Contact: Anne Odling, 01962 847756, [email protected]

Pete Marsh, 01962 846805, [email protected]

Tracey Sanders, 01962 813872, [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report seeks the approval of the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) for grant applications for 2008/09, totalling £706,659.

1.2 It provides information about the work of the voluntary organisations who applied to the Youth Service (Appendix 1), the Early Education and Childcare Unit (EECU) (Appendix 2), other sections of the Performance and Resources Branch (Appendix 3), and other sections of the Children and Families Branch (Appendix 1 and 2). The eligibility criteria that apply to all grants and Branches are listed in Appendix 4.

1.3 Grants to voluntary organisations listed in this report will enable them to continue with, or expand, their services and undertake projects which contribute towards the first two priorities of Hampshire County Council (Making Hampshire safer and secure for all, Maximising well-being), towards the outcomes of the Hampshire Children and Young People plan and towards all the five outcomes of Every Child Matters.

2. Recommendations

a) That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) approves grant applications for 2008/09 totalling £706,659.

3. Background

3.1 Children's Services have a variety of grant programmes which are managed by different sections within the Department according to the principles of the One Compact. These programmes, with the exception of the Performance and Resources Branch grants, are advertised on the corporate grant website. Voluntary organisations are informed of the programmes through the website, through their local Community and Voluntary Services organisations or through invitations to apply.

3.2 All grant applicants have to provide evidence that they contribute towards the five outcomes of the Children Act, Hampshire's Children and Young People Plan (CYPP), Children's Services function and improvement plans and the aims and priorities of the Local Area Agreement.

3.3 Many services and projects from voluntary sector organisations are relevant to several sections within the Children's Services Department. Where applications crossed the remit of the sections, the organisations were directed to apply to the most suitable section for consideration of the application. This section then liaised closely with the other sections to reach a recommendation. As a result, a co-ordinated approach has been undertaken, which has avoided double-funding.

3.4 Where relevant, 2.5% inflation has been considered for grants in line with County Council's budget.

3.5 The issues and options considered within each grant programme and for each application and recommendation are given in the Appendices 1, 2, and 3.

4. Strategic Implications

4.1 Grants to voluntary organisations support Hampshire County Council's priority of "Making Hampshire safer and more secure for all" by funding organisations that provide positive activities for children and young people. They also support the priority of "Maximising well-being" by funding organisations which deliver services to children and young people, or are run by children and young people. In addition, the grant programmes contribute towards the Every Child Matters outcomes by encouraging young people to stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well being and thereby to various outcomes in the CYPP.

4.2 The future of the Children's Services grant programmes with effect from 2009/10 will be reviewed during 2008/09 and will be developed in line with the department's joint commissioning strategy.

5. Grant applications

Name of organisation	2007/08 funding £	2008/09 funding £	Appendix
Bishops Green Youth Project - Basingstoke	5,700	5,000	1
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers	12,093	12,395	3
Diocese of Portsmouth	3,000	5,000	1
East Hampshire District Council	11,000	8,000	2
Elizabeth Foundation	54,481	55,843	2
Forest Bus Ltd	27,500**	44,625*	2
Gosport Youth Leaders	11,000	11,275	2
Hampshire Children & Families Forum	181,560	186,099	2
Hampshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services	30,500*	25,000	1
Hampshire Schools Sports Federation	8,773	8,992	3
Hampshire Scouts	5,000	8,000	1
Hampshire Young Farmers	12,000	14,000	1
Havant Youth Sail Training Scheme	8,000	8,000	1
Home-Start schemes in Hampshire	122,500*	121,625*	2
INTECH	54,800	56,170	3
Kids (South East) - Education and early support for under 5s	50,400	51,660	2
Off the Record (South East Hampshire)	18,091*	19,975*	1
Rkdia Drum Housing Association - Horndean	5,000	5,000	1
Speakeasy Advocacy	4,000	5,000	1
The Hampshire Relate Group	9,536	10,000	1
The King's Arms Youth Project - Petersfield		5,000	1
Youth Clubs Hampshire	20,000	23,000	1
Youth Options	15,000	17,000	1
Total		706,659

*jointly funded across the Children's Services department. For further details, please see Appendices.

