Staffordshire town councillors call for restoration of community grant scheme

Councillors have called for a grant scheme to be restored, six months after it was slashed by 50 per cent. The amount each councillor could award to a community or voluntary group fell from £1,000 to £500 a year.

The measure was introduced in the council’s budget in February as part of savings measures. This cut the overall scheme in half from £30,000 to £15,000, however, council leaders opted against axing the scheme altogether.

Council leader Carol Dean told the prosperity, place and environment overview and scrutiny committee at Tamworth Borough Council that the Labour group ‘really struggled’ over the decision. However, she said that other grant funding measures exist and not all councillors were using the full community grant.

She said: “When the previous portfolio holder brought this to us as an item for our budget deliberations our group really really struggled with this and it was only because that we’d got those other outlets for groups to be able to get money that it went through.

It’s a really difficult one and some councillors are fabulous about this but the other thing that tipped by hand a little but was the fact that some councillors never spent their money at all and I’m hoping that this time if it’s only £500 to spend, mind you I’m saying that but if they didn’t spend any of the £1,000 there probably not going to spend the £500 but there’s quite a few groups at the money who are looking to us for money.

Committee chairman Councillor Martin Summers, who was the original cabinet member to increase the community grant to £1,000, said: “I’m just disappointed that it’s got reduced so severely given the money was there and in the grand scheme of things £30,000 is a kind of drop in the ocean in the council’s budget.”

So far this year, eight grant awards totalling £4,250 were recorded up to 29 September. However, the council said the definitive year to date position is still to be confirmed by the Community Foundation for Staffordshire and Shropshire, which administers the scheme.

Members of the committee unanimously agreed three recommendations to send to council leaders. Firstly, that the grant be increased to £1,000, secondly, increased awareness about the scheme is made to councillors. Finally, that any unspent money, instead of being reabsorbed into council budgets, be given to a default charity or the mayor’s charity.

Councillor Summers said: “There are still opportunities to get money for community groups and there are bigger pots that exist but as councillors I think, as community leaders it empowers us to be able to give money to our communities and regardless of whether some people aren’t doing it or not, you can’t have it spoiling it for the rest of us.”

New leader of Staffordshire County Council and Amington ward member, Councillor Hayley Coles, took a different view and raised concerns over the cost of administering the scheme and added the scheme could be open to abuse.

“We’ve got the community fund at the county council, it’s £2,500 and that’s what it was when we took over last year. I’ve got a different view actually because I have to help administer them.”

She said at the county council she had signed off on more than 200 grants to community groups, with some ranging from £50 to £100 and each payment requires council officers to conduct due diligence which adds to the cost of administering the scheme.

She added: “For me, this is taxpayers money, this is from the council tax. I’m a little bit sceptical, I think it’s great, I really am for helping communities but I think there is a balance to be made and obviously everyone is struggling at the moment.

“People are seeing their council tax go up so I think you’ve got to look at all the on costs and then being a bit cautious is it that people potentially might say vote for me and I’ll help give it to the community. I actually changed the county council because there was actually a Conservative councillor that was county councillors who were managing directors of a CiC.

“So I said that’s not going to happen anymore. That’s not right that you should be accessing funds from council tax payers money, so I think there’s a balance to be made.”