Minutes:
The Committee considered the undernoted report:
“1 Relevant Background Information
1.1 This paper is to seek Members’ approval for a revised start date for awards under the Belfast Community Investment Programme (BCIP) and to consider next steps, including provision for Community Services grant aid for the period 2014 to 2015.
1.2 At its meeting on 21 May 2013 Development Committee received an update on BCIP. The paper outlined three key issues:
1.3 (i) Senior DSD officials had informed council officers that they were presenting a submission to the DSD Minister recommending that 2014 was no longer a viable start date for the programme.
1.4 (ii) Given this decision the BCIP project team had begun to prepare an options paper considering alternatives.
1.5 (iii) As it is now not possible for BCIP to go live in 2014 the council needs to consider its management arrangements for its existing grant streams to cover the period April 2014 to March 2015. (These grants would have been subsumed into the new programme and include the Capacity Grant programme, Revenue funding for community facilities, Small grants funding, and funding for the city’s Advice and Information consortia. Most of these streams have been closed to new applicants for the past few years.)
1.6 Members requested that officers report back to Committee in June with details of the Minister’s decisions and, based on this decision, to outline relevant next steps including options for council grant funding in 2014/15.
2 Key Issues
2.1 A final comment on the BCIP timescale from the DSD Minister is not yet available. However, while awaiting this decision, the BCIP project team have carried out an options analysis to determine the likely ways forward for the project (See Appendix One).
2.2 The analysis is based on the foundations that have already been agreed politically during the development of the programme. These include:
1. An agreed working definition of community development based on the Council’s Community Development strategy.
2. An agreed outcomes framework which can be used to determine new grant schemes and the measurement of impact
3. A commitment to a single programme to replace the six legacy grant schemes
4. A commitment to an annual grant budget of £5.4 million for community development in the city (based on the value of current grant investment).
2.3 The analysis also makes a number of working assumptions which include:
i. It is assumed that BCIP will be delivered within DSD’s new Urban Regeneration and Community Development framework (which is still to be confirmed). Specifically, this framework will replace existing policy commitments under the Community Support Programme and the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme.
ii. Given the revised start date of April 2015 it is also assumed that, under the transfer of functions, existing DSD responsibility for community development will have passed to the council from DSD. BCIP will also have to incorporate those parts of Castlereagh Borough Council and Lisburn City Council which will have transferred to Belfast by this date.
iii. There is an assumption that there will be continued support for the proposed ‘four grant streams’ structure for BCIP which was approved by Development Committee in April (pending impact assessment and consultation).
iv. It is also assumed that there will continue to be adequate human and other resources made available to the project during its development and implementation stages.
2.4 Project resourcing
BCIP is currently jointly resourced by the council and DSD, however, with the deferral of BCIP to 2015, DSD officials have noted that they now need to reassess their resource commitment. DSD are establishing a new Local Government Reform team to provide a resource to support all new council areas in the transfer of DSD functions.
2.5 To inform any decision, the project steering group are therefore currently re-examining the human resourcing requirements for BCIP and considering a range of alternative options for both organisations to consider.
2.6 In terms of the grant resource for the project, BCIP has already committed to an annual fund of at least £5.4 million for the programme based on the current level of grant across the legacy programmes. However, from 2015 the grant commitment will be sought from the council’s own revised budget (as the DSD element will be a percentage of the Government’s block allocation to Belfast through the Regional Rate).
2.7 This grant budget can therefore only be indicative at this stage as the detailed arrangements with regard to how DSD intend to allocate resources across the new 11 Councils post 2015 have yet to be finalised. In order to ensure a smooth service transition, officers suggest that we proceed on the basis of an indicative budget but this will be subject to confirmation of the city allocation.
2.8 We can therefore proceed to agree the principles of any funding allocation model and indicate what that would mean based on what we currently receive. This model will therefore also need to assess and take into account what DSD currently spend in the areas which are due to transfer to Belfast. This work is underway and will be presented for committee consideration in August.
2.9 Identifying a preferred option for BCIP
Working from these assumptions, the appraisal identified the most likely options and considered the merits of each in terms of the following questions:
- Can the option be delivered within its proposed timeframe?
- What is the impact on reputation and relationships between stakeholders?
