Agenda and minutes

Venue: VIA REMOTE VIDEO LINK

Contact: Email: committees@midsussex.gov.uk 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Roll Call and Virtual Meeting Explanation.

Minutes:

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

 

2.

To note Substitutes in Accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4 - Substitutes at Meetings of Committees etc.

Minutes:

None as all Members were present.

 

3.

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

No apologies were received as all Members were present.

 

4.

To receive Declarations of Interests from Members in respect of any matter on the Agenda.

Minutes:

Cllr Belsey declared a prejudicial interest in the application from Age UK East Grinstead & District as he is the Chairman of the organisation. He confirmed that he would remove himself from the discussion and voting on the item.

 

Cllr Webster declared a personal interest in the application for Haywards Heath Dementia Action Alliance as he is the Vice-Chairman of the organisation in East Grinstead. The application is linked to the organisation in East Grinstead and whilst he played no part on the submission of the application he confirmed that he would remove himself from the discussion and voting on the item.

 

5.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting of the Panel held on 19 October 2020 pdf icon PDF 307 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Grants Panel, held on 19 October 2020 were approved as a correct record and electronically signed by the Chairman.

 

6.

To consider any items that the Chairman agrees to take as urgent business.

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked all the officers for their hard work in bringing forward a large number of applications in a short space of time.

 

7.

To receive representations from Members of the Council on the applications.

Minutes:

No representations were received.

 

8.

Corporate Grant Schemes pdf icon PDF 171 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Emma Sheridan, Business Unit Leader for Community Services, Policy and Performance, introduced the report which presented thirty-one applications received from Community and Voluntary Sector organisations, in response to the Mid Sussex Covid-19 Recovery Grant Fund, to help businesses and community organisations in supporting and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. She noted that the revised Mid Sussex District Council Corporate Plan established the Fund with the provision of £300,000 deriving from Council reserves and that a small amount of the grants were not recommended for an award however they have been directed to other funding.

 

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

 

Table 1

Organisation

Grant Purpose

Award Requested

Award Suggested

107 Meridian FM

Home broadcasting equipment for volunteers

£2,280

£2,280

4Sight Vision Support

Costs towards increased newsletter printing and distribution

£868

£868

Aspire Sussex Ltd

Additional cleaning materials for Marle Place centre

£1,000

£1,000

Bolney Community Café Centre

Purchase Covid screens and outdoor shelter

£5,000

£2,352

Bolnore Village Community Partnership

Improvements to the facilities to ensure that they can be cleaned more easily and be Covid safe

£5,000

£5,000

Concordia

Set up virtual e-learning zone for Youth Action programme

£3,620

£3,620

Crawley and East Grinstead Branch of Parkinson’s UK

Develop website to promote services and raise awareness

£1,500

£1,500

East Grinstead Rugby Football Club

Cleaning requirements and sports equipment

£4,492

£4,492

East Grinstead Sports Club

Works to facilitate social distancing measures and regular cleaning regimes for the club

£2,900

£2,900

Friends of Bolney School

Purchase ‘Buddy Bench’ for children feeling anxious

£176

£176

Handcross Rosemary Club

Cost of Christmas hampers to replace Christmas lunch, monthly tea and visits

£1,000

£1,000

Hope

Fund hall hire where groups can no longer meet in own homes

£992

£992

Hurstpierpoint Gymnastics Club

Additional cleaning materials, equipment and coaches to assist with smaller groups

£5,000

£5,000

Mid Sussex Marlins Swimming Club

Additional pool hire costs to make lessons Covid compliant

£5,000

£5,000

Mid Sussex Older People’s Council

Costs towards increased newsletter printing and posting

£1,000

£1,000

Mid Sussex Voluntary Action

Cost of new CRM and to migrate onto Cloud

£5,000

£5,000

Mycarematters 2020 CIC

Set up Buddy system for people struggling to plan for later life and end of life

£5,000

£5,000

Revitalise Respite Holidays

Cost of PPE for the respite centre

£3,600

£3,600

SASBAH

Online workshops

£873

£873

*Slaugham Parish Council

Purchase free standing sanitation stations

£1,500

£1,500

St Peter & St James Hospice

Expansion of telephone befriending service

£2,000

£2,000

The Ashdown Hub CIO

Set up social networking groups (Covid compliant) with expert clinician to advise on wellbeing

£1,210

£1,210

UK Harvest

Food deliveries to vulnerable residents and set up online chefing course

£5,000

£5,000

Age UK East Grinstead & District

Analysis of survey and purchase new IT, marketing and postage

£5,000

£3,500

Being Neighbourly

Set up website, information packs and social events

£4,965

£2,851

St Peter’s Preschool & Toddler Group

New website, film virtual tour and fit new carpet

£1,500

£1,152

Victim Support

Purchase two new laptops for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Micro Business Grant Scheme pdf icon PDF 29 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Ali Chafekar and Caroline Duffy the new respective Regeneration & Economy Programme Manager and Business Development Officer.

 

William Hawkins, Economic Development Officer, introduced the report which presented 3 micro business grant applications for consideration by the Cabinet Grants Panel.

 

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

 

Organisation

Location

Purpose for which award is sought

Award Requested

Award

Suggested

Albion Business Computers

Burgess Hill

Apprentice

£1,500

£1,500

Owen Garages Ltd

Haywards Heath

Apprentice

£1,500

£1,500

Zona Football Ltd

Haywards Heath

Apprentice

£1,500

£1,500

Total

 

 

£4,500

£4,500

 

The Vice-Chairman felt the reasons for bringing the applications for both Albion Business Computers & Owen Garages forward is understandable. He however noted the sphere of influence for Zona Football Ltd is more Brighton than Mid Sussex so asked whether the apprentice they will hire will be a Mid Sussex resident.

