COUNCILLOR M. FRANCIS IN THE CHAIR

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor A. Ullah,  Lead Member for Cleaner, Safer Greener.

Resolved

That the apologies for absence be noted.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor A. Ullah,  Lead Member for Cleaner, Safer Greener.

Resolved

That the apologies for absence be noted.

To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Chief Executive.

Councillor A Asad declared a personal interest in Agenda item 5.1 “Update on the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds in Tower Hamlets (GP 03/0910)”.  The declaration of interest was made on the basis that the report contained  references to Youth services and Councillor Asad was a paid employee of the Bishops Challoner School, Shadwell which provided youth services.

Noted.

Action by:

ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (L. Ali)

Committee Officer, Chief Executive’s Directorate (Z. Folley)

Councillor A Asaddeclared a personal interest in Agenda item 5.1 “Update on the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds in Tower Hamlets (GP 03/0910)”.  The declaration of interest was made on the basis that the report contained references to Youth services and Councillor Asad was a paid employee of the Bishops Challoner School, Shadwell which provided youth services.

Noted.

Action by:

ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (L. Ali)

Committee Officer, Chief Executive’s Directorate (Z. Folley)

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Grants Panel held on 11^th June 2009.

Resolved:

That the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Grants Panel held on 11^th June 2009 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings.

Action by:

ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (L. Ali)

Committee Officer, Chief Executive’s Directorate (Z. Folley)

Resolved:

That the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Grants Panel held on 11^th June 2009 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings.

Action by:

ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (L. Ali)

Committee Officer, Chief Executive’s Directorate (Z. Folley)

To receive any deputations and petitions.

The deadline for the receipt of any deputations for this meeting is  12 noon Friday 9^th October 2009.

Nil Items

Nil Items

Resolved:

(1)       That the report (GP 03/0910) on the implementation of the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds in 2009/10 be noted; and

(2)       That the Youth Opportunity Fund Initiative be given a double page spread in the East End Life Magazine promoting the scheme. That the Deputy Leader of the Council be requested to implement this recommendation.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, CHILDREN SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES (K. COLLINS)

Service Head, Youth and Community Learning, Children's Schools and Families (M. Durkin).

Head of Youth and Connexions Services, Children's Schools and Families Services (D. Hossain)

Mr Dinar Hussain (Head of Youth Services and Connextions Services) introduced the report highlighting the salient points.

Mr Hussain reported that in 2009/10 Tower Hamlets had been allocated £427,000 for the Youth Opportunity Fund  £125,320 additional Youth Opportunity Fund through the Mayor’s Offer and £183,600 for the Youth Capital Fund.

He reported that officers from youth services worked closely with the Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF) and Youth Capital Fund Panel to develop and administer  the funds. The representatives were recruited from across the Borough and have received accredited training in grant making. 

Ms Antonia Dixey (Children and Young Peoples Participation Officer), welcomed to the meeting Anisah Akther, Nargis Begum, Tahabur Rahman who were present to report on the work of the YOF and their involvement in the initiative. 

The representatives reported on how they heard about the Youth Opportunity Panel (YOF), how they got involved in the initiative, the training they had received, the shortlistings process, and made number of recommendations for future action.

In reply to questions from Members, it was reported that the YOF consisted of representatives from all eight LAP areas with two from each LAP area.  When assessing the applications, the Panel endeavoured to award equal funding to each LAP. Every single project was given an equal chance and if they were unsuccessful would be referred to Youth Bank Tower Hamlets for help and support through funding factory programmes. All of the applicants were offered support during every stage of the process and were given feedback.

The YOF had a very good relationship with the Young Mayor’s Team. The Young Mayor regularly attends YOF meetings. The Young Mayor  was preparing a report for the Council and a section of that report will be devoted to the YOF.

In relation to monitoring, it was noted that conditions were put on projects and the YOF representatives also visited the successful projects to ensure compliance with the conditions. There was also surprise visits and mystery shopping. The Young Inspectors also participated in the schemes to assess performance. They also checked the accounts and attendance records of the successful projects and training was provided to ensure the projects were delivering value for money and offered a diverse range of services. The funding was allocated incrementally and the final part was only allocated when all parts of the criteria had been satisfied. For this year, there were three rounds of funding in paired LAP areas.

