Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the Chairman, Deputy Billy Dove.

The Chairman welcomed incoming Grants Officer Julia Mirkin to the meeting of the Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 4 July 2013.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the last meeting held on 4^th July 2013 be approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

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

City Bridge Trust Business Plan 2013-16

The Chairman noted the Town Clerk had circulated an amended version of Item 4. It was noted that a report on the meaning of independence in connection to the Trust’s relationship with the City of London Corporation would not now be brought to Resource Allocation Sub Committee and would be addressed in the City Bridge Trust Business Plan.

Outstanding Grant Conditions

Grant conditions relating to Dulwich Helpline & Southwark Churches Care and Young People Matter were corrected to appear as outstanding items from the previous meeting of 4 July 2013.

To receive a progress report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee considered the regular progress report and events update of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Chief Grants Officer informed Members that the aim was to commit remaining funds for the year as fully as possible.

At the request of the Chief Grants Officer, Members agreed the new name of the new grants programmes as ‘Investing in Londoners’, which had been recommended by Officers and PRO.

The Deputy Chairman advised that a list of monitoring visits had been sent to Members but only a few responses had been received. He remarked that it was important for Members to gain an understanding of the Trust through these monitoring visits and encouraged responses.

Members discussed the frequency of notifications of monitoring visits and it was agreed that, in future, Members would receive notice of monitoring visits quarterly rather than annually.

The Deputy Chairman queried as to whether or not the process of distributing Trust media clippings to Members could be improved upon. PRO undertook to investigate if links of recent media clippings could be brought together as a PDF incorporating articles of links distributed to Members, in addition to their inclusion in the City of London Corporation morning media clippings.

In response to the information about how the Trust assesses the cost of generating funds, the Deputy Chairman asked whether a standout metric could be used. The Chief Grants Officer advised that questions are tailored to each applicant and raised at the outset of each grant application process.

A Member remarked that would be beneficial for the Trust to work with the Corporation’s Secondary of London on the possibility of future collaboration noted in the report.

Members and Officers discussed the City Philanthropy Exhibition and that Livery Companies with the greatest charitable activities should be prioritised for invitations. In light of this,

To receive a joint report of the Town Clerk and Chamberlain.

The Committee received a joint report of the Chamberlain and Town Clerk relative to the revenue outturn for the year 2012/13.

The Chamberlain reported that any implications of last year’s large underspend, for the workflow for the coming year were being discussed.

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 from the current grants programme. Members noted that a total of sixty-five applications would be dealt with at the meeting, of which three were Strategic Initiatives, ten were recommended for approval, thirty-two recommended for rejection, eight had been withdrawn, and five had lapsed. Seven grants were noted as proposed for approval under delegated authority.

At the request of the Deputy Chairman, Officers undertook to review the structure of the report so that information was more clearly presented.

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

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

Members considered each application and the following observations were noted:

Item 8b (Migrants Resource Centre) – due to concerns raised by the Deputy Chairman that this project may be considered politically controversial, assurances were given by Officers that this grant would support migrants from different backgrounds in securing employment and training information and skills, aimed at improving community cohesion.

Item 8c (Ealing Music Therapy) – Members and Officers discussed the statutory responsibilities of local authorities. Officers explained there was no statutory requirement to provide music therapy and the project would support a wider population that would not otherwise receive such a service if the grant was not approved.

Item 8d (Grief Encounter) – Officers advised Members that the base for the charity was in Barnet but the project would support work in the boroughs of Waltham Forest and Barnet. A Member remarked that this was an excellent project in an area that lacked support.

Item 8f (Age UK Redbridge) – Officers reported that the charity was developing services to cover both Barking and Dagenham, but its HQ would remain in Redbridge. It was remarked the organisation had been waiting for the grant approval for some time due to CBT staff workloads.

Item 8g (Castlehaven Community Association) – Officers clarified that the funding was conditional on match funding.

Item 8h (Chinese National Healthy Living Centre) – Members and Officers discussed the reserves held by the organisation. The Chamberlain advised that each charity’s reserve policy was assessed and examined by Officers to investigate if required reserves were excessive, while the report to Committee should demonstrate why the amount of funding is required. It was agreed that due to the nature of this project, the recommended

£90,130 over 3 years (£17,670; £35,740; £36,720) towards the costs of a youth dance programme for learning disabled young people aged 11-25.

£31,100 for a third and final year towards a part-time (21 hrs) Empowerment Worker and the related costs of a cross-community media project.

£26,700 over three years (£8,600; £8,900; £9,200) towards the costs of a Music Therapist and Learning Support Assistant (both 5 hours per week), and associated on-costs for Ealing Music Therapy’s Saturday Services.

