Contact: Roger Mead, Assistant County Education Officer, Resources and Planning Branch (01962 847991).

The following decision is sought:

1 Summary

1.1 That grants be awarded as follows:-

· Hampshire Schools Sports Federation £8,150

· British Trust for Conservation Volunteers £11,230

· Hampshire Dyslexia Association £2,710

· National Children's Bureau (NCB) £3,410

£25,500

2 Reason

2.1 To provide continued support to voluntary organisations which meet the County Council's criteria.

3 Other options considered and rejected - not applicable

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 Reasons for the matter being dealt with if urgent - not applicable

Approved by Date of Decision

Cllr D.G.Allen

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

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:

1 Published works.

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

TITLE FILE

None.

Contact: Roger Mead, Assistant County Education Officer, Resources and Planning Branch (01962 847991)

1 Background

1.2 The following criteria have applied since March 1998:

· priority to provision for pupils of statutory school age

· relevance to the National Curriculum

· feedback data from the survey of schools

· the impact of any loss of grant on the education service

· the impact of any loss of grant on the organisation in terms of its ability to absorb such reduction or loss as well as its ability to increase charges or raise funding from other sources.

1.2 At the time of agreeing the criteria, the number of organisations receiving grants was reviewed as part of a wider County Council review. For the current year education related grants totalling £24,114 are made to the following organisations:

· Hampshire Schools Sports Federation (£7,710)

· British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (£10,620)

· Hampshire Dyslexia Association (£2,565)

· National Children's Bureau. (£3,219)

2 2004/2005 Grants

2.1 The Education budgetary provision for grants in 2004/2005 (at outturn prices of £25,500) is sufficient only to enable the organisations receiving grant this year to receive a grant plus inflation for next year (providing they continue to meet the criteria).

2.2 The following grants are recommended, with details on each in the appendix, as follows:-

· Hampshire Schools Sports Federation £8,150

· British Trust for Conservation Volunteers £11,230

· Hampshire Dyslexia Association £2,710

· National Children's Bureau (NCB) £3,410

£25,500

2.3 NCB is a grant matched by Social Services and processed by the Social Services department.

Recommendation

1 That the grants totalling £25,520 be awarded to Hampshire Schools Sports Foundation, British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, Hampshire Dyslexia Association and the National Children's Bureau.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

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:

3 Published works.

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

TITLE FILE

None.

APPENDIX 1

Applications for grants to voluntary organisations 2004/2005

Hampshire Schools Sports Federation (HSSF)

Educational aims and objectives

· Provide a single Federation for all constituent schools' sports associations in Hampshire.

· Provide a cohesive sense of direction and purpose for extended school sports in Hampshire.

· Maximise the use of financial and material resources available.

· Provide a platform for debate and discussion on the development of extended school sport and to highlight particular areas of concern or need.

· Liaise closely with the education departments in the three authorities to ensure that their priorities for sport are maintained.

· Ensure that the three Authorities' requirements regarding the supervision of and safety in all activities and sports are observed.

· Promote sport for young people in Hampshire.

Use of the Grant

· 23 sports are affiliated to the Federation

· Of which 15 county associations apply for grant aid.

· The associations in turn provide opportunities for school aged youngsters to compete at local, district, county and national level.

· The associations use the funding for administration, travel, equipment, competition fees etc.

· Each association who applies for financial support provides a written report of their previous year's activities together with an audited balance sheet.

Other funding

The HSSF does receive funding from the other two Unitary Authorities ie. Portsmouth and Southampton : 2003/2004 :-

Portsmouth £1,050
Southampton £1,712

Contact with Hampshire schools, Quality and range of services evaluation

The Year Book published by HSSF sets out these in full.

Audited Accounts

These have been received and are attached.

Comments from the organisation

· The HSSF and their member associations are very lucky to have such a large and committed band of workers, who give of their time so freely. Obviously most of them are teachers, who with the increase in workload within their schools still recognise the importance of developing whatever talents the youngsters have, in our case, their sporting talents. Their expertise lies in developing these talents and they recognise the continuing support that they receive, in the form of financial backing, from the three Unitary Authorities. In order to meet the basic requirement of our 15 applicants in the year 2003-04, the HSSF has used up its surplus, including one or two one-off grants that we had been able to secure.