** jointly funded across the Children's Services department via grants and contract. Only grant amount given.

6. Consultation

6.1 As noted earlier, recommendation for approval of the grant applications has been made in consultation with the voluntary organisations and the relevant sections of the Children's Services department.

7. Financial implications

7.1 The grants allocation proposals fall within the budget allocations agreed for 2008/09.

8. Impact assessment

8.1 Social inclusion is one of the One Compact for Hampshire's principles and requires all partners to be committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all people, regardless of race, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation and belief. Equal opportunity and race relation policies have been sought from voluntary organisations and the impact of the organisation's work upon minority groups will be closely monitored.

9. Crime prevention issues

9.1 It has been demonstrated that good youth work reduces the likelihood of some young people being involved in crime. These recommendations will lead to improving partnerships between those involved in youth work by supporting a range of positive opportunities for young people.

10. Views of the Local County Councillor

10.1 This report will be circulated to Members by Democratic Services and subsequent comments will be incorporated.

11. Conclusion

11.1 This report has provided information regarding grant applications made to the Children's Services department and seeks approval for these.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

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

1. Grant applications from organisations

2. Monitoring information from organisations

NB: the list excludes:

1. Published works

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

Appendix 1

Hampshire County Youth Service

Annual revenue grants to youth organisations 2008/09

Contact Pete Marsh, 01962 846805, [email protected]

1. Summary

This appendix provides details of the revenue grants to voluntary youth organisations, totalling £140,000 to organisations who have made applications to this budget.

2. Budget 2008/09

The grants budget of the Youth Service available to support voluntary organisations in 2008/09 is £175,000. The budget is allocated as follows:

List of grants

3. Grants for Youth Work

3.1 Havant Youth Sail Training Scheme

A grant of £8,000 is recommended. The Havant Youth Sail Training Scheme is the only dinghy sailing club in Hampshire exclusively for young people. All members receive accreditation through the RYA as they increase their skills by following the RYA syllabus.

The grant will provide deep water moorings which allow full use of tides with greater flexibility for sailing times and to provide marina berths for safety craft. This will enable the scheme to provide a full programme of sailing activities for both individual young people and youth groups in Hampshire.

3.2 The Hampshire Relate Group

A grant of £10,000 is recommended. Relate services for young people provide one to one support, in a safe and secure environment for young people at the time of family conflict. There is a high demand for the service in Aldershot, Alton, Basingstoke and Winchester.

3.3 Off the record

A grant of £19,975 is recommended (with £5,000 from Youth Services and £14,975 from Children and Families) . The grant would be used to help provide, crisis and on-going one to one counselling, assist young people to experience personal growth and self-development and enable referrals to other agencies for sexual health and homelessness issues. Off the record offer group work programmes within schools focussing on the particular needs/issues identified by young people. The young people are fully involved in developing these programmes.

Off the Record supported over 500 young people from Leigh Park last year and is the only youth counselling service in Havant. They provide a high quality service and are well respected by a range of agencies.

3.4 Rkdia - Drum Housing Association.

A grant of £5000 is recommended. Rkdia provides a central facility from which youth work can operate reaching the parishes of Horndean, Clanfield and Rowlands Castle.

The grant is to ensure co-ordination of a holistic approach to the development of 10 - 25 year olds, including health, recreation, safety, guidance, economic well being and concentrated support where necessary ensuring that those involved make positive contributions.

3.5 The King's Arms Youth Project

A grant of £5,000 is recommended. The King's Arms, in Petersfield, provides a facility for young people to meet together in a safe environment, whilst gaining life and social experiences, guidance and information and enjoyable development. The funding will help support the after-school club, which aids their strategy of building relationships and involving young people.

3.6 Bishops green youth project

A grant of £5,000 is recommended. The grant will enable the continued support to the project based at Bishops Green. The work is focused on engaging young people in local decision making and consultation work regarding the planned regeneration/rebuilding of the Sentinel Housing estate at Bishops Green.

Bishops Green is acknowledged as an area of priority by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, with young people seen as at risk of social exclusion. The Bishops Green youth project is a valued and valuable resource for the young people in the community.

