Agenda item

Purpose: The report is to recommend to Members the closure of the current Community Solutions Fund (2017-2020) and the proposed utilisation of the remaining budget for the development of the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector in West Berkshire.

This proposal links to the report on this agenda ‘Working with the Voluntary Sector’ and the Strategy Board discussion of the 20^th February at which a number of actions were proposed including mapping of the existing voluntary sector activity and the future commissioning of a Local Infrastructure Organisation.

Resolved that the Community Solutions Fund (2017-2020) be closed down and that any unspent budget will go into supporting initiatives which will reframe and develop the VCSE sector in West Berkshire.

This decision is eligible to be ‘called-in’.  However, if the decision has not been ‘called-in’ by 5.00pm on 7 May 2020, then it will be implemented.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 8) which recommended the closure of the current Community Solutions Fund (2017-2020) and which proposed the utilisation of the remaining budget for the development of the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector in West Berkshire.

Councillor Rick Jones introduced the first of two linked reports. The proposal in this report linked closely with the next item on the Executive agenda – ‘Working with the Voluntary Sector’.

The current Community Solutions Fund had been set up with joint funding from West Berkshire Council and Greenham Trust to support and encourage more independent and resilient communities. Seed funding had been established for eligible projects. However, there had been limited use of this fund for its original purpose and this proposal was considered to be a better use of the funding.

Councillor Adrian Abbs queried the level of awareness of the Community Solutions Fund. For instance, were newly elected Members in May 2019 made aware of this Fund? His understanding was that the Fund had already been closed, Councillor Abbs had attempted to apply for this funding but he did not believe this had been processed.

Councillor Jones confirmed that the Fund had not closed, this was a decision for the Executive to take. The application made by Councillor Abbs was being considered in the last funding round before the Fund was closed down.

Councillor Jones accepted the point about awareness raising. The Fund had been well publicised when it was launched three years ago. A number of projects came forward at that time but it transpired that other funding streams were able to be utilised instead. Therefore, this report proposed using the funding in a different way.

Councillor Erik Pattenden noted that only £24k had been allocated from the original fund of £400k. While the aims of the Fund had been worthy it had not proved to be a success and the proposal therefore made sense. However, Councillor Pattenden sought assurance that lessons had been learnt which would ensure that funding would be utilised for suitable causes in future.

Councillor Jones accepted that the Fund had not proved to be successful, although pointed out that some funding had been successfully put to health and wellbeing schemes. Councillor Jones confirmed that much had been learnt from the experience. This proposal in this report and the subsequent item would aim to benefit the voluntary sector moving forward.

RESOLVED that the Community Solutions Fund (2017-2020) be closed down and that any unspent budget would go into supporting initiatives that would reframe and develop the VCSE sector in West Berkshire.

Other options considered:

·         It was considered appropriate to review the existing Community Solution Fund particularly as this fund had remained unspent for some considerable time. Equally, it seemed appropriate to ensure future spend is closely aligned to Council Strategy priorities. This proposal particularly fits with the Council’s goal to work to deliver sustainable services through innovation and partnerships. Equally, it’s clear many other of the priorities outlined in the West Berkshire Vision 2036 and Council Strategy 2019-2023 require a strong VCSE to support community resilience and reduce demand on Council services.

·         Another approach would have been to revise and reshape the criteria for the Community Solutions Fund to allow it to become a more general grant stream. Demand for grants is always high and by making the fund more accessible, it would be relatively easy to deplete the budget in a small number of funding rounds.