Scrutiny to look at future of grant funding for voluntary and community sector

Shropshire Council’s Performance and Strategy Scrutiny Committee will be looking at the council’s financial relationship with the voluntary and community sector at their meeting on Tuesday 13 December 2011. 

Council funding is hugely important to the voluntary and community sector, which plays a fundamental and vital role in delivering services to Shropshire’s residents. 

Shropshire Council provides around £4.8 million a year in grants to the voluntary and community sector.  Grants range from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands. 

The future of grant funding to the voluntary and community sector report, put forward at the meeting, will look at proposals for future developments to allow greater transparency in grant funding in the future. 

The report details recommendations on making the funding process more transparent, clearer and consistent.  The report also recommends that contract and grant procedures are robust, their purpose is clearly defined, and there is a continuous review of the programmes which are supported, to ensure value for money. 

The report also proposes that clear guidance is provided for managers to help them commission services effectively and ensure there is an understanding of when it is most appropriate to provide grants and when to provide contracts.  This will help increase and enhance the effectiveness in terms of commissioning services. 

Councillor Tim Barker, Chair of the Performance and Strategy Scrutiny Committee, said:

“It’s crucial that our funding process is as open and fair as possible.  This is why we need to undertake a thorough analysis of our processes and procedures to provide the voluntary and community sector fair access to funding.  As part of this review, we have been consulting with council, voluntary and community sector representatives on key partnership issues, new challenges and opportunities, and their impact on outcomes for Shropshire people.

“The Performance and Strategy Scrutiny Committee will be keen to see the detail of how the changes are to be applied, as any review of current grant funding may result in changes to the way grants are issued.”