3.7 Diocese of Portsmouth

A grant of £5,000 is recommended. The grant will be used to facilitate a youth forum to participate and engage fully in the work and direction of the diocese. To provide recourses for a series of interactive training workshops for young people aimed at equipping new methods and styles of worship and to extend volunteer youth leader provision by delivering a modular competency based training programme.

3.8 Speakeasy Advocacy

A grant of £5,000 is recommended. The Speakeasy Advocacy has been in existence since 2002. it largely supports parents and carers of young people with learning disabilities in Basingstoke. The funding will support young people with autism and Asperger's syndrome in Hampshire. The advocate will support the running of "Internet Explorers", a self advocacy group for 11-16 year olds. Provide 1:1 advocacy support on issues like getting a diagnosis, an educational statement or accessing health or other support services, and to young people in transition.

3.9 Hampshire Council for Voluntary Youth Services

A grant of £25,000 is recommended.

This total amount relates to a number of different aspects

£12,500 is to support the infrastructure and operation costs of HCVYS itself

£2,500 is the contribution the organisation makes to the administration and monitoring of the annual grants process.

£10,000 is for voluntary sector training, HCVYS manages a sub group that distributes this grant across all member organisations.

Hampshire Council Voluntary Youth Services is an umbrella organisation, bringing together a large number of youth work organisations by brokering active partnerships and collaborative working.

Hampshire Council for Voluntary Youth Service has grown and developed over the last few years and works closely with the youth service to support and develop the voluntary sector. They represent the voluntary sector on many Local Authority boards such as the Compact and Youth Matters, the commissioning leads group and has a leading role for the CYPP priorities related to positive publicity for young people and volunteering.

3.10 Hampshire County Scout Council

A grant of £8,000 is recommended. Hampshire Scouting promotes the development of young people helping them to achieve their full potential as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their communities.

Hampshire Scouting has a five year development plan which includes extensive involvement of young people in decision making. The funding will be used in the development of the scouting network and to support the promotion of those working towards National Governing Body awards in adventurous activities.

3.11 Hampshire Federation of Young Farmers.

A grant of £14,000 is recommended. The grant will continue to fund and maintain the county administrator role for the support and development of the Federation. Enabling the organisation to link to clubs, encouraging educational and recreational programmes. To administer Policy Statements and Guidelines and to support Clubs at local level. Hampshire Federation of Young Farmer's Clubs supports young people throughout the County and develops opportunities planned and developed by young people.

3.12 Hampshire and IOW Youth Options

A grant of £17,000 is recommended. Youth Options provides a range for opportunities for young people and receives specific funding for a number of significant projects.

The grant will allow Hampshire Youth Options to continue to employ a full time club support worker, YST co-ordinator and additional part time worker(s) who will work on a wide range of programmes to young people.

3.13 Youth Clubs Hampshire and IOW

A grant of £23,000 is recommended. The grant will be spent exclusively in Hampshire delivering work with the 13-19 age range. The grant will be used to support the objectives of YCHIOW'S strategic development plan 2005 - 2008, which identifies two key areas of work, support for member organisations and directly with young people. The money will be allocated specifically to those aspects of work, which address the criteria of HCYS, including participation, issue based work, standards and the recognition of young people's learning.

Appendix 2

Early Education and Childcare Unit grant programme

Contact: Tracey Sanders, 01962 813872, [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This Appendix recommends specific grant allocations for 2008/09 to voluntary organisations providing services within the early years, childcare and family support. These voluntary organisations work in partnership with the Early Education and Childcare Unit (EECU), and support the aims and objectives of the EECU to fulfil its obligations under the Childcare Act 2006.

1.2 Grants totalling £393,502 for six voluntary organisations and one project from a district council are recommended for approval in addition to funding for contracts with two voluntary organisations.

2. Background

2.1 The EECU manages the budget for grants to voluntary organisations for early years and childcare. Some of these funds are also used to support parenting services and there is close liaison with the Children's Centres team, Extended Schools team and the Parent Development team, when considering grant applications.

2.2 As part of the management process all applicants have to provide evidence that they have contributed towards the priorities of Hampshire County Council, the outcomes of Every Child Matters and the priorities of the EECU. They also have to demonstrate that they have a clear management structure and accountability and sustainability built into their business plans.

