Decision

The remaining balance (£60,000) of the Community Grant Fund 2025/2026 will be vired to the Council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Reasons for the decision

The Community Grant Fund was established as a time-limited fund for the 2025/2026 financial year and is not intended to continue beyond this period. The amount of funding that remains is relatively small and would not be sufficient to meaningfully support additional capital or community projects in line with the original objectives of the fund. Delivering a further competitive grant round would create a disproportionate administrative burden when compared to the value of funding available for distribution. Transferring the remaining funds to the Crisis and Resilience Fund ensures that the resource can still be used effectively and deliver benefits to residents in a timely and proportionate way.

Alternative options considered

Consideration was given to undertaking a further grant round; however, this was rejected because the remaining funding is insufficient to support viable projects and the administrative effort required would outweigh the benefits of allocation. The option of leaving the funds unallocated was also considered and rejected on the basis that it would not represent good financial management or maximise benefit to the community. The preferred option of reallocating the funds to an alternative mechanism was adopted as it enables effective and timely use of the remaining budget.

Background papers:

Community Grant Fund Policy 2025/2026 – Cabinet 9 June 2025

Community Grant Fund 2025 – Funding Awards Tranche 1 – Cabinet 16 September 2025