Agenda item

To receive and consider report 97/06 of the Strategic Director and Monitoring Officer (attached).

Introduction and Report Summary

The purpose of this report is to set out the budget position for the Abingdon Area Committee in respect of Community Grants, to invite Members to determine whether grants awarded under Service Level Agreements to twinning organisations in the Abingdon area can be paid and to consider and determine one grant application received since the last meeting of the Committee.  This report also provides information on grants awarded by the Abingdon Area Committee in the last financial year and in the current year to date.

The contact officer for this report is Lorna Edwards, Community Strategy Officer (Tel: 01235 547626).

Recommendations

(a)        Members are asked to note that a grant of £500 has been awarded under officer delegation since the last meeting and that the Committee’s remaining budget for 2006/07 is £16,680.48;

(b)        Members are asked to receive a verbal review of twinning activities in 2005/06 from the Town Clerk of AbingdonTown Council;

(c)        Members are asked to consider requests for payment of the grants under Service Level Agreements from the following two twinning associations in the Abingdon Area and to decide if payment can be made:

Abingdon Town Council, £2,500

Drayton Twinning Society, £500

(d)        Members are asked to determine the grant award, the agenda and the Council priority in respect of the following application: -

APAGE, £4,000, towards cost of producing brochure for Abingdon Arts Festival 2007,   Social Agenda, Town & Village Vitality priority;

(e)        Members are invited to note the grants awarded in 2005/06 and 2006/07 to support projects, services and events in the community.

(Councillors Monica Lovatt and Alison Rooke had each declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the request for payment of the twinning Service Level Agreement by Abingdon Town Council and in accordance with Standing Order 34 they withdrew from the meeting during its consideration.  Councillor Alison Rooke declared a personal interest in the application for grant aid submitted by Abingdon Performance Arts Group Enterprise (APAGE) and in accordance with Standing Order 34 she remained in the meeting during its consideration).

Prior to consideration of the grant and request for payment applications, the Committee received a presentation from Nigel Warner (Town Clerk) and Marianne Milburn (Twinning Officer) of Abingdon Town Council on the Town Council’s twinning activities during the past year, as follows:-

• Strong twinning links maintained.
• Employment of a Twinning Officer for 4 hours per week to assist individuals and groups.
• Grant awards to local groups amounting to £1,495.
• Continued close working with the Abingdon and District Twin Towns Society and the Vale of White Horse District Council.
• Attendance at a number of major twinning events, eg Annual Twin Towns Conference, Europe Day.

In response to questions, the Town Clerk advised as follows:-

• As part of the Town Council’s Best Value process all group financially supported through the twinning process would be asked to identify both positives and negatives of their respective twinning activities.
• The Burgess Trust was a Trust Fund established by the family of Burgess Printers and administered by the Town Council, to support twinning activities for 16 – 23 year olds.

The Chair thanked the Town Clerk for his presentation.

The Committee considered  the Twinning Partnership grants as follows:-

(a)               Abingdon Town Council

The Committee supported the continued financial support for Abingdon Town Council’s twinning activities.

(b)               Drayton Twinning Society

It was reported that the Society had now provided the information required in Schedules 2 and 3 of the Service Level Agreement.  Referring to paragraph 5.4 of the report, it was noted that it was a jazz evening not a barn dance that had proved popular.  Following an evaluation of events in 2005/06 a number of issues had been identified, as follows:-

·         Cost of activities, in particular hosting arrangements.

·         Lack of interest from the village to supporting twinning events.

·         Twinning activities organised by a small number of families.

The Committee stressed the need for the profile of the Group to be raised locally to encourage more families and organisations to participate in the twinning activities.

The Committee considered the grant application, as follows:-

Abingdon Performance Arts Group Enterprise

It was reported that Abingdon Town Council had awarded a grant of £250 and the Co-op £500.  It was noted that the theme of the 2007 Abingdon Arts Festival was young people and working in partnership with local schools.  Two schools had already expressed an interest in participating.  One Member asked whether the cost of the design, production and distribution of the 2007 brochure had been subject to a competitive tendering exercise.  In response, the Grants Officer reported that 17,000 copies of the brochure would be produced but was uncertain as to whether the costs of production and distribution had been subject to a competitive tendering exercise.  It was suggested that APAGE be advised to carry forward the 2007 brochure design for future editions to save costs.

RESOLVED

(a)        that it be noted that since the last meeting a grant of £500 has been awarded under officer delegation to Abingdon Band towards the upkeep of its band room, the maintenance of instruments and the purchase of a computer programme for music for training purposes and that the Committee’s remaining budget for 2006/07 is £16,680.48;

(b)        that the presentation from the Town Clerk on Abingdon Town Council’s twinning activities in 2005/06 be received;

(c)        that the following requests for payment of the grants under Service Level Agreements be agreed:-

Abingdon Town Council, £2,500

Drayton Twinning Society, £500

(d)        that a grant of £4,000 be awarded to the Abingdon Performance Arts Group Enterprise, towards the cost of producing a brochure for the Abingdon Arts Festival 2007 and that the Group be advised that any future financial support from the Council will be dependent on the production and distribution of future brochure’s having been subject to a competitive tendering exercise  (Social Agenda and Town & Village Vitality priority);

(e)        that the grants awarded in 2005/06 and 2006/07 to support projects, services and events in the community, as set out in Appendix B to report 97/06 be noted.