2.3 Each voluntary organisation is issued with a grant agreement with a clear service specification, a schedule of reporting, robust monitoring and a system for remedial action should targets not be met. Monitoring arrangements include mechanisms to identify how the voluntary organisations contribute to outcomes for children. Such investment in key services within the voluntary sector is seen to be in line with the principles of best value, the Children Act and the Childcare Act 2006.

2.4 The cost of the grant programme in 2008/09 is £393,502. This is less than in 2007/08 as fewer applications were received that fulfil the EECU grant programme's eligibility criteria and leaves headroom within the grant budget allocated to the early years education and childcare sector. It is proposed that the unallocated funds will be used for contracts to voluntary organisations for childcare support held by the EECU with two voluntary organisations (the Pre-school Learning Alliance and the National Childminding Association), which in 2006-07 and previous years were funded by the grant budget. As such, 59% of the budget from Hampshire County Council for early years education and childcare will pay for these services, still 10% less than in 2006/07, and will enable the contracts to be honoured during a time when the General Sure Start Grant budget for 2008/09 faces a reduction of 27%. For further details, see the grant report to the Executive on 2 April 2007 /decisions/decisions-docs/070302-exlmcs-R0326150210 and the report to the Executive from 10 December 2007 for details regarding the contracts for the support services to childcare providers /decisions/decisions-docs/071011-xmchfa-R1004134208 .

The Hampshire County Council budget for the EECU will consist of:

3. Grant recommendations, Services for Early Years and childcare

3.1 East Hampshire District Council, the rural area play project

East Hampshire District Council's "Rural Area Play Project", RAPP, offers playwork for children aged 4 - 11 and 11 - 16 years. Even though this application is not from a voluntary organisation, it helps the EECU in ensuring sufficient out-of-school care in a predominantly rural area. It is a mobile service, using rented vehicles to take play and leisure activities out to rural villages. These activities take place in village halls or local schools with the aim of building successful communities, protecting the environment and providing good quality services .

A grant of £8,000 is recommended.

3.2 The Elizabeth Foundation

The Elizabeth Foundation offers support to meet the needs of babies and children (0-5 years) of age who are deaf or have a hearing impairment and the needs of their parents, carers and families. This voluntary organisation shares the EECU's aim to raise the outcomes of all children, especially those of vulnerable children. It provides a parent counselling service, practical help in a Demonstration Home Unit, early education and childcare for children 0-5 years old, parental advice, guidance and support, and a centre for the early detection of deafness

The foundation promotes an oral/aural approach to the development of language and communication skills and aims to maximise the child's future life choices and inclusion into mainstream education. In the autumn term 2007, 17 children from the County of Hampshire and their families received support from the Foundation (excluding those supported by distance learning).

A grant of £55,843 is recommended.

3.3 Forest Bus

The Forest Bus offers valuable leisure opportunities to young people in rural communities, who have few other options. Thereby helping the EECU to ensure out-of-school care in a predominantly rural area. The funding will enable the project to develop and deliver youth work in areas of the New Forest, Waterside and Romsey by taking their specially adapted vehicles and staff into isolated and hard to reach communities. The activities undertaken aim to increase young people's self-esteem, social awareness, confidence and provide a sense of personal development.

The Forest Bus also delivers early years education and offers playwork and family learning opportunities in hard to reach isolated areas, with a specific focus on traveller families.

The grant will pay for the salaries of the playworkers, outreach and development workers, their training, the running costs of the Forest Bus lorry and bus, service related costs, and overhead costs.

A grant of £44,625 is recommended (£25,625 from the EECU, £14,000 from Children and Families Branch, and £5,000 from Youth Services).

3.4 Gosport Youth Leaders

Gosport Youth Leaders is a group run from Bridgemary Community Sports School, Gosport, working in, mostly, Gosport, Havant, Fareham and East Hampshire. They mentor young sports leaders who volunteer in early year settings, play-schemes, and at festivals to provide sports and play opportunities to children of all ages. They therefore help Children's Services in enhancing the quality of those working with children. In the last two years, approximately 12,512 children either volunteered with Gosport Youth Leaders (194 children) or enjoyed the play and sport opportunities these volunteers oversaw.