The young persons representatives reported on some of their favourite YOF projects.  A breakdown of costs per funding round and LAP area was before the Grants Panel.

In reply to questions about the under spend on some of the  LAP area budgets,  Ms Dixey reported that the service placed adverts promoting the scheme in the East End Life and visited schools and other young persons venues in every LAP area to ensure they were made aware of the scheme.  Each paired LAP had been allocated the same amount of funding. The Grants Panel noted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.1

Resolved:

That the proposed process improvements contained within the report (GP 04/0910) be agreed and recommend to Cabinet subject to the inclusion of the following proposals:

(i)                 Clear details of how funding will be set aside in the Mainstream Grant Commissioning (MSG) budgets to meet the costs of any successful appeals 

(ii)               Consideration of having more than one closing date to enable unsuccessful organisations to reapply

(iii)             That the proposed changes to the timetable include reasonable time for the organisations to group together and submit consortium bids

(iv)              That officers prepare and submit to an extraordinary meeting of the Grants Panel the following

·        A timetable of grants rounds to be considered by the panel over the next 3 years

·        A performance monitoring report covering the performance of every organisation funded by mainstream grant funds

A template for the monitoring report be devised and approved by the Grants Panel prior to the extraordinary meeting.

Action by:

ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (L. Ali)

Service Head Strategy and Performance Chief Executive’s Directorate (L. Russell)

Third Sector Manager, Strategy and Performance, Chief Executive’s Directorate (J. Underwood)

Funding and Development Manager, Strategy and Performance, Chief Executive’s Directorate (E. Haughton)

Principle Funding and Development Officer, Strategy and Performance Chief Executive’s Directorate (H. Hughes)

Mr Underwood (Third Sector Manager, Strategy and Performance) introduced the report highlighting the salient points.

Mr Underwood reminded Members at the last meeting of the Grants Panel in June 2009, the Grants Panel requested that the new Mainstream Grant Commissioning Process be reviewed.  As a result officers have undertaken a review of the new arrangements.  These had been clustered around the following main themes - 

• Issues identified with the process (including online application arrangements);
• Results of the process;
• Accountability and transparency;
• Level of support available when applying for grants;
• Advertising and Publicity;
• Process timescales;
• Feedback Appeals and Enquiries. 

An overview of the findings together with a detailed breakdown of the proposals was included in the report.

The Grants Panel were asked to consider the proposed process improvements and recommended them to Cabinet.

In response to the report, Councillor Ohid Ahmed commented that many organisations had contacted Members and had expressed concern over the new commissioning approach. The concern was that the small and medium sized originations would loose out due to lack of access to the IT infrastructure necessary to apply online. It was necessary to ensure every group received help and support in applying for grant aid assistance.

In relation to advertising and publicity, Councillor Ahmed also commented that many of the organisations considered that they were not afforded enough time to apply on line, attempted to apply but couldn’t as they had not been trained or were unaware that they could do so. Councillor Ahmed queried how these issues would be addressed? He also questioned whether applicants would be enabled to submit paper applications as some many find this more convenient. There was a need to ensure those that could not apply on line were given a chance.

In reply, Mr Underwood reported that the online application process would be maintained as this would enable groups to build up their IT infrastructure. Ms Hilary Hughes (Principal Funding and Development Officer) reported that there would also be an all day training session held at Mulberry Place, Town Hall, where groups could come in and submit their written applications forms online. However if for some reason they were unable to apply online, they would be enabled to submit a paper application. The intention was to hold more IT training sessions for the groups.  Should any of the groups not be able to attend the session, officers would make alternative arrangements where necessary.

Ms Hughes reported that officers carried out verification checks to ensure the organisations funded were adhering to the Council’s criteria for grant aid support. Officers carried out visits and if they were any concerns carried out additional work with the groups. 

The Grants Panel expressed a wish to monitor the performance of the organisations funded from mainstream grants funds. Accordingly they requested that a performance monitoring report be submitted to the Grants Panel to enable them to monitor the activity of such projects and that an extra ordinary meeting of the Grants Panel be arranged to consider  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.2

Nil Items.

Nil Items.