Community Investment and Local Action Partnership Funds 2024/25
Perth and Kinross Council · 19 June 2024
Back to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee — 19 June 2024 and its agenda
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee Wednesday 19 June 2024 COMMUNITY INVESTMENT AND LOCAL ACTION PARTNERSHIP FUNDS 2024/25 Report by Strategic Lead – Housing and Communities & Strategic Lead – Strategic Planning, People & Performance (Report No. 24/193) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 This report sets out proposals for delivering the Community Investment Fund (CIF) and Local Action Partnership funding in 2024/25. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that Committee: • Approve the proposals and funding breakdown for delivering CIF in 2024/25 • Approve the proposals and funding for a Participatory Budgeting exercise in 2024/25. 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background/Main Issues • Section 5: Proposals • Section 6: Conclusion • Appendices 4. BACKGROUND 4.1 The Community Investment Fund (CIF) was established in 2018/19 with two main goals: • Involve local people and communities in decisions about how Council funding is distributed; • Support investment in projects which tackle local inequalities and improve quality of life.
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4.2 In total just over £2,400,000 of Council funds have been allocated through CIF, supporting almost 500 individual applications from community groups. Examples of funded projects include community hall renovations; local youth groups; and various projects supporting those affected by the cost-of-living crisis. In 2023/24 CIF used an online portal to manage the funding process from application through to the funding awards. The portal received very positive feedback from users. 4.3 Local Action Partnerships (LAPs) have played a role in CIF Ward Panels from the outset and have also been provided with core funding to help deliver their Locality Action Plan priorities. LAPs also previously played a central role in Participatory Budgeting exercises in 2017 and 2018, and were involved in the more recent Green Living Participatory Budgeting exercise in 2023/24, Report No. 23/194 and 24/93 refers. 5. PROPOSALS 5.1 The 2024/25 revenue budget has committed a further £300,000 for CIF and a further £100,000 for LAPs. It is proposed that the funds are managed as follows: i. Community Investment Fund – Grants 5.2 It is recommended that the CIF operates in a broadly similar manner as it has to date as an online process with some minor amendments as set out below. Funding would continue to be divided and administered on a ward-by-ward basis, with a Ward Panel assessing applications and agreeing the funding to be awarded. Key amendments to rectify issues arising from the first year of using the online portal would include: a. Shifting the timing of the Fund to provide more time out of the school holiday periods, when potential applicants tend to meet less frequently. b. Providing applicants with clear guidance on saving original and amended applications on the on-line portal. c. Providing Ward Panel members with full application information, including any attached documents, allowing them to make more informed decisions. d. A box on the on-line portal to input where projects will be delivered, including a direct postcode checker, following confusion over which ward some applications should be submitted t
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ii. Community Investment Fund 2023/24 Budget 5.3 Based on previous CIF rounds, funding available in each ward would be: 5.4 Committee is asked to approve the proposed funding breakdown for CIF 2024/25 iii. Local Action Partnerships – Participatory Budgeting 5.5 Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a process through which residents of a community of place, or members of a community of interest have the opportunity to decide how public money is invested. PB has two distinct approaches: a. Community Grants PB in which a specific budget is earmarked for local decision making. b. Mainstream PB in which decisions are made by residents on budgets which are directly linked to service provision in the community. 5.6 Following two successful rounds of Small Grants PB in 2017 and 2018, Perth & Kinross Council returned to Participatory Budgeting over the last financial year. For the first time within Perth & Kinross, the process was run fully online using a platform called Consul, endorsed and provided free of charge by COSLA and used by many other local authorities across the country. 5.7 This PB exercise was called the Green Living Fund and required bidders to demonstrate how their project would help their communities to tackle cost of living and climate change issues. A new focus for funding has been identified, which will call for bids focussed on tackling poverty and the cost of living. Ward Initial Fund Population (Census 22) Per Capita Top-Up 2023/24 Underspend Total Funding 1 – Carse of Gowrie £12,500 9,916 £9,853.27 £0.00 £22,353.27 2 – Strathmore £12,500 15,458 £15,360.21 £8,109.84 £35,970.05 3 – Blairgowrie & Glens £12,500 11,248 £11,176.84 £0.00 £23,676.84 4 – Highland £12,500 8,927 £8,870.52 £0.00 £21,370.52 5 – Strathtay £12,500 12,302 £12,224.17 £0.00 £24,724.17 6 – Strathearn £12,500 10,419 £10,353.09 £4,051.11 £26,904.20 7 – Strathallan £12,500 11,727 £11,652.81 £796.06 £24,948.87 8 – Kinross-shire £12,500 14,119 £14,029.68 £0.00 £26,529.68 9 – Almond & Earn £12,500 10,162 £10,097.71 £7,542.00 £30,139.71 10 - Perth City South £12,500 16,641 £16,535.72 £28,871.41 £57,907.13 11 - Perth City North £12,500 12,379 £12,300.69 £16,357.41 £41,158.10 12 - Perth City Centre £12,500 17,657 £17,545.29 £71.41 £30,116.70 TOTALS £150,000 150,955 £150,000 £65,799.24 £365,799.24
