1. Summary

1.1 This report makes recommendations in respect of a number of applications for funding from various LSPs across the County, which have either been approved by the Chief Executive or are subject to approval by the Executive Member for Community Development and Regeneration.

2. Background

2.1 A budget for supporting projects derived from the County Council's statutory duty to prepare a community strategy has been set up and this includes a budget of £208,000 for pump priming the Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and to develop further community strategies.

2.2 Each of the 11 LSP's are encouraged to bid for money from this budget to support the development of their LSPs and for the pump priming of projects.

2.3 The budget is also available for the development and implementation of the Hampshire Strategic Partnership.

2.4 The Chief Executive can approve amounts of less than £2000. The Executive Member for Community Development and Regeneration can approve amounts between £2000 and £10,000. Amounts exceeding £10,000 must be approved by the Executive Member and referred, with a recommendation to the Leader for decision.

2.5 Appendix B sets out the funding criteria for which bids will be approved. They are intended as guidelines and not prescriptive rules.

2.6 These decisions support Aim 4 of the Corporate Strategy (Building Strong and Safe Communities) by working together with local people to build strong and safe communities for everyone. In addition these decisions support the themes of the Community Strategy for Hampshire.

2.7 The relevant local Member's views are taken into account through the LSP mechanism.

3. Current bids

3.1 The following bids have been approved by the Chief Executive:

3.1.2 The sum of £275 to enable a Hampshire County Council Member to attend a one day conference entitled Mainstreaming Actions in Health Inequalities.

3.1.3 The sum of £650 for the Hampshire Strategic Partnership to recreate the Community Strategy document for the HSP website and to create new links within the HSP website for the new PDF and word document.

3.2 The following bids are for consideration by the Executive Member for Community Development and Regeneration:

3.2.1 The sum of £3,000 for the Hampshire Strategic Partnership as a one off contribution towards the cost of employing a Participation Manager who will be responsible for implementing the Children and Young People's Participation Strategy.

3.2.2 The post aims to implement the vision of the Children and Young People's Participation Strategy through co-ordinating the activity of existing participation practitioners and establishing priorities for future work linked to the Children Bill.

3.2.3 The post will also co-ordinate consultation of children and young people, ensuring all service needs are met, including commissioning of consultation and implementation of a Shadow Board, to ensure the meaningful involvement of children and young people in their work and decision making.

3.2.4 The salary scale range is £27,350-31,350 inclusive of on costs and contributions have been secured from Social Services, Education, DATs, South Central Connexions, Children's Fund and the Children's Trust.

3.3 The sum of £3,500 for the Basingstoke and Deane LSP to provide some start up funding for social groups to develop the Oakridge Hall for All as a centre of excellence for older people. The vision for the project is to draw on local resources to establish a vibrant centre of excellence for older people in Oakridge that enhances their quality of life through promoting social, physical and mental well being.

3.3.1 Phase 1 of the project will bring together and co-ordinate existing and new services for older people such as leisure and learning opportunities, fitness classes, primary health care and preventative care and ensure that they are accessible to older people.

3.3.2 The funding will be used as follows:

· £ 300 promotional activities

· £2,200 hire of hall for start up activities @ £14 per hour =4 hours per week for 40 weeks(to eventually be paid for by users of the services)

· £ 500 for specialist equipment needed for some activities.

· £ 500 towards transport for those who need help

3.4 The sum of £5,000 for the Gosport Local Strategic Partnership as a contribution towards appointing a part time Gosport LSP Coordinator at £30,000 p.a. pro rata.

3.4.1 The person appointed will work directly for the LSP Steering Group, developing partnership projects and links with other partners and the Gosport community. The new post will ensure that the LSP increases its activities and raises its profile within the community.

3.4.2 Contributions have been requested from three key partners organisations, Fareham and Gosport PCT, Gosport Police and Gosport Borough Council.

3.5 The sum of £6,000 for the Hampshire Strategic Partnership to help resource the Outcome Groups, which are the groups working on the 6 priorities in the Community Strategy Development Plan.

3.5.1 The HSP Coordinating Group decided that the Outcome Groups could develop their own work programme within certain parameters, developed by the HSP Coordinating Group and progress will be reported back on a regular basis to the HSP Steering Group. The £6,000 will be used to aid the Outcome Groups to develop their work programme, for example as a contribution towards the cost of a conference, workshop or meetings.

3.6 The sum of £10,000 to extend the contract for a further six months to March 2005 for the project officer responsible for co-ordinating the county councils input into the RETIS network and other social inclusion activities associated with the Community Strategy process.

3.6.1 RETIS (the European Transregional Network for Social Inclusion) is a network of European regional and local authorities working together on social inclusion issues in order to develop best practices and common policies. The network is concentrating on addressing issues of social inclusion in relation to families, younger and older people, asylum seekers, those with disabilities and the homeless.

3.7 The following bids are recommended to the Leader for approval:

3.7.1 The sum of £11,000 for the Basingstoke and Deane Local Strategic Partnership to reappoint the Partnership Manager to co-ordinate the planning, projects and monitoring of the LSP.

3.7.2 The post was appointed on a 3 year basis in May 2003 and at that time £10,000 was granted in support with matched funding on a one year basis, with the option to reapply on an annual basis.

3.7.3 This bid represents the second year of funding with an increase to £11,000 to cover inflation costs.

3.8 The sum of £15,000 to support the Andover Young Carers Project, this project was a groundbreaking initiative when it commenced, and aims to support Young Carers who are caring for their family members.

3.9 The unspent funds from 2003/04 (£33,470) were carried over into this financial year. Added together this gave a total of £241,470. If the bids above are approved, against the 2004/05 budget, the total spent is £86,623 leaving £154,847 (see attached appendix A).

Recommendations

The following recommendations are sought:

1. To approve the following allocations:

The sum of £3,000 for the Hampshire Strategic Partnership as a one off contribution towards the cost of employing a Participation Manager who will be responsible for implementing the Children and Young People's Participation Strategy.

The sum of 3,500 for the Basingstoke and Deane LSP to provide some start up funding for social groups to develop the Oakridge Hall for All as a centre of excellence for older people.

The sum of £5,000 for the Gosport Local Strategic Partnership as a contribution towards appointing a part time Gosport LSP Coordinator.

The sum of £6,000 for the Hampshire Strategic Partnership to help resource the Outcome Groups working on the priorities in the Development Plan.

The sum of £10,000 to extend the contract for a further six months for the project officer who is responsible for co-ordinating the county councils input into the RETIS network and other social inclusion activities associated with the Community Strategy process.

2. To recommend to the Leader for decision the following bids:

The sum of £11,000 for the Basingstoke and Deane Local Strategic Partnership to reappoint the Partnership Manager to co-ordinate the planning, projects and monitoring of the LSP.

The sum of £15,000 to support the Andover Young Carers Project.

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.

File FM Exec Member Location: Community planning/committee

reports