Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and took a roll call of Members present. Franca Currall, Solicitor, provided a virtual meeting explanation.

None as all Members were present.

No apologies were received as all Members were present.

The Chairman declared a prejudicial interest in the COVID-19 Recovery Grant Scheme – Community and Voluntary Sector Application from Haywards Heath Dementia Friendly Community as he is the Vice-Chairman of East Grinstead Dementia Friendly Community which has been part of the application. He confirmed that he would remove himself from the discussion and voting on the applications and asked for the Vice-Chairman to assume the role of Chairman in that time.

The Vice-Chairman declared a prejudicial interest in the COVID-19 Recovery Grant Scheme – Business Grants Applications from Community Inspired Ltd and The Koorana Centre due to his close working relationship with the owners over a number of years. He confirmed that he would remove himself from the discussion and voting on the applications. He sought further advice from the Solicitor on the COVID-19 Recovery Grant Scheme – Business Grants Application from Sussex Chamber of Commerce as he is a Haywards Heath Business Association Committee Member who have recently become an affiliate member of the Sussex Chamber of Commerce. He also sought advice on the Corporate Grant Schemes - Release of S106 Contributions recommendation relating to St Francis Social and Sports Club as he is a regular user of the bar facilities at the venue.

Franca Currall, Solicitor, confirmed that the Vice-Chairman should remove himself from the discussion and voting on the application from the Sussex Chamber of Commerce as he is part of the Association’s Committee however did not recommend being removed the discussion and voting on the recommendation for St Francis Social and Sports Club.

The Member declared that he was a member of the East Grinstead Tennis and Racket Club however he is not a committee member.

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Grants Panel, held on 26 January 2021

were approved as a correct record and electronically signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman noted a Corporate Grant Schemes - Community and Economic Development Grant application from Burgess Hill Cricket Club which was omitted from the report due to technical issues relating to the receipt of the application. He confirmed that the application would be heard at the appropriate time.

The Member noted receipt of an email from Town Cllr. Frank Osbourne which asked that the Panel consider approving the application from Chequer Mead Arts & Community Trust given the difficult financial position faced by the organisation.

The Chairman noted a conversation he had with Cllr Rex Whittaker, in his capacity as an MSDC Cllr., who drew attention to the difficulties faced by the organisation. He highlighted that to date they have not qualified for any grants they had applied for and have continued to exist thanks to their own efforts. He asked that officers of the Council engage with Cllr Whittaker and the Chequer Mead Arts & Community Trust to encourage them to submit an application in good time.

The Chairman issued a plea to businesses in Mid Sussex whom may have been watching the live-stream and needed grant assistance to submit applications by 31 March 2021. He outlined that approximately £10m is left in the grant pot which, if unspent, would be returned back to Central Government. He expressed reluctance to return the money to anywhere other than businesses in Mid Sussex. The Vice-Chairman echoed the Chairman’s comments.

Caroline Duffy, Business Development Officer, introduced the report which presented thirty-four Covid-19 Recovery Grant applications for consideration by the Cabinet Grants Panel. She noted that twenty applications have been recommended for funding; four not recommended for funding due to their receipt of a recent microbusiness grant and ten not recommended for reasons including being located out of the Mid Sussex area, for retrospective activities or not meeting the Covid-19 specific criteria. She noted that the application from the Sussex Chamber of Commerce has been amended from £5,000 to £4,000 as an intended project they were seeking funding for has been withdrawn. Also, that the grant award for Tamarind has been amended following the identification of retrospective equipment purchases which are not permitted funding in the scheme.

The applications which were recommended for consideration by the Panel are set out below:

Emma Sheridan, Business Unit Leader for Community Services, Policy and Performance, introduced the report which listed twenty applications received from Community and Voluntary Sector organisations, in response to the Mid Sussex Covid-19 Recovery Grant Fund. She explained that a number of organisations are community halls, five of which are seeking to improve their digital offer, two seeking the purchase of PPE and three seeking to change or offer new activities as a result of Covid-19. She noted the application from the Dementia Action Alliance project which was deferred at the last meeting of the Panel, to see if they could seek alternative grant funding. Officers have since exhausted all opportunities and have not found it possible to fund the activities that the grant was requested for.

