Purpose

To provide detail of the
proposed changes to the Council’s scheme of Service Support
Grant (SSG) funding to the Voluntary and Community Sector
(VCS).

Content

The Cabinet has agreed to the proposed
recommendations for the SSG three-year funding scheme for 2026-29
in Appendix A (subject to the Council’s normal annual
budget-setting processes) to include:
 

1) Timing of the review and timetable – undertaking
the review now

2) Budget for the SSG - increase the annual budget from
£167,400 to £300,000 (plus Housing grants), a total
increase of £132,600.

3) Themes and notional allocations - maintain the current
themes (with some amendments) and ring-fence a sum (of £30k)
for a specific pilot/project to encourage PLACE-based and/or
theme-based working
4) Grant term and
performance monitoring - maintaining the status quo, with
performance monitored at:

o six monthly intervals for those organisations in receipt of
funding sums of £10,000 or greater per annum.

o twelve monthly intervals for organisations in receipt of funding
sums less than £10,000 per annum unless specifically
requested by the Committee Members.

5) Framework for assessing project proposals - retain the
status quo
6) Name of the
scheme - amend the name from ‘Voluntary and Community
Sector (VCS)’ to ‘Voluntary, Community and Social
Enterprise (VCSE) sector’.