Agenda item

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.

In response to a query from Members as to why some grants were not recommended for the exact amount requested and rounded down rather than up, officers advised that rounded sums were utilised in part to enforce the separation between grants and awarded contracts. Members then agreed that where sums are to be rounded in future they should, where possible, be rounded up to the nearest hundred.

Members considered each application and the following observations were noted:

Annex C (Mousetrap Theatre Projects) – it was agreed that the recommendation not to fund discounted theatre tickets as part of the grant was due to the Committee’s stance on not subsidising commercial ventures, but which would be amended in this instance. Members felt that it was important to ensure that both the carers and children could partake in attending the theatre productions as part of the StageSeen initiative. As a result, the revised total grant recommendation would be £33,740 over 3 years (£10,930, £11,300, £11,510).

Members raised concerns over the level of expenditure on generating funds listed as £116,804, and it was explained this sum included the cost of a fundraising manager. The Chief Grants Officer agreed to advise the Committee at its next meeting on the general issue of fundraising costs as presented in applicant’s accounts.

Annex H (Age Concern Westminster) – it was noted that Age UK, the national body, was a large organisation with secure funding.  Officers reassured Members that the individual branches of Age UK, such as this one were separately constituted charities.

Annex L (Auditory Verbal Centre) – a Member raised concerns over the deficit listed for the financial statements in 2012 and the 2013/14 budget projections.

Officers explained that the 2013/14 financial information was submitted early in the year. The applicant had set modest targets for fundraising and listed the deficit estimate as a worst case scenario which was expected to reduce by the end of the financial year. The grant was listed to proceed over two years and Members and officers agreed that quarterly management accounts could be received as a condition of the grant.

Annex M (Lasa) – a Member queried whether other boroughs would be made aware of The City Bridge Trust financing of this project, since the organisation could approach other boroughs for funding. The officer informed the Committee that the applicant had approached only the City Bridge Trust for funding and that the support provided for this project would be well publicised to communicate the Trust’s involvement with stakeholders.   

RESOLVED: - That the following grants be approved:-