spi-voluntary-sector-fund PDF 171 KB - Brent Council

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Council, stating the purpose of the grant and expected outcomes before funding isreleased2.6 note that in cases where an organisation either declines their grant during thefunding period or the grant is withdrawn for performance reasons, that the Executiveagreed at its meeting of January 2012 that the decision to reallocate such grantmonies within the fund is delegated to the Director of Strategy, Partnerships andImprovement.3.0 ContextVoluntary Sector Initiative Fund3.1 In January 2012 the Executive agreed to the creation of a ‘Voluntary Sector InitiativeFund’ combining existing ‘Main Programme Grant’ and ‘Advice’ budgets. The fundingis now allocated to the following streams: (i) themed grant funding including the roundfor which this paper seeks a decision, (ii) infrastructure support to enhance thecapacity of the voluntary sector and (iii) an advice and guidance stream. The fundingfor the present crime and regeneration stream forms the budget for the ThemedGrants Strand (2 nd Round).Voluntary Sector Initiative Fund 2012 - 2013Crime and regeneration (last year)Themed grants stream (1st round)Infrastructure streamAdvice and guidance streamFigure 1: Voluntary Sector Initiative Fund 2012 -2013Themed Grant Funding 2013 -20163.2 Members are asked to note their decision in January 2012 to create a further themedgrant funding stream between April 2013 and March 2016. This second round ofthemed funding was opened up to bids from the voluntary sector for six weeks until the31 st October 2012. This round differed from previous rounds by offering additionalthemes at once in response to consultation responses from the voluntary sector.Organisations could put forward bids for grant funding for three years to run projectswhich align to the borough plan under the following themes:• Theme1: Community Safety• Theme 2: Regenerating the borough• Theme 3: Supporting children and Families and enabling young people to thrive• Theme 4: Addressing Health and Well Being• Theme 5: Protecting our environment and enhancing our cultural offer2 v2
3.3 Projects could benefit the whole borough or focus on priority neighbourhoods. Theguidance set out that alignment to statutory provision and evidence of need for theproject as critical for bids to be successful. The criteria, and standard terms andconditions are set out in Appendix 3.4.0 Detailed ConsiderationsGrant Assessment4.1 Details appeared in the local press, on the Council’s website, and organisations onour database of presently funded organisations and those who have signed up forvoluntary sector liaison forum were notified. CVS Brent and the BASIS project alsonotified organisations through their newsletters and emails. Organisations wereinvited to attend workshops held by officers in the Corporate Policy Team, where thefunding criteria and process was discussed in detail and where organisations had theopportunity to raise questions with officers. These workshops were held on Thursday4 th October 2012 and Tuesday 9 th October 2012.4.2 Organisations could download the application pack including the application form,grant criteria, links to key strategies and standard conditions of grant aid or have itsent to them on request. The closing date for receiving completed applications was31 st October 2012.The council received 66 bids seeking a total of £4,269,557.14over a three-year period.4.3 Grants were assessed in line with the grant criteria and standard grant terms andconditions agreed at the Executive Meeting in January 2012 and set out at appendix3. The criteria for funding were updated in January 2012 in line with consultationresponses from the voluntary sector; in particular a group of professionals fromdifferent service areas now feed in their expertise of statutory service provision andhow a project might align to it as part of the grant assessment process. Theassessment looked at both the organisation applying and the project proposal made.4.4 The assessment of the organisation considered the structure, management, trackrecord where funded before, commitment to equality and diversity and engagementof users in the management and development of projects. All organisations wererequired to submit references to verify their experience and ability to provide serviceswithin the proposed theme.4.5 All applications were assessed by a management accountant to ascertain thefinancial viability of the organisation. This process was carried out in accordance withguidance from the Council’s contract standing orders. The assessment includeddetailed financial analysis for each organisation.4.6 The assessment of projects looked at alignment with Borough Plan priorities andstatutory service provision in the borough, partnerships with other organisations inthe borough and at a regional and national level, any other match funding proposed,the quality of the proposal including how success would be measured, the exitstrategy and the range of bids received. Officers noted the activities to be provided,their location, links with existing services and the outcomes and outputs to be3 v2
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