Grants Committee
Delegated Authority Approvals Item no: 8
Report by: Ian Redding Job title: Head of Overview & Scrutiny, Social
Policy & Grants Division
Policy & Grants Committee Support
Tracey Rice
Officer
Date: 25 April 2007
Contact Ian Redding
Officer:
Tracey Rice
Telephone: 020 7934 9802 Email: ian.redding@londoncouncils.gov.uk
020 7934 9806 tracey.rice@londoncouncils.gov.uk
Summary This report informs Members about approvals made under delegated
authority powers in respect of 2006/7 and 2007/8.
Recommendations That Members:
1. Receive this report and note the grants made under delegated
powers as set out within the report and the attached appendices.
2. Agree to receive further reports on grant approvals under
delegated powers at each grant-making meeting.
3. Note that the final report detailing all delegated authority approvals
in respect of 2006/7 will be presented to the Grants Committee
AGM in July 2007.
London Councils Grants Committee, 25 April 2007 Delegated Authority Approvals
Item no: 8 Page 2 of 8
Background
1. Under London Councils Standing Order 22 the Grants Committee is permitted to delegate
decision-making powers to London Councils officers, as it considers appropriate to the
carrying out of its business.
2. At the Committee’s 13 July 2006 meeting Members agreed to retain broadly the same
range of delegated authority powers for the 2006/7 municipal year as had applied to
2005/6 but with the following notable additions:
Where expenditure not exceeding £30,000 is involved, and it is evident that it will enable
London Councils Business Plan and funding priorities to be addressed,;
a. To extend the period of an existing grant that is time-expiring, where in evaluating
that grant it is evident that further and/or follow-up work is needed to enable the
benefits from the earlier work to be better realised, or enhanced benefits to be
achieved, etc.
b. To agree a new grant of significance to achieving London Councils priorities.
c. To agree expenditure on a proposal for a research project.
3. Including these changes, delegated powers are in respect of 5 distinct areas of funding:
a/ Small grants to currently funded organisations
b/ Other issues relating to currently funded organisations
c/ Grants for New Applications up to £30,000
d/ Delegated European Social Fund Joint-financing decision-making
e/ Specific Annual Funds
Details of each of these and how they operate are set out in Appendix 1.
Use of Delegated Powers to Date in respect of 2006/7
4. In respect of the provisions for small grants to currently funded organisations, a detailed
listing of awards to 31 March 2007 is provided in table 1 at Appendix 2. These are
summarised below, where it is identified that £33,650 remains of the original £100,000
allocated for 2006/7.
Purpose Provision Approvals Balance
(£) (£) (£)
Disability Access 0
Maternity Locum 3,650
Interim/Wind-down 0
Non-Recurrent 62,700
Total 100,000 66,350 33,650
5. Grant variations approved during 2006/7 are listed in table 2 of Appendix 2: these have
no additional cost to the Committee.
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Item no: 8 Page 3 of 8
6. In respect of grants for new applications, grants approved under the extended purposes
set out in paragraph 2 above are listed in table 3 of Appendix 2. The financial effects of
these decisions are reflected in the Financial Overview report at item 10 on today’s
agenda.
7. In respect of other specific delegated authority powers,
European Social Fund co-financing was reported to Grants Committee at the 1
February 2007 meeting, providing a report on the Grants Committee’s
historical role as an ESF Co-financer, the effectiveness of its programme to
date and its potential future role beyond 2007/8.
decisions taken on the Committee’s Outer London Cultural Development Fund
for 2006/7, for which £145,000 is set aside as part of the Committee’s Culture
funding programme, were reported in detail to the Grants Committee’s meeting
on 12 July 2006;
decisions relating to the Supporting People Development Fund were agreed at
the Grants Committee’s meeting on 13 November 2006.
Use of Delegated Powers to Date in respect of 2007/8
8. At this early stage of 2007/8 delegated powers have only been used in relation to
European Social Fund co-financing. Attached at Appendix 3 are the decisions taken in
respect of 2007/8, all of which are for one year only at a cost of £5,007,223 gross
(£2,753,973 net of ESF grant). These grants relate to the original 2005/7 programme,
extended into 2007/8 due to delays at national level in getting the 2008/13 programme
operational.
Further Reporting
9. The Director will continue to report to each Committee on all grants made under
delegated authority, and how these affect the Committee’s available resources.
