SPONSORED ORGANISATION SCHEME – APPLICATIONS FOR REVENUE FUNDING 2006/07 : Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 17/01/2006

Waverley Borough Council Committee System - Committee Document

Meeting of the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 17/01/2006
SPONSORED ORGANISATION SCHEME – APPLICATIONS FOR REVENUE FUNDING 2006/07

Summary & Purpose

The purpose of this report is to consider the applications from the Sponsored Organisations for revenue funding in 2006/07. The report details the assessment of applications against the approved Sponsored Organisation Scheme criteria and provides recommendations for funding.

APPENDIX H

WAVERLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL

ENVIRONMENT AND LEISURE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE –
17TH JANUARY 2006

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SPONSORED ORGANISATION SCHEME – APPLICATIONS FOR REVENUE FUNDING 2006/07

[Wards Affected All]

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Summary and purpose:

The purpose of this report is to consider the applications from the Sponsored Organisations for revenue funding in 2006/07. The report details the assessment of applications against the approved Sponsored Organisation Scheme criteria and provides recommendations for funding.
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Environmental implications:

Many of the Sponsored Organisations contribute towards improving the environment in which Waverley’s residents live.

Social / community implications:

The organisations that Waverley supports under the Sponsored Organisations Scheme provide valuable services to the community which benefit a large number of Waverley’s residents. Waverley’s contribution to the Waverley Voluntary Grants Panel helps support organisations specifically in the social and welfare area.

E-Government implications:

There are no direct E-Government implications arising from this report. Sponsored Organisation Scheme application forms and guidance notes are available electronically by email and on the Council’s website.

Resource and legal implications:

The total value of the funding awarded to Sponsored Organisations in the current financial year (2005/06) was Ł554,943. In addition, a contribution of Ł49,455 was made towards the Waverley Voluntary Grants Panel (WVGP) for social welfare organisations, some of which were previously funded from the Sponsored Organisations Scheme.

The total value of funding requested from Sponsored Organisations meeting the scheme’s criteria for 2006/07 is Ł679,438. A table detailing the grants requested by each organisation together with the grants approved over the last two years is attached at Annexe 1.

At its meeting in October 2005, the Executive agreed to continue to contribute to the Waverley Voluntary Grants Panel in 2006/07 on the same basis as in 2005/06. The Executive also agreed that the overall funding for the SOS and the WVGP be increased in line with inflation, but that this increase be considered alongside other demands on the Council’s finances during the budget process. These pressures were presented to Members at the Finance Seminar in October and were considered further at meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in November, and the Executive in early December.

Given these pressures and the decision to open the 2006-07 SOS round to new organisations, Members will need to decide whether the Council will be able to increase the SOS pot and/or the contribution to the Waverley Voluntary Grants Panel (WVGP) in the 2006/07 Budget. Currently Officers in this report have not identified any increases in grant for individual SOS organisations but have proposed funding for two new organisations. The total SOS grant recommendations for 2006/07 are Ł557,943, an increase of Ł3,000 over the 2005/06 budget. It is also recommended that the contribution to the WVGP in 2006/07 remains at the current year’s level of Ł49,455. Any increase in funding will need to be included in the budget proposals being considered by the Executive on 7th February.

Background

1. The principal aim of the Sponsored Organisation Scheme is to ‘provide financial support for the on-going revenue costs of voluntary and charitable organisations that are delivering high priority services for the benefit of Waverley residents in partnership with the Council’.

2. In October 2005, the Executive approved the grant eligibility, criteria and timetable for 2006/07. These are detailed in the application guidance at Annexe 2. Members gave particular consideration to the inclusion of Social/Welfare organisations, the treatment of general financial reserves and the degree to which organisations contribute towards Waverley’s Corporate Plan objectives.

3. At the October 2005 meeting, the Executive also agreed that:

o The Sponsored Organisation Scheme would be open to new organisations to apply for funding in 2006/07.

o The Council should continue to contribute to the Waverley Voluntary Grants Panel in 2006/07 on the same basis as in 2005/06.

o A funding increase in-line with inflation is proposed, but that such an increase will be assessed alongside other demands on Council finances during the budget process.

o The Waverley Voluntary Grants Panel take further steps to join the grant administration processes with the Guildford Partnership Scheme

APPLICATIONS

4. A total of 28 applications for revenue funding in 2006/07 have been received, 24 of which are from existing Sponsored Organisations and 4 are from new applicants. The four Citizens Advice Bureaux have submitted one joint application for 2006/07 rather than individual ones as in previous years.

5. In total, the funding requested by the organisations for 2006/07 is Ł679,438. The summary table detailing all the Sponsored Organisation Scheme applications is attached at Annexe 1. A summary description of each organisation is contained in Annexe 3.
Grant Criteria and Assessment of Applications

6. Each application has been assessed against the Sponsored Organisation Scheme grant eligibility and criteria by the relevant ‘link officer’ within each service area. In addition, Waverley’s accountants have undertaken a financial assessment of each organisation’s annual accounts. The link officers, as part of assessing the grant applications, have taken the results from these financial assessments, together with information about organisations reserves policy, into account.

7. Of the 4 new organisations applying for funding in 2006/07, officers consider that two do not meet the Council’s criteria, namely the Sayers Croft Environmental Education Trust (Ł11,500) and the Volunteer Reading Help (Surrey)(Ł8,860). Whilst recognising that these organisations provide a valuable community service, Waverley’s approved criteria does not cover the particular services for which grant is sought. The organisations have been advised accordingly.

