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    Annual Report of the External Funding Database

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    1. Scope

    1.1 The aim of this report is to analyse the range of external funding bids submitted during the financial year, 2007/08. The report will include the financial data of submitted bids by department, detailing the various funding bodies.

      Additionally, this report will include two case studies to demonstrate the practical benefits of external funding (see Appendix I)

    2. Background

    2.1 The External Funding Database was implemented as a way of addressing various issues surrounding external funds coming into the council so that as an organisation, we can be sure that we are doing all we can to maximise income from external sources. For the purposes of the database this is defined as follows:

      Discretionary money not accounted for within the Formula Spending Share (FSS), or equivalent, distributed by various UK and EU bodies on a business case and / or competitive basis.

      Before the database, there was no central collection of data on such funds.

    2.2 The main benefits expected of the database were as follows

      · To provide bidding data sometimes required by grant-awarding bodies e.g. What other bids have been submitted by the Council to a particular funding distributor.

      · To avoid duplication and to enable bids to be coordinated or prioritised where more than one bid is being made in response to an invitation to make an application e.g. Invest to Save Budget or Lottery.

      · To assess how well we do/how successful we are in our bids; to assess the extent to which the Council is making or failing to make appropriate bids

      · To identify where no bids are made so that we can 'plug the gap'

      · To make comparisons with previous years

      · To suggest opportunities for using existing experience/knowledge and ensure cross-departmental working where appropriate

      · To confirm that budget provision has been made for the Council's contributions or that budget requirements have been identified

    2.3 Since the implementation of the database additional demands for the data have arisen, making accurate collection of external funding information all the more significant. The Institute of Public Finance, driven by the Audit Commission annually, since 2004, circulate an External Funding Statistics questionnaire. The database is now beginning to provide the information to complete this questionnaire.

    2.4 This move was reflected in the inclusion of external funding in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) key lines of enquiry for Use of Resources under Internal Control and Value for Money. Systematic use of the External Funding Database will enable the Council to respond positively to these lines of enquiry if included in the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) that replaces the CPA in April 2009.

    3. External Funding Data 2007-2008

    3.1 This report includes projects that were approved or ongoing between 1st April 2007 and 31st March 2008. Although the database tracks projects from initial idea through to submission then approved or rejected, for the purpose of this report only the projects that have secured the relevant funding are included.

    3.2 The data shown in the report is only as accurate as the data inputted into the system and this is the main concern with the database. With an authority the size of Hampshire County Council (HCC), it can be difficult to track all the bids the Authority is developing.

    3.3 The database only stores information on projects where the County Council is in receipt of funds and therefore administers the funding through its bank account. It does not include projects where the Authority works in partnership but does not receive any funding itself.

    3.4 The financial summary for Environment department includes Developer's Contributions of £7,500,894.

    3.5 2006 saw the launch of the major Big Lottery Fund (BLF) programmes, a merger between the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund. Although a large range of programmes were launched under the BLF, in reality the number of programmes where local authorities were eligible was limited and even with eligible programmes, local authority applications were given low priority. The demand for the Big Lottery funding programmes has been very high and in most cases programmes are extremely over-subscribed. As a result there are few successful applications to BLF.

    3.6 The diversion of National Lottery funding for London 2012 represents a loss of income to the non-Olympic good causes. It has been agreed that £1.5 billion of lottery funding will be diverted to pay for the Olympic infrastructure.

    3.7 2007 saw the proposed start of the new European Union (EU) funding streams as part of the 2007 - 2013 budgets.

    3.8 Although the start of many of the European Union (EU) funding streams was delayed HCC has already had success under the European Agricultural Regional Development Programme, the Information Societies Technology Programme and is waiting to hear the outcome for an Interreg* IVC application. A further Interreg IVC application is planned for 08/09.

      *Interreg is a European Community funding initiative promoting cross-border, transnational and inter-regional cooperation

    4. Total value of external funding 2007/2008

    This report of the External Funding database covered the financial year of 2007/08.

