Recommendations as to the proposed process for the allocation of Your Wirral Grants

The Constituency Manager (Wirral West) reported that the ‘Your Wirral Fund’ was a small grants programme of £250,000 that had been in operation since 2007 It was a strand of the Community Fund that came into being as a result of the Value Added Tax (VAT) return generated by the Housing stock transfer from Wirral Council to Wirral Partnership Homes, now Magenta Living. A Joint Working Group acted as the accountable body for Your Wirral and was comprised of representation from Wirral Council and Magenta Living, including Councillors and Board Members and it had been agreed that the Fund should now be administered via the Constituency Committees, the allocation determined by Magenta Living on the basis of the number of housing units in each Constituency area. She indicated that £50,000 had been ringfenced for Wirral–wide projects and the specific allocation for Wirral West was £40,000.

The Joint Working Group had determined criteria for eligibility for funding, with applications having to fit within one or more of the following themes, in line with the charitable objectives of the Community Fund Deed –

1.  Creating an attractive and safe environment

2.  Contributing to community economic regeneration

3.  Preventing crime or reducing the fear of crime

4.  Providing employment and training for local people

5.  Benefiting local people who face discrimination

6.  Improving community facilities

7.  Engaging communities to improve quality of life

The Constituency Manager highlighted a series of terms and conditions had been developed to ensure that the conditions of the Community Fund Deed were not compromised. It had also been proposed that applications for funding for Wirral-wide projects (i.e. projects that would be delivered in two or more constituency areas) would be assessed by a separate panel comprising the Chair or Vice-Chair of each Constituency Committee and an officer from Magenta Living, who would make recommendations for approval by the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Engagement.

The Your Wirral Fund would be launched across Wirral in the week commencing 28 July 2014 and would remain open throughout the year with ‘cut off’ dates advertised for each Constituency, by which applications needed to be received to be considered by the Panel and referred for decision to the Constituency Committee. The Your Wirral Constituency Panel was therefore expected to meet up to four times in this municipal year in advance of each of the Constituency Committee meetings until the funding was spent.

The views of the Committee were therefore sought as to –

·  Nominations for the Wirral West Your Wirral Constituency Panel, which will make recommendations to the Constituency Committee with regard to the allocation of Your Wirral grants in Wirral West. Both councillors and community representatives may be nominated to sit on this panel;

·  Whether the Wirral West Your Wirral Constituency Panel should give priority to one or more of the 7 themes when they were considering their recommendations to the Committee.

The Chair expressed a view that each ward should be represented on the Panel, to make recommendations to the Committee for allocation of grants and that the Panel should have regard to all seven themes so as to ensure that the best applications are recommended for funding, rather than those that simply comply with a particular theme.

Resolved –

(1)  That one Councillor from each ward, together with each of the Community Representatives be nominated to the Wirral West Your Wirral Constituency Panel which will make recommendations to the Constituency Committee

(2)  That, to comply with the charitable objectives of the Community Fund Deed, the Panel shall consider applications for funding, which fit within the seven themes but that no priority be given to any specific theme when considering recommendations to the Committee.

(3)  That the Chair (or Vice Chair) of the Committee be nominated to represent the Wirral West Constituency Committee on the separate panel which will make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood, Housing and Engagement with regard to the allocation of Wirral wide Your Wirral grants.