Agenda and draft minutes

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor S Hemmings be appointed Chair of the Grants and Awards Sub-Committee for the municipal year 2022-2023.  There were no further nominations.  On being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor S Hemmings Chair of the Grants and Awards Sub-Committee for the municipal year 2022-2023.

Councillor Hemmings took the Chair.

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor C Palmer be appointed Vice Chair of the Grants and Awards Sub-Committee for the municipal year 2022-2023. There were no further nominations.  On being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor C Palmer Vice Chair of the Grants and Awards Sub-Committee for the municipal year 2022-2023.

Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires a record be kept of the Members present and that this record form part of the minutes of the meeting. Members who cannot attend a meeting should tender apologies to the Town Clerk.

No apologies for absence had been received.

(i)    Under the Localism Act 2011 (sections 26-37 and Schedule 4) and in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, Members are required to declare any interests which are not currently entered in the Member’s Register of Interests or if he/she has not notified the Monitoring Officer of it.

(ii)   Should any Member have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in an item on the agenda, the Member may not participate in consideration of that item unless a Dispensation has first been requested (in writing) and granted by the Council (see Dispensation Procedure).

Councillor Freeman declared a personal interest as a member of Leighton Buzzard Carnival Committee and Leighton Linslade Music Centre. Councillor Cursons, Hemmings, Freeman, Berry declared personal interests in Nominations for 2023 Community Volunteer Awards.  Councillor Cursons declared a personal interest as a member of All Saints Church.

Councillor Jones declared a personal interest as a pupil of Leighton Linslade Music Centre.

No dispensations were requested.

To receive questions and statements from members of the public in respect of any item of business included in the agenda, as provided for in Standing Order No.s 3(f) and 3(h).

A member of the public spoke as a representative of the Girl Guide Association to thank Leighton-Linslade Town Council for the opportunity of applying for a grant and, if successful, would be gratefully received in this current climate.

(a)  To receive and approve as a correct record the minutes of the Grants Sub-Committee meeting held on 9 May 2022 (attached), in accordance with Standing Order 12.

(b)  To receive any matters arising from the minutes (if applicable).

(a)      The Sub-Committee received the draft minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2022.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2022 be approved as a correct record and were signed accordingly.

(b)      No matters arising from the minutes.

(a)       To note that the General Grant budget for the financial year 2022-2023 provides £5,324 of available funds (£4,676 of the total £10,000 budget having already been allocated earlier this year).

(b)       To consider 2nd round applications for General Grants for 2022-2023 as per the attached schedule and summary, in accordance with the General Grant guidelines (copy attached).

(a)   The Sub Committee was advised the budget allocated for General Grants in 2022-2023 totalled £10,000. £4,676 of the total £10,000 budget had already been allocated at the meeting held on 21 February 2022, leaving £5,324 available.      

RESOLVED to note the information.

(b)   The Sub-Committee received a summary of the ten applications received for a General Grant in 2022-2023, along with a summary of the documents submitted with the applications. 

RESOLVED to approve payment of general grants totalling £4,199 from the remaining 2022-23 budget, subject to all applicants having met the required criteria by providing the required documentation, as set out below.

 A further application was received after the closing date from a group called Challenging Behaviour Counselling Wellbeing Foundation who support 18+ adults suffering with anxiety.   After discussion it was agreed to accept the late application and delegate to officers to obtain the relevant information and proceed with the grant request.

RESOLVED to approve the late application for £500 to the Challenging Behaviour Counselling Wellbeing Foundation on this occasion, subject to officers receiving all required information.

The Sub-Committee also considered whether to review the guidelines for general grants in light of the cost of living crisis and the need to support organisations and users of those organisations during challenging times. It was suggested this could be done ahead of the 2023-24 application process.

RESOLVED to review guidelines and procedures for General Grant applications and bring any recommendations to Policy & Finance Committee in January 2023.

By invitation, the Chief Officer of Citizens Advice Leighton-Linslade will attend the meeting to provide information in respect of the annual grant funding.

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update from Kash Karimzandi Chief Officer of Citizens Advice Leighton-Linslade, in respect of the grant funding received from the Town Council and services provided to the public.  It was noted that members of the public were seeking advice for increasingly complex issues, particularly in respect of debts and benefits in the present financial climate.

Members of the group thanked the staff and volunteers for all their hard work within the Leighton-Linslade Community.

RESOLVED to note the information.

(a)       To note the scheme parameters approved by delegated decision with email approval, following the resolution made by Council on 10 October 2022.

(b)       To receive a verbal update in respect of the grant scheme.

(c)        To consider any applications received for funding.

The Committee noted the scheme parameters for the Cost of Living Grants following a resolution made by Council on 10 October 2022.

Information had been circulated to local churches and charitable organisations in the area with one application received from All Saints Church to run ‘warm week,’ from the 19-24 December to provide refuge, warm food and drinks.  A total of £500 was requested to cover heating and supplies and it was predicted 200-300 people would benefit from this scheme.

RESOLVED to approve a cost of living grant of £500 to All Saints Church to run a ‘warm week’ at the Church to provide refuge, warm food and drinks from 19^th to 24 December 2022.

To receive an update report in respect of the service level agreement to provide grant funding to the Leighton-Linslade Music Centre.

Charlotte Payne, Inspiring Music could not attend the meeting, but an Autumn Term monitoring meeting had been held earlier in the day and the sub-committee were informed the Music Centre were actively recruiting younger children and attendance was slowly rising with 31 children and 9 adults enrolled at present. 

Following a period of uncertainty during and following covid it was predicted the Music Centre should break even financially and with continued recruitment the outcome looked positive.

RESOLVED to note the information.

The Committee may consider it appropriate to consider the following resolution should they consider that any discussion would be prejudicial to the public interests: that, under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, the public be excluded on the grounds of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information. The public and press to withdraw from the meeting during consideration of detailed discussion regarding: award nominations.

The Sub-Committee may consider it appropriatte to consider the following resolution should they consier that any discussion would be prejudicial to the public interests: that, under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, the public be excluded on the grounds of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information.  The public and press to withdraw from the meeting during consideration of detailed discussion regarding: nominations for the 2023 Community Volunteer Awards.

To consider nominations submitted to date for the 2023 Community Volunteer Awards (information attached).

(as the closing date for nominations is 31 October 2022, additional nominations may be tabled at the meeting).

The Sub-Committee received and discussed four nominations, two of which were  from the same organisation,  for 2023 Community Volunteer Awards. It was agreed that all nominations were worthwhile, and consent would now be sought from nominees to proceed with the award procedure.

RECOMMENDED to the Policy and Finance Committee to consider recommending to Council approval of four nominations for the 2023 Community Volunteer Awards, subject to  consent  being obtained from nominees.