Community Investment Fund 2023-24
Perth and Kinross Council · 29 November 2023
Back to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee — 29 November 2023 and its agenda
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee 29 November 2023 COMMUNITY INVESTMENT FUND 2023/24 Report by Head of Culture & Communities Services (Report No. 23/340) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 This report informs Committee of the funding commitments made for the 2023/24 Community Investment Fund (CIF) across the 12 Council wards. Ward Panels allocated approximately £385,000 to support 94 projects which contribute to the delivery of the priorities outlined in the Council’s Corporate Plan. The report also provides an update on progress with the Green Living Fund Participatory Budgeting project 2023/24. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that the Committee: i. notes the funding decisions taken by Ward Panels for 2023/24 CIF ii. approves the carry forward of £85,530.76 for disbursal to community grassroots projects in 2023/24 and 2024/25, for use in the wards where the underspends have arisen. iii. notes the progress made with the Green Living Fund Participatory Budgeting project 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background • Section 5: Applications • Section 6: Funding Decisions • Section 7: Conclusion 4. BACKGROUND 4.1 In 2018/19, the Council established a Community Investment Fund (CIF) as part of its commitment to devolve more decisions to local communities. Since then, a total of £2m has been distributed to approximately 400 community-led projects. 4.2 In March 2023, the Council approved £400,000 in addition to £68,677 CIF underspend from 2022/2023 for a further round of Community Investment Fund in 2023/24. This provided a total budget of £468,677.64 for CIF 2023/24. The Council also approved a further £200,000 for a Participatory Budgeting (PB) programme.
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4.3 Report 23/194 set out the process for running CIF and PB in 2023/24. For CIF the application process opened on 26 June and closed on Friday 18 August. Ward Panels met throughout September to consider the applications and agree any funding to be awarded. In Ward 8, the Kinross-shire Committee has delegated authority over CIF funding and approved the Ward Panel’s recommendations on 16 November 2023. 4.4 CIF 2023/24 followed a similar process to previous rounds, with one major change. Whereas previous rounds of CIF had followed a number of manual steps from application through to the final award and project monitoring, this round utilised an on-line portal through MyPKC. This meant that the administration of CIF was contained on one system, including: • the submission and screening of applications, with the potential for officers and applicants to make amendments or additions as necessary • the assessment and scoring of applications by Ward Panel members • the recording of decisions on funding awards by Ward Panels and Kinross-shire Local Committee • the issuing of award letters to successful applicants • the development of databases to allow for payment of grants • the establishment of monitoring requirements for successful projects 4.5 Feedback from officers is that the system has allowed for greater efficiency and released capacity for them to complete other tasks. Feedback from applicants and Ward Panel members has also been positive. 5. CIF APPLICATIONS 5.1 The number of applications received for CIF 2023/24 and the funding requested is set out below. Compared to 2022/2023, there is a slight increase in terms of the number of applications and the value of those applications. Ward Funding Available Number of Applications Funding Requested 1 – Carse of Gowrie £37,662.70 5 £37,186.80 2 – Strathmore £53,907.24 9 £61,937.40 3 – Blairgowrie & The Glens £31,472.00 10 £37,341.99 4 – Highland £29,007.00 10 £51,262.00 5 – Strathtay £33,517.00 11 £62,145.86 6 – Strathearn £30,967.00 8 £41,627.89 7 – Strathallan £50,650.47 12 £79,954.60 8 – Kinross-shire £35,862.00 10 £39,555.98 9 – Almond & Earn £29,542.00 9 £68,741.00 10 – Perth City South £45,878.41 5 £13,862.00 11 – Perth City North £41,273.41 4 £41,398.08 12 – Perth City Centre £48,938.41 15 £93,615.40 TOTALS £468,677.64 108 £628,629.00
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6. CIF FUNDING DECISIONS 6.1 The following CIF funding decisions were made in each ward area, with funding paid out to successful applicants in October: Ward 1 – Carse of Gowrie Group Project Funding Perthshire Woodcrafters Provision of training for disabled members/local community £1,500.00 West Carse Public Hall Renovation Phase 2 £4,000.00 St Madoes & Kinfauns Parish Church Madoch Transport Infrastructure £5,700.00 Tayside Upcycling & Craft Centre Learn How to Upcycle £5,220.00 Tay and Earn Trust Keeping the Carse Active £9,745.80 TOTAL £26,165.80 Ward 2 – Strathmore Group Project Funding Scone Thistle Junior Football Club Tractor and Finishing mower £6,000.00 St Martins Public Hall Balbeggie Community Events £1,800.00 Alyth Development Trust Alyth Resilience Ranger £7,494.00 Kettins Community Hub Kettins Kids £3,400.00 Guildtown Hall & Playing Fields Association Guildtown Larder £2,723.40 Strathmore Community Hub Coupar Angus Community Cinema £3,440.00 Scone Airport Men's Shed Scone Airport Men's Shed Equipment Needs £5,000.00 RDMI Thermically efficient window curtains £9,940.00 Meigle & Ardler CDT Meigle & Ardler Community Shed £6,000.00 TOTAL £45,797.40
