Decision details

Josh Mynott, Head of Democratic Services presented the Local Member Grants Scheme Annual Report for 2024/25.

It was highlighted that:

·  The date range in paragraph 19 should have been 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024.

·  There was always a delay between a councillor's decision to award a grant, the council making payment to the organisation, and receiving evidence of expenditure relating to that grant. However, there were no concerns to report.

·  Since the report had been published, updated year-end figures for 2024/25 had been collated and would be shared with committee members by email. In total, 457 grants had been approved in 2024/25, totalling £163,024.29.

In response to questions, members were informed that:

·  "Unsatisfactory evidence of expenditure" usually meant an organisation had only provided receipts for some of the money awarded to them, rather than that they had not spent the grant as intended.

·  Grants were often awarded to groups running community events and which had only formed for that purpose, so obtaining receipts from them afterwards could be challenging. If no response was received, the relevant councillor was informed and their support in collecting evidenced of expenditure was welcomed.

·  Future reports would list "no evidence of expenditure" and "unsatisfactory evidence of expenditure" separately.

·  Some councillors did not spend all of their allocated budget.

Members expressed their thanks to the Local Member Grants Scheme team and noted their hard work at the end of the financial year when there was a higher number of applications.

It was agreed that an annual report to the committee was sufficient, so the next update would be provided at the committee meeting in April 2026.

Members highlighted the importance of informing the relevant councillor when an organisation applied for a grant but had not previously provided evidence of expenditure.

Resolved: That the Local Member Grants Scheme Annual Report for 2024/25 be noted.