Purpose

1.In February 2021 Cabinet approved
£2,351,995 revenue funding to support the delivery of a
Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector recovery
strategy and enabling a proposed new Communities Resilience Fund
(CRF) commencing 2021/22.
2.In July 2023 the Executive Director of Adults and Communities
approved payment of £4m Community Resilience Fund for capital
grants to community and voluntary groups, including £800,000
for dedicated grants for city wide equalities communities. It was
agreed that a plan for expenditure of the CRF revenue budget,
including revenue development grants would be brought back to the
meeting once grantees had started developing their Full Project
Plans and revenue needs were clear.
3.At EDM on 22nd November 2023, Executive Director for Adults and
Communities in consultation with Cabinet Member for Communities
approved the plan for the CRF revenue budget, including allocating
up to £400k per annum for revenue development grants to VCSE
organisation in receipt of CRF capital grants. The purpose of these
grants is to enable the successful development and delivery of CRF
projects.
4.CRF Revenue development grants will be between 5% and 20% of the
value of the capital grant (consistent with other parts of the
council who spend capital). They will be awarded up front at the
beginning of projects, to enable organisations to bring in
necessary expertise i.e. structural engineer, project manager,
architect in line with project milestones. This will also enable
them to plan for ongoing costs.
5.This OED approved the second tranche of 23 revenue development
grants worth £112,091.02 to be paid to organisations who have
approved full project plans and capital grant agreements already in
place, and those who require 5% of their capital grant up front to
enable the development of their plan as set out in Appendix
C.
6.The decision to reallocate CRF capital grant money follows from
the Cabinet decision taken on 8th February 2022 (See item 12 here:
ModernGov - bristol.gov.uk), which authorised the Executive
Director for People in consultation with Cabinet Member for
Communities to invite community and voluntary organisations to
apply to the Community Resilience Fund and to award grants
necessary for the implementation of capital projects in the
Community and Voluntary Sector.
7.At its meeting on 25 February 2021, Cabinet approved the creation
of the second Bristol Impact Fund (BIF) – Growing The Power
of Communities, and authorised the Executive Director for People in
consultation with Cabinet Member for Public Health and Communities
to invite community and voluntary organisations to apply to Bristol
Impact Fund and to award grants necessary for the implementation of
Bristol Impact Fund Growing the Power of Communities for the period
1st October 2021 – 30th September 2025.
8.At EDM on 22nd November 2023, Executive Director for Adults and
Communities in consultation with Cabinet Member for Communities
approved funding to build capacity and resilience of the VCSE in
line with Designing a New Social Reality. The decision to grant a
10% uplift to BIF2 Medium and Large grant holders is part of our
commitment to this.

Content

A.To authorise the spending of
£112,091.02 of revenue development grants to enable Community
Resilience Fund grantees to successfully deliver their capital
projects.
B.To award Community Resilience Fund capital grants to
organisations whose projects were selected as reserves, following
the application and decision making process. This is due to
projects withdrawing from the process due to issues with
feasibility of their projects as set out in appendix E. This
capital funding is available to be spent over three years from 1st
April 2023 to 31st March 2026 to build the resilience of the
community and voluntary sector. All projects should be completed by
September 2025.
C.To authorise spending of £300,854.95 revenue to uplift
years 3 and 4 of BIF2 medium and large grants in recognition of
rising cost of living, increase to real living wage and inflation.
This is part of our commitment to build capacity and resilience of
the VCSE in line with Designing a New Social Reality