Gosport Youth Leaders are also developing an apprenticeship in partnership with other organisations for young people to work in childcare. Currently 6 young men are enrolled on these apprenticeships.

A grant of £11,275 is recommended.

3.5 Kids, education and early support for children under the age of 5

Kids South East offers education and early support for children under the age of 5 in their Fareham centre. This voluntary organisation shares the EECU's aim to raise the outcomes of all children, especially those of vulnerable children. Incorporated within the Early Support services, Kids has a parent and baby group, structured play and language sessions, a variety of training opportunities for parents and access to therapy services, which link closely with outside agencies. These integrated services ensure that there is seamless early support provision delivered from one point of access.

The nursery provision is Ofsted registered and the latest Ofsted report, October 2007, has judged all areas of provision as outstanding.

A grant of £51,660 is recommended.

4. Grant recommendations, parenting services

The following services are funded from the EECU's grant budget and the Children and Families budget for commissioned parenting services. They work towards the priorities of the EECU, the parenting services, and the Children's Centre Services.

4.1 Hampshire Children and Families Forum

The grant will enable Hampshire Children and Families Forum to represent the views of Hampshire's children, their parents and families and those that provide for them at all levels of Local Government. It will also enable them to give relevant information to parents and carers about local services and events in conjunction with Children's Services staff and other practitioners.

Hampshire Children and Families Forum works in partnership with the EECU and supports the work of Children's Centre Services to roll out the children's centre agenda across Hampshire.

A grant of £186,099 is recommended.

4.2 Home-Start schemes in Hampshire

Home-Start schemes in Hampshire support hard to reach families who are experiencing difficulties and who have at least one child under the age of 5. Support and help is provided by a volunteer who visits the family on a regular basis. Home-Start aims to prevent family crises and breakdown.

A grant of £121,625 is recommended (£66,625 from Children and Families Branch and £55,000 from the EECU) to be distributed as the Executive committee of the Home-Start schemes in Hampshire determines.

Appendix 3

Performance and Resources Branch grant programme

Contact: Anne Odling 01962 847756 [email protected]

1 Summary

This Appendix provides details of the revenue grants to voluntary organisations totalling £77,557 making application to the Performance and Resources Branch.

2. Budget 2008/09

The budgetary provision to support voluntary organisations in 2008/09 is £77,557 including 2.5% inflation.

The budget is allocated as follows:

Name of Organisation Grant

Hampshire Schools Sports Federation £8,992

British Trust for Conservation Volunteers £12,395

INTECH £56,170

The above grants require Executive Lead Member approval.

3 Grants to voluntary organisations

3.1 Hampshire School Sports Federation.

A grant of £8,992 is recommended. There are 23 sports associations affiliated to the Federation of which 15 county associations apply for grant aid. In turn the associations provide opportunities for school-aged young people to compete at local, district, county and national level. The associations use the funding for administration, travel, equipment, competition fees etc. Each association which applies for financial support provides a written report of their previous year's activities together with an audited balance sheet.

3.2 British Trust for Conservation Volunteers

A grant of £12,395 is recommended. BTCV aims to inspire and develop people through giving them the skills and confidence to carry out practical conservation activities. This grant would develop and strengthen their work with schools and teachers through advice, support and practical conservation tasks; support the BTCV School Green Gym national pilot project in Havant and enable expansion of the project to other areas and schools in Hampshire; link community conservation groups with schools; run a conference for schools for them to have the opportunity to establish links with BTCV; and develop youth projects which will give young people the chance to learn about and practice conservation activities.

3.3 INTECH

A grant of £56,170 is recommended. This grant would immediately benefit children by allowing INTECH to deliver more high quality learning experiences. The funding will be used to further develop and deliver Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) related educational activities onsite at INTECH to a wide range of school visitors, and help to fund the outreach programme delivering workshops in schools. INTECH will continue to work closely with teachers to ensure that workshops and activities are relevant and enhance the curriculum. Where appropriate focus will be on schools in deprived areas especially for outreach activities.