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Ward 3 – Blairgowrie & The Glens Group Project Funding Mount Blair Community Development Trust Mount Blair Emergency Resilience £1,500.00 Blairgowrie & Rattray Community Football Trust The Free Football Project £5,901.00 SCYD GO Project £5,870.00 Girlguiding Blairgowrie and Rattray District Girlguiding Blairgowrie and Rattray District New Hall £5,000.00 Blairgowrie & Rattray Access Network Wider Access for Path Network Maintenance £915.00 Wisecraft Scottish Mental Health First Aid @ Wisecraft £2,740.00 Nest Creative Spaces CIC Delivery of Free Craft Workshops £2,950.00 PLUS Perth & Kinross Green Shoots of Recovery £2,146.00 Ballintuim Village Hall Resilience Project £2,449.99 Mantalk Mantalk Community Funday £2,000.00 TOTAL £31,471.99 Ward 4 – Highland Group Project Funding Upper Tay Anti-Poverty Support Group Upper Tay Anti-Poverty Support Group £5,000.00 Georgetown Hall Committee Georgetown Hall Upgrade £3,307.00 Breathe Project The Breathe Project £5,000.00 Highland Perthshire Yoga and Wellbeing Health for all £2,000.00 Highland Perthshire Plus Highland Perthshire Plus Project /Development Worker £5,000.00 Rannoch Community Trust Health and Wellbeing Coordinator £5,000.00 The Mindful Partnership Minding Highland Perthshire £2,700.00 Breadalbane Men’s Shed Installation of Toilet / Social Area £1,000.00 TOTAL £29,007.00
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Ward 5 – Strathtay Group Project Funding DAB First Responders Initial set up equipment for first responders £5,532.00 St Columba's Episcopal Church, Stanley New Disabled Access Project £2,988.86 Bertha Park Residents Bertha Park Parent and Pre-school Group £1,708.35 Bertha Park Residents Bertha Park Youth Group £1,962.27 Chapelhill Hall Badminton Club £165.00 Chapelhill Hall Cost of living crisis - hall electricity costs £600.33 Meikleour Village Hall & Institute Committee Rear Grounds Repair and Improvement £3,480.00 Bertha Park Community Hub Bertha Park Community Youthwork £5,626.00 Dunkeld, Birnam & District Community Development Trust Community Wellness - Dunkeld & Birnam £3,640.00 The Chapter House Museum Trust Young Archaeologist Club £6,300.00 Y Centre Limited Y Move £1,514.19 TOTAL £33,517.00 Ward 6 – Strathearn Group Project Funding Crieff Connexions Crieff Connexions Social Space £6,000.00 Comrie Cinema and Events Club Children's Film Project £1,880.00 Nature Connects Perthshire CIC Mindful Me £2,000.00 Richmond Community Richmond Community Fellowship Group £6,035.89 Strathearn Arts Art for Wellbeing £3,000.00 Crieff at Christmas Switch on event and replacement light display £6,000.00 Logos Youth Voice Crieff Logos Youth Voice £2,000.00 TOTAL £26,915.89
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Ward 7 – Strathallan Group Project Funding 54th Perthshire (Auchterarder) Scouts Scout Hall Renovation £13,411.00 Muthill Bowling Club Operation Mower £6,000.00 Auchterarder & District Men's Shed Music Project £1,200.00 Auchterarder Community Sports and Recreation Auchterarder Public Park - Public Convenience Project £2,500.00 Auchterarder Community Sports and Recreation ACSR Rackets £3,976.90 Rotary Club of Auchterarder & District Sandy Gunn Memorial Garden Phase 2 £9,400.00 Aberuthven Village Hall Trust Sustain Community Spirit £2,880.00 Dunning Scout Group Expedition Trailer £6,586.51 Dunning Community Council Portable PA system £1,000.00 Logos Youth Project Logos Youth Voice Auchterarder £1,300.00 Auchterarder Curling Club Auchterarder Curling Development £1,600.00 TOTAL £49,854.41 Ward 8 – Kinross-shire Group Project Funding Milnathort and Orwell Core Paths Group Core Path Flail £1,828.98 Kinross Bowling Club Share Facilities of KBC with whole Community (Installation of Disability Ramps) £4,750.00 Glenfarg Community Transport Group Website Development £3,000.00 Broke not Broken Infant Food Insecurity Project £4,800.00 Aero Space Scientific Educational Trust Our World from Space £5,000.00 Kythe 12 month Programme of Activities £2,000.00 Perth Autism Support Outreach Activities £4,047.00 Kinross Centre Ruby Anniversary £2,130.00 TOTAL £27,555.98