    4.2 The total value of external funding secured is £15,164,504.

    4.3 While the total value of external funds is significant in itself, the total value of the projects funded gives a clearer picture of the value of external funding. Without the leverage of external funding many activities would be carried out to a much reduced degree or not at all. This is particularly true of added value activities such as recreational provision and economic development. The total project value, including Hampshire County Council and partner contributions, for projects underway and/or completed in 2007/2008 is £16,687,066.

    Totals by Department - Projects underway or completed in 2007/08

       

      Total Secured

      Number
      of Projects

           

      Chief Executive's

      2,218,060

      5

      County Treasurer's

      Nil

      Nil

      Children's Services

      380,550

      2

      Human Resources

      Nil

      Nil

      IT Services

      Nil

      Nil

      Environment

      8,565,894

      5 (4 excluding Developer's Contributions)

      Property, Business and Regulatory

      Nil

      Nil

      Recreation and Heritage

      186,000

      3

      Adult Services

      3,814,000

      1

           

      Total

      £15,164,504

      16

      (15 excluding Developer's Contributions)

    5. Who is bidding?

    5.1 The breakdown by department can be seen in the pie chart below.

    5.2 The Economic Development Office within Chief Executive's continues to utilise the potential of external funding to support its work. Four of the five projects submitted by the department are from this Service Unit with one project being an extension to existing work and three projects (totalling £2,116,000) going towards setting up grants programmes, potentially doubling the grant amount with investment. The fifth project was funded by the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Board to set up the Hampshire Senate, demonstrating the council's ability to attract funding for it's partnerships. Chief Executive's department secured £782,895 in the previous financial year. This year sees a 170% increase in external funding secured.

    5.3 Recreation and Heritage also continues to secure significant amounts of external funding to deliver it's services, however this is not reflected in the 07/08 returns. In the last financial year Recreation and Heritage secured £2,988,436 in contrast to just £186,000 in this financial year. This decrease is attributed to the long decision making process required by larger grant programmes. For example there is a £2,000,000 project funded by DCMS, initiated in 2007 that will now be reported in the 08/09 report due to it's approval date.

    5.4 The Environment department has seen an increase in external funding from £260,000 last year (excluding Developer's Contributions) to £1,065,000 this year. This can be attributed to the fact that the new EU funding schedule began in 2007 and the Environment Department, once very successful with securing EU funding, is able to take advantage of this funding source once again.

    5.5 Due to the statutory nature of Children's Services' work external funding is less prevalent than it is for Recreation & Heritage, Environment and Chief Executive's departments. However in 07/08 Children's Services had two major funding successes. One of which, for £370,550, is from the Big Lottery Family Learning programme, and is one of only four projects awarded across Hampshire and IOW (including Portsmouth and Southampton) since the start of the programme in April 2006.

    5.6 Working in Partnership with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and a local housing association Adult Services secured significant funding from the Department of Health. In the past Adult Services has reported a nil return as the range of eligible funding for statutory services is limited . There is anecdotal evidence that Adult Services is a major supporting partner in other projects, but as they are unable to act as the accountable body such projects are not recorded on this database.

    5.7 There does appear to be a link between departments and teams that manage non-statutory services and the level of bidding activity. These teams appear far more active in their funding activity.

    5.8 The availability of funds to bid for can vary year to year which can be hard to control and plan for. However the successful bids show that the Authority does have the skills in place to respond to an opportunity when it arises.

    6. Where the funds come from

    6.1 A breakdown of the funding secured can be seen in the pie chart below.

    6.2 As mentioned in both paragraphs 3.7 and 5.4 the major difference between last year and this year is the return of European Funding opportunities. Work has been carried out by the External Funding Unit to highlight EU funding opportunities and encourage further bids in the future.