March 2008 sees the opening at INTECH of the UK's largest planetarium which will provide an opportunity for Hampshire schools to gain a unique advantage to inspire children and young people using this exceptional facility. The planetarium also broadens the age range appeal of INTECH to include children and young people from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 5 and beyond.

Appendix 4

Eligibility criteria of Children's Services' grant programmes

Contact: Anne Odling, 01962 847756, [email protected]

Pete Marsh, 01962 846805, [email protected]

Tracey Sanders, 01962 813872, [email protected]

1. Eligibility criteria, Children's Services

1.1 The following criteria are applied across the Children's Services department:

· The project or services benefit children and young people living in the County of Hampshire

· The grant recipient is a not-for-profit organisation

· The grant recipient finds other funders for the project or service

· The project or services fall within the aims and objectives, policies and priorities of the respective Branch.

1.2 To be eligible for support from the Youth Services grant programme, the voluntary youth group or organisation must:

· work with young people in Hampshire County Council area

· work with young people, at least 50% of whom are in the 13-19 year age range. The other 50% to be within the whole age range, 11-25 years

· use the grant to fund work with the 13-19 year age range only

· demonstrate how their organisation or project meets the priorities, aims and objectives of the County Youth Service and Connexions Service, including having policy statements and guidelines in place for Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety, Child Protection and Quality Assurance

· seek no more than 50% of the required funding as grant aid from Hampshire County Council

· apply for funding from other sources such as district and borough councils, business or other sponsorship

· be a 'not-for-profit' organisation or project.

1.3 The eligibility criteria for grants from the Early Education and Childcare Unit are:

· The services, projects or activities of the organisation are in compliance with the aims and objectives, priorities and policies of the Early Education and Childcare Unit in meeting the requirements of the Childcare Act 2006

· The services, projects or activities meet the aims of Hampshire's Children and Young People Plan

· The services, projects or activities benefit people living in the County of Hampshire

· The proposal is presented in the standardised form required by the Early Education and Childcare Unit

· The organisation has a clear management structure within its constitution and accountability and sustainability built into its business plan

· The organisation can demonstrate how their work meets the outcomes of the Children's Act 2004 and Childcare Act 2006

· The organisation has policy statements and guidelines in place where applicable for Child Protection, Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety, and Quality Assurance

· The organisation ensures their Child Protection policy follows the guidelines of the Local Safeguarding Children Board and Safer Recruitment Practices

· The organisation has applied for funding from other sources such as trusts, district/borough councils, businesses or other sponsorship or contribute to the costs in kind

· The organisation is able to demonstrate that their project is financially sustainable

· Present an annual independently audited or examined statement of accounts and, where required, a report on the use of funding during the previous financial year before full payment is made

· The organisation complies with appropriate quality assurance and review procedures as agreed with the Early Education and Childcare Unit.

1.4 The eligibility criteria for grants from the Children and Families' Branch are:

· The services, projects or activities of the organisation are in compliance with the aims and objectives, priorities and policies of the Children's Services Department and Hampshire County Council

· The services, projects or activities benefit people living in the County of Hampshire

· The organisation has a clear management structure within its constitution

· The service benefits children, young people and their families and carers in the Hampshire County Council area

· The organisation can demonstrate how their work meets the outcomes of the Children's Act 2004 and the priorities, aims and objectives of the Children's Services Department

· The organisation has policy statements and guidelines in place for Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety, Child Protection and Quality Assurance (where applicable)

· The organisations ensures all staff in contact with children and young people both paid and voluntary have an up to date Criminal Records Bureau clearance

· The organisation applies for funding from other sources such as trusts, district/borough councils, businesses or other sponsorship or contribute to the costs in kind

· The organisation complies with mutually agreed reporting and monitoring requirements.

1.5 To be eligible for a grant from the Performance and Resources Branch, organisations have to send:

· A statement of the organisation's educational aims and objectives

· A statement setting out the use that will be made of the grant

· An indication of other funding being received and/or application being made to other bodies

· Information on the level of contact with Hampshire schools including any evaluation that has been undertaken with those schools on the quality and range of services provided

· A set of audited accounts

· Evidence that the Hampshire County Council logo type appears in publicity material.