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This will include bids from organisations who are seeking to tackle poverty and cost of living by upskilling and resourcing volunteers to undertake this work. This allows the broadest range of community groups to bid and develop proposals based specifically on their community’s experiences of poverty and cost of living. 5.8 It is proposed that the process would run similarly to last year, with some changes following feedback from applicants and staff. i. Moving the timeline of the project forward to avoid the Festive break when groups might not be meeting or have time to complete a proposal. ii. Exploring options for a hybrid approach to maximise participation, where people are allowed to vote on-line or in person. iii. Providing guidance to bidders to provide short summaries of their project proposals for display on Consul to help the voting process. iv. Streamlining the screening of the proposals, bringing expert input from Officers and LAP members together, rather than meeting separately to screen proposals efficiently and promptly ahead of the voting stage. v. Providing increased publicity, focussing on early build-up messaging to groups and the public to encourage voting and sharing of information. iv . LAP Participatory Budgeting 2023/24 Budget 5.9 Traditionally the budget in each LAP area has been based on a split between the seven localities, combined with any remaining underspend in each of the LAPs. Given the level of funding available it is recommended that an alternative funding split is considered, with three options set out below. Option 1 – £100k funding divided based on population, with underspend from Strathtay added. Each application limited to £5,000. Local Action Partnership Population Proportion of Funding Underspend Total Funding Eastern Perthshire 36,531 £24,000 £0.00 £24,000.39 Highland 9,217 £6,055 £0.00 £6,055.45 Strathtay 12,841 £8,436 £7,146.00 £15,582.37 Strathearn & Strathallan 22,866 £15,023 £0.00 £15,022.67 Kinross-shire 14,630 £9,612 £0.00 £9,611.72 Almond & Earn 9,495 £6,238 £0.00 £6,238.09 Perth City 46,630 £30,635 £0.00 £30,635.31 TOTALS 152,210 £100,000.00 £7,146.00 £107,146.00
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Option 2 – £100k funding distributed to localities experiencing the poorest outcomes as a result of socio-economic inequality. The localities outlined below have been identified through analysing ACORN data and the Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), with funds either split (a) equally or (b) similarly to CIF, £50,000 distributed equally and £50,000 distributed proportionately based on income- deprived population ratios in those localities from SIMD data. The underspend remaining in Strathtay would be held for future distribution in the locality. It should be noted that the Old Scone, Central & North Perth locality contains the following intermediate data zones: Letham; Hillyland, Tulloch and Inveralmond; Central and South Inch; Muirton; North Muirton and Old Scone; North Inch; and Moncrieffe & Friarton. Whilst it is recognised that the North Muirton and Old Scone datazone are not a natural part of Perth City, it shares a boundary with city datazones and its residents experience comparatively elevated levels of income deprivation, so it is logical to include them on that basis. Given the specific geographic areas identified in these localities, guidance will make it clear that although the main beneficiaries of any bid should be people living in these localities, it is not necessary for every project to be physically located within the locality boundary. For example, groups situated in the wider Crieff and Perth City localities can apply if significant benefit toward the fund-specific localities can be demonstrated. a) Equal distribution Locality Proportion of Funding Old Scone, Central & North Perth £25,000 Rattray £25,000 South Crieff £25,000 Coupar Angus, Meigle & Alyth £25,000 TOTALS £100,000 b) 50% distributed equally and 50% distributed based on income- deprivation Locality Initial Fund Population Income deprivation % Population Ratio Proportion of Funding Total Funding Old Scone, Central & North Perth £12,500.00 28,362 14.87% 4217.43 £35,337.22 £47,837.22 Rattray £12,500.00 2,942 17.00% 500.14 £4,190.60 £16,690.60 South Crieff £12,500.00 4,103 12.00% 492.36 £4,125.41 £16,625.41 Coupar Angus, Meigle & Alyth £12,500.00 8,110 9.34% 757.47 £6,346.76 £18,846.76 TOTALS £50,000.00 43,517 53.21% 5967.40 £50,000.00 £100,000.00
