City Council to ensure voluntary funding delivers for residents
The City Council is taking a fresh look at its funding for voluntary organisations to make sure it delivers the most benefit for Winchester residents.
Each year Winchester City Council awards over £750,000 in grants to the voluntary and community sector.
These organisations provide community-based care and support services, arts, sports, heritage and environmental activities, and training for employment.
The biggest proportion of the grants budget - a planned £516,000 in 2017/18 - is allocated to a group of designated ‘partner organisations’. These have been evaluated against published criteria and are considered by the Council to have the greatest capacity to make a significant, positive impact on the lives of local people.
The current partner organisations are Trinity Winchester, Winchester Churches Nightshelter, Live Theatre Winchester Trust (Theatre Royal and Hat Fair), The Carroll Centre and Citizens Advice Winchester District.
Cllr Steve Miller, the Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economy and Estates, said:
The Council has a duty to manage public money responsibly. With over half a million pounds being awarded to partner organisations, we have to assure ourselves – and our Council Tax payers – that the money is being used to best effect.
We want to work with organisations that are well-governed and financially prudent, especially in these challenging financial times. But we also seek to encourage innovation, collaboration and an entrepreneurial spirit which means being confident in the ability of our partner organisations to take calculated risks.
Much excellent work is being done on behalf of local residents by this group of charities, and we look forward to working closely with them as we move into a new funding year.
In May 2016 the City Council’s Cabinet appointed a member-observer to the board of trustees of each partner organisation to reinforce the relationship at the highest level.
Monitoring information will be presented to The Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday 23 January and annually after that.
A report summarises the performance of each organisation over the past year, includes a brief financial assessment, sets out areas that the grants evaluation panel felt could be developed in the year ahead, and incorporates feedback from members nominated as observers on the various boards of trustees. It also outlines key risks to the Council which could arise from the grant-funding relationship and measures by which these are managed.
Cllr Miller added:
Our grants programme reflects the Council’s belief that life in the Winchester district is significantly improved by the work of the voluntary sector.
The Council is developing its programme to build stronger relationships with the voluntary sector, reduce bureaucracy, increase transparency of decision-making, manage risk and deliver best value for Winchester residents.