The Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub-Committee in Tower Hamlets was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, 1 October 2025, to discuss grants-related matters. The agenda included noting prior mayoral decisions on grants, considering the Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF), and discussing the Wraparound Childcare Programme and the Mayor's Community Grant Programme (MCGP). The Sub-Committee was also expected to set its work programme for 2025-26.

Holiday Activities and Food Programme

The report pack included a notification of grant funding allocations for the Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF) for 2024/25. The HAF programme is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and is intended to provide activities and meals to children eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals.

The report pack stated that £1,694,600 of funding was awarded by the DfE for the HAF programme in 2024, with £1,506,163.75 allocated to direct provision across the year. It noted that decisions on the 2024 programme had been made by the Executive Mayor and the Chief Executive, due to the programme's tight deadlines.

The report pack also included a recommendation to authorise delegation to either the Corporate Director for Resources or the Director of Customer Services to approve grant awards for HAF 2025/26. This delegation, it said, would bring the programme governance in line with other council grants, such as the Small Grants Programme.

The report pack included several appendices with further information on the HAF programme:

• Appendix A - Easter 2024 Grant Guidance
• Appendix B - Summer Grant Guidance
• Appendix C - Christmas Grant Guidance
• Appendix D - HAF Christmas 2024 Application form
• APPENDIX E - HAF 2024 scoring and funding decisions

The GDSC HAF full year funding report 2024 includes a summary of the organisations that received funding through the HAF programme in 2024. These included:

• African Refugee Women
• Artichoke Trust
• Beyond the Bias
• Body of Christ Charity
• Bromley By Bow Community Organisation
• Bygrove Primary School
• Canary Wharf Football Academy
• Capital Kids Cricket
• CommunettIQ CIC
• Dynamic Coaching Southeast England CIC
• First Kicks sports Ltd
• Future Kidz Development CiC
• Genius Tuition Services
• GSJM Sports LTD T/A Premier Education
• Half Moon Young People's Theatre
• Junior Adventures Group UK
• Kobi Nazrul Primary School
• Leaders in Community
• Learning Hive
• Legends Learning Centre
• London Islamic School
• London Jaguars Community Association
• London Sportif
• Malmesbury Primary School
• Manorfield Primary School
• Mile End leisure Centre and Stadium, GLL
• Mile End Park Leisure Centre & Stadium
• Newark Youth London
• Ocean Youth Connexions
• Olive Tree Education
• Poplar HARCA
• Premier Education
• Purple Moon Drama
• Right Development Sports
• SAMA Centre Ltd
• SCK Fitness Team CIC
• SimpleGifts: Unitarian Centre for Social Action
• SOCIAL ORGANISATION FOR UNITY AND LEISURE
• SocietyLinks Tower Hamlets
• Sporting Foundation
• Sportscool East London
• St Andrews Youth Development Trust
• Stebon Primary School
• Stifford Centre Limited
• The Aberfeldy Project CIC
• The Docklands Settlement
• The Mentoring Lab Community CIC
• Tower Hamlets Education Foundation / Booster
• Tower Hamlets Youth League United
• Tower Hamlets Youth Sport Foundation (THYSF)
• Platform Cricket
• Trapped in Zone One
• Udichi Shilpi Gosthi
• UK LATIN COMMUNITY CIC
• Vallance Community Sports Association
• Weavers Adventure Playground Association
• WISE Youth Trust
• Women's Inclusive Team Chicksand Friendly Club

Wraparound Childcare Programme

The report pack included a summary of applications for the Wraparound Childcare Programme, which aims to create and expand childcare places in the borough.

Appendix. 4 Phase 2 Summary of Applications included details of four organisations applying for funding:

• Fountain Top Tiney Home Nursery, applying for £2,000 to expand After School Club places by 6, providing a pick up service to Christ Church C of E and Osmani School.
• Blue Gate Fields, aiming to extend their after school club hours and applying for £120,000 for 20 places.
• Junior Adventure Group – Cubitt Town, applying for £33,960.00 to open a new After School Club at Cubitt Town for 40 places.
• Elizabeth Selby, applying for £10,000 to increase their opening time from 4.30pm to 6pm each day for 60 places.
• Olga Primary, applying for £57,000 to increase their Breakfast Club by 6 places and the after school club by 11 places, providing a service for Olga Primary and Old Ford.

Mayor's Community Grant Programme (MCGP) Performance Report

The report pack included a performance report on the Mayor's Community Grant Programme (MCGP) for January to March 2025. The MCGP provides funding to voluntary and community sector organisations, and has five themes:

• Tackling the cost-of-living crisis
• Accelerate Education
• Culture, Business, Jobs and Skills
• Invest in public services
• Empower communities and fight crime

The report pack stated that, following a review of monitoring returns, 101 of the 110 projects originally funded were classed as GREEN, 7 as AMBER, 1 as RED, and one project had its funding withdrawn.

The report pack also noted that the project led by Limehouse Welfare Association had been withdrawn, and that Quaker Social Action had informed the council they would no longer be able to deliver their MCGP project. It also noted that City Gateway had announced that the organisation was going into administration, which would result in their MCGP project closing.

The report included a summary of achievements by theme, and a project summary in Appendix 3.

Other Matters

The agenda also included:

• Apologies for absence.
• Declarations of interest.
• Confirmation of the minutes of the previous meeting.
• Consideration of public submissions.
• A work programme for the sub-committee for 2025-26.

A note on declarations of interest reminded councillors to consider the Code of Conduct for Members to determine whether they had an interest in any agenda item. It also reminded them of their responsibility to declare any interests and update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

Councillor Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor, Councillor Maium Talukdar, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education, Youth and Lifelong Learning (Statutory Deputy Mayor), Councillor Saied Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Cost of Living, Councillor Kabir Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Inclusive Development and Housebuilding, and Councillor Shafi Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Environment and the Climate Emergency were scheduled to attend the meeting. Councillor Abu Talha Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, Councillor Sabina Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, Councillor Musthak Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Enterprise, Skills and Growth, Councillor Bodrul Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Equalities and Social Inclusion, and Councillor Kamrul Hussain, Cabinet Member for Culture and Recreation were listed as substitutes.

The next meeting of the committee was scheduled for Wednesday, 10 December 2025.