Minutes – Community Affairs Committee (Discretionary Grants) – 6 April 2023
The agenda and papers for this meeting are available here: Community Affairs Committee – 6 April 2023 (Discretionary Grants) – agenda and papers
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) – 6 April 2023
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Minutes
Date: 6 April 2023
Time: 2.00pm – 5.19pm
Location: The Council Chamber – The Council House • North Street • CHICHESTER • West Sussex • PO19 1LQ
PRESENT: Councillor Apel (Chairman), Councillors Gershater, C Hughes, Lishman and Sharp
EX-OFFICIO: The Deputy Mayor (Councillor Plowman), Councillor Quail (Chairman of Planning & Conservation) and Councillor Scicluna (Chairman of Finance)
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Councillors Chant, Corfield and Gaskin, The Town Clerk Designate, the Deputy Town Clerk, Member Services Support Officer and 13 members of the public to give their presentations
IN ATTENDANCE VIA ZOOM: 3 members of the public to give presentations in support of their applications
80. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
RESOLVED to accept and approve apologies and reasons for absence from the meeting from the Mayor, Councillor Joy, and Councillors Barrie and Carter.
81. INTRODUCTION FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND OUTLINE OF THE GRANTS PROCESS
The Chairman welcomed the Committee Members to the meeting.
Members were also reminded that the large grant applicants would have the opportunity to give the Committee a five-minute presentation followed by five minutes of questions from Members.
82. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE IN MATTERS ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS MEETING
Councillor Chant declared an interest as a member of Ragtime Priory Theatre.
Councillor Scicluna declared interests due to her membership of the Festival of Chichester, the Friends of Speyer and involvement with the International Relations (3 Cities) event.
Councillor C Hughes declared an interest as a member of and City Councillor representative with the Friends of Valletta.
Councillor Gershater declared an interest as a member of Friends of Speyer and also in relation to Homestart due to his wife being a Trustee of the organisation.
Councillor Plowman declared an interest as a member of Rotary and a pecunary interest as Chairman of Second Chance Chichester.
Councillor Apel declared an interest due to her involvement with the Festival of Chichester.
Councillor Quail declared an interest as a member of Parklands Residents Association and as the City Council’s representative on the board of the Oxmarket Centre of Arts.
83. PRESENTATIONS FROM LARGER GRANT APPLICANTS
Representatives of the following organisations gave a presentation in support of their Discretionary Grants application and answered Members’ questions.
- Festival of Chichester
- Rotary Club of Chichester
- Chichester Pride
- Friends of Speyer
- TS Sturdy of the Nautical Training Corp
- Chichester Runners and A.C.
- Parklands Residents Association
- Second Chance Chichester CIC
- Home Start Chichester and District
- UK Harvest
- Chichester BID
- Think18 Charity
- Oxmarket Centre of Arts Ltd
- Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice
The Chairman thanked all the organisations for providing the additional information to the Committee in support of their applications.
84. PUBLIC BODIES (ADMISSION TO MEETINGS ACT 1960)
RESOLVED that the public and press be excluded from this meeting due to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted namely financial and business affairs of third parties
85. CONSIDERATION OF DISCRETIONARY GRANT APPLICATIONS 2022/2023
The Discretionary Grant Budget for 2023/2024 is as follows:
Discretionary Grant Budget for 2023/2024: £35,000.00
Carried forward budget from 2022/2023: £5,885.63
Total Discretionary Grants for 2023/2024: £40,885.63
86. CONSIDERATION OF THE 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) Chichester Chamber Concerts
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £500 be awarded to Chichester Chamber Concerts to support the 2023-2024 season of concerts.
(ii) International Relations (Three Cities)
Councillor Scicluna repeated her previously declared interest.
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £500 be awarded to International Relations (Three Cities) to assist with the costs of their event being held during the Festival of Chichester.
(iii) My Sisters House
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £440 be awarded to My Sisters House to support the running of an employability and wellbeing course being held in the Assembly Room.
(iv) Ragtime Priory Theatre
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £500 be awarded to Ragtime Priory Theatre for the commissioning of young local artists in the creation of a free access multi-media installation performance.
(v) West Walls Residents Association
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £500 be awarded to West Walls Residents Association for the replacement of the bench and refreshing of the plants in the West Street memorial garden.
