Agenda item

The Strategy and Communications Manager gave an introductory presentation in respect of the mandate relating to grants to voluntary organisations.  The mandate consisted of:

·             Introduction

·             Strategy

·             Strategic options to deliver a solution

·             Considerations

·             Resources

·             Risks, assumptions and issues

·             Dependencies, constraints and opportunities

·             Internal stakeholders

·             Appendix 1 – new service level agreements

·             Appendix 2 – previous review of grants

·             Appendix 3 – voluntary grants scheme 2021/22

By way of background, the Executive Advisory Board (EAB) was advised that following a review of grants in January 2020, the existing grants schemes had been discontinued in their previous forms and replaced by rolling agreements to provide greater certainty over future funding to organisations delivering against the Council’s strategic priorities (homelessness, mental health services, vulnerable families and services for the elderly).

At that time, the Executive also agreed to establish a new smaller Aspire Grants Scheme (£30,000 per annum) to support small scale local community projects and also to retain a reduced Voluntary Grants Scheme (£50,000 per annum) to provide some funding for other organisations delivering services for priority groups.  The establishment of a new crowdfunding platform for a two year trial period with an annual budget of £80,000 was also approved.

The original Voluntary Grants Scheme had been established as a tri-partite funding body along with Surrey County Council (SCC) and the NHS.  However, as both SCC and the NHS withdrew funding in recent years, the Borough Council remained as the only contributor. Whilst the scheme continued to provide support to organisations working with vulnerable residents, as a legacy of its former composition, grant funding did not necessarily closely support this Council’s priorities or core client groups and many grants were more health service focused.

With priority groups and services now being supported through funding agreements, the new crowdfunding platform being established to support voluntary and community organisations and the Council’s increased financial challenges, the mandate considered options for future grant funding.  The four options consisted of (a) do nothing, (b) discontinue the Voluntary Grants Scheme, (c) discontinue the Aspire Community Grants Scheme or (d) do most.  The Executive / Management Team Liaison Group had considered this mandate at its meeting held on 30 June 2021 and expressed support for Option (b).

The following points arose from related questions, comments and discussion:

1.           Councillor Fiona White addressed the EAB as a Trustee of CHIPS, an organisation which offered valued school holiday play provision to support vulnerable children and families in north Guildford and in Ash.  CHIPS met some of the Council’s strategic priorities and was in receipt of a voluntary grant of £5,000 in 2021/22 which formed an integral part of its funding.  Although it was difficult to calculate the return on the Council’s investment, it was felt that CHIPS provided valuable intervention work without which there may be greater need of Council services and expenditure in the future.  Accordingly, the EAB was invited to support CHIPS and other voluntary organisations by protecting their grant funding and seeking alternative savings elsewhere.

2.           The Council had been innovative in recent years in relation to grant provision and, in addition to the crowdfunding platform, initiatives included the establishment of Guildford Philanthropy, a charity which supported organisations working with vulnerable people utilising private donations, and the Guildford Community Lottery.  There was a desire to encourage the use of crowdfunding as for every £1 invested by the Council in crowd projects supporting its priorities, £2 or more were received from the crowd’s supporters to the benefit of local communities.  A definition of crowdfunding was provided.

3.           The maximum voluntary grant was £5,000 per annum and organisations which had received an annual grant under the Scheme were not guaranteed to receive funding in future years and therefore the list of recipients in Appendix 3 was likely to change from year to year.  The maximum grant available under the Aspire Grants Scheme was £1,000 and the Scheme was flexible and accessible as applications could be considered on an ongoing basis rather than once per year as was the case with the Voluntary Grants Scheme.

4.           In the event that the Voluntary Grants Scheme was discontinued, it would not necessarily be replaced by crowdfunding as the Scheme provided small project based grants which were not intended to fund annual operating costs, whereas crowdfunding was more suited to funding bids from larger organisations such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureaux which would be unviable without Council funding.  However, organisations that had been in receipt of funding under the Grants Schemes would have the opportunity to apply for crowdfunding or funds via the Community Lottery in the future, and the Council could encourage and support this community approach.  It was acknowledged that bidding for crowdfunding was more complicated than applying for a grant and success may depend on presentation and media skills that small charities or community groups may not possess.  It was possible that some communities could raise their own funding within the community to pursue local projects.

5.           Whilst acknowledging the Council’s need to pursue its Savings Strategy, some concern was expressed as to whether a reduction in grant funding would threaten the viability of some voluntary organisations as it was unknown whether they had alternative funding streams and what the proportion of grant was compared to their total income.  However, the EAB was advised that discontinuing the Voluntary Grants Scheme should secure savings without affecting the viability of any organisation which might have applied for a grant.  Applicants under the Scheme were not necessarily established charities and were often groups of residents wishing to pursue a project to make improvements to their local community.  The Community Engagement Team were working to support such groups.

Having considered the information provided and the responses to their questions, members concluded that the Executive be advised that the EAB supported a compromise arrangement between options (a) and (b) whereby both the Voluntary Grants Scheme and the Aspire Grants Scheme were retained with the funding for each scheme reduced by 50%.  This equated to a budget of £25,000 for the Voluntary Grants Scheme and of £15,000 for the Aspire Grants Scheme which should be focused on smaller charities and organisations in most need of support.  An annual review could be undertaken to assess the impact of the Scheme reductions on applicants.