Venue: Sparkenhoe Committee Room, County Hall, Glenfield. View directions
Contact: Damien Buckley (Tel: 0116 305 0183) Email: damien.buckley@leics.gov.uk
No. | Item |
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In Attendance. Minutes: Zafar Saleem – Head of Service, Communities, Policy &
Resilience Noel Singh – Funding Manager Andy Hayes – Funding and Grants Officer Rosemary Whitelaw – Head of Democratic Services Damien Buckley – Democratic Services Officer Verity
Graham – Charnwood Borough Council Tracy
Gaskin – Blaby District Council Emma
Trahearn – North West
Leicestershire District Council Dave
Cliffe – Voluntary Action LeicesterShire Gary
Beharrell – Lloyds Bank Foundation Annette
Kendrick – Active Together Oliver
Savage – The National Lottery Community Fund (Via Microsoft Teams) |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 12 April 2023. PDF 109 KB Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 12 April 2023 were taken
as read, confirmed and signed. |
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Declaration of Interest. Minutes: The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting. No declarations were made. |
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Exclusion of the Press and Public. The press and public are likely to be excluded during the
following items of business in accordance with Section 100(A) of the Local
Government Act 1982: · Feedback from other grant funders, other partners and stakeholders. Minutes: RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the
public be excluded for the following item of business on the grounds that it
involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs
1, 3 and 10 of the Act and that, in all circumstances of the case, the public
interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing
the information – · Feedback from other grant funders, other partners and stakeholders. |
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Feedback from other grant funders, other partners and stakeholders. An opportunity for members to ask questions of external
organisations who also provide
funding/investment into the Voluntary,
Community and Social Enterprise sector. (Exempt under
paragraphs 1, 3 and 10). Minutes: The Panel considered written statements provided by BBC
Children in Need and Locality, regarding
the impact and value for money of grants programmes and investment into the
local Voluntary, Community and
Social Enterprise (VCSE)
sector. Copies of these statements marked “Agenda Item 5” are filed with
these minutes. The documents were not for publication by virtue of Paragraphs
1, 3 and 10 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972. The Chairman welcomed other grant funders, partners and
stakeholders to the meeting and invited feedback regarding the impact and value for money of grants programmes and
investment into the local Voluntary,
Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. In response to a
question regarding the impact which grant funding had on supporting the
Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector, the following points were made:
i.
The
Lloyds Banking Foundation believed in unrestricted funding and did not
necessarily focus on outcomes or outputs.
Funding was often used by VCSE organisations to pay for running costs.
Grant funding helped to keep organisations in operation and quite often VCSE
organisations were unable to use funding from other funders to pay for such
overheads. Members were advised that funding supported the most vulnerable in
society through the delivery of support services which had not been offered by
statutory bodies. Grant funding from local authorities had often helped VCSE
organisations to secure funding from other sources.
ii.
North
West Leicestershire Council agreed that grant funding helped to support those
in the community who could not receive support from statutory services and also
provided leverage for VCSE organisations sourcing alternative funding streams.
iii.
Charnwood
Borough Council highlighted that VCSE organisations were often adaptable when
providing support to communities during difficult circumstances, such as the
Covid-19 pandemic and assisting with cost of living pressures. It was noted
that considering outcomes had been important, but that it was often more
appropriate to focus on case studies rather than quantitative data.
iv.
The
National Lottery Community Fund focussed on what support could be delivered to
VCSE organisations, and to their service users, and commented that the guidance
and development opportunities provided to organisations was often invaluable.
v.
Voluntary
Action LeicesterShire commented that local grants would be important against a
climate where national grant schemes had generally been reduced. In response to a
question regarding whether organisations had used specific criteria when
assessing applications or requests for repeat funding, the following points
were made:
i.
Charnwood
Borough Council allowed applications for repeat funding but had always
signposted organisations to additional sources of funding beforehand. The
authority offered repeat funding where it would be used to help a group
continue in the absence of other funding streams.
ii.
Blaby
District Council accepted applications for repeat funding. Only one grant per
year was allowed and only one grant could be requested at a time.
iii.
North
West Leicestershire District Council accepted applications for repeat funding
but these would be accessed to understand the bigger picture before making a
decision.
iv.
The
National Lottery Community Fund had no process in place for repeat funding but
instead focuses on the relationship with organisations and encourages
diversifying their reliance on grant funds. Each application would be treated
on merit and the organisations expectations and learning would be taken into
consideration when assessing the application.
v.
Lloyds Bank
Foundation provided repeat funding to secure the future needs of organisations
and their service users. In response to a
question regarding how funding providers had monitored key outputs and
outcomes achieved through grant funding, the following points were made: i. Grant funders provided members with an overview of ... view the full minutes text for item 22. |
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Matters Arising from the Meeting held on 12 April 2023. Minutes: There were no matters arising. |
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Date of Next Meeting. The next meeting of the Scrutiny Review Panel is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 30 May 2023 at 13:00pm. Minutes: RESOLVED: That the next meeting of
the Scrutiny Review Panel would take place on Tuesday 30 May at 13:00. |