Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance of the following duly constituted Reserve Members:

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Panel;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 10 – Edward Harvist Trust Applications

Councillor Mano Dharmarajah declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he had involvement with an applicant, namely the Tamil School in Hendon.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor John Nickolay declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he had involvement with an applicant, namely Old Gaytonians, part of Harrow Athletics Club.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Sasi Suresh declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she had involvement with two applicants, namely Harrow Tamil Association and the Tamil School in Hendon.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Sarah Kersey, Panel Adviser Designate, declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in that she worked for an applicant, namely Voluntary Action Harrow.  She would leave the room while the matter was discussed and voted upon.

To consider the appointment of a Vice-Chairman to the Panel for the Municipal Year 2013/14.

RESOLVED:  To appoint Councillor Bill Phillips as Vice-Chairman of the Grants Advisory Panel for the 2013/2014 Municipal Year.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2013 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2013, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 50 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services

The Panel received a report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services in which they were requested to consider the appointment of an adviser to the Panel for the 2013-14 Municipal Year, following elections held by the Voluntary Sector Forum, and to assist the work of the Panel on general and specific matters.   Sarah Kersey, Panel Adviser Designate, was present and contributed to the meeting.

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to the Portfolio Holder for Community and Cultural Services)

That Sarah Kersey be appointed as the Adviser to the Grants Advisory Panel for the 2013-14 Municipal Year.

Report of the Corporate Director of Community, Health and Wellbeing.

The Divisional Director, Community & Culture, introduced the report which set out information relating to applications for funding from Edward Harvist Trust monies.  She informed the Panel that 21 applications had been received, requesting in total a sum greater than the sum available for allocation.

Two applications had arrived after the deadline; one had arrived 7 minutes late, and the other was a day late; both were otherwise eligible.  Members agreed to accept the application which had been 7 minutes late, but refused the other.

The Divisional Director, Community & Culture, then advised members on applications in detail, commenting on how each met the criteria and eligibility requirements. 

The following five applications fully met the criteria, and received the requested funding in full:

Aspire  (£1099);

Harrow Over 50 Club  (£1500);

Kids Can Achieve  (£1253.76);

St Luke’s Hospice  (£1500);

St Peter’s Harrow  (£1356.24).

In addition, the Panel agreed to accept and grant the following application:

Afghan Association Paiwand  (£1300).

The Panel then considered two applications with quotes which fell outside the standard definition.  The first provided website links rather than written quotes, and the second provided quotes sourced from a government framework.  Members agreed that website links were acceptable if verifiable, given the ease and preference for using new technology.  They agreed to accept and grant one of the two applications in full:

Russian Immigrants Association  (£1080)

However, Members also agreed that, although quotes derived from a government source should be reliable, Victim Support had still only supplied one quote and the requirement was for two. For that reason and for consistency of decision making, Members agreed not to fund that organisation.

The following three applications part met the criteria.  Two were claiming for ineligible items (classed as revenue and not capital costs), and one had provided handwritten quotes for items.  Members considered the factors where the criteria had not been met, and reluctantly concluded that there could be no exceptions to the eligibility rules as laid down in the guidance.  Funding was agreed for the eligible items for the revised totals given:

ADHD and Autism Support  (£1000);

Harrow Iranian Community Association  (£899.99);

South Harrow Christian Fellowship  (£789.03).

There were 9 further applications which did not meet the criteria for one or more of the following reasons:

·                     insufficient financial detail provided;

·                     invalid or insufficient quotes provided;

·                     funding requested for ineligible revenue items;

·                     recipient of grant funding within the last 3 years;

·                     no constitution provided.

The Panel discussed the application from Holy Trinity, Wealdstone, for which no constitution had been provided, and queried if this was a significant failure to meet the criteria given that it was a member of the established state religion, the Church of England, and therefore fell within a broader, overarching constitution.  They also noted that the application was for funds to support the setting up of a food-bank, and that this was in the early stages. 

The Divisional Director, Community & Culture, proposed that officers should request a constitution for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 135.

Information Report of the Corporate Director of Community, Health and Wellbeing.

The Divisional Director, Community & Culture, introduced the report which set out information provided by organisations in receipt of grant funding as part of their end-year monitoring process.

She informed the committee that of 42 organisations, 37 had returned their completed forms, and on the basis of the information received, the current number of beneficiaries stood at 34,267, compared with 31,946 last year.  The Panel noted that in some cases, it was difficult to assess accurately the number of direct beneficiaries – she gave the example of Harrow Heritage Trust, which works in parks and open spaces that the public can access at any time.  A number of organisations had exceeded their targets for user outcomes and / or individuals supported, including the Aspergers Syndrome Autism Project, which had supported 95 individuals against an original target of 30. Organisations had used the funding to provide a range of activities and services.

She added that organisations remained concerned about future funding, and highlighted further areas of concern, including increased demand for services, and the recruitment and deployment of volunteers.

Members discussed issues relating to volunteers, and were informed that although numbers of volunteers were still coming forward, it was not always easy to find appropriate and / or long term placements for them.  Also, a number of organisations lacked experience in managing volunteers or devising a strategy for their productive involvement. The Divisional Director, Community & Culture, stated that her service was currently working on a specification for CVS services in the borough, which would include a strand on volunteering and managing volunteers.

She reminded Panel Members that there would be a ‘celebration of volunteering’ ceremony in November, with awards in five categories.  She invited Members to encourage people to consider nominations for awards.

In response to a query from the Chair about the nil return from five organisations, the Divisional Director of Community and Culture explained that these had been in receipt of small grants, had received several reminders and offers of support, and that some were delivering outcomes within a different timeframe and were therefore slightly delayed.

The Chair commented that non-compliance should be noted and recorded.

A Member commended the impressive achievements delivered via grant funding, and asked if figures for the grant allocated to each organisation could be included in the report.  The Divisional Director of Community and Culture agreed it could be included in future reports.

RESOLVED:  That:

(1)               the report be noted;

(2)               figures for grants allocated be included in future monitoring reports.

Oral Report of the Corporate Director of Community, Health and Wellbeing.

The Divisional Director, Community & Culture, circulated two tabled documents for information: a proposed Forward Plan for the Panel and the Small Grants timetable.  She suggested alternative dates for the remaining Grants Advisory Panel meetings and explained that it would be preferable to put back the November date to allow for a full mid-year report, and to bring forward the March date to February to accommodate the grants application and allocation process.

Members discussed their availability and agreed that the meetings dates should be changed to Tuesday 19 November 2013 and Thursday 20 February 2014.

RESOLVED:  That the remaining dates for Grants Advisory Panel in the 2013-14 Municipal Year be changed to Tuesday 19 November and Thursday 20 February.