London Councils Grants Committee, 25 April 2007 Delegated Authority Approvals
Item no: 8 Page 4 of 8
Appendix 1
Grant-making Powers Delegated to Director, Social Policy and Grants
a/ Small grants to currently funded organisations
The headings under which such grants are currently approved are:
Interim and/or wind-down grants, for up to three months at existing funding levels
Maternity locum cover
Disability access
Urgent non-recurrent purposes (for example, removal costs, increased rent levels)
for which an overall provision of £100,000 has initially been set aside for each financial
year, subject to a limit of £10,000 in any one instance (previously £5,000).
b/ Other issues relating to currently funded organisations
Appeals
Grant variations
Management consultancies – small grants (up to £7,500)
Inflation allowances.
c/ Grants for New Applications up to £30,000
Now utilised for the purposes outlined in paragraph 2 above.
d/ Delegated European Social Fund Joint-financing decision-making
London Councils and Greater London Enterprise (GLE) jointly manage the London
Councils ESF Co-financing programme. Organisations apply via a competitive bidding
round; London Councils and GLE hold seminars to disseminate information about the
bidding round and how to apply, in partnership with London Voluntary Sector Training
Consortium (LVSTC).
Each application is checked to ensure the activities, and the organisation, are eligible for
funding. Two scorers (one London Councils, one GLE) assess each application
separately and then agree a final score between them. All bids are ranked in score order.
An internal London Councils/GLE assessment panel (typically comprising Director of
Social Policy and Grants (London Councils), Head of Renewal and Culture Team (London
Councils), Head of Overview and Scrutiny Team (London Councils), ESF Co-financing
Programme Manager (GLE), European Team Manager (GLE)) meets to review the top
scoring projects and
How they fit within the strategic framework of the London Councils co-financing
plan;
To ensure that funded projects will provide good value for money; and
The outcomes that London Councils and ESF are looking to fund.
The panel also ensures that there is a good spread of projects geographically across
London and across the different targets groups of London Councils ESF Co-financing
programme. The panel also checks that the scoring process was fair and transparent.
It is at this stage that the Director uses delegated authority powers to agree which
projects to fund. The recommendations of the internal panel are scrutinised by an
external assessment panel, made up of
London Councils Grants Committee, 25 April 2007 Delegated Authority Approvals
Item no: 8 Page 5 of 8
Representatives from second tier and other organisations working with the
programme’s target groups,
Government Office for London, and
LVSTC.
The final list of projects awarded funding is reported back to the Grants Committee for
information.
The costs of grants under this power are met from the provision of £2,000,000 (net) per
annum in the Committee’s grants budget.
e/ Specific Annual Funds
In addition to these, the Grants Committee will from time to time delegate responsibility
for final decisions to the Director, particularly where bids have been invited against
specific, and typically ring-fenced, funds. The most regularly occurring examples of this
are the Outer London Cultural Development Fund and the Supporting People
Development Fund for which there are annual bidding rounds.
Similarly to “3c” above, decisions taken under these powers are communicated to Grants
Committee Elected Officers who, if they have any concerns about the proposals, can call
for those items to be taken to full Committee.
London Councils Grants Committee, 25 April 2007 Delegated Authority Approvals
Item no: 8 Page 6 of 8
Appendix 2
Delegated Authority Approvals 2006/7
Table 1 summarises decisions taken to date in respect of the provisions for small grants to
currently funded organisations.
Table 1
Del Auth Fund Organisation Grant Description Amount (£)
Non-Recurrent Islington Women’s Aid Consultancy fees 9,500.00
Non-Recurrent Enfield Law Centre Relocation costs 5,000.00
Non-Recurrent London Notting Hill Carnival Develop a business plan 10,000.00
Non-Recurrent Eaves Lilith Project Women’s safety event 2,200.00
Non-Recurrent London Cycling Campaign Summer of sport 10,000.00
programme
Non-Recurrent Victim Support London Victim/crime campaign 6,000.00
Non-Recurrent Migrants Resource Centre IT equipment 5,000.00
Non-Recurrent London Cycling Campaign Relocation costs 5,000.00
Non-Recurrent Women’s Design Service Gender Equality 10000.00
Training programme
Sub-total 62,700.00
Maternity Locum Wandsworth CAB 221.00
Maternity Locum GALOP 3,429.00
Overall-total 3,650.00
Total
66,350.00
Table 2 summarises decisions taken to date on other issues relating to existing funded
organisations. As grant variations, there is a net nil cost to the Committee of these changes.
Table 2
Grant variation Black Londoners Forum 8,500.00
Grant variation Eaves Housing for Women 10,000.00
Grant variation Black Neighbourhood Renewal & Regeneration Network 4,401.33
Total
22,901.33
Table 3 summarises decisions taken to date in relation to Outer London Cultural Development
Fund for 2006/7.
