officer resources).This money will not fund projects that result from creation of a Community-Led Plan and is only for the creation of the Community-Led Plan itself.
3. To increase the upper CCG grant limit of £1,000 to £2,000 this will allow community groups and, where appropriate, parish councils to request a larger contribution to their projects. The cost of materials and equipment is increasing across the board and since most CCG applications are for the maximum award of £1,000 towards a greater project cost. CCG funding is historically this fund is underspent. By increasing the maximum award to £2,000 it is more likely that remaining funds will be spent by the year end and a full allocation can be made in future years.
4. To amend CCG criteria to include Community Interest Companies are eligible for CCG funding as this is not stated explicitly in the criteria and, this should be mentioned for the sake of clarity.
Decision type: Non-key
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Wards affected: (All Wards);
Notice of proposed decision first published: 26/11/2021
Decision due: 26 November 2021 by Lead Cabinet member for Resources
Lead member: Lead Cabinet member for Resources
Lead director: Head of Transformation, HR & Corporate Services
Department: Climate, Environment & Waste
Contact: Vicky Hoover, Benefit Assessment Officer Email: vicky.hoover@scambs.gov.uk Email: vicky.hoover@scambs.gov.uk Tel: 01954 713218.
Consultees
Lead member for Community Resilience, Health and Wellbeing and lead member for Planning were consulted prior to the consideration of the report by Grants Advisory Committee.
Leadership Team were also been briefed and are in support.
Purpose of Report: Officers should amend the Community Chest Guidance to include weblinks to the Community Led Plan (CLP) Toolkit and other supporting information. All changes to take effect from December 2021 this will give organisations / groups the chance to apply for a higher amount at the earliest opportunity and from the end of Call-in.