    6.3 Funding coming in from the National Lottery has decreased by £2.4 million since the last financial year. As mentioned in paragraph 3.6 this decrease in Lottery funding could be attributed to the £1.5 billion diversion of Lottery funding to London 2012.

    6.4 Developer's contributions have remained constant from 2005/06.

    6.5 There has been a decrease in securing funding from Landfill Tax and Sponsorship in 2007/08.

    7. Conclusion

    7.1 There continues to be bidding activity across the County Council. As in previous years, certain departments are more pro-active in their approach to external funding. However, this can partly be attributed to the types of funding available.

    7.2 There is evidence of the County Council's willingness to work in partnership where appropriate.

    7.3 Due to the size and diverse nature of the County Council departments it is very hard to ensure that all projects are entered onto the External Funding Database. Department re-organisations and staff changes can also affect the level of consistency of data input across the departments.

    7.4 In order to ensure that the data is as robust as possible there is an ongoing training and refresher need across the departments. This is something that the External Funding Unit carried out during 2007/08 and will continue to do in the future to ensure that there is data from all departments accurately reflecting the bidding work across the County Council.

    7.5 In future, it may be useful to develop a mechanism to capture information on bids where the County Council is a significant partner but not the main applicant. This may help reflect more accurately the level of external funding activity that some departments are now involved in.

    Chloe Atkins

    September 2008

    Appendix I - Case Studies

    Case Study 1: How working in partnership secures funding...

    Project: Loddon & Eversley Leader Programme

    Department: Chief Executive's, The Economic Development Office

    Grant: £1,809,000

    Fund: Rural Development Programme England (RDPE) Leader

    Project Location: Basingstoke & Deane, Hart, Rushmoor

    The Loddon and Eversley Local Action Group led by Hampshire County Council and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, is a partnership of local rural businesses, farmers, landowners, voluntary and community sector organisations, government bodies and others who have come together to apply for funding under the rural development programme.

    Following a "LEADER Bid for Hampshire" conference arranged by the Economic Development Office to raise awareness and offer the benefits of LEADER funding to communities across Hampshire, the Loddon and Eversley Heritage Area in North East Hampshire was identified as an area suitable for funding.

    The Economic Development Office received £7,000 from SEEDA to develop the Loddon and Eversley partnership and undertake consultancy in the proposed Leader area to develop a local rural development strategy. Working with the Wildlife Trust the External Funding Unit prepared the local development strategy that formed the successful bid for £1.8 million of Leader funding. This Leader funding will be distributed as smaller grants to support capital projects and training for farmers, growers, foresters, food businesses and rural communities in the Loddon and Eversley Leader area.

    Case study 2: How a little funding goes a long way...

    Project: Oak Meadow Young Parents Club `Surviving as Young Parents' documentary

    Grant: £10,000

    Department: Children's Services, Oak Meadow Children's Centre

    Fund: MediaBox

    Project Location: Fareham

    The Oak Meadow Young Parents Club were in the familiar situation faced by so many groups; they wanted to continue the good work they were doing with over 20 young parents but were unable to find funding for their core costs.

    Although under no statutory obligation to provide the Young Parents Club, the Oak Meadow Children's Centre which hosts the club is a statutory organisation making them exempt from applying to many grant giving organisations.

    The Young Parents were particularly keen to learn new skills and expressed an interest in media related activities. The Centre Manager approached the External Funding Unit for help and the Mediabox programme was identified as a suitable funding source.

    The External Funding Unit and the Children's Centre staff worked with the young parents to develop a successful bid to produce a film that challenges, what they feel to be the current media stereotype of a young parent. The film highlights their needs and teaches the audience how it feels to be a young parent.

    The funding, just short of £10,000, enabled over 20 young parents to learn practical film skills and important life skills. A range of organisations that work with young people viewed the documentary to get a better understanding of young parents' needs and experiences. Additionally, essential core funding such as crèche facilities, transport and staff was provided throughout the duration of the project.