Agenda item

The Assistant Director, Transformational Change, presented a report to the Committee outlining the current grant making process and updating Members on the progress made with regard to the strategic review of grant funding and support arrangements in relation to the voluntary and community sector. An internal steering group, chaired by the Director of Improvement and Development, was currently leading the review and met on a monthly basis to monitor progress. Research into the arrangements of other local authorities had been carried out to identify examples of best practice and currently, a council-wide mapping exercise was underway to provide information on all grants and contracts provided by the council and related support and monitoring arrangements. In addition, an initial consultation had been held with the voluntary and community sector to gain their views on current systems as well as to identify training/support. The findings from the consultation would inform the future Funding Strategy.

Members raised several issues in the subsequent discussion, including: -

·  A Member queried, with regard to the small grants fund process outlined in Appendix A, whether any funding was provided to projects operating outside of Slough. The Committee was informed that funding was not provided for such projects and that this was checked for within the assessment period.

·  A Member enquired as to whether during the assessment period organisations were asked to provide evidence that they had held a bank account previously and was advised that within the existing process the Council only required that they currently had an account. This was to ensure that new organisations were not excluded from the process. However, it was recognised that this would provide a useful check where appropriate.

·  A Member suggested that with regard to long term funding, a separate assessment process be applied and that a mechanism be embedded to allow feedback from users. The Officer advised that this was a good idea and would be examined further.

·  A Member queried whether an equality of funding existed in relation to Slough’s different communites, in the context of the results of the Slough Place Survey. The Committee was advised that information such as that provided by the Slough Place Survey would inform the decisions made by Members and Officers.

Resolved: - That the report be noted