None

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting held on 6^th November 2019.

DECISION:

The minutes of the meeting held on 6th November 2019 were presented and approved as a correct record of proceedings.

Consideration of any written comments received from members of the public in relation to any of the reports on the agenda.

[Any submissions should be sent to the clerk listed on the agenda front page by 5pm the day before the meeting]

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To note for information individual decisions relating to the award of grants that have been taken by the Mayor the last meeting.

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David Tolley, (Head of Environmental Health & Trading Standards) presented the report, seeking approval to delegate granting funding for the continuation of the Zero Emissions Network Project (ZEN), for phase 3. He confirmed that this was a partnership project (involving LBTH, Hackney and Islington) to fund local air quality initiatives, particularly to smaller groups. The funding criteria was set out in the report. The Sub – Committee also noted a number of other ZEN projects to help lower emissions.

Councillor Tarik Khan (Scrutiny Lead, Resources) advised of the Overview and Scrutiny’s questions on this report regarding the incentives in place encouraging businesses to participate in the scheme. A written response had been provided and would be circulated.

In response to questions from the Sub –Committee – the following points were noted:

·         That Council had an anti - vehicle idling plans, set out in its Air Quality Strategy that should help address such issues as taxi idling. The ZEN officers carried out outreach work to change behaviour in this regard.

·         Other measures to tackle vehicle idling, included: exploring the possible of installing new electric charging points in parks, the delivery of the new School Streets initiative.

·         The Sub – Committee stressed the need for engagement with taxi business/drivers to ensure they played an active role in anti - idling initiatives

·         It was a requested that the target for the switching households to EV’s (Objective 4.2.1, Appendix 1) should be reviewed to ensure they were realistic.

·         That the Council would continue to work with other Boroughs to identify good practices.

DECISION:

1.         That the contents of this report be noted and agree the grant process.

2.         To delegate the granting on monies by the process outlined in the report

3.         To note the Equalities Impact Assessment/specific equalities considerations as set out in Paragraph 4.

Robert Mee, (Interim Voluntary & Community Sector Team Manager), presented the report.

The report covered red and amber performance rated projects for the extension period July to September 2019.

In relation to Our Base Ltd – One Stop Youth Service, (red rated project), it was confirmed that Officers were working with the project to obtain the outstanding monitoring returns. It was also noted that the latest update on activities indicated that activities did take place during the period.  Asset Management were also working with the group to resolve premises agreement issues. 

Regarding the Toynbee Hall – Wellbeing in TH project (amber rated).

The MSG project finished September 2019. Officers had worked with this group to improve performance for their revised programme of activities over the extension period but the project couldn’t get to a green rating before the end of the project. The organisation had been informed of the decision to hold back payment due to underperformance against the agreed targets.

The report also contained an overview of the Toynbee Hall Local Community Fund project which included elements of the work of the MSG project. The lessons learned from the MSG Extension activity were incorporated into the successful LCF bid.

St Giles Trust (Gamechangers). Councillor Tarik Khan (Scrutiny Lead, Resources) advised of the Overview and Scrutiny’s questions regarding the project following the Council’s request to be reimbursed.  Clarity was sought on the timeframe around the payment and if the payment is not received, what action can the council take.

It was reported that the organisation had informed the Council of their request to finish the activities early, due to a number of factors. They included staffing issues and that the activities had run their course. The Council had taken action to retrieve the grant funding from the group. They had been informed about the decision and accepted this.  Details of the recovery action was noted and would be circulated in the written response.  Going forward, Officers would bring a closure reports to the Grants Determination Sub - Committee, covering such issues as the reimbursement of funding and what this could mean in terms of future eligibility for funding from the Council. 

RESOLVED:

1.         Note the performance of the Mainstream Grants (MSG) programme as set out in 3.3 – 3.6 and the premises update 3.7 – 3.9.

David Freeman, (VCS Strategy Manager) presented the report, providing a summary of the grants awarded to voluntary and community sector organisations under delegated authority since the last meeting of the Sub- Committee. It also sought approval for the inclusion of a new theme in the Small Grants Programme for projects to combat loneliness from 1 April 2020.

In response to the report, the Sub – Committee discussed the following issues:

•           The publicity arrangements for the funding programmes to ensure organisations were aware of the funding opportunities. 

•           It was noted that the publicity activities included: regular bulletins to groups, engaging with networks for smaller groups, through for example, the CVS and Tower Hamlets Homes to publicise the funding programme. There was also link on the Council’s website to the East End Community Foundation’s website, showing the deadlines.

•           The Sub – Committee requested that information is circulated to Members to provide details of the funding programmes, (such as the pots of money available and the deadlines). It was agreed that an item would be prepared for the Members’ Bulletin.

•           It was also requested that Officers provide a list showing which organisations received support and from which funding programme.  It was noted that the annual report to Cabinet report could be formatted in such a way to provide this information. 

·                     The budget for the services for older people in the Lunch clubs strand of MSG is  very similar to the new small grants theme - around £100k, but the threshold for individual projects will be £15,000 per annum..

•           The work to ensure that the themes had the same timeframes – although it was noted that the MSG extension projects would have a different timeframe. 

•           The Community Benefit Rent Reduction Scheme.  A report on the O&S challenge session on community use of council buildings will be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in February.  In parallel with this, officers are conducting a review of the CBRR scheme and the implementation of the 2016 review of the community use of council owned buildings.

·                     The Community Language Service. Officers were working to identify how projects could  engage in the new initiative agreed by the Cabinet to mitigate the move from MSG.

RESOLVED:

1.         Note the update on funding awarded to voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations under delegated authority since their last meeting,

2.         Agree that a new theme be included in the Small Grants Programme for projects to combat loneliness.

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