Agenda item

A report by the Local Communities Development Officer and BTAC Grant Administrator

The Local Communities Development Officer presented a report setting out applications received for Round 3 of the BTAC small grants scheme, two of which were large grants, but all were considered to be eligible for consideration under the scheme.

Details of the grant applications were set out in the report:-

Lincolnshire Housing Partnership – Memory Lane Project

A request for £930 towards three community events to be held at Mayfields during 2019, targeting residents of the Staniland ward.

Parish of Boston – Passion for People Project

A request for a contribution of up to £20,000 to the overall development programme at St. Botolph’s Church.

Shakesperts

A contribution of £2,500 towards the cost of engaging schools and Boston residents in preparatory craft workshops for the Shakespeare Festival to be held in Central Park on 6^th April 2019.

The Small Grants Working Group had met to consider the applications and supported the three requests, but recommended BTAC to determine the amount to be awarded to the Parish of Boston, noting that the Council had previously awarded £50,000 towards the project.

There remained a balance of £5,600 in the BTAC Small Grants budget. If the Lincolnshire Housing Partnership application was approved the balance would be £4,670 which would be carried forward to 2019/20, following the decision to postpone the fourth round of applications for 2018/19.

There was a projected underspend of £77,146 within the Committee’s current year budget, which could be utilised to fund the grant applications from the Parish of Boston and Shakesperts.  However, there were other calls on BTAC resources and any grant awards would reduce the remaining amount available.

In view of the amount of funding being requested and for transparency and good governance purposes, it was proposed that the grant application from St Botolph’s Church be deferred to allow time for a substantive report to be prepared, providing clarification on the proposed expenditure and benefits to residents of the BTAC area, to enable the Committee to make an informed decision.

It was suggested that the funding for the Shakesperts project should be allocated from the underspend/surplus income in the BTAC events budget, as it related to an event being held in Central Park in April 2019.  Any unallocated funding in the grants budget would then be carried forward to the next financial year to support other applications.

RESOLVED

1.       That the application by Lincolnshire Housing Partnership for a Memory Lane Project be granted in the sum of £930.

2.       That the application from the Parish of Boston for the ‘Passion for People’ project be deferred to the next meeting of the Committee to allow time for a substantive report to be prepared, providing clarification on the proposed expenditure and benefits to the residents of the BTAC area.

3.       That the application from Shakesperts be granted in the sum of £2,500 and funded from the BTAC events budget underspend.

(Having declared an interest Councillor Welton took no part in the discussion or vote on the application from Lincolnshire Housing Partnership)