Venue: Committee Rooms, 2nd Floor, West Wing, Guildhall
Contact: Joseph Anstee
tel. no.: 020 7332 1480
Email: joseph.anstee@cityoflondon.gov.uk
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Legal Education Foundation Minutes: The Committee welcomed Quazim Khan and Matthew Smerdon, representatives from the Legal Education Foundation, a social welfare charity, to the meeting.
The Committee was advised that the work of the charity was to promote the advancement of legal education with the aim of improving access to and use of legal aid where it was needed. The City Bridge Trust was supporting the Foundation in the Justice First Fellowships, which aimed to train the next generation of social justice lawyers.
The Justice First Fellowship scheme supports two-year training contracts for trainee lawyers, as well as providing additional support, training and networking. Fellows were also encouraged to deliver a project in partnership with their host organisation. Hosting a Fellow gave organisations increased capacity and a platform, and enabled them to lead and influence decision makers in their communities. The City Bridge Trust and Legal Education Foundation were co-funding 6 Fellows across London over the next 3 years. The outlook for the programme was very promising, with the Justice First Fellowship on course to have appointed 51 Fellows by February 2018.
The Committee thanked both representatives for their presentation.
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Apologies Minutes: Apologies were received from the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor Alderman Charles Bowman, Karina Dostalova, Marianne Fredericks, Deputy the Revd Stephen Haines, Alderman Alastair King, Jeremy Mayhew, Ian Seaton and Deputy Dr Giles Shilson. |
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Members' declarations under the Code of Conduct in respect of items on the agenda Minutes: There were no declarations. |
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To agree the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 20 September 2017. Minutes: RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 20 September 2017 be agreed as an accurate record. |
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Report of the Town Clerk. Minutes: RESOLVED – That the Outstanding Actions update be noted.
The Chairman informed the Committee that the resolution at item 7 was agreed as to part (a) at the Resource Allocation subcommittee and Policy and Resources Committee on 19th October 2017.
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Report of the Chief Grants Officer. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee received the regular progress report of the Chief Grants Officer and discussed the updates provided.
Bridge to Work
The CGO advised the Committee that the official launch had been successful and served as a great engagement platform. A lot of interest had been shown from the big names who had attended such as Channel 4. The Programme was a great example of how sectors could work together to generate positive outcomes.
London’s Youth Sector
The Committee was advised of arrangements for a half-day seminar in January to focus on how to co-ordinate and meet the needs of the youth sector in London. The CBT was funding a wide range of youth charities and there had been some joining up through the Lord Mayor’s appeal. The CBT wanted to enable more conversation and encourage more collaboration.
Human Resources
The CGO updated the Committee on three appointments, including Venla Freeman who was in post as the new Head of Projects employed at the Prince’s Trust.
Further Strengthening the Voluntary Sector
The CGO advised the Committee that the CBT had recently run a well-attended roundtable discussion with a good cross-section of funders, and this was being followed up by officers. Another meeting in two or three months was likely. A briefing meeting for Bridge Fund grantees had been held in October. Applications for extensions to these grants had come in and would be assessed the following week. Decisions could be made by delegated authority and it was hoped this would be done before Christmas.
London Councils Conference
The Committee was advised that the Chairman and officers had run a stall at the conference.
RESOLVED – That the report be noted.
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Grant Applications - Statistical Summary PDF 293 KB Report of the Chief Grants Officer. Minutes: The Committee received a summary of applications received and action taken under the grants programmes this financial year, including those recommended for decision to this meeting.
The Committee was advised that spending was on target, and this had been maintained despite the ongoing work on the formation of the new strategy. All areas of the budget were performing well.
RESOLVED – That the report be noted.
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Grants and Strategic Initiatives Recommendations and Assessments PDF 68 KB To consider the Chief Grants Officer’s reports on grant recommendations as follows:- Additional documents: Minutes: |
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Hubbub Foundation UK PDF 77 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee noted that a reference on page 36 to the Port Health Authority was an error, and should refer to the Port of London Authority.
APPROVED £77,250 over three years (£33,750; £23,500; £20,000) for the Coordination costs, dinghy and crew hire, marketing and associated running costs for the Plastic Fishing project in the Docklands Basin.
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Widehorizons Outdoor Education Trust PDF 78 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £122,500 over 3 years (£42,900; £40,700; £38,900) towards a full-time Adventure Learning Manager (35hpw) associated running costs and overheads. The grant is conditional on receiving confirmation of the revised loan agreement with Greenwich Council. |
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Brent Adolescent Centre PDF 80 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £144,740 over three years (£47,200 £48,240; £49,300) towards the costs of providing therapy and professional interventions to young people with mental health needs in five schools in Brent.
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Causeway Irish Housing Association PDF 238 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £84,000 over three years (3 x £28,000) for a p/t (30 hpw) Mental Health Worker and associated running costs of a mental health and emotional wellbeing service for refugee and migrant tenants.
