Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage Item 2

20 December 2001

Annual Revenue Support to Community Associations

Report of the Director of Arts, Countryside and Community

Contact: Margaret Plumridge Ext: 6173

1. Summary

The following decisions are sought:-

1) That, in principle, the Leigh Park Community Association should receive annual revenue support of £32,000 for the period 2002/03 to 2006/07.

2) That the release of the second instalment of £4,000 in respect of 2001/02 to Rowner Residents Community Association be approved and that the situation continue to be monitored and that a decision to release further funds be taken early in 2002.

3) That a grant of £4,000 be allocated to Whitehill and Bordon Community Association to support their revenue costs.

4) That a further £5,000 be allocated to Headley Down Community Association to support their revenue costs.

2. Reason

These organisations seek to enable local people to meet the recreational, educational, social, cultural and environmental needs of their local communities and as such are supported by the county council through its core grants fund.

3. Other options considered and rejected:

- taking no action.

- varying the level of support

4. Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker or a member or officer consulted - none

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable

6. Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent - Not applicable

Approved by: (signature) Date: (of decision)

Councillor J. Waddington

Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage

20 December 2001

Annual Revenue Support to Community Associations

Report of the Director of Arts, Countryside and Community

Contact: Margaret Plumridge, ext 6173

1. Introduction

1.1 The County Council works in partnership with community associations who seek to enable local people to meet the recreational, educational, social, cultural and environmental needs of their local communities. These organisations give local people an opportunity to participate in local activities and encourage local initiatives by people of all ages.

2. Purpose

2.1 The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the current situation and provide details of requests for support towards the annual revenue costs of these associations.

3. Finance

3.1 It was agreed at the Sport and Community Panel on 15 February 2001 that £140,000 be set aside for annual revenue support. To date £111,500 has been allocated to these organisations. Consequently £28,500 remains. It was recommended at the Sport and Community Panel that three organisations should receive only 50% of their funding with the rest being released on receipt of further reports. These were: -

Leigh Park Community Association - awaiting a report on the review of the management structure which was outstanding from 2000/01. This report has been received and proposals are set out in paragraph 5.

Ringwood Community Association - awaiting receipt of annual accounts. These accounts have now been received and the grant of £6,000 has been released.

Rowner - Nimrod Centre - At the time this organisation was forecasting a deficit of over £27,000 and it was felt that it should be given further officer support in order to assist the managing trustees to address its management and financial issues. Proposals are set out in paragraph 6.

3.2 Appendix 1 contains a summary of annual revenue support for 2001/02. Appendix 2 sets out the current financial position for the entire community support budget in the current year 2001/02.

4. Conditions and criteria governing annual revenue support

4.1 The policy and conditions governing this grant aid were revised in June 1999. At that time it was agreed that the following criteria should be used when considering applications for this funding.

4.2 Priority should be given to organisations that:

_ Have an area of benefit that is disadvantaged or is an area of special need.

_ Have an area of benefit that has few or no facilities.

_ Are new.

4.3 Organisations must demonstrate:

_ That there is evidence of self-help and of maximising the organisations own resources

_ That there are positive proposals for the development of the community programme and premises in order to meet local needs

_ That the activities support the organisations charitable aims (as stated in the Recreational Charities Act 1958)

_ That the services provided are contributing to Hampshire County Council's Corporate Strategy.

4.4 It is expected that this grant aid will, wherever possible, reduce annually as organisations develop new and sustainable income streams.

5. Leigh Park Community Association

5.1 Leigh Park is a priority area for the county council. It is one of the wards supported by the government through its Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) and the community association has been instrumental in setting up and managing projects in the area. This has caused serious management difficulties within the organisation and in May 2001 a review of the organisation began using an external consultant from Community Matters.

5.2 This review is now complete and it recommends that a new staffing structure be put in place for the Leigh Park Community Association (LPCA), which includes an additional executive post. An implementation group has been set up to consider how the recommendations of the review may be achieved. This group consists of members and officers from Hampshire County Council, Havant Borough Council (HBC) and representatives of the LPCA Trustees.

It is proposed that as the current manager is already acting as this executive officer it is appropriate that she formally takes up this post and relinquishes some of her work to a new member of staff who will act as centre manager

5.3 It is clear that funding the recommendations is a major issue. Consequently the implementation group are working towards a compromise which consists of the re-grading of the current centre manager/development worker to executive officer and the appointment of a part time centre manager to run the centre (the report actually recommends a full time centre manager). The cost implications are set out below:

£

Executive Officer (salary including oncosts) 33,875

Less: Current salary (including oncosts) 28,109

Difference 5,766

Part-time Centre Manager (20 hours) 11,799

Funding required 17,565

Possible sources of funding have been identified:

£

HBC to write off loan to LPCA HBC/LPCA 2,400

Funding from SRB towards administrator LPCA 4,000

Funding from HBC HBC 8,000

Additional Funding from HCC HCC 8,000

Total 22,400

If these funds can be committed they will be more than sufficient to cover the proposed additional costs and could even provide for an extension to the hours allocated to the centre manager.

