Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

Ian Seaton declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of Item 7.a) due to being a Director of the Livery Company Apprenticeship Scheme.

Jemma Grieve Combes and Becky Green of London Funders declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of Item 7.i) due to being, respectively, a Trustee and an employee of London Funders.

To agree the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held 9 January 2014.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the last meeting held on 9^th January 2014 be approved as an accurate record.

To receive a report of the Town Clerk.

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

Social Investment funding

The Deputy Chairman noted that the update report on City Bridge Trust grantees that could access Social Investment funding had been completed, and the outstanding item could therefore be removed.

Outstanding Grant Conditions

A satisfactory 2014 budget had been received for Otakar Music Trust.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

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.

RESOLVED – That,

a)         the report be received and its contents noted;

b)         the allocation of £300,000 from the grants budget for 2013/14 for delivery of the London Youth Quality Mark Awards scheme; and

c)        the allocation for Strategic Initiatives for 2013/14 be increased to £2.5m.

To receive a report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer that summarised applications received and action taken under the 2013/14 Working with Londoners and Investing in Londoners grants programmes.

The Chairman noted that in the Summary and paragraph 2.1 of the report should read that 25 applications would be dealt with at today’s meeting not 21.

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 25 applications would be dealt with at the meeting, of which 4 were Strategic Initiatives, 10 were recommended for approval and were 13 recommended for rejection. 1 grant was noted as approved under delegated authority.

RESOLVED  - That,

a)    the report be noted; and

b)    the grant recommendations in the subsequent annexes be considered.

To consider the Chief Grants Officer’s report 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 7a (National Army Museum) – a Member remarked that the City’s Livery companies should be made aware of the Trust’s funding, should it be awarded.

A Member noted that this was an important initiative to establish full disabled access within the redeveloped NAM, and reflected upon the City’s strong relationship with the military and moved to increase the grant agreed by the Committee to £150,000.

Members discussed whether a further report should come back outlining further details of the NAM’s capital programme funding. Officers noted that the project met the Trust’s grant giving criteria and Members did have the power to amend policy, which was articulated within the Trust’s grant giving policy. In this instance, the policy being the £50,000 limit to grants for accessible buildings under the ‘Working with Londoners – Accessible London’ grants programme.

In respect of the increase to the proposed grant, the Committee moved to a vote which was CARRIED. It was agreed therefore that the National Army Museum would be awarded £150,000.

Item 7c (Eaves Housing For Women) – a Member enquired as to whether grantees could be asked to request a larger grant if it was warranted.

Officers informed Members that the lease agreement on their office had been negotiated and a contract would be in effect from April this year for a three year term. The application had also been previously withdrawn and resubmitted from the stated application date of January 2013 (pg 69).

Following discussion, it was agreed that the grant be increased from £103,000 to £103,500, to be in line with the amount requested of £103,338.

Item 7d (Strategic Initiative: Greening the Economy Conference)

£150,000 towards the provision of disabled access works within ‘Building for the Future’ capital improvement project.

£90,000 over three years (3 x £30,000) towards a project providing leadership and para-counselling training and peer support for African women living in London affected by FGM.

£103,500 over two years (£51,250; £52,250) for the full-time Research and Training Officer post, a contribution to the Research and Development Manager’s post and associated project costs.

A grant of £92,000 over three years (£31,000; £30,400; £30,600) towards the p/t (17.5 hpw) salary of a Development Worker and running costs of the ‘Funding for the Future’ project to enable BAMER groups to build capacity; deliver and measure quality programmes; engage in cross-sectoral partnerships; and give BAMER communities a voice.

A sum of £385,200 over three years (£134,000; £138,400; £112,400) to continue the development of a new model of volunteering in London, charged against the City Bridge Trust Strategic Initiatives allocation for 2013/14.

A budget of £20,000 towards the cost of a conference entitled ‘Greening the Economy’ to be held in May 2014, charged against the City Bridge Trust Strategic Initiatives allocation for 2013/14.

The first year of Social Finance’s Impact Incubator project with a grant of £24,000, charged against the City Bridge Trust Strategic Initiatives allocation for 2013/14.

A sum of £220,000 over two years (£100,000; £120,000) to support the further development and roll-out of the Islington Giving model, costed against the budget for Strategic Initiatives for 2013/14.

£100,000 over two years (£50,000; £50,000) towards the core costs of London Funders on conditions that a satisfactory revised budget is submitted to take account of the increased activity and related spend to deliver LF’s strategic plan.

£94,000 over two years (£46,300; £47,700) towards the salary and support costs of an Organisational Development Officer (2 days pw) and an Information and Communications Officer (2 days pw) to deliver Voluntary Action Westminster’s Just for You programme, subject to satisfactory monitoring reports.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended that 13 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 one application which had been withdrawn.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which advised Members of one grant, totalling £1,500 which had been presented for approval under delegated authority to the Chief Grants Officer.

·         Pan Intercultural Arts - £1,500 towards the cost of an eco-audit.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

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

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

There was one question raised in respect of the following –

Access works - A Member raised a query as to whether or not it could be determined if organisations which had received a capital grant of £50,000 for access works then had to delay the works, due to the need to raise a balance. Officers would examine the database and report back accordingly.

There were no items of urgent business.

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.

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

13                                                                    3

15                                                                       3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2014.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2014 were considered.

To receive a report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee received the draft revised Members’ Handbook.

There were no questions.

There was one item of urgent business raised in respect of the following –

City Bridge Trust annual appointments.