Agenda item

Councillors are reminded that they will need to declare any interest they may have in budget applications, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

 

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, will give a brief update on the current budget position.

 

The meeting will consider the following budget applications:

 

B1) Taxi scheme

B2) Friends of Mowmacre Easter Event

B3) Little Tykes Twinlakes Trip

B4) Welcome Club

B5) Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan Trust

B6) North West Unity Boxing

B7) Community Trust Library

B8) Boxercise4Health

B9) Community Events Planning Partnership

B10) Playground Landscaping

Steve Letten, Members Support Officer gave an update on the current budget situation. At previous meetings there had been a lack of applications but thanks to a publicity effort there were now eleven applications to consider.

 

B1) Taxi Scheme

 

Steve introduced the first budget application that was for £100 to pay for taxis for representatives from St Patrick’s Afternoon club to attend Community meetings. Kay Shorten of St Patrick’s Afternoon club explained that without the Taxi service members of the club would find it very difficult to take part in Community meetings and the Forum for Older People. Steve said that it was a relatively small amount of money that provided a valuable service for elderly representatives.

 

RESOLVED:

That the funding application for the Taxi scheme be supported to the value of £100 from the Ward Community Fund.

 

B2) Friends of Mowmacre Easter Event

 

Councillor Marriott, having declared a personal and prejudicial interest, left the room for the consideration of this item.

 

Steve introduced this application that was for £700 to fund an Easter event for children and parents on 8April.  Jacqueline Marriott, Friends of Mowmacre Treasurer explained that this event in the Easter holidays provided an opportunity to bring children of all ages and parents in the community together. Steve indicated that this event would be made available to parents and children in all areas of the ward not just Mowmacre Hill.

 

RESOLVED:

That the funding application for the Friends of Mowmacre Easter Event be supported to the value of £700 from the Ward Action Plan Fund, on the condition that the event be publicised in all areas of the ward.

 

Councillor Marriott returned to the meeting.

 

B3) Little Tykes Twinlakes Trip

 

Steve introduced this application that was an application for £1647 to arrange a trip to Twinlakes Family Theme Park in August for Little Tykes Parent and Toddler Group. Councillor Byrne explained that this trip was invaluable in giving local children a chance to leave local estates in safety for a day and experience a different environment. The application included provision for older children as well and parents would contribute towards the trip.

 

 RESOLVED:

That the funding application for the Little Tykes Twinlakes Trip be supported to the value of £1500 from the Ward Action Plan Fund, the remaining £147 would be funded by the group.

 

B4) Welcome Club

 

Councillor Byrne, having declared a personal and prejudicial interest, left the room for the consideration of this item.

 

Steve introduced this application that was for £1010 to fund various coach trips for the Welcome Club, an older persons social club.

 

A resident queried whether granting this application would be of much benefit to the wider community. It was felt that the club was a small, isolated group with membership limited to the Mowmacre part of the ward, and previously the club had been able to provide trips itself without financial support from Community Meeting funds.

 

Steve advised that conditions could be placed on any funds that required the Club to make the trips available to other community groups for the elderly such as St Patrick’s Afternoon Club, and that the Club be required to advertise in the Stocking Farm and Abbey Rise areas to encourage membership from other parts of the ward.

 

RESOLVED:

that the funding application for the Welcome Club be supported to the value of £500 from the Ward Community Fund, on the conditions that the trips were open to other community groups.

 

Councillor Byrne returned to the meeting.

 

B5) Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan Trust

 

Steve introduced this application and explained that the organisation worked with disadvantaged women including sex-workers and offenders and was based in the Abbey ward and Beaumont Leys. The application was for £1630 to produce a film to be shown to young people at youth centres, community centres and schools to raise awareness of the dangers of criminal lifestyles especially for young women.

 

Steve explained that the Trust had agreed to show the film initially in the Abbey ward before taking it citywide. Councillor Byrne said that this was a one off request and would help prevent 12-14 year olds from getting involved in crime and exposure to prison.

 

RESOLVED:

that the funding application for the Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan Trust be supported to the value of £1630 from the ward Community Fund on the condition that the first showings were in the Abbey ward.