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5.10 It is recommended that Committee approves Option 2b) as it is evidence based, focuses the funds in the localities identified as facing the greatest inequalities and is most closely aligned to the Council’s wider priorities. It also follows the funding formula used in recent years for the Community Investment Fund. v. Timescales/Implementation 5.11 It is recommended that the CIF application process opens from w/c 22 July as the first element of these funding proposals. The Participatory Budgeting programme would open from w/c 6 January, as set out below. These are both later than last year, following feedback from staff and applicants to avoid the majority of both application windows being open during busy holiday periods. A fuller timescale is outlined in Appendix 1. Community Investment Fund • w/c Monday 22 July: CIF opens for applications. • Friday 6 September: close for applications. • w/c Monday 16 September: Ward Panels meet and decisions on funding are taken. • Wednesday 27 November: Report taken to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee with the overall outcome of the process. Participatory Budgeting – Local Action Partnerships • w/c Monday 6 January 2025 – Council officers work with local groups to develop and submit project ideas. • w/c Monday 3 February 2025 – Final proposals submitted and screened with Officers. • w/c Monday 17 February 2025 – voting opens on the webpage. • Friday 7 March 2025 – voting closes. • w/c Monday 17 March 2025– celebration events held to announce the result on a locality or region-wide basis. • March/April 2025 – Report taken to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee with the overall outcome of the process. 5.12 Officers have explored opportunities for joining-up funds targeted at similar criteria and localities. As a result, there may be additional funding available to add to the PB pot before the process begins in January 2025. If this proves to be the case, members will be advised of this in advance. 5.13 Committee is asked to consider and approve the timescales for Community Investment Fund and a Participatory Budgeting programme for 2024/25. 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 Community Investment Fund and Local Action Partnerships funding have supported a variety of community initiatives across Perth and Kinross. This report outlines proposals for delivering a round of CIF and a Participatory Budgeting exercise by Local Action Partnerships in 2024/25.
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Authors Name Designation Contact Details Jacob Dudgeon Lee Haxton David Stokoe Community Planning and Projects Officer Community Planning Team Leader Service Manager (Communities) ComCommitteeReports@pkc.gov.uk Approved Name Designation Date Elaine Ritchie Greg Boland Strategic Lead – Housing & Communities Strategic Lead – Strategic Planning, People & Performance 17 May 2024 17 May 2024 APPENDICES • Appendix 1 – Timescale for Delivery • Appendix 2 – LAP PB Locality Maps • Appendix 3 – Raw Data for Targeted PB Localities • Appendix 4 – CIF and PB Funding Totals by Group
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes / None Community Plan / Single Outcome Agreement Yes Corporate Plan Yes Resource Implications Financial Yes Workforce None Asset Management (land, property, IST) None Assessments Equality Impact Assessment None Strategic Environmental Assessment None Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) None Legal and Governance None Risk None Consultation Internal None External None Communication Communications Plan None 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 This report supports all of the priorities within the Community Plan 2022-27. (i) Reducing Poverty (including child poverty, fuel poverty and food poverty) (ii) Mental and physical wellbeing (iii) Digital participation (iv) Skills, learning and development (v) Employability Corporate Plan 1.2 This report supports the objectives within the draft new Corporate Plan: - (i) Children and young people grow up safe, respected, well-educated, and confident in their ability to realise their full potential; (ii) People and businesses are increasingly able to prosper in a local economy which support low carbon ambitions and offers opportunities for all; (iii) People can achieve their best physical and mental health and have access to quality care and support when they need it; (iv) Communities are resilient and physically, digital and socially connected;
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(v) Perth and Kinross is a safe and vibrant place, mitigating the impact of climate and environmental change for this and future generations. 2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 This report outlines spend of £300,000 on Community Investment Fund and £100,000 through Local Action Partnerships as agreed in the 2024/25 budget settlement. Workforce N/A Asset Management (land, property, IT) N/A 3. Assessments Equality Impact Assessment 3.1 The proposals have been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment process (EqIA) with the following outcome: (i) Assessed as not relevant for the purposes of EqIA Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.2 The proposals have been considered under the Act and no further action is required as it does not qualify as a PPS as defined by the Act and is therefore exempt. Sustainability 3.3 N/A. Legal and Governance 3.4 N/A. 4. Consultation Internal 4.1 N/A.
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External 4.2 N/A. 5. Communication 5.1 Information on the funds, how to access them and where support will be available will be shared on the Council webpage. The Communications and Design Team will ensure that there is appropriate coverage on the website and through social media. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS N/A.