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Ward 9 – Almond & Earn Group Project Funding Forgandenny Village Hall Black out blinds for Forgandenny Village Hall £1,000.00 66th Perthshire Scout Group Pavilion Renovations Phase 5 £1,750.00 Y Centre Limited Y Move £3,750.00 Earn Community Council Supply & Fit Bus Shelter £2,000.00 Green Shoots Community & Learning Centre Green Shoots Garden Playground £1,000.00 Friends of Abernethy Kirkyard Abernethy Kirkyard £500.00 Methven Community Centre Continual Improvement £2,000.00 Oudenarde Community Cabin Oudenarde Community Events £3,000.00 Bridge of Earn Amateur Football Club Victory Park Football Pitch Maintenance and Winter Training £4,000.00 Kythe 12 month Programme of Activities £3,000.00 TOTAL £22,000.00 Ward 10 – Perth City South Group Project Funding Craigie and Moncreiffe Parish Church Craigie Connect £4,000.00 Perth Baptist Church Open Circle at Perth Baptist Church £5,000.00 Letham4all @Moncreiffe £7,560.00 Perth Parrots Floorball Club Perth Parrots Floorball Club - Sport & Social Activity £1,084.00 Moncreiffe Parent Council Educating Outdoors £11,877.00 TOTAL £29,521.00 Ward 11 – Perth City North Group Project Funding Letham Climate Challenge Kingswell Allotment Shed £1,100.00 Letham4all Repair, Re-use and Remake £3,802.00 Mangin Manashee Winter Respite and Activities £7,500.00 TOTAL £12,402.00
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Ward 12 – Perth City Centre Group Project Funding Perth Minorities Association Empowering Social Spaces for All £3,500.00 CATH On the mend £6,000.00 All Strong Scotland All Strong Recovery £6,900.00 ESOLPerth Primary English Language Club £7,780.00 VisionPK Sensory Hub Project £5,000.00 Mindspace Young People's Recovery College £8,887.00 ESOLPerth New Scots English Language Learning & Wellbeing £4,800.00 Perth Sea Cadets Better Enable Sea Cadets Perth to help young people develop £3,000.00 Bajka We can live together integration events £3,000.00 TOTAL £48,867.00 6.2 The table below summarises the overall spend and confirms underspend of over £3,000 in eight ward areas: Ward Funding Available Funding Awarded Underspend 1 – Carse of Gowrie £37,662.70 £26,165.80 £11,496.90 2 – Strathmore £53,907.24 £45,797.40 £8,109.84 3 – Blairgowrie & The Glens £31,472.00 £31,471.99 £0.01 4 – Highland £29,007.00 £29,007.00 - 5 – Strathtay £33,517.00 £33,517.00 - 6 – Strathearn £30,967.00 £26,915.89 £4,051.11 7 – Strathallan £50,650.47 £49,854.41 £796.06 8 – Kinross-shire £35,862.00 £27,555.98 £8,306.02 9 – Almond & Earn £29,542.00 £22,000.00 £7,542.00 Ward Funding Available Funding Awarded Underspend 10 – Perth City South £45,878.41 £29,521.00 £16,357.41 11 – Perth City North £41,273.41 £12,402.00 £28,871.41 12 – Perth City Centre £48,938.41 £48,867.00 £71.41 TOTALS £468,677.64 £383,075.47 £85,602.17 6.3 Following the conclusion of this funding round, specific requests were made in Ward 1 (Carse of Gowrie) and Ward 8 (Kinross-shire) to allow the underspends (£11,496.90 in Ward 1 and £8,306.02 in Ward 8) to be made available to bids from community groups in those Wards. As a result, the application process was reopened for these Wards, with a closing date of 22
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November. Ward Panels are due to assess these applications and make decisions on any further funding awards in early December. 6.4 It is recommended that the remaining underspends be ringfenced to support future grassroots projects in each specific Ward. The current Transformation Review of community engagement is considering ways to make the grant application and monitoring process across various Council grant schemes including any future version of CIF more streamlined and cost-efficient to administer. 7. GREEN LIVING FUND PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING PROJECT 7.1 In March 2023, Councillors approved an allocation of £200,000 towards a Participatory Budgeting (PB) project for 2023/24. The process for running the Participatory Budgeting project was agreed through Report 23/194, with agreement that the project would support community-led initiatives which addressed climate change and cost of living. 7.2 The PB project is being run in conjunction with Local Action Partnerships and has been branded the “Green Living Fund” PB Project. The project will be delivered as set out below: • Monday 30 October – open for bids from community groups • Friday 15 December – close for bids from community groups • January 2024 – screening process to check feasibility of bids • February 2024 – voting opens to public for 2-3 week period • w/c 26 February – Perth and Kinross event to announce winners 7.3 The Green Living Fund PB Project is being hosted via the CONSUL platform, with support from COSLA (Green Living Fund (communitychoices.scot)). Bidders are required to demonstrate how their project will impact on one or more of the themes listed below, whilst also demonstrating how it will support local people with the cost of living. 1. Energy – reducing consumption, energy saving, promoting efficiency and use of renewables 2. Transport – encouraging active travel, use of public transport and decarbonising transport 3. Waste – reducing waste, reusing and recycling 4. Resilience and Biodiversity – improving greenspace, biodiversity, local food growing; mitigating/adapting to climate change; and supporting community resilience and emergency projects 5. Engagement – increasing public awareness and engaging communities 7.4 Once the bidding process is concluded, officers will work with Local Action Partnerships to ensure that those bids that go forward to the public vote are feasible and reflect local needs and contexts. Voters will be presented with a budget for the Local Action Partnership locality in which they live and be