 

B6) North West Unity Boxing

 

Steve introduced this application and explained the boxing club was based at Home Farm in the ward and was holding a launch on 27 March between 3pm and 7pm. The club was aimed at young people but was also open to adults. The application was for £1800 towards an ABA approved ring, office equipment, set-up and rent costs. It was noted that boxing club had received funding from the ward fund already this year and had also received 2 grants from the Beaumont Leys Community meeting funds.  

 

A resident questioned whether a boxing club genuinely required office equipment to function. Steve responded that in light of this and the fact the boxing club had already received funding it was proposed that the application be supported up to £825.

 

RESOLVED:

that the funding application for North West Unity Boxing Trust be supported to the value of £825 from the Community Cohesion Fund.

 

B7) Community Trust Library

 

Councillor Marriott, having declared a personal and prejudicial interest, left the room for the consideration of this item.

 

Steve introduced this application and explained the application was for funds to supply CD audio books for the use of visually impaired library users. The applicant had agreed that as there was no urgent timescale on this application consideration could be deferred to the next meeting.

 

RESOLVED:

that consideration of the application be deferred to the next Abbey Community meeting.

 

Councillor Marriott returned to the meeting.

 

B8) Boxercise4Health

 

Steve introduced this application from Kelton McKenzie, an ex-professional boxer to run training sessions that gave young people an opportunity to gain experience of teaching “boxercise”. The application was for £754 towards room hire and instructor costs.

 

A resident queried how appropriate it was to fund a commercial enterprise 

that included £200 of instructor’s fees. Steve responded that it was common practice for grants to be awarded to specialists who take a fee for their services. A requirement could be added that the sessions took place in the Abbey ward. The Chair stated that this was a one-off application with no follow up funding, and members were happy to the application support it on that basis.

 

RESOLVED:

that the funding application for Boxercise4Health be supported to the value of £754 from the Ward Community Fund on the condition that the venue and participants be drawn from the Abbey ward.

 

B9) Community Events Planning Partnership

 

Councillor Marriott, having declared a personal and prejudicial interest, left the room for the consideration of this item.

 

Steve introduced this application that was to buy event management equipment including fencing and high visibility jackets to the value of £2160. This was to help to ensure that community events could go ahead safely.

 

A resident questioned the size of the bid given that events had been run successfully in the past without this funding, and felt that the amount for stewards seemed excessive.

 

Another resident felt that the equipment should be made available to other community groups and that would allow other groups to save money on stewarding costs and make their budgets go further benefiting the community. Also local events would benefit from stewards having local knowledge, for example the recent Skyride event.

 

Councillor Byrne said that the Partnership organised around 20 to 50 events per year. Steve advised that the Partnership had storage for the equipment and that a condition could be added that the equipment be insured to make sure it is safe and could be used as widely as possible.

 

RESOLVED:

that the funding application for Community Events Planning Partnership be supported to the value of £2160 from the Ward Community Fund on the condition that the safety equipment be insured and made available to other community groups.

 

B10) Playground Landscaping

 

Steve introduced this application that was for improvements to Mowmacre playground including resurfacing and additional woodchip. The application was for £2468. 

 

Sergeant Zakoscielny queried whether the parks division had available funds to make these improvements without using the Community funds. The Chair stated that it could be agreed in principle, but deferred subject to an investigation to ascertain whether it could be paid for from the parks budget.

 

RESOLVED:

that the funding application for Playground Landscaping be supported to the value of £2468 from the Ward Action Plan Fund pending an investigation to discover whether funding could be secured from the parks budget.

 

Healthy living 5 a day – late item

 

Steve introduced the final application that had been received late. It was for a portable oven for cooking jacket potatoes to be served with vegetables as an alternative to chips and would be made available to other community groups and events. The applicant was happy to defer consideration until the next meeting.

 

RESOLVED:

that consideration of the application be deferred to the next Abbey Community meeting.

 

Steve explained that if these decisions were approved £26 remained from the budget to carry forward to the next financial year.