This report (to follow) and additional presentation at the Committee meeting makes recommendations as to the Committee’s budget allocation in relation to the following grant programmes:

§  The Wirral West Community Fund

§  Wirral West Public Health Grants

Further to minutes 7 (30 October 2013) and 17 (12 December 2013), the Constituency Manager presented recommendations for the allocation of the Wirral West Constituency Budget for 2013/2014, on the basis of two grant programmes –

·  Wirral West Community Fund

A Council allocation of £50,000, to be divided on the basis of £10,000 per ward, for projects which aimed to improve the quality of life in Wirral West and impact positively on local people and places. The criteria allowed a maximum of £1,000 per project, voted on by the community to inform the decisions of the Committee as to which would receive funding.

Following an initial assessment, 10 projects had been considered to be ineligible and two were withdrawn, which left 44 projects that were taken forward to be voted upon by the public, either at a series of community events or by participating in the supplementary online or paper voting process. Approximately 1500 people voted, with over 300 outside Wirral West and the Constituency Manager set out the responses for each ward.

·  Wirral West Public Health Grants Programme

An additional allocation of £50,000 of Public Health funding, which aimed to increase the healthy life expectancy of local residents and reduce deficiencies in healthy life expectancy between communities. A maximum grant of £3,000 per project would be allocated on the basis of recommendations that had been made by an officer panel. The public health criteria required £25,000 to be split equally between wards, with the remaining £25,000 to be allocated on the basis of need, as evidenced in the grant applications from groups and organisations.

The Committee was asked to consider and agree 18 projects (set out at appendix 1 to the Constituency Manager’s report) that were recommended for funding, with four having been declined on the basis of the assessment and one being withdrawn.

The Constituency Manager commented that all projects to be funded as an outcome of the report were required to be completed by December 2014 and she assured Members that robust project monitoring was in place for both grant programmes. Over and above this, proactive support for the projects funded by the Committee would be undertaken by the Constituency team, with a focus on celebrating success and promoting sustainability.

Members were also advised that, subject to decisions of the Committee, most of the total budget allocation would be committed by the end of the financial year. However, it had subsequently been confirmed that any remaining budget could be carried over into 2014/2015 should it be necessary to do so.

With regard to the Community Fund, the Constituency Manager set out the projects for consideration on a ward by ward basis, ranked in relation to the level of support each had received following the community vote and recommendations were provided for the Committee’s consideration.

The Chair noted that for West Kirby and Thurstaston Ward, although the majority of projects had received more ‘yes’ votes than ‘no’ votes, it had not been possible to fund all of them.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23