Decision details

To make, under delegated powers, the following changes to the Locality Budgets Scheme for the 2020/21 year:

a) The Locality Budgets and Environmental Budgets schemes be combined into one scheme known as Locality Budgets; with the total budget allocation per County Councillor being £10,000.

b) County Councillors be able to make recommendations from 1 April 2020 (rather than the second Monday in May) with the last date for recommendations being 31 January 2021.

c) The minimum funding which can be recommended by a County Councillor for a project or activity is £300 and the maximum £5,000. Two or more County Councillors can jointly recommend funding for a project or activity, but the maximum total funding for any project or activity in a financial year is £5,000. However, for humanitarian projects linked to the Covid-19 pandemic the restriction of £5000 per project or activity is removed to allow County Councillors to jointly fund larger humanitarian initiatives.

d) In order to allow decisions to be made more quickly and to reduce the administrative burden on officers running the scheme during the Coronavirus pandemic, the Chairman of the County Council and the Chairman of Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee have consented to subsequent allocation decisions by the Executive Member for Stronger Communities being dealt with on an urgency and call in exemption basis.

e) Although recommendations have to be for projects or activities that directly promote the social, economic or environmental wellbeing of the communities they represent, County Councillors are particularly encouraged to focus on projects or activities that respond to local needs and community initiatives arising from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of climate change, and/or promote the Council’s Stronger Communities programme.

*PLEASE NOTE This decision was originally published on or near the date of the decision and so call in no longer applies. It has been re-published as part of the change in committee management system that we use.*

This decision was taken under urgency procedures however timescales do permit this decision to be open to call in.

The revisions to the Scheme have been made in order to allow County Councillors to react quickly to changing circumstances and respond promptly to local needs arising from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to other local needs.

The alternative option would be to maintain the Scheme as at present. This would mean that County Councillors could not make recommendations until the second Monday in May, which would limit their ability to respond to Covid-19 pandemic and would also mean that every individual decision arising from a recommendation by a County Council would need to be considered for call-in, which would delay the offer of support and require significant administration at a difficult time for the County Council.