8. The recommended grants are shown in the last column of the table at Annexe 1. Waverley’s service officers recognise the high level of community benefit that each organisation provides and this is reflected in the narrative in Annexe 3 and, if more money was available, it would be desirable to award increases in grant to many of these organisations. However, as the table in Annexe 1 shows, given the pressures on Waverley’s budget, as presented to the Executive in December, and the Council’s intention to admit new organisations to the Sponsored Organisations Scheme, it is not possible for officers to recommend an increase for any of the existing organisations or in the contribution to the Waverley Voluntary Grants Panel.

9. It is appreciated that making no allowance for inflation will be especially difficult for those organisations where there are salary costs, and Members may wish to consider this in making observations to the Executive, in particular those organisations which are jointly funded by other local authorities where a legal agreement supports financial contributions.

10. In October, the Executive made an ‘in-principle’ commitment to sign a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the Surrey Hills AONB organisation, pending further consideration of the financial implications as part of the Sponsored Organisations Scheme. Members should be aware that if the Council is unable to provide an inflationary increase to the Surry Hills AONB organisation, then it will be unable to sign the MOA, which is a legal document committing the Council to additional funding. Also in October, the Executive agreed that future funding for the Citizens Advice Bureaux should have regard to increases in inflation.

11. Where officers are proposing a change, these are summarised in the tables below:

a) Recommended changes in grant

	Grant Approved 2005/06 Ł	Grant Recommended 2006/07 Ł	Total Decrease ( ) Ł
Surrey Law Centre	2,000	0	(2,000)
Rural Life Centre	4,000	3,000	(1,000)
		TOTAL (3,000)

b) Recommended funding for new organisations

	Grant Recommended 2006/07 Ł
Haslemere Initiative (on behalf of Haslewey Youth Club)	2,000
Farnham Youth Project	4,000

12. It is recommended that the Surrey Law Centre’s Sponsored Organisations Scheme grant is stopped in 2006-07. Whilst the service provided by the Centre is valuable, officers have had to consider this grant alongside the pressures on the SOS budget and the level of funding for other organisations providing community advice such as the CABx. Waverley’s funding is only a small proportion of the Law Centre’s overall revenue. In addition, it is recommended that the Rural Life Centre’s grant is reduced as it has been the Council’s policy for officers to work with the Centre and assist them with one-off grants which help attract income.

Other Financial Support From Waverley

13. In addition, a number of applicants have been offered other financial support from Waverley in 2005/06.

Organisation	Project	Grant Awarded Ł	Total Project Cost Ł
Rural Life Centre	3 Bay Building	1500	12796
Farnham Youth Project	Regeneration Phase 1	21738	86950
Farnham Maltings	South Wing project	361000	Ł2m +

Loan

Farnham Maltings

Fundraising

Ł50,000 loan repayable over 5 years (Ł25,000 of the Ł50,000 loan taken-up and paid in 2004/5

Rate Relief

14. In addition to the Sponsored Organisation Scheme grant in 2005/06, the following organisations also receive mandatory and discretionary rate relief as detailed below:

Organisation	Mandatory Rate Relief	Discretionary Rate Relief	Amount Ł	Cost to Waverley (75% of Discretionary Rate Relief)
Age Concern Waverley	2532.00	633.00	3165.00	474.75
Age Concern Haslemere and District	4642.00	1160.50	5802.50	870.38
Age Concern Cranleigh and District	2903.36	725.36	3628.72	544.02
Brightwells Gostrey	1046.56	261.64	1308.20	196.23
Citizens Advice Bureau – Farnham	4473.20	1118.30	5591.50	838.73
Citizens Advice Bureau – Godalming	7764.80	1941.20	9706.00	1455.90
Citizens Advice Bureau – Haslemere and Cranleigh	5064.00	1266.00	6330.00	949.50
Cranleigh Arts Centre	3966.80		3966.80
Farnham Maltings	23463.20		23463.20
Godalming Museum Trust	5649.22	1412.30	7061.52	1059.22
Haslemere Educational Museum	25995.20	6498.80	32494.00	4874.10
Haslemere Hall Trust	2970.88		2970.88
Milford and Villages Day Centre	4388.80	1097.20	5486.00	822.90
Rural Life Centre (Old Kiln Museum Trust)	337.60	84.40	422.00	63.30
Farnham Youth Project	2664.82	666.21	3331.03	499.66

Total	97862.44	16864.91	114727.35	12648.69

Timetable

15. All three Overview and Scrutiny Committees will consider this report and pass their observations to the Executive to consider at its meeting on the 7th February 2006. Applicants will be notified of the results of their applications after the Council meeting on 21st February 2006. The Sponsored Organisation scheme timetable is attached at Annexe 4.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Committee considers:-

1. the Sponsored Organisation Scheme applications within its remit as detailed in Annexe 1 and makes grant recommendations to assist the Executive in its consideration of all applications on 7th February 2006; and

2. the proposal to contribute to the Waverley Voluntary Grants Panel in 2006/07 at the same level as 2005/06, Ł49,455.
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Background Papers (DoF)

Sponsored Organisation Scheme application forms
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CONTACT OFFICER:

Name: Graeme Clark Telephone: 01483 523236

Mike Horlock E-mail: grclark@waverley.gov.uk
mhorlock@waverley.gov.uk

comms/O&S3/2005-06/068