 

The Economic Development Officer confirmed that whilst it is right that Zona Football Ltd have operations outside of the District they do meet the grant criteria as the business is registered within the District; the Council was unable to identify where the apprentice is based.

 

The Vice-Chairman stated that he was struggling to support the application without confirmation as to where the apprentice resides. He expressed his happiness to delegate the decision to officers should they find out that the apprentice is a Mid Sussex resident.

 

The Chairman said he was happy to agree a delegate responsibility.

 

The Member explained that he was happy to support the application if the Mid Sussex economy benefits from the application. He enquired what would occur with their application if the apprentice were to leave the business.

 

The Economic Development Officer noted the Council does not have any means to claw back the money should the apprentice leaves however the Council will not release the funds until it has seen signed document from the apprentice; the equipment destined for the apprentice can be repurposed to another person should the apprentice leave.

 

The Chairman highlighted that all applicants must report back to the Council within a year and that the submission of the applicants invoices is proof of the payment as required.  He drew the Panel’s attention to Paragraph 3 which details the scheme being funded through the West Sussex Local Enterprise Partnership and LEAP therefore the applicant does meet the criteria if they operate within the area.

 

The Vice-Chairman replied that it does change his view however he is still keen to know where the apprentice resides.

 

The Chairman agreed the granting of the applications subject to work being carried out on Zona Football Ltd to establish where the apprentice resides. He then directed the Panel to the vote on all the applications which were all approved unanimously.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Cabinet Grants Panel agreed:

 

  1. That a Micro Business Grant of £1,500 be awarded to Albion Business Computers to aid in the hiring of an apprentice

 

  1. That a Micro Business Grant of £1,500 be awarded to Owen Garages Ltd to aid  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Covid-19 Recovery Grant Scheme - Business Grants pdf icon PDF 122 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Caroline Duffy, Business Development Officer, introduced the report which presented 23 Covid-19 Recovery Grant applications made by businesses for consideration by the Panel. She noted that 14 grants received were ineligible for the scheme as they did not meet the criteria including 6 that related to running costs, which have been redirected to the government grant funding. 2 separate applications were received from wedding venues however they share the same director and under the criteria, the Council would only fund one application. The applicant has however asked that the 2 businesses be considered separately given the impact of the virus on the venues so asked the Panel to consider whether they would be happy granting both applications or just one. Officers recommend that only the application from Ravenswood Venue Ltd be granted.

 

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

 

Business / Contact

Purpose for which award is sought

Award Requested

Award Suggested

7th Heaven Salon Limited / Ellie Malins

Purchase IT equipment

£2,000.00

£2,000.00

First Recruitment Services Limited / Claire Sipple

IT Improvements

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

The Matthew Clift Collection Ltd / Matt Clift

IT equipment / website improvements

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

EBISS UK LTD / Wayne Forster

Website / vehicle / warehouse improvements

£12,000.00

£5,000.00

Beautiful Naturally / Laura Platt

New service / training / equipment

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

Ravenswood Venue Ltd / Tony Tijhuis

Purchase IT equipment

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

Strategic Marcomms Consultancy Ltd / Rebecca Jabbar

Online training website / materials

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

The Hub Kids Club Ltd / Gemma Coombes

Purchase equipment / ipads / staffing costs

£5,000.00

£2,000.00

Sixstar World Ltd / Sacha Dykes

Website improvements / software

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

Jigsaw Occupational Therapy Ltd / Dominic Simpson

Training videos/ software / equipment

£1,500.00

£1,500.00

Limepalm Ltd / Susie Leppard

Website improvements / training / fees

£3,000.00

£3,000.00

Squires Planning Ltd / Andrew Metcalfe

IT equipment / software

£1,000.00

£1,000.00

International Location Safety Limited / Helen Hill

Digital marketing support

£1,000.00

£1,000.00

Jonathan Lea Ltd / Jonathan Lea

IT equipment

£4,675.00

£4,675.00

The Sport and Travel Group Ltd / Jon Ruben

IT equipment / membership fee

£4,391.00

£4,391.00

Avensys Ltd / Samantha Wood

Purchase equipment

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

The Fresh Fish Shop Ltd / Sebastian Candelon

Ecommerce / marketing / shop front

£3,829.00

£2,000.00

Hassocks Eyecare Centre Ltd / Vicki Macken

Improve premises

£2,000.00

£2,000.00

Highley Manor Venue Ltd / Tony Tijhuis

Improve premises

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

Flinders Coffee Ltd / Katrina Wale

Purchase equipment / seating / website

£5,000.00

£5,000.00

Purple Carrot Enterprises Ltd / Chris Wilson

Outdoor equipment / website / signage

£3,570.00

£3,570.00

The Tasting Rooms Wine Lounge Ltd / Rob Bliss

Outside area / equipment

£3,150.00

£3,150.00

Mid Sussex Osteopaths / Adam Fiske

Staff training / marketing / outreach work

£2,500.00

£2,500.00

TOTAL

 

£95,115.00

£82,786.00

 

The Vice-Chairman thought it was superb the way in which the council has supported local businesses. He however raised concerns as to whether it was right that the grant should be given to Jonathan Lea Ltd  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.