The Assistant Director of Neighbourhoods and Customer Services will submit a report (Document “H”) which provides information on processes for providing grant funds to institutions and groups in Bingley.

Recommended –

That the Trustees note the following and agree on an option:

(1)       The Community Chest model has been widely used for grant     giving to local community groups and is a tried and tested             mechanism that provides local accountability. It also reduces the        bureaucracy in administering local funds.

(2)       The Transformation Fund method of distributing funds allows the       panel to be unique to the funding criteria and specialist             knowledge required to award grants. This method has been used     to fund grants for different objectives and with funds from             different council departments. It is easily adapted and flexible in          its operation.

(3)       The Community Chest process is recommended due to its         versatility and operation with Area Offices. The Shipley Area         Coordinators Office will provide a strong connection with ward       councillors and the knowledge of community organisations by             ward based staff.

(Mahmood Mohammed - 01274 437339)

The Assistant Director of Neighbourhoods and Customer Services submitted a report (Document “H”) which provided information on processes for providing grant funds to institutions and groups in Bingley.

The Head of Stronger Communities gave a detailed rationale of the possible funding vehicles that could be utilised to allocate the funding.  The options were set out in Document “H”. 

A Member stated that what was required was clear guidance on where the funding could be allocated and what it could be specifically spent on.

A Ward Councillor was present at the meeting and echoed the above comment and suggested that the four primary schools in the area could benefit from the funding; however, the funding boundary area needed to be determined as this was not clear.

Another Ward Councillor was also present at the meeting and asked for clarifications on the following points:

• Important that whatever grant scheme is agreed upon, that applications should be evaluated by those with a good current knowledge of Bingley, and suggested that this should be done by the Bingley Ward Officers with the three Bingley Ward Councillors and a representative of Bingley Town Council; this was agreed at previous meetings discussing this issue. He added that this should not be for the Shipley Area Committee, as most members are too far removed from the town.
• Need to understand what funds will be made available for each grant round. That it would easier to administer and for the public to understand if this is a fixed sum. 
• How many grant rounds would you have per year and when (an annual award was discussed in 2019).
• Grants needed to be large enough to make a difference say up to £5K or larger if a strong case is made – could be used for projects or small capital investments.
• That clarity was needed on the Bingley Improvement District – Bingley was much smaller in 1892; could this legallybe interpreted to cover the Bingley ward area, otherwise might be seen as unfair if only small number of schools could be allowed to participate.A clear map of the Trust Fund area was therefore needed.
• Will the grant be for organisations based in the area, or for service delivery in the area?
• Will support for education (or whatever is in the charitable aim) be wider than just schools?
• What are the plans for the investment of the capital, any attempt to get a reasonable return on this, or will it remain in a low interest account?
• What is the projection for the fund - interest accrued, capital reduced etc.  (eg. if grant fund is £20k per annum, do we expect an 11 or 12-year programme)?
• Can the Committee confirm that all legal costs (outsourcing to commercial lawyers) will be absorbed by the Council, and nothing has been or will be charged to the Fund?  This is Important because ordinarily the charity would have been set up in-house.

Resolved –

After further discussion it was agreed that the meeting should be adjourned to 24 November 2022, to allow officers to respond to the above questions as well as other questions that may arise. 

ACTION:       Director of Legal & Governance / Assistant Director                                  Neighbourhoods