(vi) Word Out Loud
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £500 be awarded to Word Out Loud for the purchase of a laptop to allow the charity to manage its own website and publicity material production.
Total smaller Discretionary Grants awarded: £2,940.00
Remaining Discretionary Grants budget for 2023/2024: £37,945.63
87. CONSIDERATION OF LARGER GRANT APPLICATIONS
(i) Festival of Chichester
Councillor Scicluna and the Member Services Support Officer gave some further background information in to the reason for the application and what it would be used for.
Councillors Apel and Scicluna left the room and did not participate in the vote.
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £2,500 be awarded to Festival of Chichester to support the 2023 Festival of Chichester.
Councillors Apel and Scicluna returned to the meeting.
(ii) Rotary Club of Chichester
The Deputy Mayor left the meeting and did not participate in the vote.
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £3,235.00 be awarded to Rotary Club of Chichester to help with the costs of the 2023 Christmas lights switch on event and the replacement of the sound system as well as the necessary public performance costs.
The Deputy Mayor returned to the meeting.
(iii) Chichester Pride
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £1,745.00 be to Chichester Pride to support the expanded 2023 Chichester Pride event taking place on 27 May 2023.
(iv) Friends of Speyer
Members reviewed the projected costs of setting up the organisation that had been submitted with the application and it was confirmed that no other source of funding had been sought at that time.
Councillors Scicluna and Gershater left the meeting and did not take part in the vote.
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £2,500.00 be awarded to Friends of Speyer to assist with the set up costs
Councillors Scicluna and Gershater returned to the meeting.
(v) TS Sturdy of the Nautical Training Group
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £2,373.00 be awarded to TS Sturdy of the Nautical Training Group for the replacement of old and damaged instruments.
(vi) Chichester Runners and A.C.
The Deputy Town Clerk confirmed that it was expected that the Grant, if awarded, would contribute to the overall fund raising effort for the running track rather than being used for a specific part of the project.
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £3,000 be awarded to Chichester Runners and A.C. as a further contribution towards the cost of building the training track at Chichester College.
Councillor Scicluna voted against and Councillor Lishman abstained.
Members agreed that it should be made clear that the Discretionary Grants should not be considered to be an ongoing source of funding for this project.
(vii) Parklands Residents Association
Members discussed the application in light of the separate application that had been received from UK Harvest.
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £1,250.00 be awarded to Parklands Residents Association to support the provision of the weekly food pantry and related community support.
The Committee agreed that it should be stipulated that this funding should only be used to pay the costs of the venue hire where the pantry was set up each week.
(viii) Second Chance Chichester CIC
The Deputy Mayor left the room and did not take part in the vote.
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £1,000.00 be awarded to Second Chance Chichester for the design and building of a website for the organisation.
The Deputy Mayor returned to the meeting.
(ix) Home Start Chichester and District
Councillor Gershater left the room and did not take part in the vote.
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £2,489.00 be awarded to Home Start Chichester and District to support staff funding for home visits to two families for six months each as well as other wider support activities.
Councillor Gershater returned to the meeting.
(x) UK Harvest
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £3,000.00 be awarded to UK Harvest to support the four “Fed and Nourished” hubs currently provided by the organisation in Chichester.
(xi) Chichester BID
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £2,500.00 be awarded to Chichester BID to support the costs of the planned Coronation event, including live streaming from London, happening around the Cathedral as part of the city’s celebrations.
(xii) Think18 Charity
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £2,500.00 be awarded to Think18 Charity to support the 2023 Think18 camping weekend taking part in August 2023 for young adults with moderate to severe learning difficulties and their families to enjoy prearranged activities and quality time together.
(xiii) Oxmarket Centre of Arts Ltd
It was RESOLVED that a Grant would not be awarded to the Oxmarket Centre of Arts on this occasion.
(xiv) Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice
It was RESOLVED that a Grant of £900.00 be awarded to Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice to support the improvement and expansion of their digital services to allow increased access for those who needed it through remote services, web chats and self-help courses.
Total larger Discretionary Grants awarded: £28,992.00
Total Discretionary Grants awarded: £31,932.00
Remaining Discretionary Grants budget 2023/2024: £8,953.63
88. DATE OF NEXT ORDINARY MEETING
DATE OF NEXT ORDINARY MEETING: 5 JUNE 2023
The meeting closed at 5.19pm