- How difficult will it be to gain political support and mandate from political representatives?
- Does the option align with Reform of Local Government?
- Does the option provide opportunities for learning in terms of the wider implementation of RLG?
- What additional activities would need to be completed in business areas to maintain grant support?
How will the option impact on the delivery of services by the sector?
- Can the existing resources both in terms of the core project team and wider business areas deliver the option taking into consideration potential for increased project scope?
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2.10 The analysis identifies a ‘best fit’ option which is that BCIP works within the context of the new Local Government District boundaries and issues awards from April 2015.
2.11 This suggested option allows the council to proceed at a pace that is acceptable to all stakeholders and will allow us to design and deliver a strategic programme which has both the flexibility to respond to broader policy considerations while offering a practical and timely framework to support the sector.
2.12 Under this approach most elements of the existing project plan would remain the same. However, the project would also incorporate those areas coming into Belfast post 2015. The main elements of work would be:
i. Committee agreement on the way forward (June 2013)
ii. Engagement with the community sector on the revised option (Summer 2013)
iii. Finalise the proposed approach to budget allocation (Summer 2013)
iv. Carry out a formal consultation on the agreed outcomes framework, the grant programme document, and the draft EQIA (Autumn 2013)
v. Seek Committee approval for a final draft of the programme (Winter 2013/14)
vi. Open call for applications from the sector (May 2014 closing June 2014)
vii. Assessment process for all new grant schemes (Summer 2014)
viii. Make award recommendations to Committee (Oct to Dec 2014)
ix. Notify groups on their awards (January 2015)
x. Groups receive annual/multi-annual awards (April 2015)
2.13 Members should note that while the proposed approach provides some contingency (particularly in its latter stages), due to the integration of new areas and the need to provide a solution for our existing schemes, the project plan remains ambitious. There is substantial work required over the new few months to establish a basis for formal public consultation in the autumn. It will be particularly important for the council to engage with the community and voluntary sector on the revised timeline.
2.14 Officers therefore recommend that BCIP planning is progressed towards a target implementation date of April 2015.
2.15 Implications for existing grant funding
Given that BCIP will not now begin in April 2014 both Council and DSD will also need to consider the management of its existing community development grant schemes. These are all scheduled to end in March 2014 and, without BCIP in place, an interim measure will have to be established to bridge funding for the sector for 2014 to 2015. DSD will need to establish its own solution for community development funding under both Neighbourhood Renewal and its Community Investment Fund.
2.16 Within council, discussions have begun with Legal Services regarding the viability of extending our own grant schemes for a further twelve months. (These include the Capacity Grant programme, Revenue funding for community facilities, Small grants funding, and funding for the city’s Advice and Information consortia).
2.17 While still at an initial stage of consideration we suggest there are two main options:
i. Some form of open call in September 2013 for the 2014/15 funding period for one or more of the larger grants. This would be resource intensive for both council and the sector.
ii. An extension to all our large grants (Advice, Capacity and Revenue) for 2014/15 pending an open call for funds under the new BCIP scheme in May 2014.
To address issues of limited access, this option could be coupled with a restricted open call limited to potential revenue grant applicants from either new organisations or organisations who have recently build new premises.
Alternatively, or in parallel, a small one-year development fund might also be made available to support capacity issues in the sector.
2.18 Officers will work with Legal Services to consider the most suitable approach to existing funding and will present a detailed paper at Development Committee in August 2013.
3 Resource Implications
3.1 The financial commitment to the project is yet to be formally defined as this will be dependent on a future DSD decision on how they will allocate resources on a regional basis and the related impact for Belfast. A central project office team will need to remain in place in order to ensure that the project can be delivered within the projected time-scale.
4 Equality and Good Relations Implications
4.1 Equality and good relations implications, in relation to this policy, are still under consideration. Further updates will be sent to the Equality and Diversity Officer in due course.
5 Recommendations
· Agree to the proposed revised approach to delivering the Belfast Community Investment Programme
· Note the outlined principled position in relation to both grant budget and human resource arrangements.
· Agree to officers engaging with the sector on this basis.
· Agree to the receipt of a further update paper at August Development Committee.”
The Committee adopted the recommendations.