Council’s community fund set to end next year
A £285K fund which has enabled county councillors in Bridgend to spend up to £5,000 each on community projects looks set to end next year with the money being transferred back into the general budget pot.
The Community Action Fund, which started in October 2017, has seen councillors use it for projects ranging from Christmas trees and scooter clubs to bus shelters and a memorial garden.
At a recent council meeting, officers said there were mixed reviews from councillors on their experience of the scheme.
Some said they found it difficult to find any organisations that wanted the money and said the application process needed to be simplified, while others said they had felt empowered to invest in their communities.
In a report which went before councillors at the audit committee on Thursday, December 13, officers said: “Given the level of budget reductions the council needs to make over the medium term, and pressures the authority is facing, consideration needs to be given as to whether this funding could be used more strategically as part of a larger budget benefiting all residents of the borough.
“This would involve discontinuation of the scheme and re-channelling the £285,000 into the medium-term financial strategy to alleviate other reductions in services.”
The funding provided for an allocation of £5,000 for each member to allocate to their ward and £15,000 towards administration costs.
At the audit committee, issues were also raised over the “significant of- ficer time” that was spent on processing the applications.
Senior officers, such as the monitoring officer and chief financial officer, said they had had to deal with “significant” queries which had not been envisaged when the scheme was approved.
These involved clarifying the financial and governance arrangements of grant applications and payment requests.
During the period of the scheme more than 150 projects were funded across the county.
Funding was restricted in that it could not be used for expenditure that was recurring and needed future funds.
It also could not be be used for profit-making organisations or for political purposes.
Cabinet members will take the final decision over whether to stop the fund next year.