Issue - meetings
Innovation Fund update
Meeting: 06/11/2019 - Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub-Committee (Item 6)
6 Innovation Fund update PDF 272 KB
Additional documents:
Decision:
Robert Mee (Interim Voluntary & Community Sector Team Manager), presented the report providing an update on the LBTH Innovation Fund. The report also contained proposed changes to the process to improve efficiency.
Councillor Tarik Khan (Scrutiny Lea, Resources) advised of the Overview and Scrutiny’s questions on this report regarding: the measure to ensure that hard to reach groups were made aware of the funding opportunity, and the geographical spread of the project. Written responses to the questions were noted and would be published on the Council’s website.
In responses to these questions, it was noted that:
• Officers worked with a range of organisations, including the Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Services (THCVS) and Spacehive, to implement the initiative.
• Recent improvements included the appointment of a dedicated officer resource to drive the project forward.
• The Council also organised workshops, a 50+ trainee from workpath has been added to the team to add extra resource and work with organisations and publicised the fund amongst other measures.
• In terms of the geographical spread of projects, it was fairly even. The geographical spread of the projects would continue to be monitored.
In response to further questions, Officers explained the proposed improvements to the process. It was proposed to carry out the part 2 assessment first, before organisations meet the campaigning requirements. A key benefit of this is that it would enable the Council to consider at an earlier stage whether a project is suitable for funding and enable it to gain momentum in mobilising support. It was also proposed to change the decision making process to ensure decisions were made in a timely way.
DECISION
1. That the organisations and projects funded through the LBTH Innovation Fund (Appendix 1 of the report) and the update on progress (3.6 – 3.11) and improvements to the scheme (3.12 – 3.13) be noted
Minutes:
Robert Mee (Interim Voluntary & Community Sector Team Manager), presented the report providing an update on the LBTH Innovation Fund. The report also contained proposed changes to the process to improve efficiency.
Councillor Tarik Khan (Scrutiny Lea, Resources) advised of the Overview and Scrutiny’s questions on this report regarding: the measure to ensure that hard to reach groups were made aware of the funding opportunity, and the geographical spread of the project. Written responses to the questions were noted and would be published on the Council’s website.
In responses to these questions, it was noted that:
• Officers worked with a range of organisations, including the Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Services (THCVS) and Spacehive, to implement the initiative.
• Recent improvements included the appointment of a dedicated officer resource to drive the project forward.
• The Council also organised workshops, a 50+ trainee from workpath has been added to the team to add extra resource and work with organisations and publicised the fund amongst other measures.
• In terms of the geographical spread of projects, it was fairly even. The geographical spread of the projects would continue to be monitored.
In response to further questions, Officers explained the proposed improvements to the process. It was proposed to carry out the part 2 assessment first, before organisations meet the campaigning requirements. A key benefit of this is that it would enable the Council to consider at an earlier stage whether a project is suitable for funding and enable it to gain momentum in mobilising support. It was also proposed to change the decision making process to ensure decisions were made in a timely way.
RESOLVED
1. That the organisations and projects funded through the LBTH Innovation Fund (Appendix 1 of the report) and the update on progress (3.6 – 3.11) and improvements to the scheme (3.12 – 3.13) be noted