Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the acting deputy chief executive – transformation and operations. 

Councillor Jenny Hannaby declared a personal interest in this item as she was a member of the Wantage Independent Advice Centre and took no part in the debate or decision. 

Cabinet considered the head of corporate services’ report regarding the partnership grants awarded by the council. 

The Cabinet member for community services reported that the council had awarded partnership grants to organisations in the district towards their running costs for many years.  As there was no formal policy in place, the council had reduced these grants to reflect the council’s own ongoing commitments.  In 2019/20, the council had funded four organisations:

• Oxfordshire South and Vale Citizens Advice
• Wantage Independent Advice Centre
• The Albert Memorial Abingdon Trust
• Community First Oxfordshire

The Cabinet member reported that the options open to Cabinet were to extend the partnership grant scheme by one to two years to the current recipients or to close the partnership grants scheme as originally planned, while a review of the council’s grant service took place. 

The Cabinet member proposed a one-year extension to the partnership grants for Oxfordshire South and Vale Citizens Advice and Wantage Independent Advice Centre, and a two-year extension of the partnership grant for Community First Oxfordshire.  By offering these three organisations grant term extensions, communities would benefit from the support and advice they offered as the long-term implications of the Covid-19 pandemic became clear.  The cost of these extensions was built into the council’s medium-term financial plan. 

However, the Cabinet member did not recommend a grant extension to the Albert Memorial Abingdon Trust as 2020/21 was the last year of the council’s charitable trust agreement and commitment to contributing to the memorial’s maintenance fund. 

Cabinet supported the proposal as this would continue support the three organisations.  It was also considered important to build upon the work undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic and link up charities with community groups during the recovery. 

RESOLVED to:

(a)      approve a one-year extension to the partnership grants for Oxfordshire South and Vale Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Wantage Independent Advice Centre at the same level of funding as this year (2020/21) towards the provision of services across the district in 2021/22; and

(b)      approve a two-year extension of the partnership grant for Community First Oxfordshire at the same level of funding as last year (2019/20) towards the provision of services across the district in 2020/21 and 2021/22.