The applications which were recommended for consideration by the Panel are set out below:

Elaine Clarke, Community Facilities Project Officer, introduced the report which provided an update regarding the allocation of S106 receipts to community projects. She noted that no new applications were submitted by the 10 January deadline, for consideration in this funding round. She outlined that work has continued on the delivery of capital improvements at community and sports facilities funded through the Release of S106 awards, but as a consequence of the Covid19 pandemic, many venues have had to close, contractors’ schedules have been disrupted and site visits have been difficult to organize. Therefore, they been unable to meet the deadlines agreed by the Cabinet Grants Panel, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, as conditions of funding and seeks approval to vary these dates and provide extensions of time to allow more time for fundraising and project delivery.

The Chairman highlighted that the Crawley Down Cricket Club had previously extended their end date, which is due to conclude in November 2021.

The Community Facilities Project Officer explained that the club thought the timing was sufficient and so haven’t asked for any further extension to their project.

The Member noted that the funding to The Branch Line has withdrawn and the project will not be delivered and asked whether the funding will be distributed amongst the wider Haywards Heath area.

The Community Facilities Project Officer confirmed that it will be allocated to other applications based in Haywards Heath.

RESOLVED

The Cabinet Grants Panel agreed:

1. That the special condition for the Sheddingdean Baptist Church’s Release of S106 Contributions application be extended to secure project funding to March 2022 and project completion by March 2023.

2. That Burgess Hill Town Council’s Release of S106 Contributions application project completion date be extended to December 2021.

3. That St Francis Social and Sports Club’s Release of S106 Contributions application:

Stage 1:   extension of special condition to secure project funding to June 2021; and project completion by October 2022.

Stage 2:   extension of special condition to secure match funding to Mar 2022; project completion by March 2023

4. That East Grinstead Rugby Club’s Release of S106 Contributions application project completion date be extended to December 2021.

5. That the special condition for Haywards Heath Rugby Club’s Release of S106 Contributions application be extended to secure project funding to June 2022 and project completion by June 2023.

6. That Haywards Heath Tennis Club’s Release of S106 Contributions application be revised to secure match funding by March 2022 and project completion by March 2023 (subject to Cabinet Grants Panel approval of revised scheme).

Emma Sheridan, Business Unit Leader for Community Services, Policy and Performance, introduced the report which presented seven Community & Economic Development grant applications for consideration. She noted that an application from Burgess Hill Cricket Club wasn’t received by her team due to technical issues relating to the submission of the form. However, she confirmed that the application had been submitted by the deadline. They are seeking £5,000 to purchase a Triple Blade Sit-On Mower to allow the Club to take responsibility for cutting the cricket outfield in St John's Park.

The applications which were recommended for consideration by the Panel are set out below:

The Vice-Chairman enquired whether there will be any badging on the Triple Blade Sit-On Mower to say that the money used to acquire the machine was provided by Mid Sussex District Council.

The Business Unit Leader for Community Services, Policy and Performance confirmed that as part of the award they need to recognise where the funding was sourced.

The Chairman noted that cricket pitches are notoriously temperamental and sought assurances that the pitch has been assessed independently to ensure that it meets a  reasonable standard.

The Business Unit Leader for Community Services, Policy and Performance confirmed that it has been assessed and that it does meet the standard.

The Chairman took the Panel to vote on all applications.

Members were supportive of the applications and recommendations.

RESOLVED

The Cabinet Grants Panel agreed:

1. That a Community & Economic Development Grant of £1,000 be awarded to Disability Access East Grinstead to fund the continuing provision of advice to people and their carers on disability access, advice to providers of goods and services and input into planning applications.

2. That a Community & Economic Development Grant is not awarded to Borde Hill Garden for Experience Mid Sussex as the application does not meet the criteria of the Community & Economic Development Grants Scheme.

3. That a Community & Economic Development Grant is not awarded to Mid Sussex Active as the application does not meet the criteria of the Community & Economic Development Grants Scheme.

4. That a Community & Economic Development Grant is not awarded to Hurst Festival as the application does not meet the criteria of the Community & Economic Development Grants Scheme.