Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage Item 7

5 July 2007

Partnership funding for the revenue and project costs of community associations - 2007/08

Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage

Contact: Margaret Plumridge, ext 6173 e-mail: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The County Council, through its Recreation and Heritage Department, supports community associations that aim to provide the opportunity for local people to participate in recreational, educational, social, cultural and environmental activities within their local communities and to encourage local initiatives by people of all ages.

1.2 There are 105 community associations in Hampshire. To date 19 community associations have applied for this funding including 7 that are designated as being in areas of special need. This report outlines the requests from 2 further organisations.

2. Recommendation

That annual revenue support of £6,900 as set out below be approved.

£

Lyndhurst Community Association 2,000

Sarisbury Community Association 4,900

3. Background

3.1 The current strategy for community support recognises the potential of community associations to act as our partners in the provision of activities locally. This strategy included an increase in our core support team and has enabled a much more localised support framework to be put in place. Consequently we are able to develop a more substantial partnership with these organisations and it is within this context that the revenue scheme has been reviewed in the last twelve months. Following the review, the proposals for this new pilot scheme were approved at Culture and Communities Policy Review Committee on 18 January 2007. This pilot scheme has taken into account issues relating to value for money, accountability and the Hampshire Compact Funding Code.

3.2 In this pilot scheme greater emphasis has been placed on the development of new project activity that will meet Recreation and Heritage outcomes. There have also been changes to the funding criteria.

3.3 The funding being provided has been split into two parts :-

· 60% revenue funding is provided to the organisation provide it has an action plan that enables them to continually improve their business practices.

· 40% as support for the new project activity.

4. Purpose of report

4.1 The purpose of this report is:

i) to provide details of requests for financial support from partnership organisations towards their annual revenue and project costs as part of the new pilot scheme.

5. Legal Implications

5.1 The council has wide powers under Section 19 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 to provide recreational facilities and to contribute by way of a grant or loan towards the expenses incurred by voluntary bodies in providing such facilities.

6. Recreation and Heritage Outcomes

6.1 By supporting these organisations in their project proposals and working in partnership with them, the Recreation and Heritage Department is able to meet the following outcomes:

· Increasing participation through the development of activities for older people to support their continued wellbeing

· Increasing participation through the development of activities for children and young people that will help them lead positive lives

· Increased participation through the development of physical activity programmes as part of the recommended regime of five 30 minute sessions a week of moderate intensity exercise

· Increased access to information and services through ICT supported projects

· Increased inclusion by extending activities to hard to reach, disadvantaged and black and minority ethnic groups

7. Impact Assessment

7.1 Organisations applying to this scheme are by their nature defined as accessible

to all members of the community. This is embodied within their charitable objects, therefore no groups or organisations should be excluded from any benefit arising from these decisions.

8. Finance

8.1 It has been agreed that £170,000 is set aside from the 2007/08 revenue budget to meet requests from community associations to support their revenue and project costs. Approvals to date total £145,720. The requests in this report total £6,900 which would leave £17,380 for any remaining applications. This is the third tranche of funding from this scheme. Applications have been received from the following community associations :-

.

· Lyndhurst Community Association

· Sarisbury Community Association

8.2 In order to inform future funding strategies an informal workshop was held at the Community Associations County Staff meeting on June 19 at which a series of questions were posed about future funding strategy. There were 7 representatives from the Community Associations present. Those attending agreed that issues relating to the funding strategy were very difficult to resolve. It is proposed that following this meeting a more formal consultation takes place involving all the Community Associations in Hampshire. The results of this consultation will be reported later in the year.

9. Details of the applications

9.1 Appendix 1 is a summary of the funding proposals for 2007/08 as outlined in this report.

9.2 Appendix 2 contains individual reports received to date for each organisation summarising their funding applications. Each contains:-

· an indication of their current activity in the community

· information about new projects they are planning that meet current Recreation and Heritage outcomes

· details of an action plan which will ensure the continued effectiveness of the organisation

· details of their financial position in 2006/07.

.

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:

1. Published works

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

TITLE LOCATION

Applications for revenue support Community Support Section of the

Sport, Community and Outdoor Service, Mottisfont Court, Winchester

The Application pack