Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Board considered the report of the Department of Community & Children’s Services presenting Members with key information relating to the second year of the City’s Cultural and Creative Learning (CCL) funding model, noting that the applications relate to funding for July 2024/25 and that the list of cultural partners has expanded.

The Board noted that applications for 14 projects have been received and reviewed, with a combined associated cost of £255,984 (the total pot available is £190,000), noting also that the current year is the first year in which CCL funding applications are being handled in-house. 

A Member commented on an apparent paucity of SEND-related projects and asked whether there was any significance to that. Members noted that no declined projects had a SEND focus, and that few SEND-focussed applications had been received.    

A Member asked for further details of the three unsuccessful applications. The meeting heard that one application was invalid, one was requesting schools to pay at the point of entry, and one raised concerns about the venue and staffing costs.

A Member commented that an overview of the range of funding sources available for CCL would be useful, partly to assess the extent of any overlap in remit and eligibility, noting also that further such information would be provided. (see action point 2).

A Member asked whether partners were aware of and encouraged to consider match-funding opportunities from CoL livery companies (particularly for outdoor activities, including gardening), noting also the potential for reaching out to other partners working across a range of departments.         

RESOLVED, That Members

1.     Delegate authority to the Chair and the Strategic Education and Skills Director (in consultation with the Town Clerk, where appropriate) to distribute the CCL funds to the relevant cultural partners; and

2.     Recommend that 11 out of 14 of the applications be awarded funding from the CCL budget in line with the recommendations set out in the report.