The Councillor Initiative Fund had been running since 2006. Since its creation the fund had enabled Members to support local community projects and initiatives with small to medium sized grant awards.

In addition to supporting projects with funding, the fund was a key tool that facilitated greater engagement between Members and local residents, community organisations, and parish/town councils.

The current delivery of the fund was operating with a budget to cover from 2016 to 2019, allocated from Council reserves and approved as part of a re-launch of the Council’s Community Grants Programme in 2015/2016.

Under the current scheme Members received an allocation of £3,000 to award to projects during the 3 year time period, a total budget of £108,000.

The current budget for the fund would end in March 2019 and any remaining funds would be returned to Council’s reserves.

Members therefore gave consideration to a report which set out options for the future provision of the fund, these were detailed at Section 5 of the report with the recommended option being that the Scheme continue in line with Option 1, this being a £1,000 per year per Member for a four year period, with a maximum award cap of £1,000 per project. If approved the Scheme would launch in June 2019, taking into the account the May local elections.

Debate ensued and Members reflected on the impact the funding scheme had had and the need it demonstrated.  All were in agreement that the Fund delivered real community benefit and assistance at a time when other such schemes were disappearing fast and therefore were supportive of its continuation.

There were some concerns however over the capping element being proposed.  Officers outlined the rationale for this, advising that as the fund had been designed to deliver small grants, the governance around the funding was proportionate to such.  Officers were of the view that the governance arrangements were not secure enough for larger scale monies.  Such amounts would require greater checks, balances and monitoring, all of which would require additional resourcing which was not currently available.

Members expressed a variety of views in relation to the cap and posed a number of scenarios as to how they had previously used their funding, seeking indication as to whether this would be permitted under the new cap.

Whilst it was accepted that the pooling of funds in areas such as Gainsborough had the potential to deliver bigger schemes with greater impact, the previous points regarding the requirement for greater governance were re-iterated.  In response to a Member’s question regarding staffing disadvantages referred to in the report, it was noted that no specific staffing resource was currently allocated to the administration of this scheme, and if approved the position would remain unchanged, another factor which was an important consideration.  Greater governance would likely need additional staffing resources, which would be at an additional cost. Finally it was noted that other funding streams were available to deliver larger scale projects and these should be utilised in such cases.  

In respect of the scenarios posed, Officers clarified, that the cap related to per Member, per project, per year, not to the organisation and therefore the same organisation could receive multiple awards. Councillors would also be permitted to fund the same project (up to a maximum of £1000) year on year.

A Member suggested that for the avoidance of doubt, recommendation 1 be amended to read “….noting the introduction of the maximum award cap of £1000, per Councillor per project”.  Despite some being of the view the cap should be removed, this was proposed and seconded.

On being put to the vote the amendment was carried.

On that basis it was RESOLVED that: -

(a)          Option 1, as detailed in the report be approved, namely the continuation of the Councillor Initiative Fund, aligned to a four year political term, with £4,000 available to each Member, noting the introduction of a maximum award cap of £1000 per Councillor, per project; and

(b)          the proposal be RECOMMENDED to the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee for financial approval and allocation of budget from General Reserves.