Agenda item

Report of the Social and Community O&S Committee Community Investment Grant Review Group

In the absence of any member of the Social and Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Community Investment Grant Review Group, the Cabinet Member for Sport and Culture introduced the report. He explained that the council’s three-year funded community investment grants were now in their final year of funding arrangement.  A final review had been undertaken by this working group on behalf of the Social and Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee who had endorsed their findings and approved that the recommendations be forwarded to Cabinet.

The Cabinet Member considered that the report contained a fair summary of the key points and issues in section 2 and their conclusions were set out in section 3. He advised members that a three year programme had been agreed with the Everyman Theatre in 2010 which included decreasing the grant by £5,000 each year. The Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Cheltenham Festivals was due to come to an end on 30 March 2011. The current SLA included financial arrangements but the draft budget currently out for consultation, did not include any financial contributions to the Festivals in 2011/2012. Negotiations regarding the new SLA were ongoing. Regarding MAD Young Peoples Council, no budget was being proposed for 2011/12. He concluded by commending overview and scrutiny for their work and felt confident in their conclusions.

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development provided some additional financial background to the three organisations. The Everyman Theatre had received a £250,000 cash investment from the council last year and the council had also facilitated a £1 million loan for the theatre’s refurbishment programme subject to Heritage Lottery Funding which had since been agreed. The grant to the Everyman had already been reduced by £5,000 in 2010.  The negotiations with the Cheltenham Festivals were more complicated as the organisation begins to separate itself from the council and also has to take account the support in kind which has been provided by the council for such things as legal and ICT support. Regarding MAD he confirmed that a full-time post within Cheltenham Borough Council to support the Young Peoples Council had been deleted two years ago. Since then the borough council had been funding a part time role through the county youth service but this contribution is now being cut as it is felt that the Youth Service could no longer support such a role in their reorganisation. However the council was working with the county council to reach agreement on the allocation of youth services funding to Cheltenham and there would be matched funding by Cheltenham Borough Council.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services felt that the moves to make the Everyman Theatre and Cheltenham Festivals more independent had been successful and acknowledged that it was a challenge for both organisations. However he had every confidence that they would continue to be successful and in future would not have to depend on the vagaries of local government funding.

Resolved that the funding to each of the named three organisations (Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham Festivals and MAD Young People’s Council (GCC)) be as set out in the draft budget for 2011/12 which is currently subject to consultation.