Without the continued support of all 3 Unitary Authorities, the HSSF will not be able to meet the basic requirements of their membership and many associations will have to reduce their programme, especially at the higher levels of achievement.


· The HSS would, therefore, seek a grant in line with previous years, for 2003/2004 this was £8,000.

Officer Comments

This federation and the sports associations continue to play a vital role in developing sporting opportunities for school-aged children.

Recommendation

APPENDIX 2

British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV)

BTCV Educational aims and objectives:

BTCV aims to raise individual awareness and understanding about environmental issues and to enable people to achieve practical sustainable solutions at a local level. This will be achieved through our unique focus on people and by providing high quality training, support and developmental learning opportunities.

One of our primary actions in Hampshire is to engage and provide educational opportunities for young people.

How will the grant be used?

BTCV has a 40 year track record in delivering safe and sustainable environmental action that is second to none. The grant will be used to fund some of the core costs associated with dedicating Project Officers time to supporting schools, teachers and Governors in practical conservation planning and management techniques. BTCV has established an Environmental Education Forum that provides teachers with continued support and advice. This initiative has enabled many schools to establish new links with other organisations (e.g. Learning Through Landscapes, Schools Landscape Project and Schools Woodland Initiative). Funds received through this grant have enabled Project Officers to focus their time and effort in maximising support for schools. BTCV Hampshire is recognised as a leader in this area of service delivery within the organisation and has developed excellent examples of `Best Practice'.

BTCV Hampshire has developed a very successful fundraising mentoring and support approach that has generated over £80,000 of support for schools this year. This is achieved through the careful allocation of work through a dedicated schools officer.

The Department of Education grants support is a vital component of our funding portfolio and is critical to our continued ability to work constructively with schools throughout Hampshire. Securing core funds for a charity of our size is always very difficult and this grant enable BTCV to seek match funding and specific project income to ensure that the schools related service can be proactive.

Other funding support

BTCV Hampshire needs to generate local income to provide a local service and this is achieved through a portfolio of County Council, Local Authority and regeneration grants, Service Level Agreements and funds.

Income is also received from Corporate sources to support specific projects; by generating income from providing training and direct project management. BTCV has a successful track record in securing Landfill Tax funds to establish local projects and works closely with Local Authorities to identify partnership opportunties.

Our work with schools in Hampshire

BTCV has provided a service to the Department for over 13 years and during this time it has successfully developed an excellent level of provision that is attributed to the partnership between BTCV, schools and the County Council.

Our work includes training and direct support for schools and teachers in over 200 schools and this has steadily increased as our work is celebrated and promoted. Working closely with the SLP, LTL and SWI initiatives BTCV has reinforced the work that is needed to provide sustainable solutions for utilising school grounds.

Promoting best practice has been achieved through the newsletters that BTCV Hampshire produces each term. The Project Officers have also created a wealth of support materials, information, guidance and project planning sheets and this year are looking to produce a "toolkit" on sustainable conservation for schools and teachers to use.

BTCV also provides `lifelong learning' opportunities through a comprehensive Green Skills training programme and through the Pond and Tree Warden training schemes. This year BTCV is looking to enhance the warden based activities to introduce a home composting scheme that would also be of particular use to schools.

Comments in support of this application

BTCV has a proven sustainable track record in inspiring people to improve environments and using a partnership based approach to supporting the greatest areas of need, our advise and guidance often enables schools and community groups to access a wide range of funds.

In many cases BTCV involvement has been instrumental in the school's success in accessing funds from the Tree Council, Forestry Commission and `People's Places' award scheme. The investment that the Education makes to BTCV Hampshire's work with schools has ensured that schools have been able to access over £80,000 of funding support this year.

BTCV offers a national profile and this means that our success in Hampshire is promoted in a wide range of publications.

BTCV is a people focussed organisation contributing to a widening engagement and participation agenda that is aimed at `success for all'.