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Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £120,000 over 3 years (£40,000 per year) for a f/t Wellbeing and Mental Health Coordinator and associated costs for the delivery of a Get Mindfuel service for young people accessing Depaul services in London.
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Additional documents: Minutes: A Member queried the variation between the amount requested and the amount recommended. The Chief Grants Officer explained that the consortium had started with more partners and one had needed to withdraw.
APPROVED £292,300 over three years (£96,200; £97,600; £98,500) for the full time Outreach and Early Intervention Coordinator (35hpw) at MiH and three posts (0.8 FTE) across the remaining consortia members, evaluation, project costs and overheads.
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Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £87,600 over three years (3x £29,200) towards the salary and running costs of the Take Part programme providing creative workshops for adults with learning disabilities. |
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Action Disability Kensington and Chelsea PDF 78 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Chief Grants Officer advised the Committee that the variation in the amount requested and the amount recommended was set out in the report; as elements of the budget were high, it was recommended that core costs and other elements of the budget were reduced.
APPROVED £166,800 over three years (3 x £55,600) towards a FTE Co-ordinator, 1 day per week Personal Development Officer and associated running costs towards accessibility costs, training, information production, room hire and core running costs.
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Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £102,000 over two years (2 x £51,000) towards the AHOY Centre’s Sail to Prevail programme for disabled people including the costs of a full time Assistant Sailing Instructor. |
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The Royal Society for Blind Children PDF 79 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £113,960 over three years (£32,192, £39,124 £42,644) towards the costs of delivering an apprenticeship programme with partner employers for 40 blind and partially sighted young people (16-25). |
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Domestic Violence Intervention Project PDF 127 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £103,800 over three years (£34,200; £34,800; £34,800) towards the salary costs of A Young Persons’ Practitioner and Parent Support Practitioner (1.5 dpw for each post) and associated running costs, with the funding being released on receipt of satisfactory quarterly management accounts.
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Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £76,000 over three years (£24,000; £26,000; £26,000) for the salary of a p/t Partner Support Co-ordinator and other costs of the Partner Support Programme. Release of the grant is conditional on confirmation of satisfactory arrangements being in place for authorising expenditure. |
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Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £87,300 over three years (£29,100; £28,800; £29,400) for the salary of an Older People’s Carers Support Worker (24hpw) and towards associated project costs. |
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Bosnia and Herzegovina Community Advice Centre PDF 78 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £116,800 over three years (£38,800, £39,300, £38,700) for the part-time Project Manager (7 hpw), part-time Advocacy Worker (14 hpw), and associated project costs. |
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Carers Support (Bexley) PDF 82 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £166,900 over three years (£55,200; £55,600; £56,100) to support the cost of the Service Manager (24hpw), Volunteer accommodation, expenses and training for three volunteers and associated running costs of the carers breaks service. |
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Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £87,900 over three years (£29,200, £29,300, £29,400) for the FT salary of the Development Officer North London and associated project costs. |
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Brent Private Tenants' Rights Group PDF 84 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £71,300 over three years (£23,600; £23,700; £24,000) to meet the salary of a Housing and Debt Advisor (14 hrs pw) plus a contribution towards running costs. |
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Bromley By Bow Centre PDF 156 KB Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £128,100 over three years (£40,800; £42,300; £45,000) to meet the cost of an Integrated Housing Advisor (21 hrs pw), a Connections Worker (21 hrs pw), project evaluation and management costs, to provide targeted housing advice and financial management support to private rented sector households experiencing housing difficulties and financial hardship. |
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Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £148,700 over two years (£75,000; £73,700) to contribute to the delivery costs of the Stronger Voices Training Programme for 30 equalities organisations, including Advocacy Masterclasses, digital guides and volunteer brokerage.
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Additional documents: Minutes: APPROVED £80,000 over two years (£40,000, £40,000) towards the media training courses and interactions, and the cost of the activist network meetings, for both the All About Trans and Angles projects, conditional on confirmation of a dissolution clause being added to the charity’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, and providing satisfactory management accounts for the remainder of 2017/18. |
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To consider reports of the Chief Grants Officer as follows:- Minutes: |
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Compliance and Unannounced Monitoring Visits PDF 144 KB Minutes: The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer concerning compliance and unannounced monitoring visits. The report recommended updating the selection and target numbers for both compliance and unannounced visits. This was based on four years of experience following the introduction of these visits. It was also recommended that the criteria for compliance visits be amended, as the current criteria had been found to be problematic in practice.
It was proposed to revise the indicators to a mixture of leading and lagging indicators, any of which would trigger a compliance visit. This made it easier for officers to respond to something that caused concern. The grant officer could also request a visit if they were concerned about monitoring reports and/or communications with the charity. The proposals were likely to result in fewer visits, but visits would be better value. The reduction in the number of visits would be mitigated by strengthening references to these visits in CBT communications. The proposals were more proportionate and would also create a cost saving.
