Decision details

Community Initiative Fund (CIF) SSC8 18/19

Decision Maker: Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: Yes

Is subject to call in?: Yes

Purpose:

Since April 2018 the Community Initiative Fund (CIF) has been allocated by County Local Committees through a crowdfunding model called ‘the West Sussex Crowd’. This has enabled funding from other sources to be pledged to local projects and causes.  By early January 2019, over £190,000 had been pledged, £118,000 of which had come from external funding sources.  The ability to leverage such external funding, combined with the fact that the CIF budget is usually underspent each year, has led to the development of this proposal to reduce the CIF budget as part of the Council’s overall savings programme.

 

This report details the proposal to reduce the budget for the Council’s CIF from £280,000 per year to £140,000 per year.  This proposal will be included in the Governance Committee review of County Local Committees due to take place between May and September 2019, with implementation of savings to be delayed until the review has been completed.  Any in-year underspend in the CIF will not be rolled forward into the budget for 2019/20 but will be used to mitigate savings required for 2019/20 in front line service areas whilst alternative funding sources are explored.

 

Decision:

The Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities has approved that;

 

(1)     the budget for the Council’s Community Initiative Fund (CIF) be reduced from £280,000 per year to £140,000 per year;

 

(2)     this proposal be included in the Governance Committee review of County Local Committees, with implementation of savings to be delayed until the review has been completed; and

 

(3)     any in-year underspend in the Community Initiative Fund will not be rolled forward into the budget for 2019/20 and will be used to mitigate savings required for 2019/20 in front line service areas whilst alternative funding sources are explored.

 

Update (15/08/19): Implementation of this saving was delayed to enable consideration by a member working group set up by the Council’s Governance Committee to carry out a review of County Local Committees (through which CIF is allocated).  The working group has now considered this matter and has concluded that whilst CIF is an important mechanism for the Council to support community-based projects and programmes, the proposed in-year reduction is appropriate. Therefore this in-year saving will now be implemented.

Interests and Nature of Interests Declared:

None

Publication date: 29/01/2019

Date of decision: 29/01/2019

Effective from: 08/02/2019

Accompanying Documents: