To enable Cabinet to consider a recommendation submitted to it by the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee in relation to the provision of grant funding by the Council and other bodies, with a particular focus on its suitability in meeting the needs of the District, together with the response of the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships thereto.

RESOLVED that the recommendations made by the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee be welcomed and noted and that they be given consideration for inclusion in the forthcoming external funding policy which is currently being developed.

Cabinet was informed that, as part of the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee’s (“the Committee”) Work Programme, the Committee had examined the provision of grant funding by the Council and other bodies, with a particular focus on its suitability in meeting the needs of the District. In preparation for its formal meeting on 15 January 2026, Members had met informally on 8 January 2026. This informal session had enabled Members to develop key lines of inquiry for the subsequent formal scrutiny meeting.

It was reported that, at its formal meeting on 15 January 2026, the Committee had considered a report presented by the Head of Health and Partnerships. Members had posed a series of questions to both the Head of Service and the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships, many of which had been formulated during the earlier informal session. Additional supplementary questions were also raised during the meeting.

The accompanying presentation had significantly assisted the Committee in evaluating the extent of corporate oversight applied to the wide range of grant schemes administered by the Council. Following the responses to Members’ supplementary questions, the Committee had gained a clearer understanding of the constraints and broader implications of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) on grant funding, as well as the potential safeguards that could be introduced to ensure fairness and consistency in the assessment of applications.

Cabinet was reminded that, at its meeting held on 14 January 2025 (minute 5 referred), the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee had made recommendations to the Cabinet, which were referenced in the left-hand column of the table below. The answers given in reference to those recommendations at the 15 January 2026 (minute 31 referred) meeting were as set out in the righthand column of the table below and were themselves in response to the following question:-

“Could you please provide an update on the delivery against the recommendations from this Committee previously approved in respect of a grants policy?”

Consequently, at its meeting held on 15 January 2026, the Committee had resolved the following, that it:-

“1)   thanks the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships, the Corporate Director (Finance & IT) and the Head of Health and Partnerships for their update on the development of a grant giving policy for the Council;

2)    reaffirms to Cabinet that the recommendations originally made by the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 14 January 2025 in respect of the grants giving policy of the Council and ask that there is reconsideration of those items not yet pursued as set out in the answers to questions asked by Members; and

3)    urges Cabinet or the Portfolio Holder as relevant to include in the policy some text to alert the intended shadow authority and the successor unitary authority that will cover Tendring to ensure that there is protection of community groups in the District and their access to funding, and that communication with those groups ahead of reorganisation be pursued to ensure they are best prepared for that change.”

The Committee’s resolutions 2) and 3) above were pertinent to the Cabinet.

Cabinet had before it the following formal response thereto of the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships:-

“I thank the Committee for its consideration of the item on grants.

In terms of the items for consideration following the meeting on 14 January 2025 I refer to the answers provided to the Committee at the meeting on 15 January 2026 and reaffirm the following points to each question raised.

(a) the establishment of an Oversight Group of Members for grant schemes across the Council;

The Cabinet member provides oversight from a Member perspective, and as the majority of the decisions are executive the Constitution states that Members can call them in, so there is oversight of the decisions. With local government reorganisation taking place the Council has to guard its capacity closely at the moment, in terms of setting up and servicing new groups.    

(b) some form of gap analysis – even if full analysis is too large a project to be achieved and the opportunities to ‘flex’ grant giving to maximise the range of organisations receiving financial support in the District across the years.

In respect of the potential for a formal gap analysis which would lead to the maximisation of the range of organisations which can access funding, it was determined that although a gap analysis was not necessary, maximisation of funding opportunity was occurring by use of open call processes with broad criteria across a wide geographical spread.  The proposed external funding policy which is now being developed further supports the fair and equitable allocation of funding to a wide variety of organisations.

(c) further standardised processes for different grant giving arrangements to help deliver best practice across those separate grant giving arrangements (e.g. around the length of time between opening invitations for applications and the closing date, common and plain language to explain the processes (and be available on the website), details of other grants received, the time between closure of application and determination/notification of outcomes, and the post grant-giving monitoring arrangements).

In terms of the standardisation of processes for grant giving the proposed external funding policy highlights key areas around timely grant processes, using clear language, publicising opportunities and providing support although allows flexibility depending on the grant giving arrangements rather than prescribing specific actions.

(d) Adopt a consistent ‘you said, we did’ opportunity for organisations applying for grant funding to feed back on their experiences;

In terms of organisations being able to receive feedback it is currently proposed that the new policy refers to obtaining feedback from some of those who have been through the grant process so as to help improve arrangements.

(e) Look at organising an open day for community/voluntary groups in conjunction with other grant funding organisations (and CVST) to disseminate information on those grant schemes and help to break down barriers to access grant funding for these community/voluntary groups.

In relation to an open day for applicants to understand grant schemes and to help them access funding, an event was held on 12 March 2025 in the Princes Theatre in respect of a major grant funding opportunity for UK Shared Prosperity Funding.  Further open days could be considered for other major funding opportunities should they come along.  

(g)  Note that there are proposals for LGR in Greater Essex and that we are awaiting confirmation from Government to whether these will proceed and over what timetable. On the basis that Government does approve the principle of LGR in Greater Essex the Committee record that it would wish to undertake an enquiry into the implications of LGR on areas within its responsibility (including grant funding) in the work programme for 2025/26 and that this enquiry would look at possible areas where the transition to a new unitary structure could be supported.

In terms of Local Government Reorganisation, the proposed external funding policy will include a section on transition and in particular highlights that officers should ensure grant recipients are made aware of the changes and that funding is spent or committed prior to the new unitary coming into existence.  In addition, that if a grant covers the period across the two different authorities that this is considered through the transition process.

I look forward to the proposed forthcoming External Funding Policy coming into effect which seeks to improve the process around allocating funding.”

Having considered the resolutions of the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee, together with the formal response of the Partnerships Portfolio Holder thereto:-

It was moved by Councillor Placey, seconded by Councillor Barry and:-

RESOLVED that the recommendations made by the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee be welcomed and noted and that they be given consideration for inclusion in the forthcoming external funding policy which is currently being developed.