Agenda item

To consider a report by the Team Leader Economic and Business Development South (copy enclosed) which outlines the current position with European Union (EU) and other funds currently available for Community benefit.

                                                                                   9.35 a.m. to 10.10 a.m.

A copy of a report by the Team Leader Economic and Business Development South (TLEBD), which outlined the the current position with European Union (EU) and other funds currently available for Community benefit, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

The report provided the current position and availability of potential funding sources, subject to eligibility criteria, for Community benefit.  It detailed the support available to Community groups in applying for funding which was also available via external agencies and support networks, and provided a guide to the main sources of EU and other types of funding currently available.

A guide to the main funding sources currently available had been provided and included EU Funds and EU Structural Funds 2014-2020.  It was explained that the amount of matched funding would vary according to each theme and project.  The programme level grant rates had been provided to give an indication of grant levels anticipated.  The investment objectives for the programmes in Wales had been outlined in the report.

the TLEBD during the presentation of her report informed the Committee that:-

· that the focus of the new round of European Funding had changed.  Under the new programme fewer local projects would be funded, the emphasis would be on large strategic projects that would be delivered on either a sub-regional, regional or even a national basis:

· Cadwyn Clwyd had been appointed as the Local Action Group (LAG) to deliver the LEADER  element of the Rural Development Plan (RDP) 2014/20, but as the European Union (EU) was yet to approve the RDP, funding for projects could not be released and as a result staff had been released or were under notice of redundancy.  This was not an ideal situation but it was out of the Council's control;

· Conwy Voluntary Services Council (CVSC) had recently been appointed as administrators for the Gwynt y Môr Windfarm Fund.  This had been a consortia bid, which had included Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) and Flintshire Voluntary Services Council (FVSC) amongst other partners.  The Advisory Group was now scheduled to meet on 7 April to discuss project eligibility criteria and how to progress with the distribution of grants and monies.

In response to Members' questions the TLEBD advised that:-

- with respect to the Gwynt y Môr Community Fund there was some discrepancies on how far inland the benefits of the Fund should be distributed, the reason for this being that whilst the turbines themselves were offshore their visual impact was seen along the coast, and the associated connections and substation were inland, the substation being near St. Asaph, and as

- as part of the Gwynt y Môr Advisory Group work Denbighshire officers had a very good working relationship with all partners, including CVSC.  To date Denbighshire had been represented on the Gwynt y Môr Advisory Group by officers, but now that the fund administrator had been appointed it was likely that the membership and the structures would be reviewed;

- commuted sums monies was administered by various Council departments e.g. Public Realm, Planning and Public Protection, Highways and Environmental Services dependent on the basis on which the commuted sums had been granted.  She confirmed that all open spaces commuted sums monies had been committed;

- match-funding requirements for the new round of European funding would be:  Structural Funds: 75% grant funding, 25% match funding; RDP:  80% grant funding, 20% match funding.  No match funding monies had been allocated yet by the Council.  The award and allocation of march funding would be considered on each projects' merit.  One project had to date been put forward, this related to an education skills project for 14 to 19 year old students who were at risk of becoming disengaged with education.  The match funding element of this project would be in the form of Council staff to work on purchasing alternative curriculum provision to reduce the risk of disengagement;

- support with information and accessing for European Funding projects would in future be available through the Welsh Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), who had dedicated support for this type of work.  Information would also be available on the Sell2Wales website;

- a gap analysis was being undertaken to try and identify areas of non-statutory services which may benefit from RDP funding going forward.  It was explained that Councillors would have an important role to play going forward as the link between communities and the funding streams, as they would be key in signposting community groups etc. to  DVSC/WCVA, to access advice and support;

- not all community funds provided development funding for the purpose of scoping projects, however there was some development funding available for some BIG Lottery projects;

- very large infrastructure projects sponsored by the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, such as the electrification of the North Wales railway line, or the proposed tidal lagoon were outside the scope of the European Structural Funds due to their size and cost;

- she was not aware of any community funding available to help first time buyers access the housing market, but she would enquire with Registered Social Landlords (RSL) to see if they offered funding for this purpose, and she would check in case the rules relating to green spaces commuted sums had changed.

The Committee were keen that an Elected Member be appointed to represent Denbighshire on the successor body to the Gwynt y Môr Community Funding Advisory Board now that a Fund Administrator had been appointed.  They also agreed that the invitation extended to the DVSC to attend a meeting of the Committee also outline members' wishes to discuss with its representatives the DVSC's role in assisting communities to access the various streams of external community funding available to them. 

Following further discussion, it was:-

RESOLVED – that:-

(a) subject to the above observations, to receive the information;

(b) to note the Member's role within the community to identify projects and raise awareness of funding sources available to community groups with a view to maximising their benefits to the communities and support the delivery of the Council's corporate priorities and its Corporate Plan;

(c) to recommend that representations be made to the Gwynt y Môr Community Funding Advisory Group that an Elected Member should in future serve on the relevant body that will oversee the award of grant funding; and

(d) that the Committee's future meeting with representatives from Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) include a discussion on the organisation's role in assisting and supporting community groups to access advice on external community funding streams.