Decision details

Report of the Cabinet Member for Housing seeking approval in principle the grants for 2012- 2013.

Having complied with paragraph 15 of the Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules:

(i)  To approve in principle that the 2012/13 grants to voluntary organisations budget will be £1,907,300

(ii)  To authorise the Interim Director of Environment to carry out consultation on the following proposals:

·  suspending the current grant application process for awarding grants from the corporate grants budget for 2012/13

·  renewing 2011/12 grants at current levels, excluding any paid notice, for a further year until 31^st March 2013 subject to satisfactory monitoring

(iii)  To delegate authority to the Interim Director of Environment following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing to determine whether or not to proceed with the proposals set out in recommendation (ii) and, within approved budgets, to take any other decisions necessary or expedient to determine the award of all grants for the 2012/13 financial year.

1. The current open competitive grant application process for awarding grants from the corporate grants budget has been in place for many years.  Any changes to the process require Cabinet approval and consultation with stakeholders.  The recommendations in this report also respond to feedback received from voluntary organisations in the city and will help to provide a greater degree of certainty about potential funding levels in 2012/13, thereby giving these organisations more time to explore other potential funding opportunities and to participate in the two reviews approved by Cabinet in March.
2. This report is submitted for consideration as a General Exception under paragraph 15 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules in Part 4 of the City Council’s Constitution, notice having been given to the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee and the Public. In order to accommodate consultation and application process timescales a decision is required as soon as possible and before the publication of the next forward plan.

The alternative option is to continue the current open competitive grant application process for awarding grants in 2012/13.  It is proposed to suspend this process in 2012/13 to provide a year of stability to existing grant recipients, to clarify the situation for new grant applicants and to allow more time to complete the reviews detailed in paragraph 12 below.