On consideration of the report of the Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety, having considered the City of Southampton Strategy, particularly where grants are authorised under S.2 of the Local Government Act 2000 and having received representations from those affected by the allocation of Grant, Cabinet agreed the following amended decision:
(i) To approve, subject to impact assessments, the grant recommendations set out in the attached amended Appendices 1a and 1b.
(ii) To approve the use of general fund contingencies of £170,577 excluding any notice periods that need to be paid in 2011/12 to fund the recommendations in this report.
(iii) To approve that the second instalment of £18,750 of the 2010/11 grant to Solent Skyis carried forward and paid to the organisation in 2011/12.
(iv) To approve an allocation of £50,000 of the budget to fund the Community Chest small grants scheme.
(v) To delegate authority to the Manager of the Communities Team following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety to allocate Community Chest grants during the year.
(vi) To approve the following additions to the standard grants criteria
Applications will not normally be considered
· from recently formed organisations for large grants
· to fund projects that have unsuccessfully tendered for a contracted service (SCC or other)
· to subsidise contracts (SCC or other)
· towards political activities
· for large capital projects
(vii) To delegate authority to the Executive Director of Neighbourhoods following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety to:
· determine any outstanding applications for grants for 2011/12 and to authorise grants to applicants subject to remaining within approved budgets
· to determine notice periods, where appropriate, where grants have been reduced or discontinued
· do anything necessary to give effect to allocation of grants for 2011/12 and 2012/13
· progress the work to establish the value of the “help in kind” the council provides to the voluntary sector
· conduct a review of whether it would be more appropriate to move towards commissioning and purchasing some of the services that are currently grant aided
(viii) To delegate authority to the Executive Director of Neighbourhoods in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and the Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety to explore the possibility of additional grants being made available to voluntary organisations from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for activities of benefit to council tenants.
(ix) To delegate authority to the Head of Efficiency and Business Transformation in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety and other relevant Cabinet Members to conduct a cross service review of advice services in the city.