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allowed to vote for as few, or as many, projects as they wish until the budget has been fully allocated. An event in Perth city centre is being organised for the end of February where the results will be announced and further funding support and advice for community groups will be available. 7.5 A report will be brought to Housing & Social Wellbeing on 20 March 2024 summarising the delivery of the Green Living PB Project. 8. CONCLUSION 8.1 Community Investment Fund supports new and innovative community projects that tackle inequalities and improve quality of life. This round of CIF has made 96 awards totalling £383,075.47 across Perth and Kinross, with two projects being cross-boundary. Additional funding commitments may be made in Ward 1 (Carse of Gowrie) and Ward 8 (Kinross-shire) before the end of 2023. 8.2 Work to deliver the Green Living Fund Participatory Budgeting project is progressing, with groups currently submitting proposals for screening before a final public vote in the first quarter of 2024. Authors Name Designation Contact Details Lee Haxton David Stokoe Community Planning Team Leader Service Manager - Communities lhaxton@pkc.gov.uk dstokoe@pkc.gov.uk Approved Name Designation Date Barbara Renton Executive Director (Communities) 14 November 2023 • APPENDICES - NONE
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes / None Community Plan / Local Outcomes Improvement Plan Yes Corporate Plan Yes Resource Implications Financial Yes Workforce None Asset Management (land, property, IST) None Assessments Equality Impact Assessment Yes Strategic Environmental Assessment Yes Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) Yes Legal and Governance None Risk None Consultation Internal Yes External None Communication Communications Plan None 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 Supporting and investing in community-led solutions to locally identified issues contributes to the delivery of the Perth and Kinross Community Plan / LOIP in terms of the following priorities: (i) Giving every child the best start in life (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations Corporate Plan 1.2 Supporting and investing in community-led solutions to locally identified issues contributes to the delivery of the Perth and Kinross Council Corporate Plan in terms of the following priorities: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy; (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations.
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2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 Community Investment Fund has a budget of £410,000 for 2022/23 and funding decisions of £342,588.14 have been made, leaving an underspend of £68,077.64. 2.2 An additional £200,000 of funding was made available for a Participatory Budgeting exercise to be run in conjunction with Local Action Partnerships. A future report will set out how this funding has been used. 3. Assessments Equality Impact Assessment 3.1 Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council is required to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between equality groups. Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments for plans and policies allows the Council to demonstrate that it is meeting these duties. 3.2 The information contained within this report has been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment Process (EqIA) and has been assessed as not relevant for the purposes of EqIA. Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.3 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Council to identify and assess the environmental consequences of its proposals. 3.4 The information contained within this report has been considered under the Act. However, no action is required as the Act does not apply to the matters presented in this report. Sustainability 3.5 Under the provisions of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 the Council has to discharge its duties in a way which contributes to the achievement of sustainable development. Under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 the Council has a general duty to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability and the community, environmental and economic impacts of its actions. 3.6 The information contained within this report has been considered under the Act. However, no action is required as the Act does not apply to the matters presented in this report.
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4. Consultation Internal 4.1 There has been consultation with the Finance Department, Communities and the Executive Leadership Team. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS 2.1 No background papers, as defined by Section 50D of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (other than any containing confidential or exempt information) were relied on to a material extent in preparing the above report.