Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1             The main purpose of this report is to:

 

·        Advise members that the Community Support Programme (CSP) Letter of Offer for 24/25 has not yet been received by Council from DfC.

·        Seek members approval to issue Letters of Offer for 24/25 for Capacity Building & Revenue Grants and Generalist Advice in the absence of a Letter of Offer from DfC.

 

2.0       Recommendation

 

2.1       Members are asked to;

 

·        Consider the contents of the report and

·        Grant approval for officers to progress funding agreements for the Capacity Building, Revenue for Community Building grants and Generalist Advice for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.  50% payments will be issued in advance upon the return of required paperwork with a second payment made pending return of satisfactory interim monitoring report covering the period 1 April to 30 September 2024 and available budget.

·        Note that Council does not have any budget to support activity that is 100% funded through the CSP and that none of this activity will progress until funding becomes available through the CSP. A further report on this element will be provided at a later date.

 

 

3.0       Main Report

 

3.1       Background information

 

            Members will be aware that the Department for Communities (DfC) provides an annual grant to Council through its Community Support Programme (CSP) Letter of Offer. This funding provides an element of the budget towards Capacity Building and Revenue for Community Building grants as well as Generalist Advice.

 

            The CSP also provides 100% funding for other elements of activity such as Social Supermarkets and Welfare Reform Mitigations.

 

3.2       Council has yet to receive a CSP Letter of Offer for 2024/25 and therefore does not have the total budget available to provide the full grant allocation.  Any reduction in the DfC allocation will impact on the overall level of the grant budget and potentially awards to the grant recipients.  The CSP Letter of Offer is generally received in March - June each year, although members may recall that in 23/24, DfC funding was released on a gradual basis and the full allocation was not provided until 7 July.

 

3.3       Key Issues

 

            Capacity Building and Revenue for Community Buildings Grants

 

            Members may be aware that in March 2023, Council agreed to provide multi-annual funding covering 3 years 2023-2026 for the Capacity Building and Revenue for Community Building grants. Although the grants are multiannual, Funding Agreements are made on an annual basis. 

 

            Officers are seeking approval to make payments covering 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

 

            The total cost of the grants allocation for 2024/25 is £3,278,109

 

·        Capacity Building £1,845,311

·        Revenue for Community Buildings £1,432,798

 

3.4       The list of organisations that receive funding is outlined in appendices 1 and 2.

 

            Council’s contribution to Capacity & Revenue Grant Programmes is 78% of the overall budget thus we can guarantee the first 50% payment. 

 

 

3.5       Generalist Advice Funding

 

            Members will be aware that Council provides funding for generalist advice provision to 5 Advice Consortia covering: Central, East, North, South and West Belfast.  The funding is allocated to the consortia using a funding model based on population and multiple deprivation indicators (2015).  The list of advice organisations and consortium funding allocation is contained in Appendix 3.

 

3.6       Members will recall that they received a presentation and a copy of the report on the recent Review of Belfast City Council funded Advice Services.  Officers are currently working with the advice consortia on implementing the report recommendations.  A further report will be presented to committee on progress in due course.

 

3.7       The Belfast Advice Group (BAG), the umbrella structure for the 5 advice consortia, made a presentation to committee in February seeking an 3% increase to the funding allocation.  Committee agreed to progress the request for consideration by SP&R. Any decisions on additional allocations will be reflected in the award to each consortia and payments will be made in line with normal administration arrangements.

 

3.8       Council’s contribution to Generalist Advice is 39% of the total allocation. Members are asked to consider if they are content to approve the issue of Letters of Offer and 50% payment.

 

3.9       A further report will be presented to committee when we receive the Community Support Programme Letter of Offer from DfC. Members are asked to note that Council does not have any budget to support activity that is 100% funded through the CSP and that none of this activity will progress until funding becomes available through the CSP.

 

3.10      Financial and Resource Implications

 

            Members may wish to note that last year the allocation was as below. The council budget is the same for 24/25;

 

Grant	CSP funding (DfC)	BCC contribution	Total
Capacity	£436,028	£1,409,283	£1,845,311
Revenue	£298,329	£1,134,469	£1,432,798
Advice	£607,928	£391,729	£999,657
Total	£1,342,285	£2,935,481	£4,277,766

 

3.11      Members will note that Council has the available budget to make a 50% payment to recipients of all three elements (Capacity, Revenue and Advice), however, should there be a reduction in DfC funding this would impact on the overall budget available to cover costs.

 

3.12      In light of this, Funding Agreements for 2024/25 Capacity Building and Revenue for Community Buildings Grants and Generalist Advice will contain a condition that the second payment may vary due to the level of funding received from DfC.

 

3.13      Equality or Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Assessment

 

            Any reduction in the available budget has the potential to impact on service delivery which may have equality, good relations or rural needs implications for Belfast City Council.”

 

            A Member highlighted the need to build capacity and requested that officers identify funding within existing budgets to progress a Community Infrastructure Pilot, particularly for the Balmoral area.

 

            The Committee:

 

·      granted approval for officers to progress funding agreements for the Capacity Building, Revenue for Community Building grants and Generalist Advice for the period 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025, with agreement for 50% payments to be issued in advance upon the return of required paperwork and a second payment to be made pending return of satisfactory interim monitoring report covering the period 1st April to 30th September 2024 and the available budget;

·      noted that the Council did not have any budget to support activity that was 100% funded through the CSP and that none of this activity would progress until funding became available through the CSP and that a further report on this element would be submitted in due course; and

·      agreed that officers look to identify funding within existing budgets to progress a Community Infrastructure Pilot.