FCR01 - Financial Savings 2024/25 - Community Grants, Civic Events and Gifts
| Title | FCR01 - Financial Savings 2024/25 - Community Grants, Civic Events and Gifts |
|---|---|
| Council Resource | Finance and Corporate |
| Aims and Objectives | To assess whether the current use of the grants budgets and criteria continue to meet the Council’s values and objectives and the needs of the residents of South Lanarkshire, and to determine whether better use could be made of some or all of this budget in service delivery. This budget covers grants to national, regional and local voluntary organisations, community/ playscheme grants and gala grants. The recipients have mainly been in receipt of the grants for a number of years although they have to apply annually and satisfy the criteria. The budget also covers civic events and gifts. A review has been undertaken re the current use of the budget alongside the grants criteria and whether it continues to meet the Council values and objectives and the needs of its residents, in order to determine whether better use could be made of some or all of this budget in service delivery. This has resulted in an option to either reduce some grants or remove some grants altogether as well as a reduction in civic events and civic gifts. The staffing impact would be a reduction of 0.5 FTE (Grade 1). The overall budget of £0.685m includes community/playscheme grants, voluntary organisation grants, civic events and gifts. £0.211m is payments to CAB. The saving will reduce the budget by 50%, a total saving of £0.340. |
| Conclusion | The assessment of whether the current use of the grants budgets and criteria continue to meet the Council’s values and objectives and the needs of the residents of South Lanarkshire, and to determine whether better use could be made of some or all of this budget in service delivery has been undertaken. This assessment has shown that all cuts to funds that support community activities will have a negative impact with some organisations/groups experiencing a greater negative impact on some services. Further assessment was done to mitigate the impact of removing or reducing funds. This process allowed the Review Group to prioritise the funding available. Groups or organisations which normally apply for grants have been notified by email/letter of the Council’s planned review. The Groups and the wider South Lanarkshire Community will be consulted on the options as part of the Corporate Budget Consultation process. Approved with amendment by Council on 21 February 2024. Revised saving to £0.270 to protect Civic Hospitality and Community / Playscheme Grants. |
| Completion date | 21 February 2024. |
| Contact Email address | equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk |
| Area | Council Wide |