Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Alderman Matthew Richardson, Stuart Fraser, Ray Catt, Deputy Revd Stephen Haines and Wendy Mead.

The Chairman welcomed the incoming Chief Grant’s Officer, Mr David Farnsworth to the Committee and took the opportunity to thank the outgoing Chief Grants Officer, Ms Clare Thomas for her many years of service to the Committee. Ms Thomas had played an important role in the work of the Committee and the Chairman thanked her for her tireless efforts and dedication. In reply, Ms Thomas expressed her thanks to the Committee for their support and commitment during her time at the Corporation and wished them well in the future.

The Chairman also thanked City Bridge Trust Officer Mr John Merivale, who would shortly be leaving the Corporation, for his many years of service to the Committee.

Alderman Alison Gowman declared a non-pecuniary[OK1]  interest in respect of Annex B - Community Focus as the applicant had recently benefited from pro bono support from DLA Piper. 

Jeremy Mayhew declared a non-pecuniary interest due to having served as an Advisor to the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on Thursday, 9 May 2013.

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2013 be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk which identified items which required further action by officers.

The Town Clerk explained that the City Bridge Trust Terms of Reference amendments would be submitted to the Court of Common Council for approval.

It was discussed that the list of future visits for Members to attend with officers would be distributed in due course.

RECEIVED.

To receive a progress report of the Chief Grants Officer (copy attached).

The Committee received the regular progress report of the Chief Grants Officer.

Photographs of the Chairman’s visit to Epping Forest were circulated to Members and officers. The Chairman informed the Committee he had presented a cheque to Charlie Chaplin Adventure Playground on 7 May 2013, which would go towards supporting the charity’s programme for young adults with learning disabilities.

RECEIVED.

To receive an introductory report of the Chief Grants Officer relative to grant recommendations.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer, which dealt with recommendations relating to applications received on the current grants programme.  Members noted that a total of thirty-seven applications would be dealt with at the meeting, of which ten were recommended for approval, eighteen recommended for rejection, and three had been withdrawn.

RECEIVED.

To consider the Chief Grants Officer’s reports on grant recommendations, as follows (copies attached):-

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended grants to various organisations.

During consideration of the applications before the Committee, the following comments were made by Members as follows:-

Annex H (Society for Mucopolysaccharide Diseases) - it was noted in response to a query by Members that the grant given would benefit those solely within Greater London.

Annex I (Breast Cancer Care) - it was advised that the annual fundraising costs were seemingly high for the organisation due to the nature of the fundraising activities undertaken (many of which in themselves were charitable activities). An officer advised that this issue had been addressed with the applicant during the assessment process, while a revised year on year budget had also been submitted as part of the application.

RESOLVED: - That the following grants be approved:-

Category: Accessible London

£120,000 over three years (3 x £40,000) for the salary costs of a f/t Disability Officer plus some general project costs.

£90,000 over 3 years (£30,670; £29,670; £29,660) for the salary costs of a f/t Mental Health Project Manager, subject to the necessary balance of project funding being secured and to receipt of satisfactory quarterly management account in year 1.

Category: Bridging Communities

£50,000 over two further years (2 x £25,000) towards the costs of Project: London, which would provide emergency primary healthcare for people unable to access statutory services.

£51,650 over two years (£25,5000; £26,150) towards ESOL pre-entry and Level 1 training for 140 individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds for whom no other training is available.

Category: Exceptional Grants

£80,000 for a final year’s funding to provide media training to 110 young Londoners to tell London’s stories to a wide national and regional audience.

£120,000 over three years (3 x £40,000) towards a project helping young people with mental health problems and related substance misuse issues.

Category: Improving Londoner’s Mental Health

£70,000 over two years (£35,000; £35,000) towards salary costs of the part time (22.5 hpw) Volunteer Coordinator, the Project Assistant (8hpw), and running costs of the volunteering project.

