Minutes:
The Committee considered the undernoted report:
“1 Relevant Background Information
The purpose of this report is to present to Members the revised Support for Sport grant scheme for their approval with a view to implementation from May 2012.
At the Parks and Leisure Committee meeting on 12th January, 2012, Members requested party briefings on the proposed revision of Support for Sport before approving the scheme.
The Party briefings took place throughout February and March and the table below summarises the final version of the revised Support for Sport Scheme which takes onboard feedback from Members with regard to the hospitality fund, contingency fund and proposed fund for individuals.
2 Key Issues
A summary of the present scheme and the key proposed revisions are presented in the following table:
|
Area |
Current Support for Sport Scheme |
Proposed revised Support for Sport Scheme
|
Revised Allocation of Funds |
|
Payment process |
Small grants - funding is retrospective on submission of final report and receipts |
Funding is 50% up front and 50% on submission of final report and receipts |
No change |
|
Categories |
Funding covers coach education, Kick Start/Try-it events, development competitions and equipment. |
Categories will remain the same, however the allocation will be prioritised with the highest percentage going towards coach education and lowest owards medals/ certificates etc |
No change |
|
Support provided |
Officers work with clubs to assist with applications |
Officers will continue to provide this service |
No change |
|
Individuals |
Individuals are not supported |
15 high level athletes to be supported by £1000 each |
£15,000 |
|
Area |
Current Support for Sport Scheme |
Proposed revised Support for Sport Scheme
|
Revised Allocation of Funds |
|
Hospitality |
Requests only supported if visitors from outside NI travel to Belfast for event. |
Level of support to be staggered. Minimum number of visitors funded: 50 |
No change |
|
Hospitality |
Current allocation £31,000 |
Reduced to £25,000 and targeted at larger sporting events. £6,000 redirected to Individuals |
£25,000 |
|
Application process |
Applications submitted hard copy or electronically |
Application to be developed for online use. |
No change |
|
Reward scheme |
No incentive for clubs to develop and provide a quality service. |
Provide a grant for clubs achieving ClubMark Quality standard |
No change – to be allocated from overall S4S scheme |
|
Contingency |
Currently £14,000 |
£9,000 redirected to individuals |
£5,000 |
Associated with the above proposals are a number of revisions to the allocation of the budget. There is no increase in total budget proposed, simply a re-distribution of the existing budget as follows (key areas of change are in italics);-
|
Current Support for Sport Scheme
|
Revised Support for Sport Scheme |
||
|
Large Grants |
£60,000 |
Large Grants |
£60,000 |
|
Small Grants |
£120,000 |
Small Grants |
£120,000 |
|
Individual Grants |
£0 |
Individual Grants |
£15,000 |
|
Hospitality |
£31,000 |
Hospitality |
£25,000 |
|
Contingency |
£14,000 |
Contingency |
£5,000 |
|
Total |
£225,000 |
Total |
£225,000 |
The review has mainly impacted on the following aspects of the scheme:-
§ On-line application/evaluation
§ Advanced payment
§ Hospitality
§ Individuals
§ Clubmark
It is proposed that a management plan will be implemented by the Leisure Development Unit to ensure effective implementation of all changes to the scheme. It is also proposed that further consultation will be undertaken with relevant stakeholders at six months after implementation of the above changes.
3 Resource Implications
Financial
It is expected that the development of a web-based application/reporting facility will be developed internally by ISB.
The overall scheme budget for awards will remain the same at £225,000, but there will be a re-allocation of £15,000 from the Hospitality Grant and Contingency budgets to grants for individuals.
Human Resources
There will be no additional human resources required at this stage.
Asset and Other Implications
None at this stage.
4 Equality and Good Relations Implications
There are no implications at this stage. However, equality screening of the recommended changes will be undertaken, internally, in line with the Council’s existing procedures.
5 Recommendations
Committee is asked to approve the proposed changes to the Support for Sport scheme for subsequent implementation by 1 May 2012 including:
· Advance Payment of 50% of total funding
· An on-line application form being developed
· Hospitality grant being re-focused and reduced to £25,000
· An Individual grant of £15,000 being developed with relocated funds from hospitality (£6,000) and contingency (£9,000)
· An award system being developed and implemented for accredited ClubMark.”
After discussion, the Committee approved the above-mentioned changes to the Support for Sport Scheme.