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Minutes – Community Affairs Committee (Discretionary Grants) – 11 April 2021

The minutes of this meeting are presented below.

You can also download a PDF copy of the minutes here: Minutes – Community Affairs Committee (Discretionary Grants) – 11 April 2021

MINUTES OF THE VIRTUAL MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE HELD ON MONDAY 11 APRIL 2021 AT 3.00PM

PRESENT:

  • Councillors Apel (Chairman), C Hughes (Vice-Chairman), Carter, Gershater, Lishman, Sharp, Gaskin

EX-OFFICIO:

  • The Mayor (Councillor Plowman), The Deputy Mayor (Councillor J Hughes) , Councillor Joy (Chairman of Planning and Conservation), Councillor Scicluna (Chairman of Finance)

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE:

  • Town Clerk, Deputy Town Clerk, Member Services Support Officer

65. APOLOGIES AND RECORD OF ABSENCE

Councillor Sharp had given apologies for the meeting but was able to attend later in the proceedings.

There were no absences.

66. INTRODUCTION BY THE CHAIRMAN AND OUTLINE OF THE GRANTS PROCESS

The Chairman welcomed the Committee Members and representatives of the organisations that had applied for the larger Discretionary Grants.

Those in attendance were reminded that the process for evaluating and deciding Discretionary Grants had recently been changed and that this meeting would be the first opportunity to assess the new process.

Members were also reminded that the large grant applicants would have the opportunity to give the Committee a short presentation followed by questions with a total of ten minutes being permitted per organisation.

The Chairman asked Members to give their declarations of interest in respect of the organisations that had submitted grant applications.

The Chairman and Councillor Lishman declared an interest as a Members of Chichester District Council.

The Mayor declared a personal interest relating to the Chichester Boys Club.

Councillor Gershater declared a personal interest in HomeStart with his wife being a Trustee.

Councillor Joy declared a prejudicial interest as a Trustee of Business2Schools.

Councillor Scicluna declared a personal interest as a member of the Festival of Chichester.

67. PRESENTATIONS FROM LARGER GRANT APPLICANTS

Representatives of the following organisations gave a presentation in support of their Discretionary Grants application and answered Members’ questions.

  • Business2Schools
  • Chichester Boys Club
  • Chichester City Centre Drop-In
  • Chichester Community Development Trust
  • Chichester Runners and Athletics Club
  • Chichester Childrens Bookfest
  • Festival of Chichester
  • 4Sight Vision Support
  • Transition Chichester
  • Tyler’s Trust
  • Voluntary Action Arun and Chichester

The Committee noted that no response to the meeting invitation had been received from HomeStart Chichester.

The Chairman thanked all the organisations for providing the additional information to the Committee in support of their applications.

68. PUBLIC BODIES (ADMISSION TO MEETINGS ACT) 1960

It was proposed, seconded and RESOLVED that the public and press be excluded from this meeting because of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted namely financial and business affairs of third parties

69. CONSIDERATION OF DISCRETIONARY GRANT APPLICATIONS 2021/2022

Discretionary Grant budget 2021/2022                                        £35,000

(a) CONSIDERATION OF SMALLER GRANT APPLICATIONS

After a discussion of the Grant applications received, the Committee agreed to award Grants in the smaller application group as follows:

(i) CAOS Musical Productions

It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £390 be awarded to CAOS Musical Productions to support the submission of a digital performance to the Festival of Chichester 2021.

(ii) Chichester Chamber Concerts

It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £500 be awarded to Chichester Chamber Concerts to support the live streaming of concerts planned for the 2021 season as part of the Festival of Chichester.

(iii) Chichester Symphony Orchestra

It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £500 be awarded to Chichester Symphony Orchestra to support the planned family concert in January 2022.

(iv) West Sussex Mediation Service

It was RESOLVED to award a Grant of £500 to West Sussex Mediation Service to support ongoing mediation provision in Chichester.

(v) West Walls Residents Association

It was RESOLVED to award a grant of £306 to the West Walls Residents Association to support the replanting and improvement of the Garden of Remembrance in West Street.

Total smaller Discretionary Grants awarded                              £2196

Remaining Discretionary Grants budget for 2021/2022             £32,804

(b) CONSIDERATION OF LARGER GRANT APPLICATIONS

(i) Business2Schools

It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £1000 be awarded to Business2Schools to support their work providing recycled resources to schools in Chichester.

(ii) Chichester Boys Club

It was RESOLVED to award Chichester Boys Club a Grant of £1000 to assist with building fire safety improvements.

(iii) Chichester City Centre Drop-In

It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £1500 be made to the Chichester City Centre Drop-In (The Bell Tower) to support their ongoing work with secondary school age children in Chichester.

(iv) Chichester Community Development Trust

It was RESOLVED that no Grant be awarded to the Chichester Community Development Trust on this occasion.

(v) Chichester Runners and Athletics Club

It was RESOLVED that no Grant be awarded to the Chichester Runners and Athletics Club.

Members of the Committee agreed that the nature of the project and the amount of funding being sought meant that the Discretionary Grant provision was not suitable.

The Deputy Town Clerk was asked to advise Chichester Runners and Athletics Club of alternative funding streams that may be more suitable.

(vi) Chichester Childrens Bookfest

It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £1020 be made to Chichester Childrens Bookfest to support the provision of libraries of books through the food banks in Chichester.

(v) Festival of Chichester

It was RESOLVED to award a Grant of £2500 to the Festival of Chichester to support the marketing and promotion of the Festival of Chichester 2021.

(vi) HomeStart Chichester

The Committee agreed that, as no representative from HomeStart had been able to give a presentation to Members; no Grant award assessment would be possible.

It was therefore RESOLVED that no Grant would be awarded to HomeStart Chichester on this occasion.

Members agreed that this did not preclude applications for Discretionary Grants from HomeStart Chichester in the future.

(vii) 4Sight Vision Support

It was RESOLVED to award a Grant of £734 to 4Sight Vision Support to support their work with the blind and visually impaired community in Chichester.

(viii) Transition Chichester

It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £1000 be awarded to Transition Chichester to support the creation of a bi-monthly Community Eco Hub at the Newell Centre, Chichester.

(ix) Tyler’s Trust

It was RESOLVED to award a Grant of £1000 to Tyler’s Trust to support the provision of gift boxes and hygiene/selfcare bags to Chichester based families with seriously ill children.

(x) Voluntary Action Arun and Chichester

It was RESOLVED to award a Grant of £1000 to Voluntary Action Arun and Chichester to support the proposed recruitment event for volunteers for organisations based in Chichester.

Total larger Discretionary Grants awarded                                 £10754

Total Discretionary Grants awarded                                            £12950

Remaining Discretionary Grants budget 2021/2022                   £22050

The Committee agreed that the first meeting under the new process had been a success overall and that it would be appropriate to review the new process at the next ordinary meeting of the Community Affairs Committee on Monday 7 June 2021.

The meeting closed at 5.55pm

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