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:

All Agenda Items

Sarah Kersey, Panel Adviser, declared a pecuniary interest in that she worked for a beneficiary organisation.  If the organisation was the subject of discussion, she would leave the room and take no part in the debate or vote.

Agenda Item 7 – Small Grant Recommendations 2014-15

CouncillorKairul Marikar declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she had involvement with Harrow Tamil Association.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

CouncillorSasi Suresh declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she had involvement with Harrow Tamil Association.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 8 – Renewal of Service Level Agreements for Outcome Based Grants 2014-15

CouncillorManji Kara declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was a trustee of Age UK Harrow.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2014 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2013 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Executive Procedure Rule 50 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

Questions will be asked in the order notice of them was received and there be a time limit of 15 minutes.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, <DATE>.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

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

Report of the Corporate Director of Community Health and Well-Being

The Panel received the report of the Corporate Director, Community Health and Wellbeing, which provided information on applications for funding from the Small Grants programme for 2014-15.

The Divisional Director, Community and Culture, informed members that of 34 applications, 31 had been judged eligible according to criteria previously agreed by the Panel.  She reminded the Panel that the previous year, awards totalling £77k had been made in a ‘two-tier’ arrangement, whereby applications scoring 80% and above had received 75% of their grant request, and applications scoring between 55% and 79% had received 52% of their grant request.  She outlined the funding allocation options for 2014-15 and invited members to consider whether they wished to continue to abide by the principle of ‘recognising excellence’, or fund all eligible applications. 

The Chair commended officers on their report, for its clarity and range of information and proposed that the Panel should agree a funding option which rewarded excellence; she felt the current ‘two-tier’ system worked well.

Members considered if the suggested cut-off points for assessment were appropriate, and did not disadvantage any organisation unfairly.  They agreed that all grant recipients should score at least 50% and above in order to be considered.  Members also discussed the degree to which support was available for organisations, and whether having English as a second language disadvantaged certain applicants.  Having considered the funding options and levels of grant available, members agreed that applicants scoring 80% and above should receive 85% of the requested grant, and applicants scoring 55% to 79% should receive 75% of the grant requested, subject to the conditions specified.

The Divisional Director then responded to queries from Panel Members on the following points:

·                    whether it was necessary to include a venue at application stage;

·                    whether a breakdown of costs is required;

·                    the appeal process;

·                    the role of panel members hearing appeals;

·                    the involvement of voluntary sector representatives as observers;

·                    the consequences of defaults and / or successful appeals and their impact on sums available for grant allocation

·                    the support available for organisations in making an application;

·                    channels for communication with voluntary sector organisations;

·                    the nature and location of target beneficiaries.

The Panel Adviser suggested that longer lead in times for the application process would be helpful as voluntary sector organisations did not always have the staffing or resources to access or respond to correspondence every day, and could miss opportunities as a result.  The Panel considered that this was a possible factor for the relatively low number of applications, along with the requirement that grants should be made to align with meeting the corporate priorities of the Council.  However, the Panel noted that a balance was needed in order for officers to have sufficient time to assess applications and draft their reports and recommendations prior to budgets being agreed.

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to Cabinet) 

That:

(1)               grant funding be agreed at the following levels:

i.                    applicants scoring 80% and above to receive 85% of the requested grant;

ii.                  applicants scoring 55% to 79% to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 150.

Report of the Corporate Director of Community Health and Well-Being

The Panel received the report of the Corporate Director, Community, Health and Wellbeing, which provided information on the renewal of service level agreements for Outcome Based Grants awarded in 2013-14.

The Divisional Director, Community and Culture, reminded the Panel that Outcome Based Grants were now awarded for three years in principle, with annual renewals subject to compliance with the conditions stated.  She informed the Panel that the infrastructure service, which had been the subject of a tendering exercise at the time of the previous Panel meeting, had been awarded to Harrow Community Action, and their agreed grant of £75k was also due for renewal.

In response to Members’ expressed concerns at the level and duration of the grant agreement for the infrastructure service, and in particular compared to the level of grant awarded in other Service Level Agreements, the Divisional Director stated that the grant, which had already been agreed by Cabinet, was to be used to develop capacity building, explore and exploit fundraising opportunities, attract other external funding, and support volunteering.  The grant was subject to monitoring and compliance, and voluntary sector organisations had been involved in the tendering and selection process. 

Members discussed the need to monitor delivery and outcomes achieved to date and whether these were satisfactory in the light of each individual organisation’s circumstances.  Further to this, officers updated the Panel on current progress for EACH and Harrow Churches.

The Panel Adviser briefed Panel members on the nature and function of a Council for Voluntary Service, and its role as an umbrella organisation for all voluntary sector bodies within a local authority’s area.  A member observed that it would be helpful to all members to be briefed on this, and suggested that it might be a useful topic to be covered within Member Development.

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to Cabinet)

That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director, Community Health and Wellbeing, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Community and Culture, to

(1)               renew the SLA to the newly commissioned infrastructure support service to the level of £75k for 2014-15, and in principle for 2015?16, subject to the satisfactory delivery of agreed outcomes and annual confirmation of the budget according to the council’s budget setting process;

(2)               confirm the renewal of SLAs for Outcome based Grant awards for 2014?15 at the same level of funding awarded in 2013-14;

(3)               terminate or amend SLAs  if concerns are identified at any stage as a result of monitoring or breaches of the SLA.

Reason for Recommendation:  To distribute Council grant funding to Third Sector organisations to support them in delivering services to Harrow residents.

To resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence, or of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972:

RESOLVED:  That in accordance with Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) for the reasons set out below:

Report of the Corporate Director of Community Health and Well-Being

RESOLVED:  That the appendices be noted.

RESOLVED:  That the appendix be noted.