5.4 At the present time the county council provides funding to LPCA through a revenue grant and the direct employment of staff seconded to LPCA as set out below:

£

Annual revenue grant 10,000

Seconded staff 14,000

Total 24,000

5.5 As this area and its organisation is a priority and in many respects different from much of the rest of the county it is proposed that it is treated as a special case and that the additional funding of £8,000 per annum is, in principle, committed for the next five years 2002/03 to 2006/07. This will link to the current SRB funding of community development activity and also allow time for LPCA to restructure should that funding cease. The additional funding of £8,000 would mean total annual support of £32,000 and it is recommended that this should be a fixed sum with LPCA funding future cost increases including pay awards. This additional funding can be found from within the base budget.

6. Rowner Residents Community Association - Nimrod Centre

6.1 This association serves a former MOD estate in Gosport, which continues to be part of a regeneration programme.

6.2 The centre opened in 1997. The association struggled with a very small group of dedicated volunteers and during the past year employed two members of staff to support its management and administration. The staffing costs and the loss of two significant regular user organisations has resulted in a large budget deficit forecast for the current financial year. An officer from the county council has met with the management committee to address the overall management and finances. As a result a member of our community support team has been seconded to the association to review their management structure, practices and procedures and particularly to review the anticipated budget deficit of £27,000 as it originally stood.

6.3 There are a number of financial issues still outstanding but these are in the process of being resolved. The most pressing at present is a demand for rent of £8,000 from Gosport Development Trust who own the building. Following recent discussions it seems likely that this sum will be substantially reduced. The current financial report suggests there will be a deficit of £15,770 (including the rental). The association has already received from the county council an initial payment of £4,000 leaving a deficit of £11,770. As their cash flow has become very difficult to maintain, the final £4,000 has been allocated to this association, bringing the total to £8,000 for 2001/02. However, it is likely that they could require further funding of between £2,000 - £4,000 before the end of the financial year in order to continue with this relative stability. The situation will be monitored and a report will be produced on the financial stability of the association before any further funds are committed.

7. Whitehill and Bordon Community Association

7.1 This organisation was provided with funding of £8,000 in the financial year 2000/01. In the current year the association received financial assistance from the town council in order to employ some professional help to assist with the business planning aspect of the association. This consultancy was not satisfactory and terminated after two months. Subsequently the manager also resigned. Following this the association decided to use the expertise of one of the nearby associations and has reviewed its business plan, marketing and staffing needs. It is recommended that a grant of £4,000 be given to the association to assist them to develop their plans further during this financial year and that they be considered for future funding with other applicants in 2002/03.

8. Headley Down Community Centre

8.1 This community centre is located in one of the priority areas in East Hampshire. The organisation has already received funding of £6,000 to assist with its revenue costs in the financial year 2001/02.

8.2 The organisation appointed a part-time manager/development worker approximately three years ago. She has worked very hard to promote this centre and develop activities for children and young people, a much needed resource in the area. She has also developed an IT learning centre, is assisting with the development of the East Hampshire information network and is promoting adult learning groups in the centre. In order to enable this expansion to be maintained it became essential that further administrative support was provided within the centre office. A new part-time administrator has been appointed which will allow the manager to continue the development of the community programme and expand the range of activities offered.

8.3 This appointment was clearly essential if the work of the centre was to continue. However, the cost of this appointment is difficult for the organisation to maintain at the present time and they have requested a further £5,000 to assist them through his period.

9. Recommendations

1) That, in principle, the Leigh Park Community Association should receive annual revenue support of £32,000 for the period 2002/03 to 2006/07.

2) That the release of the second instalment of £4,000 in respect of 2001/02 to Rowner Residents Community Association be approved and that the situation continue to be monitored and that a decision to release further funds be taken early in 2002.

3) That a grant of £4,000 be allocated to Whitehill and Bordon Community Association to support their revenue costs.

4) That a further £5,000 be allocated to Headley Down Community Association to support their revenue costs.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

Published works

Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the act.

TITLE LOCATION

Applications for revenue support Community Support Section

Appendix 1

Annual Revenue Support 2001/2002

Budget £140,000

Allocations - February

Additional Allocations - December 2001