Members suggested that proportionality be considered as part of the criteria and that the value of a grant should be taken into account.
RESOLVED – That the City Bridge Trust Committee:
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Applications Recommended for Rejection PDF 152 KB Minutes: The Committee received a report detailing a total of 33 grant applications for rejection.
The Chief Grants Officer advised the Committee that the application from Spice Innovations Ltd should be withdrawn from the list so that it could be reconsidered, and would be brought to a future meeting.
RESOLVED – That the City Bridge Trust Committee reject the grant applications detailed in the accompanying schedule, apart from the application from Spice Innovations Ltd, which was withdrawn.
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Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer concerning the 16 recent grant approvals made under the recently concluded 4th round of the Stepping Stones programme.
RESOLVED – That the report be noted. |
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Grants Approved under Delegated Authority PDF 183 KB Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which advised Members of 30 expenditure items, totalling £895,060, which had been presented for approval under delegated authority to the Chief Grants Officer in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman since the last meeting.
RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted. |
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Withdrawn and Lapsed Applications PDF 34 KB Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which provided details of tenapplications which had been withdrawn or had lapsed.
RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted. |
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Variations to Grants Awarded PDF 22 KB Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which advised Members of a variation to one grant agreed by the Chief Grants Officer since the last meeting.
RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted. |
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Reports on Learning Visits PDF 79 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer about two learning visits that had taken place.
Members suggested that officers try to draw out particular themes from learning visits if possible, and that the visits could be linked to the presentations at the beginning of Committee meetings.
RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted. |
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City Bridge Trust Communications PDF 322 KB Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer updating on the communications work of the City Bridge Trust.
The Chief Grants Officer referred members to the London Councils summit discussed earlier. Housing had been the most prominent issue amongst the twenty local authorities that spoke to the CBT delegation.
RESOLVED – That the report be noted.
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Proposed Revenue Budget - 2017-18 PDF 211 KB Report of the Chamberlain and the Town Clerk Minutes: The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain and the Town Clerk concerning the proposed revenue budget for 2017/18.
The Chamberlain drew out the key points, highlighting that this was a mid-year reforecast. The total operational (Local Risk) expenditure for the year would remain the same, with variations between expense types, as the nature of costs originally budgeted for had changed. Some changes had been necessitated by CBT’s response to the Grenfell disaster. The team had intended to look at changing their grants management database during the year but this had been moved to 2018/19. The forecast total for grant commitments had been increased, due to the previously approved carry forward from 2016/17 and the forthcoming 3-year commitment under the Princes Trust programme.
A Member queried the increase in employee costs of 30 per cent in comparison to 2016-17. The Head of Charity and Social Investment Finance clarified that this was due to several vacancies being filled alongside the impact of a full year for previously approved new roles.
RESOLVED – That the City Bridge Trust Committee:
a) Approve the revised 2017/18 revenue budget for submission to Finance Committee and Resource Allocation Sub-Committee;
b) Authorise the Chamberlain to revise this budget to allow for any necessary realignment of funds resulting from corporate projects. |
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CBT Departmental Business Plan 2018-19 PDF 97 KB Report of the Chief Grants Officer Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer concerning the City Bridge Trust’s departmental business plan for 2018/19.
The Chief Grants Officer advised that positive moves across the City Corporation were being made to bring business planning more in line with resource planning.
RESOLVED – That the City Bridge Trust’s draft high-level business plan be noted.
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Questions on Matters Relating to the Work of the Committee Minutes: There were no questions. |
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Any other business that the Chairman considers to be urgent Minutes: There was no other business. |
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Exclusion of the Public MOTION – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act. Minutes: RESOLVED – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.
Item No. Exempt Paragraphs 14 - 15 3 16 - 17 - 18 3 |
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Implementation of Bridging Divides Strategy 2018-2023 Report of the Chief Grants Officer Minutes: The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer concerning the implementation of the Bridging Divides Strategy between 2018 and 2023.
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Pipeline of Pro-Active Strategic Grants Report of the Chief Grants Officer Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer concerning the pipeline of pro-active strategic grants.
RESOLVED – That the report be noted. |
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Questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee Minutes: There were no questions. |
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Any other business that the Chairman considers urgent and which the Committee agree should be considered whilst the public are excluded Minutes: There was one item of other business. |
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Resourcing the Implementation of Bridging Divides Report of the Chief Grants Officer
Report was not available at the time of publication and will be circulated separately Minutes: The Committee agreed a report of the Town Clerk and the Chief Grants Officer and a report of the Chamberlain and the Town Clerk. |
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Revenue Budget 2018/19 Report of the Chamberlain and the Town Clerk
Report was not available at the time of publication and will be circulated separately
Minutes: |