Issue details

1. A key priority, expressed both by elected Members and by communities upon extensive consultation, is ensuring that UKSPF/RPF funding supports communities that have been historically under-represented in the provision of public investment This includes many rural communities in our District. While there is a limit, dictated by both the agreed Investment Plan and the outcomes in our contract with Central Government, on the amount of investment that we are able to contribute to community and parish projects, we wish to ensure that this funding is both protected and maximised as far as is practicable.

2. There has been significant demand in this area, a significant proportion (around half) of the 206 Expressions of Interest received for the fund across the Partnership to January 2024 have concerned community and parish projects. These expressions of interest range from immediately investable projects, projects that still require further development, and ideas for the future. The decision to open LCF GRASSroots to these applications on a delegated basis (to process applications for funds on behalf of the Council) has been broadly proven to be a successful one, with a range of high-quality projects that meet UKSPF outcomes being approved through this route.

3. To administer the Scheme, LCF adopt a short-form single application form for applicants and have appointed a dedicated Grant Manager, who has led on the scheme from inception and provides a single point of contact for applicants seeking funding in South Holland for parish, community and Village Hall projects (occasionally buttressed by support from the UKSPF/RPF Programme Team where technical advice on the UKSPF Programme is required and/or where a matter is referred directly to the Council). Feedback to the Council on the process and support provided from applicants has generally been highly positive.

4.. The Grants Panel, which consists of representatives of the public, private and third sector, drawn from across the South and East Lincolnshire Partnership area, has worked well. The Panel has always been quorate and participants have remarked upon the quality of discussion, with comprehensive papers and minutes being produced in support of each. Panels have generally met quarterly. With the increased allocation proposed in this paper, it is anticipated that they shall meet slightly more frequently to service the requirement for an increased rate of grant disbursement.

5. Over the course of six months, the GRASSroots Programme has successfully committed and/or distributed the vast majority of funding initially allocated for South Holland. Of the £360,620 initially allocated, only £83,997 now remains in the Fund (as of 24/1/24). The quality of applications has been particularly strong, with projects supported including Gosberton Youth Centre, Lutton Parish Council, Tydd St. Mary Parish Council and Boxes of Hope. Without additional support, it is highly probable that the Fund would have to close for applications at the end of the Financial Year.

6. The performance of the UKSPF and REPF Programme more widely in relation to Communities and Place/REPF outcomes has allowed for these additional funds to be allocated to this activity without a negative impact on the District’s agreed Investment Plan.

7. Similarly, the GRASSroots scheme has also been successful in encouraging Parish and Community projects to raise additional funding in support of their project, with the average grant intervention rate across the Partnership being around 70%, thus making a positive contribution towards the UKSPF Programme’s target for leveraged additional investment. In South Holland, intervention rates have generally been slightly higher (closer to 80%) and as a consequence, a focus of the expanded scheme will be to work with parishes, village halls and community groups to encourage them to raise additional match funding to improve this even further.

8. The cost of scheme administration has been slightly less than the comparable cost of administering these grants ‘in house’ and has allowed the UKSPF/RPF core Programme team to focus on grant appraisal and the management of larger projects and contracts. The cost of administering any expansion of the GRASSroots scheme, charged at a flat rate of 8% of any increase, represents outstanding value for money to the taxpayer and with the scale of the proposed expansion, takes the total cost of delivering this scheme significantly below the cost of administering this scheme within the Council.

9. The expectation is that this additional package of support, offered by LCF and the Council in combination, will enable the District to achieve its core contracted outcomes in key areas such as: increasing the number of volunteers in the District; increasing visitor numbers to the District; increasing community engagement with arts, culture and heritage; improving residents’ perceptions of place and reducing perceptions of crime.

Recommendation: To proceed upon the basis of awarding £350,000 to the Lincolnshire Community Foundation through the UK Shared Prosperity and Rural Prosperity Fund for the purposes of expanding the delivery of the ‘GRASSroots’ grant scheme for parish councils, village halls and community projects.