Agenda item
Arrangements for Corporate Match Funding 2009-10 (CAB 076/089)
Decision:
Resolved:
1. That, subject to (a) below, the role of Corporate Match Funding, as set out in paragraphs 5.1 to 5.3 of the report (CAB 076/089), be noted:
(a) Paragraph 5.2 addition of fourth bullet point:
· Other key themes and priorities of the Local Area Agreement 2008/11; and
2. That, subject to the decisions arising from the Authority’s budget setting processes and resolution 1 above, the priorities and arrangements for 2009/10 as set out in paragraphs6.2 to 6.8 of the report (CAB 076/089), be agreed, [including the funding priorities set out in Table 1 within paragraph 6.8 of the report and set out at (a) and (b) below]:
(a) One year extended contracts of appropriate currently match funded projects.
(b) Financing projects and initiatives that aim to develop and maintain a thriving third sector.
Action by:
INTERIM CORPORATE DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL
(P. EVANS)
Services Head, Resources, Development and Renewal, (C. Holme)
Minutes:
Mr Evans, Interim Corporate Director Development and Renewal, at the request of the Chair in introducing the report:
· Briefly summarised the salient points contained therein, informing members of the Cabinet that this funding provision was a mechanism through which the Authority supported projects/organisations that needed a guarantee of co-financing in order to secure applications for wider funding. The arrangements proposed were broadly the same as those in 2008/09 but were subject to the Authority’s Budget setting framework.
· Addressed the matters raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 2nd December 2008, in relation to the report; as set out in the tabled sheet of questions and comments presented by the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee earlier in the proceedings.
Clarification was sought and given in relation to the eligibility criteria for Corporate Match Funding, with particular reference to the Isle of Dogs Foundation.
Councillor Choudhury, Lead Member Employment and Skills, in referring to paragraph 5.2 of the report, which outlined three employment related themes emerging from the Community Plan and Local Area Agreement priorities which would inform the prioritisation of projects/ organisations for Corporate Match Funding (CMF) in 2009/10, commented that the Authority was optimising the use of Working Neighbourhood Fund resources to achieve these employment related outcomes. Councillor Choudhury considered that the allocation of CMF should have a broader remit and accordingly proposed that following amendment to the recommendations set out in the report, for the consideration of members of the Cabinet:
“Inclusion of other Council priorities as an additional theme for prioritising the allocation of CMF”
The Chair concurred commenting that significant resources had already been allocated by the Authority to address the need for improved employment outcomes for the Community and consequently CMF should include wider dynamics than employment led priorities.
Mr Holme, Service Head Resources Development and Renewal, responded that CMF had always had a wide remit but was primarily a mechanism to secure inward investment. This was currently focused around the European Regional Development Fund and European Structural Fund Programmes and their foci: mainly business development and worklessness. However there was scope to broaden the scope for CMF by examining other national and sub regional funding programmes.
Mr Smith, Chief Executive, advised that the main objective of CMF should be leverage of external resources into Tower Hamlets, but this was congruent with the inclusion of other priorities set out in the Local Area Agreement as an additional theme for prioritising the allocation of CMF funding.
The Chair Moved the recommendations as set out in the report (taking account of the proposed amendment from Councillor Choudhury and the advice of the Chief Executive), and it was: -
Resolved:
1. That, subject to (a) below, the role of Corporate Match Funding, as set out in paragraphs 5.1 to 5.3 of the report (CAB 076/089), be noted:
(a) Paragraph 5.2 addition of fourth bullet point:
· Other key themes and priorities of the Local Area Agreement 2008/11; and
2. That, subject to the decisions arising from the Authority’s budget setting processes and resolution 1 above, the priorities and arrangements for 2009/10 as set out in paragraphs6.2 to 6.8 of the report (CAB 076/089), be agreed, [including the funding priorities set out in Table 1 within paragraph 6.8 of the report and set out at (a) and (b) below]:
(a) One year extended contracts of appropriate currently match funded projects.
(b) Financing projects and initiatives that aim to develop and maintain a thriving third sector.
Supporting documents: