Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor Alderman Fiona Woolf, Alderman Alison Gowman (Deputy Chairman), Deputy Ken Ayers, Simon Duckworth, Deputy Stanley Ginsburg, Deputy the Revd Stephen Haines, Vivienne Littlechild, and Edward Lord.  

The Chairman declared an interest in item 8(c), by virtue of his Livery Company supporting Vauxhall City Farm.

To agree the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 19 June 2014.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2014 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members received the Outstanding Items update, and noted that the report regarding duration and quantum of grants would be presented at the meeting scheduled for 25 September 2014.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted. 

To receive a progress report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee received the regular progress report and events update of the Chief Grants Officer. He reported that nine grantees had produced videos with the Media Trust to ‘tell their stories’ and promote their work. These had recently been screened at the Barbican and were available online. Members requested that the video links be circulated electronically to Members.

The Chief Grants Officer advised Members that positive conclusions had been drawn from the Grantee Perception Report, which had surveyed 598 grantees and received a 70% response rate. Members were informed that the Trust would be working through the recommendations from the report over the coming months, and agreed that the summary be circulated electronically to Members.

Members received the details of the proposed implementation of the ‘Supporting Charitable Involvement in Social Investment’ programme, which were appended to the report and which were agreed.

In response to a Member’s question on filling the post of Social Investment Analyst, the Chief Grants Officer reported that a strong candidate had been identified and was to be interviewed at the end of the month. At a Member’s suggestion, it was agreed that, should this candidate prove unsuitable, Members be asked to offer suggestions of appropriate alternatives.

RESOLVED – That:

(a)  Links to the nine ‘Telling Your Stories’ videos be circulated to Members;

(b)  The summary of the Grantee Perception Report be circulated to Members;

(c)  The criteria for implementing the ‘Supporting Charitable Involvement in Social Investment’ programme details be noted and agreed; and

(d)  The report and events update be noted.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee received the statistical analysis of the 5 year ‘Working With Londoners’ grants programme, which ran from July 2008 to July 2013 and provided a total of £76,822,283 in 1,065 grants. Members discussed the report, in particular grants received in each London borough, and wanted to learn more (possibly at the October away half-day) about how the strengths and weaknesses of the programme had been fed into the current ‘Investing In Londoners’ programme.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer summarising applications received and action taken under the 2014/15 grants programmes. Members noted that, although it was still too early for any firm trends to emerge, the rate of applications for ‘Investing In Londoners’ was similar to that received for ‘Working With Londoners’. Some programmes had a higher than average refusal rate, and Members noted that officers would ensure guidelines remained as clear as possible to dissuade ineligible applications. 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

Members noted that, if the requested £10,000 excluded VAT, it would take the total amount approved for the Youth Offer evaluators above £50k. Members agreed that, should this arise, the requirement to enter into a tendering process could be waived.

APPROVED –

(a)  £10,000 towards the cost of a mid-term learning event to be held in November 2014, to be charged against the City Bridge Trust Strategic Initiatives allocation for 2014/15; and

(b)  If the sum above excluded VAT, the requirement to enter into a tendering process be waived.

APPROVED – £40,800 over two years (£20,200; £20,600) towards the cost of providing Entry Level 1-3 provision.

The Past Chairman, Deputy Billy Dove, took the Chair for this item.

APPROVED - £116,400 over three years (£38,300; £38,800; £39,300) towards the salary of the full-time Youth & Education Manager and education programme costs. The grant is conditional upon a satisfactory constitution being in place.

APPROVED - £135,300 (£43,500; £45,100; £46,700) towards the salary costs of the Volunteer Coordinator and Counselling Service Coordinator (up to a maximum of £30,000 per annum) plus clinical supervision, programme and management costs.

APPROVED - £44,700, for a third and final year, towards the costs of the Live Chat service, providing advice and support to young Londoners with mental health needs.

