Further to minute 11 (11/12/13) Caroline Laing, Constituency Manager, introduced a report which set out a number of recommendations in respect of the proposed allocation of funding priorities and processes related to spend for Wallasey Constituency Committee for 2013/14.

This included the Constituency Options spend of £30,000 being allocated as follows:

·  £15,250 to a ‘Maximisation of disposable income pilot’ scheme

·  £4,750 to the promotion of WirralWell to help tackle social isolation

·  £10,000 for road maintenance and improving road safety (Locations in respect of this would be determined following further discussions with Members and this amount would be carried over into 2014/15)

In respect of the ‘Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund’ of £40,000, a final submission of 34 applications had been made, totalling £48,013.98 and the ‘Priorities and Spend’ Task and Finish Group was recommending 23 projects at a cost of £27,449 and the Committee were invited to consider these.

The underspend of £8,160 from the Public Health Outcomes Fund (Voluntary Sector Support Fund) would be carried over into 2014/15, as would the underspend of £4,391 from the (£50k) devolved budget.

No spend had been agreed by the Task and Finish Group in relation to the Constituency ‘Problem Solving Fund and any underspend as at 31 March 2014 would be carried forward into 2014/15.

The Task and Finish Group had recommended that the £25,000 Public Health Funding be allocated as follows:

·  £20,000 to the Rampworx Youth Village

·  £3,500 to a behaviour change campaign to reduce criminal damage by young people

·  £1,500 for Constituency Community Safety Week

With regard to the £10,000 Love Wirral grant allocation and the online vote, 11,016 votes had been cast by 2,785 individuals for 37 projects. Caroline Laing provided details of the 20 projects with the most votes amounting to £9,598.37, the twenty first project with the most votes could be part funded at a cost of £401.63 to enable full expenditure of the allocated funding.

The Committee’s budget for 2014/15 would, if the Administration’s budget proposals were approved at budget Council, be £50,000 for each constituency committee. The Committee however needed to agree an approach to the allocation of this funding in order that recommended spend could be considered by the Constituency Committee at its next meeting on 26 June 2014. This included whether the Committee continued to delegate responsibility for making recommendations to a ‘Priorities and Spend’ Task and Finish Group and, if so, the composition of its members. This proposed spend would be aligned with the 2014/15 Constituency Plan that would be taken to the same Committee meeting for consideration.

A Member commented in respect of the proposed £10,000 allocation for road safety measures and that a list of Councillors’ suggestions should have been produced. In response, Caroline Laing stated that a list had been collated although at the Task and Finish Group considering priorities and spend, it had been agreed that the sum of £10,000 be carried over into 2014/15 prior to discussion on the proposals.

A Member suggested that there was already a road maintenance programme and it would be almost ineffective to spread a little amount of money for such works across the constituency.

A Member commented upon the proposed grant of £20,000 to Rampworx, at the Task and Finish Group she had suggested that a grant of £10,000 this year with a further grant of £10,000 in 2014/15 would be more appropriate to enable investment of £10,000 in two or three other youth facilities within the constituency. She expressed concern that no proof had been provided that Rampworx was a ‘not for profit’ organisation, although it did have charitable status.

Other members of the Committee expressed their support for giving the whole grant to Rampworx as it would be providing 25 jobs as well as opportunities for volunteers and a much needed facility not just for Wallasey but for Wirral young people.

Responding to comments from Members, Caroline Laing stated that Rampworx did have two proposals for Wirral, one being the Seacombe project which it anticipated would be there for 4/5 years and a longer term project for Bidston, which would be a £6m project. If funding for the Bidston project was not available then the site at Seacombe might well remain for longer than 4/5 years.

On a motion by the Chair, duly seconded, it was –

Resolved (11:0) – That:

(1)  Committee agrees the ‘Constituency Options’ spend as outlined in Section 3.2 of the report (£30,000);

(2)  Committee agrees the allocation of Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund (incorporating the Public Health Outcomes Fund – Voluntary Sector Support Grant) as outlined in Section 3.3 of the report (£40,000) and agrees a carry forward into 2014/15 of a total of £12,551;

(3)  Committee notes the update regarding the Problem Solving Fund as outlined in Section 3.4 of the report (£5,000) and agrees a carry forward of any underspend into 2014/15;

(4)  Committee agrees the Public Health Outcomes Fund spend as outlined in Section 3.5 of the report (£25,000);

(5)  Committee agrees the Love Wirral grant spend as outlined in Section 3.6 of the report (£10,000).

In respect of the allocation of funding for 2014/15 the Chair then moved, seconded by Councillor Adrian Jones that –

“Committee agrees an approach to the allocation of 2014/15 funding, which is;

·  That the ‘Priorities and Spend’ Task and Finish Group will continue to have the same ratio of participants (4 Labour elected members; 2 Conservative elected members and 2 Community Representatives), however, it will aim to have representation from each ward within this ratio of elected members;

·  This Task and Finish Group will identify priorities and items for spend, taking recommendations to the Committee for a decision;

·  The budget will again be split between a small grants programme (Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund), Problem Solving Fund and an amount to be used at the discretion of the Committee giving consideration to recommendations from the Task and Finish Group.”

A discussion then followed on this suggested approach.

A Member suggested that it would be better for all 18 Councillors within the constituency to be invited to a meeting to consider the allocation of funding for 2014/15. Another Member suggested that as with the previous Area Forums funding should be split equally between wards and that all Members should be invited when these decisions are being taken.

Other Members suggested that it would be unmanageable to in effect have all 18 Councillors making these recommendations and the format of a Task and Finish Group should be continued with a member from each ward. All councillors within a ward could be made aware of those bids received for funding within their wards and feed their comments through those Councillors on the Task and Finish Group. Ultimately the decisions on funding would be taken by the whole Committee when it considered the recommendations from the Task and Finish Group.

The Chair commented that having sat on this Task and Finish Group, never once was the location of a bid taken into account but rather each bid was assessed on its merits. The aim was to have an elected Member from each ward involved in the Task and Finish Group.

Responding to a comment from a Member, Caroline Laing stated that Councillor Blakeley had asked her to convey that he wouldn’t want the Task and Finish Groups to continue.

It was then moved as an amendment by Councillor Fraser, seconded by Councillor Hayes, that –

(1)  “The funding for 2014/15 should be split equally between the six wards within the constituency.

(2)  Meetings where decisions are made allocating public money should be made in public.”

A member commented that the decisions on the allocation of funding were being made in public as it was for the Committee to decide as was happening at this meeting.

The amendment was put and lost (2:8)

The motion was put and carried (9:2)

Resolved (9:2) – That this Committee agrees an approach to the allocation of 2014/15 funding, which is;

·  That the ‘Priorities and Spend’ Task and Finish Group will continue to have the same ratio of participants (4 Labour elected members; 2 Conservative elected members and 2 Community Representatives), however, it will aim to have representation from each ward within this ratio of elected members;

·  This Task and Finish Group will identify priorities and items for spend, taking recommendations to the Committee for a decision;

·  The budget will again be split between a small grants programme (Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund), Problem Solving Fund and an amount to be used at the discretion of the Committee giving consideration to recommendations from the Task and Finish Group.