A copy of the audited accounts are enclosed.

Audited Accounts

The latest audited accounts have been submitted.

Officer comments

BTCV maintains a record of excellent advice and practical help for schools on the design and continuation of features in schools grounds. It has strong links with the Learning Through Landscapes project.

Recommendation

APPENDIX 3

Hampshire Dyslexia Association (HDA)

Education aims and objectives

The Association aims to increase public awareness and knowledge of the Specific Learning Difficulties of Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and Dyspraxia and to advance the education of those affected. It helps dyslexic children, dyslexic adults and their families and represents their interests to the Local Education Authority. It also helps with the professional development of teachers and learning support assistants. Through the dissemination of information and the lowering of parents' anxiety which results from this, we are able to reduce the financial burden of the Parent Partnership Service and hence reduce the costs of the County Education and Legal departments.

How the Grant will be used

Any grant received will be used as a contribution towards the cost of running the Dyslexia Centre and Helpline. We have two part-time staff who man a countywide Helpline for 12 hours per week. They provide administrative support for volunteers who run support groups across the County. An estimated budget for the year is attached for reference.

Other Funding applied for

We will be applying for a grant from the Parent Partnership scheme, last year we received £936. We have applied for a grant from Portsmouth Voluntary Sector from which we received £1200 last year.

Level of contact with Hampshire schools and teachers-

Our workshops and public meetings are advertised to all Hampshire schools through Hants Net.

During the year 2003 up to December we had 430 people from the Hampshire area seeking information from out Helpline.

Over 90 parents and teachers from Hampshire have attended our public meetings this year.

The public meeting following our AGM in June, in which the Educational Psychologist Gavin Reid was speaker, was particularly well attended this year by teachers. Following this, we had an increase in teachers wishing to take up membership of the Association.

We are in regular contact with the Parent Partnership Officer and attend update meetings. We attended the Special Needs Information Day set up by the Parent Partnership Service in Farnborough. We have an annual meeting in December with the County Educational Psychologist.

Audited Accounts

Audited Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2003 have been received and show the outcome for the year was a net loss of £1,336.

Officer comments

The association meets with the Principal Educational Psychologist, Parent Partnership officer and other SEN officers to ensure a continuing partnership approach. This enables a sharing of information and exchange of publicity materials and information booklets.

Recommendation

APPENDIX 4

National Children's Bureau (NCB)

Aims and objectives

NCB works at the fore-front of `joined-up thinking' - promoting the partnership potential of education, health and social care in developing and improving services for children and young people.

NCB leads the way in practising and encouraging children's participation and involvement in decisions which effect them through all of its research, practice and policy development work.

Through consultation work with central and local government NCB provides its members with the opportunity to contribute to and influence policy development.

Highlights of current and forthcoming work

Since April 2002, as well as continuing to provide existing services such as free use of our library and sub substantial discounts on publications and conferences, members will have exclusive access to NCB's range of on-line resources through our new website. This means instant on-line access to:

· Regular research findings, reports and policy briefings on a wide range of issues, with current thinking across the spectrum of issues affecting children and young people

· Fast access to activities and projects with NCB specialist councils, fora and networks - summarising their current work, allowing subscribers to extra free information and to get involved

· Children Now, NCB's quarterly magazine with live links to e-mail addresses and websites

· Highlights, available on-line, as well as being sent to contacts in a quarterly member mailing with a searchable database of previous issues

· Virtual diary of key NCB dates including NCB conferences and publications

· NCB's on-line community of members providing networking opportunities and the chance to exchange news and ideas

· Enhanced e-mail services - giving members the opportunity to sign up for regular specialist information directly delivered

Officer comments

This is a joint subscription with Social Services. The Social Services department administers the grant on behalf of the County Council, including scrutiny of audited accounts. Membership provides direct links with national developments and enables the County Council to call upon the NCB for advice and consultancy. This is an important national organisation which serves the needs of young children, providers and carers. The information and guidance provided by the NCB is of value to Inclusion, Special Needs, Social Services and the Early Years and Child Care Service.

Recommendation