Agenda item

Report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer regarding the review of eligibility criteria for the Combined Education Charity and the City Educational Trust Fund and the possibility for alignment with the City of London Corporation’s Education Strategy 2016-2019.

At the July 2016 Education Board meeting Members agreed that the existing eligibility criteria for the Combined Education Charity and City Educational Trust Fund would remain in place until March 2017. Members noted that these criteria were no longer considered to provide the most effective framework to guide the application of each charity’s limited funds and needed to be refined so they support the efficient and effective operation of the charities to achieve the charities’ objects.

The City’s Education Strategy objectives were noted and it was considered that alignment of the criteria with the City’s Education Strategy could allow the charities’ limited funds to have a greater impact

Members discussed the report in detail and considered various options for shaping the eligibility criteria, including the following points:

-       The eligibility criteria should focus on the impact of any grants and the level of need of the beneficiary.

-       The same eligibility criteria should be used for both charities.

-       The cost of administration was proportionately higher for individual grants, but nevertheless there was still value in them and they should not be excluded. As such, priority should be given to groups but exceptional applications from individuals should also be considered.

-       Flexibility was needed; instead of limiting the types of applicants who can apply, focus should be on the outcome and need.

-       The eligibility criteria should have enduring relevance but not become outdated; criteria and priorities should therefore be reviewed on a regular basis.

-       The criteria should not prioritise the City or the City Schools and the City as trustee must remain mindful that any grant cannot give rise to a “self-benefit” to the City acting in a separate capacity in breach of trust. Grants may be offered to benefit pupils at a City school, rather than the school itself.

-       The starting point for grant thresholds be set at up to £5000 for small grants and larger grants of around £25,000 and reviewed in due course.

Officers were asked to prepare a revised policy and eligibility criteria taking these points into account. With regard to process, officers advised that draft eligibility criteria would be brought back to the Sub-Committee for consideration before going to Community & Children’s Services Committee for their comments. Approval would then be sought from the Education Board.

Members discussed the opportunity for grant data sharing, and agreed that the City Educational Trust Fund and The City of London Corporation Combined Education Charity grants data be anonymised and uploaded to 360 Giving, which aimed to improve transparency amongst grant-makers and to ensure grants data could be easily used and compared to inform better grant-making.

In response to a Member’s question regarding the first object of the City Educational Trust Fund relating to the City University, officers advised that both objects of the charity were equally valid but if it was considered to be in the best interests of the charity and its beneficiaries to focus the charity’s limited resources on the second object the charity’s funds could be applied solely for those purposes. Members considered whether City University should continue to have specific focus but it was felt that they would be eligible to apply as a general applicant and that this should be sufficient.

RESOLVED – That:

(a)  the charitable objects of the City Educational Trust Fund (290840) and The City of London Corporation Combined Education Charity (312836), and the funds available for distribution be noted;

(b)  officers be instructed to prepare a revised policy and application criteria for each charity for recommendation to the Education Board; and

(c)  the City Educational Trust Fund (290840) and The City of London Corporation Combined Education Charity (312836) grants data be published using the 360Giving Standard.