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It was MOVED, SECONDED and RESOLVED to agree the following
proposals and criteria for the Main Grants Programme 2026-29:
 

a)   
To note that Advice Services are removed from the main grants
programme and the provision is directly commissioned with proposals
to return to Mayor and cabinet on this as soon as
practicable.

b)   
To approve the allocation of £900,000 of funding
p.a.for Neighbourhood-focused services across the four
neighbourhoods, offering:

•      
Signposting to VCS services

•      
Capacity building for local organisations and
residents

•      
Fundraising support

•      
Keyworkers to support linking in health to the wider
VCS

•      
Small grants to support the capacity of local
organisations.

c)   
To approve funding for the following priorities at
borough-wide level as follows:

•      
Infrastructure and Capacity Building for Black-led
organisations

•      
Digital Inclusion support

•      
Equalities-based capacity building and infrastructure,
primarily for organisations supporting:

•      
Adults with Learning Disabilities

•      
LGBTQ+ residents

•      
Sanctuary Seekers

•      
Capacity building for arts and sports
organisations

d)   
To approve funding to provide coordination and on-going
service delivery to support the transition to the new approach and
provide a platform for a range of capacity building
activities.
e)
To note that the Council
recognises that the move from funding frontline service delivery to
Neighbourhood and Boroughwide infrastructure is significant and
that the proposed benefits of this model would be carefully
reviewed and assessed.  Equally, the Council
recognises that the impact of the move would place significant
pressures on our long-standing frontline organisations. The Council
wants to ensure that the transition period during this programme
could work to create the strong foundations for infrastructure
moving forward while ensuring that our front-line services are
offered support to become resilient in the long-term.
f)  To approve proposal to
ring-fence approximately 10-15% of its Main Grants Funding (once
the Advice Service allocation is removed), to support some of our
existing front-line services through Transition Grants that would
run 2026-2029 be approved. Eligibility for these grants will be
restricted to organisations who have been Main Grants funded
throughout the period of the current programme, i.e. April
2022-March 2026.  Applicants could bid for
funding up to the value of their existing grants, however the
Council will encourage applicants to consider requesting less than
their current amount to enable us to support more of our
grant-funded organisations.
g) To note that as is common practice for all Main
Grants funded programmes, monitoring of this new model will be
undertaken on a quarterly basis based on performance and agreed
targets. To agree to a 2-year review of the overall programme to
assess the effectiveness of the model.
h) To note that the Stronger Communities Partnership
Board was re-launched in autumn of 2024 as the key strategic board
overseeing work with the voluntary and community sector. To agree
that a focus area for the board is the new approach of
infrastructure, and the support for our frontline services during
this transition period. To adopt a working group of the board,
represented by organisations in receipt of Transition Grants, as
well as those organisations affected by the change in the Main
Grants Model.  This working group can help
continuous co-development of the way the community infrastructure
is being rolled out in the Neighbourhoods and Borough-wide, as well
as feed into the 2-year review.