APPROVED – £66,300 over three years (£21,100; £22,600; £22,600) towards the expansion of Panathlon’s work with deaf, visually impaired and power-chair children, on the condition that the balance of funding be raised from other sources.

APPROVED - £70,500 over three years (£22,800; £23,500; £24,200) towards work to support disabled adults to make the transition to independent living. The grant is conditional on raising the balance of funding from other sources and providing signed accounts for 2012.

APPROVED - £120,400 over three years (£28,337; £45,666; £46,397) towards 15 hours per week of the Youth Development Programme Officer’s salary and running costs of a youth development programme for victims of trafficking living in London.

APPROVED - £75,000 over two years (£50,000; £25,000) towards the salary costs of two full-time Development Co-ordinators to develop and expand the Open Doors London service.

APPROVED - £122,800 over three years (£37,800; £42,000; £43,000) towards the costs of the End of Life (EoL) Support Worker, respite breaks and events for EoL Carers, subject to receipt of signed accounts for 2013.

APPROVED - £80,000 over two years (2 x £40,000) towards a quarter of the total salary and related running costs of information and advice services, in order to benefit disabled Londoners.

APPROVED - £77,700 over three years (£26,100; £25,700; £25,900) towards the salary and on-costs of a part-time (3 days per week) Solicitor to provide legal advice and representation on issues relating to housing and related debt.

APROVED - £160,600 over 3 years (£52,750; £53,250; £54,600) for the salary of a f/t Advice Worker plus related operational costs.

APPROVED - £84,000 over 3 years (£27,500; £28,000; £28,500) for the costs of the Toolkit for Life project for young Londoners.

APPROVED - £109,000 over three years (£31,000; £35,500; £42,500) towards the salary of a full-time Employability Officer and running costs of the ‘Work Works’ project, conditional upon receipt of a reserves policy.

APPROVED - £150,000 over three years (3 x £50,000) for the salary of a p/t (28hpw) Development Officer and the operational/delivery costs of a project to improve the evaluation and marketing skills in small organisations in Lewisham.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended that eleven grant applications be rejected for the reasons identified in the schedule attached to the report.

RESOLVED – That the eleven 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 seven expenditure items, totalling £20,800, which had been presented for approval under delegated authority to the Chief Grants Officer in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

·         Centre For Armenian Information & Advice - £2,400 (6 days @ £400 per day) to provide an eco-audit.

·         Cockpit Arts - £2,000 to match CEP funding towards the wage costs of 1 Apprentice for 1 year. The national minimum wage must be paid.

·         Community Health Action Trust (known as CHAT) - £2,400 (6 days @ £400 per day) to provide an eco-audit.

·         Old Kent Road Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre - £2,400 (6 days @ £400 per day) to provide an eco-audit as part of the ‘Greening London’s Mosques’ initiative.

·         Southbank Centre - £4,000 to match CEP funding towards the wage costs of 2 Apprentices for 1 year. The national minimum wage must be paid.

·         Spitalfields City Farm - £2,600 (6.5 days @ £400 per day) to provide an eco-audit.

·         Vineyard Congregational Church - £5,000 for the costs of an independent access audit (£2,500) and the subsequent scheme designs and drawings (£2,500).

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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 noted.

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

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

In response to a Member’s question, it was noted that funding histories of grant applicants were published on the Corporation website along with their application. The Chief Grants Officer advised Members that the onus was on the applicant to liaise with their funders and obtain permission, but undertook to update the guidance to applicants to make this clearer.

RESOLVED – That the guidance to applicants to revised accordingly.

A Member advised on her recent visit to the London Air Ambulance, a registered charity that delivers an advanced trauma team to critically injured people in London. The Trust had previously given funding for a trauma nurse, and it was agreed that further funding could be looked at as part of the City Bridge Trust’s 20^th Anniversary celebrations.

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 - 14                                                                                     3

15 – 16                                                                                    -

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2014.

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2014 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.