Agenda item

GRANTS AND COMMUNITY UPDATE

Meeting of Letchworth Committee, Wednesday, 6th December, 2017 7.30 pm (Item 31.)

REPORT OF THE COMMUNITIES OFFICER

To update the Committee on the activities and actions of the Communities Officer, to advise on the current expenditure and balances of the delegated budgets and to consider applications for grant funding.

Decision:

RESOLVED:

(1) That the budgetary expenditure, balances and carry forwards from the Development and Visioning Budgets be noted;

(2) That the actions taken by the Community Development Officer to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Letchworth Garden City be endorsed;

(3) That the Communities Officer be requested to circulate a list of where cycle racks are to be installed to all Members of the Letchworth Committee;

(4) That the Communities Officer be requested to provide more details regarding grant applications, including details of any previous funding awarded by NHDC;

(5) That the Development and Conservation Manager be requested to provide a report detailing the background to the decision to use Section 106 funding for the purchase of bike racks and the process used for allocating Section 106 funding to any project and present this at the next meeting of this Committee;

(6) That the £1,000 allocated to Impact Youth Group be returned to the main Discretionary Budget.

REASON FOR DECISION:To keep Members of the Committee apprised of the latest developments in community activities in Letchworth Garden City.

Minutes:

The Communities Officer presented the report entitled Grants and Community Update and drew attention to the following:

Youth Engagement

There was a temporary officer working on youth engagement who was currently micro mapping what youth activities were available in Letchworth, it may be that much of this would be faith based.

He had also organised a youth enterprise group session on 16 December 2017 between 6 and 8 p.m.

In response to a query, she clarified that in this instance, youth meant between 11 and 18 years of age.

Members expressed concern that much of the work being undertaken was in the prevue of Hertfordshire County Council and that any work undertaken should be co-ordinated.

Cycle Rack Project

Installation of cycle racks, funded by Section 106 contributions, was taking place in schools and facilities all around the town

She was working with Planning and the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation to consider the placing of and style of racks in the Town Centre.

Members asked that a list of where racks were to be installed be circulated to all Members of this Committee.

Members acknowledged that the decision making process lay with the Planning Department, who worked in conjunction with the Communities Team. But expressed concern that a very large sum of money was being spent on bike racks.

They queried what other spending options had been considered for this funding and how were people made aware that this funding was available.

They questioned whether the provision of bike racks could be classed as sustainable transport and were concerned that this was not a valid use of funds. They were also concerned that other organisations should have access to these funds.

Members asked for a full report on the background to this particular decision and the process used to allocate funding to a project, this report to include details of who else was invited to ask for the money.

The Communities Officer asked Members to let her know if there are any projects that Section 106 funding could be spent on.

Grant Applications

Members felt that they did not receive sufficient information to make a decision on many grant applications and that the amount of information provided had reduced over the years.

They asked that the Communities Officer provide more details in future, including details of any previous funding awarded by NHDC.

They also expressed concern at the suggestion that monies be set aside for unspecified purposes.