Issue - meetings

Decision:

(1)    That the grant budget for 2022-23 be set at £90,000, subject to final confirmation by the Council at its budget meeting in February 2022.

(2)    That consideration of future years’ budget for Concurrent Functions Grant Aid, from 2023-24, be referred to an EAB for further discussion together with a review of the award criteria, following the Director of Resources’ recommendation to reduce it to £60,000 p.a.

(3)    That the parish council requests for grant aid for 2022-23, as set out in Appendix 3 to the report submitted to the Executive, be approved.

(4)    That the remaining balance of £7,109 be met from the Parish Council Urgent Schemes Reserve.

Reasons:

(1)    To assist parish councils with expenditure on concurrent function schemes in 2022-23.

(2)    To enable parish councils to take account of financial assistance from Guildford Borough Council when calculating their precept requirements for 2022-23.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

None.

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None.

The Council’s concurrent functions grant aid scheme provided financial assistance to parish councils.  Concurrent functions were services which both the Borough Council and the parish councils were empowered to undertake. The grants took the form of grant funding up to a maximum of 50% and that percentage decreased for projects costed at over £10,000. The grant budget was £90,000. Parishes were asked to complete a detailed application form and written estimate for each project and identify how the project meets at least one of the fundamental themes within the Council’s corporate plan. 

The Executive considered a report setting out details of the 33 requests received from 17 of the 23 parish councils in the borough, which totalled £97,828.  One bid had subsequently been retracted. The bids brought forward for approval therefore totalled £97,109, which was £7,109 over the base budget of £90,000.  The Executive was requested to agree that the remaining balance be met from the Parish Council Urgent Schemes Reserves to achieve a balanced budget.

As a part of the Council’s Savings Strategy, the Executive had been asked to consider reducing the scheme budget to £60,000 for 2022-23. The Leader suggested that this recommendation be referred to an Executive Advisory Board (EAB) for review before the Executive made a final decision on the matter. Following discussion, it was proposed that the EAB review should also include the scheme’s award criteria.

Having considered the report and the applications, the Executive

RESOLVED:

(1)    That the Concurrent Functions Grant Aid budget for 2022-23 be set at £90,000, subject to final confirmation by the Council at its budget meeting in February 2022.

(2)    That consideration of future years’ budgets for Concurrent Functions Grant Aid, from 2023-24, be referred to an EAB for further discussion together with a review of the award criteria, following the Director of Resources’ recommendation to reduce it to £60,000 p.a.

(3)    That the parish council requests for grant aid for 2022-23, as set out in Appendix 3 to the report submitted to the Executive, be approved.

(4)    That the remaining balance of £7,109 be met from the Parish Council Urgent Schemes Reserve.

Reasons:

(1)    To assist parish councils with expenditure on concurrent function schemes in 2022-23.

(2)    To enable parish councils to take account of financial assistance from Guildford Borough Council when calculating their precept requirements for 2022-23.