Category: Positive Transitions to Independent Living

£77,400 (£25,000; £26,800; £25,600) towards a salary and running costs of a transition advocacy project on condition that match funding is secured. Release of the grant in year 1 is subject to receipt of satisfactory quarterly management accounts.

£61,800 over 3 years (£20,000; £20,600; £21,200) for the staff costs Regional Services Manager (26 days), Worker (87 days) and Monitoring and Evaluation officer (12 days) and on-costs of 6 London-based Moving Forward courses.

£95,300 over 3 years (£31,500; £31,600; £32,200) for a full-time Support Worker at Mosaic Clubhouse.

To consider reports of the Chief Grants Officer as follows (copies attached):-

The Committee considered three reports of the Chief Grants Officer which sought funding for events and programmes which would be charged against the budget for the City Bridge Trust Strategic Initiatives allocation for 2013/14.

RESOLVED: That the following grants be approved:-

£29,227 towards the Trust’s participation in the 2013 Lord Mayor’s Show, in partnership with the disability arts charity, Heart n Soul.

A Member suggested that for the planning of the Lord Mayor’s Show 2014 consultation should take place with the new Lord Mayor in respect of a future charitable partner.

The Charterhouse be commissioned to produce a book on City Philanthropy at a cost of £15,000.

Further to a question raised, Members were informed that the City Philanthropy book would include a section on the substantial achievement of Livery companies.

Officers explained that Livery companies had been invited to host the City Philanthropy Exhibition following its showing at Charterhouse.

£84,230 towards the full and final delivery of costs providing 10 apprenticeships across the City Corporation under the “Ladder for London” initiative.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer (copy attached): -

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which presented three further Local Authority proposals for consideration - London Borough of Ealing, London Borough of Havering and London Borough of Hounslow.

RESOLVED – That the recommendations for grant as detailed in the report be approved.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended that nineteen grant applications in the ‘Working with Londoners’ programme be rejected for the reasons identified in the schedule attached to the report.

RESOLVED: That the grant applications detailed in the schedule attached to the report be rejected.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which provided details of two applications which had lapsed.

RECEIVED.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which advised Members of the following three grants, totalling £47,500 which had been approved under delegated authority.

·        Paxton Green Time Bank - £15,000 for a third and final year’s support of the Development Manager’s salary costs.

·        Parochial Church Council of the Ascension - £7,500 over three years (£3,000; £2,250; £2,250) towards the costs of an ESOL tutor, rent and childcare spaces at the Quaggy Children’s Centre subject to the balance of funding being raised.

·        Royal Horticultural Society - £25,000 towards the salary and running costs of the London Regional Advisor (Campaign for School Gardening) for a third and final year.

Members were reminded of the Delegated Authority process which had previously been agreed by the Committee which allowed the Chairman and Deputy Chairman to approve grants up to £25,000 and the Chief Grants Officer to approve grants up to £5,000.

It was noted that future reports of Grants Approved under Delegated Authority would include the total amount of funds allocated to date during that year.

RECEIVED.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer relative to two visits that had been undertaken.

RECEIVED.

Further to a query, the Town Clerk in consultation with colleagues in the City Bridge Trust team  agreed to investigate solutions to resolve the formatting issues in the Committee papers.

The Chief Grants Officer informed the Committee that the refurbishment works including the installation of a disability lift at the Sir John Soane’s Museum had received an Award for Best Conservation Project from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The Award specifically mentioned the innovative design of the lift, which had been funded by The City Bridge Trust.

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 as follows:-

RESOLVED – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item No.                                                          Exempt Paragraphs

14                                                                                3

15                                                                                3

16                                                                                3

17                                                                                3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 9 May 2013.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2013 were considered.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer (copy attached separately):-

The Committee receive a report of the Chief Grants Officer presenting the proposed programmes to guide the Trust’s grant making from 2013-18.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and officers prepare a paper proposing the new programmes and policies to Common Council on 18 July 2013.

There was one question considered.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no items of urgent business.