Purpose

On 01
August 2024 the Grants Advisory Committee reviewed the
recommendation in  ‘Appendix
A’ of the meeting reports
pack to consider amendments to the Community Chest Grant
Guidance (Appendix B):

·      
Any reference to Parish Council to be changed to
Parish/Town Council

·      
To not
accept applications if activities, events or
services have already taken place, including staff development
time.

·      
To include a definition of an infrastructure project
as anything that alters the structure or fabric of a building or
land - such as walls, flooring, roofs or paths.

·      
In reference to any infrastructure project on
Parish/Town Council owned land where an applicant is
not the
Parish/Town Council, these projects are not eligible for
funding with the exception of:

Any
biodiversity or cost of living project
Any
project where the applicant has a long-term lease (of over 25
years) in place with the Parish/Town council.
Any
project that does not have a major impact on the fabric of a
building or structure of the land (for example, the installation of
new blinds, planters or seating areas)

In
these ‘exception’ cases a 50% financial contribution
from the Parish/Town council would be expected.
 
After
consideration, the Committee recommended to the Lead Cabinet Member
for Resources to include the above amendments in the Community
Chest Grant guidance provided the term ‘25-year lease’
is amended within the criteria (see ‘Final Decision’
section below).

Content

To
accept the recommendations of the Grants Advisory Committee (see
above).

In relation to infrastructure projects – where an applicant
leases the land/buildings from the Parish/Town Council, it was
decided that the eligibility criteria should be altered to reflect
that there should be ‘at least’ 10 years remaining on
the lease.

In certain circumstances where the life of the infrastructure
change is not expected to be 10 years, applications could still be
considered by the Grants Advisory Committee.