Table 3
Name Boroughs Project Communities Grant
Benefiting £
African and Newham, Redbridge, Sign Language women, deaf, BME, 5,617
Caribbean Waltham Forest Poetry and Music older people
Voices
Association
Carl Campbell Bexley, Harrow, Waltham Caribbean Dance school children, 6,075
Dance Forest Workshops BME
London Councils Grants Committee, 25 April 2007 Delegated Authority Approvals
Item no: 8 Page 7 of 8
Company 7
Children's Croydon, Enfield, Harrow, Writing workshops school children 4,500
Discovery Sutton and interactive
Centre performances
Community Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Drama production disabled, older 6,000
Focus Haringey, Harrow, people
Hillingdon
Connaught Barking & Dagenham, Music older people 7,500
Opera Bexley, Brent, Bromley, performances
Ealing, Enfield, Haringey,
Harrow, Havering,
Hillingdon, Kingston
upon Thames, Merton,
Redbridge, Richmond
upon Thames, Sutton,
Waltham Forest
Dituria Hounslow, Richmond Sports, art young people 6,000
(Knowledge) upon Thames exhibition, poetry originating from the
photography and Balkans
culture day
Entis Bexley, Bromley, Short film dramas young people and 4,990
Croydon, Kingston, teachers (esp. from
Merton, Richmond Sutton areas of high
deprivation)
Global Arts Kingston, Merton, Sutton Performance young people (14- 4,395
Kingston including youth 19), BME
bands, dance,
singing and theatre
groups.
Insight Arts Barnet, Brent, Haringey Theatre ex-offenders, 10,000
Trust performances criminal justice
practitioners
Iroko Theatre Brent, Ealing, Haringey, African dance, children and young 7,475
Company Harrow, Hounslow, drama storytelling people (esp. those
Merton, Waltham Forest and music underachieving or
workshops with learning
difficulties)
London Barnet, Bromley, Classical music in older people, 8,000
Mozart Croydon, Havering, community venues children with
Players Hounslow, Kingston upon special education
Thames, Merton and needs
Sutton.
Mind the Gap Croydon, Merton Theatre piece using learning disabled 7,906
film, sculpture, live
music and choral
work
Nettlefold Barnet, Brent, Croydon, Educational arts Children with 7,500
Festival Trust Enfield and Sutton workshops and special education
“ColourDome” needs
structure
Photo Voice Barking and Dagenham, Photography unaccompanied 9,083
Newham, Redbridge refugees
London Councils Grants Committee, 25 April 2007 Delegated Authority Approvals
Item no: 8 Page 8 of 8
Spread the Barking and Dagenham, Creative writing people on low 8,531
Word Bexley, Bromley, workshops incomes and older
Havering, Newham, people
Redbridge
Stitches in Hounslow and Newham Embroidery, silk older people, BME, 4,943
Time painting and other women, children
fabric based crafts
Streets Alive Havering, Newham Interactive theatre young people, 6,750
Theatre piece including homeless and at
Company clowning risk of homeless,
techniques BME
The Green Ealing, Hillingdon, Tree-planting, refugee/ asylum 6,000
Corridor Hounslow buddying and seeker children
drama
Time of Our Barking & Dagenham, Reminiscence older people, 7,500
Lives Enfield, Havering, musical revue disabled
Community Newham, Redbridge,
Music Theatre Waltham Forest
WebPlay UK Barnet, Haringey, Harrow Drama project with young people 8,635
and Merton use of internet
Wish Works Bromley, Croydon Performance and children - 4-8 years 7,342
workshops old
including
marionettes, rod
and hand puppets,
projections and live
music.
Total 144,742
Table 4 summarises the decisions taken in respect of powers to award grants of up to £30,000
for 2006/7
Table 4
Purpose Organisation Grant Description £
One-off Grant Age Concern 2003/4 Liability 15,000
London
Non-recurrent Women’s Protect 3 posts so as to continue to provide 20,000
Resource Centre essential services to coordinate and support
women’s organisations in London
Open-Bidding Accountability Extending Community Accountancy network 18,974
to include Bromley
Open-Bidding Becap Extending Community Accountancy network 28,667
to include Haringey and Waltham Forest
New Voluntary Action Funding Central London Community 23,335
Accountability Camden Accountancy network initially to include
Project Camden and Islington
One-off Grant Research Grant Research into the funding of Women’s 15,000
Refuges in London
Total 120,976