£103,850 over three years (£33,600; £34,600; £35,650) towards two part-time Senior Clinical Practitioners (1 FTE), providing services for children and their families in North and East London.

£81,400 over two years (£40,700;£40,700) towards a Full-Time Project Worker and the running costs of a project enabling young people and those on benefits to build skills through structured learning and to reduce isolation through engagement in environmental activities.

£63,900 over two years (£32,400; £31,500) towards the salary (30 hours per week) of an Information and Opportunities Advisor to establish an advice and information service for older people in LB Barking & Dagenham.

£109,400 (£35,600; £34,400; £39,400) towards the Full-Time Ageactivity Project Manager post and the cost of project evaluation. The grant is conditional on securing full match funding.

£145,000 over three years (£50,000; £45,000; £50,000) for the salary of a Full-Time Co-ordinator plus running costs of the London Chinese Dementia & Alzheimer’s Project. The grant in year 2 is subject to the organisation increasing the number of Trustees from the current number of three.

£81,700 over three years (£26,400; £27,200; £28,100) for the costs of the

In Transit programme for London. 

£152,600 over three years (£48,800; £51,000; £52,800) towards a participation programme for young Londoners aged 16-12 years leaving the care system.

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

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended that the Committee commission the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative to pilot its schools programme. The Chief Grants Officer said that the grant application had been withdrawn.

RESOLVED – That the grant was withdrawn and may be presented at a later date.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended that the Committee commission the City Centre for Charity Effectiveness to produce a practical guide for charity Chairmen.

In response to a query from a Member, the Deputy Grants Officer advised that the support of CBT and City of London Corporation for this initiative would be visible in the materials produced.

RESOLVED – That, the City Centre for Charity Effectiveness be commissioned to produce a practical guide for Charity Chairmen, at a cost of £8,200 to be charged against the City Bridge Trust Strategic Initiatives allocation for 2013/14.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended that the Committee approve the Strategy for Learning and Knowledge Sharing for the remainder of 2013/14.

In response to a query from the Deputy Chairman, the Chief Grants Officer advised that the cost of evaluations of the older Londoners and mental health programmes would each be £20,000 (paragraph 4.5.2).

In regards to Table 1 (pg 165), Members were updated that the number of Programme Evaluations would be two with a budget of £40,000.

RESOLVED – That,

a)    the programme of activities set out in the paper be approved; and

b)    a budget of £175,000 to implement the programme be charged against the budget for Strategic Initiatives 2013/14.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended that 32 grant applications from 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 advised Members of the following eight grants, totalling £126,447 which had been presented for approval under delegated authority to the Chief Grants Officer in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

·         St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church - £1,152 towards the cost of an independent access audit.

·         Oxford Diocesan Council for Social Work (aka Parents and Children Together, PACT) - £23,400 over three years (3 x £7,800) for therapeutic support to young people and their families in London.

A Member queried whether this support would be limited to London families; Officers advised they were certain the funds would be used within London.

·         Housing Justice - £24,800 (£4,500; £20,300) over two years to contribute towards the cost of salary and operating costs of the Mentoring and Befriending Project in London.

·         Lambeth Chinese Community Association - £7,330 for a third and final year’s support to continue the Healthy Living project for older people, subject to receipt of a satisfactory monitoring report for Year 2 of the previous grant.

·         Sutton Seniors Forum - £21,865 (£7,200; £7,285; £7,380) over three years towards the salary costs of a Part-Time administrator and project costs, subject to the Trust not being the largest single funder in year 3.

·         Flash Musicals - £24,000 over three years (£10,000; £8,000; £6,000) towards the costs of performing arts workshops for disabled young people (8 to 21 years) and wheelchair dance sessions for adults. The award is conditional on confirmation that disability equality training has taken place.

·         OBAC (Organisation of Blind African Caribbeans) - £23,900 as a third and final year’s contribution to a project providing disabled people with money management skills. Release of the grant is subject to receipt of satisfactory quarterly management accounts.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which provided details of thirteen applications which had been withdrawn.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which advised Members of a variation to two grants agreed since the last meeting of the Committee.

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

A Member requested that, in future, the Summary of Grant Recommendations be listed with the corresponding sub letters for each grant application, as listed in the agenda. The Town Clerk and CBT Officers undertook to investigate if this was possible given the software used for this particular report.

There were no other urgent items.

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.

MOTION – 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                                                                    3

15                                                                    3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 4 July 2013.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 4 July 2013 were considered.

There was one question raised in relation to the Trust’s underspend.

There were no items of urgent business.