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.

A statement outlining the current budget position is attached to this agenda.

1.            Applications for Consideration

Application 1

Applicant: Robert Hall, Leicester University of the 3^rd Age (U3A)

Amount: £50

Proposal: Open Day - 14^th August 2013

Summary: An event is planned for 14^th August at Christchurch Hall Clarendon Park to show the public what U3A do and what they can offer members of the community, who are retired or partly retired, in terms of educational, social, sporting and fun activities.

Leicester U3A is a self-financed charitable organisation which meets monthly at Christchurch Hall. It is a non-religious, non-political body which believes that ‘learning is for life’ and offers interest groups on a wide range of subjects. Membership is open to anyone who is no longer in full-time paid employment.

The funding will assist with the hire of the hall, refreshments, advertising and other associated costs.

Application 2

Applicant: Orhan Ahmed on behalf of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya (MKA)/Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) Leicester

Amount: £500

Proposal: Funding for Sporting Activities and Kits

Summary: The proposal is to obtain funding to organise more sporting events, to subsidise sporting kits and equipment and to subsidise costs for sporting activities.

Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya (MKA) is a youth organisation which serves not only its members, but society as a whole. It has a longstanding history of working with charities, providing fundraising, homeless feeding session and undertakes and annual charity challenge, such as a 10 run/ walk which since its inception in 1985 has raised over £1million for British causes.

Money raised by the organisation is used for charitable purposes, therefore there is no real funding for fun activities such as sports and activities have had to be cancelled due to the lack of funding in the past, particularly as there was no team kit when they organisation entered into leagues / competitions.

The funding would also support equipment for badminton / cricket which would be part funded by members.

Application 3

Applicant: Councillor Lynn Moore

Amount: up to £900

Proposal: Knighton Community leaflet

Summary: The proposal is to produce a community leaflet to all households in Knighton ward to inform them about the ward fund and how the funding was spent in 2011/12 and how they can bid for funding.

The leaflet will be A3 folded and in colour and costs will be for design and print for around 6500 households.

2.         Feedback from Previous Ward Applications     

            The Community Meeting will receive feedback from any applicants present who have been awarded funded from the community meeting budget.

The Knighton Parochial Church Council and the Growing Together Project have been invited to attend to feedback on their projects funding by the ward meeting.

Councillors were asked to consider the following budget applications:

1.    Application for £50 from Leicester University of the 3^rd Age, to support an open day 14^th August.

RESOLVED:

that the application of £50 be supported in full.

2.    Application for £500 from Orhan Ahmed on behalf of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya(MKA) / Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) Leicester to support sporting activities and kits.

RESOLVED:

That the application be deferred to seek more details about how the application links to Knighton residents.

3.    Application for up to £900 by Councillor Lynn Moore to fund the production of a community leaflet which would be circulated to every home in the Knighton Ward which would promote the Ward budget and Ward Community Meetings.

Councillors and residents had a detailed discussion about the merits of producing this leaflet. There was general agreement that these meetings and the ward budget should be promoted more widely. There was disagreement between those present, both Councillors and residents about whether the ward budget should be used to fund this leaflet. There was also discussion about the best way to promote these meetings, whether that was by leaflets, Leicester Link, posters, emails, social media etc.

It was suggested that the existing budget used to promote ward meetings be considered in the first instance to produce the leaflet (with subsequent lack of usual publicity later in the year) and any further funding necessary would come from the Ward budget. A vote was taken amongst Councillors to consider this amended proposal and it was supported 2:1.

A resident suggested that competitive quotes should be sought.

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported up to £900, but funding be sought from the Community Meeting publicity budget in the first instance to fund the leaflet and any further requirement for funding come from the approved funding.

4.    Late application – A late application for £2950 was received from the Parks Service to assist with the funding of the annual Knighton Park Fun Day. It would cover the costs of first aid and other facilities for the day.

It was noted that this request was lower than that requested last year.

RESOLVED:

That the application of £2950 be supported in full.

Feedback from Previous Budget Applications

Knighton Parish Centre – funding of around £10,000 was received for improvements to the Centre and it paid for a number of improvements, such as the car park surface being renewed, lighting, kitchen refurbishment, and blackout curtains. The centre is being used for things like plays, by church groups, non-church groups and children’s parties.

The Community Meeting was welcomed to hold one of its meetings at the Centre. The Chair welcomed this opportunity.

Growing Together Project - Laura Newcombe from the Growing Together project was present at the meeting to feedback on the funding of £1,879 which was to support the project to enable people (mainly with learning disabilities) to learn skills with regard to growing produce and then selling it. A full board meeting had been held and further bids for other funding were in the process to which positive feedback had been received. Progress was being made on the project and it was hoped that it would soon be set up on the old allotment site of Queens Road, where the land had been provided by David Wilson homes.

A resident suggested that it would be good to have a rolling programme of feedback from projects that had received funding.