APPENDIX A
North Norfolk Big Society Fund – proposed operational framework
Introduction
A report setting out the Council’s approach to Localism was debated by the Cabinet
at their meeting on 28 November 2011 and a recommendation to establish a district
community investment fund to be known as the North Norfolk Big Society Fund was
subsequently approved by Council on 14 December. The fund is being resourced
from the discretionary element of the second homes council tax income, and will
facilitate projects which are wanted and supported by local communities and which
will improve the economic and social well-being of the area.
The discretionary element of the second homes council tax charge is estimated to be
£1.778 million for 2012/13 split between the County Council, Police and District in
proportion to their precepted sums. A recent agreement with the County Council will
see their sum of £1.349 million being distributed in the following way:
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50% returned to the District Council
25% allocated to the County Infrastructure Fund
25% allocated to the County Strategic Partnership
There is therefore an annual budget of approximately £674,500 available to support
the establishment of the Big Society Fund and the remainder of the allocation from
the current year previously administered by the North Norfolk Community Partnership
(NNCP). It has also been agreed that an element of this budget is allocated to
capital, and capital receipts used to finance the capital grants budget.
Therefore for 2012/13 the budget will be:
£674,500 in–year allocation
£494,913 uncommitted balance as at 31 March 2012
This report makes further recommendations on the use of the Fund in supporting our
local communities, ensuring that decision-making is transparent and that there are
clear objectives against which value for money and outcomes can be evaluated and
monitored.
The Big Society Fund and Localism
In creating this Fund and making recommendations on the overall framework and
administrative arrangements, members of the Cabinet have researched the existing
community support structures established by NNCP:
(a) The Leader of the Council, the Deputy Leader of the Council and the Cabinet
Member for the Big Society met with the Local Area Partnership Association
members, following which the Leader of the Council met with the Chair and
Co-ordinator of each of the seven Local Area Partnerships. Whilst no further
funding will be available for the administrative costs of retaining partnerships,
funding will be available for project delivery and building capacity within the
voluntary and community sectors.
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(b) Members have received presentations from Voluntary Norfolk, the Norfolk
Community Foundation and the Norfolk Rural Community Council, each an
enabling charitable organisation working in North Norfolk predominantly
within the democratic, voluntary and community sectors. Further details
about these organisations can be found later in the report and in Appendix 1.
In recommending how the Council should work in the future and, where appropriate,
in partnership with whom, it is important to determine what outcomes or deliverables
we are looking for. These fall into three main categories:
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Community grant giving
Support for the voluntary sector
Community capacity building
Community planning and locality regeneration
Community grant giving – to support voluntary and community groups in taking
forward relatively small local projects or providing match funding for larger
projects.
It is proposed that this funding stream be administered on behalf of the Council
by the Norfolk Community Foundation. Further detail is provided within
Appendix 1 on the Community Foundation, its role and the services that it
provides. The Foundation already acts as our agent for the Coastal Pathfinder
Business Loan and Grant Scheme and has for 5 years operated a small grants
scheme on behalf of the NNCP. In recognition of their experience, knowledge
and expertise in this area, the Foundation has been asked to submit a proposal
to operate and administer the grant-giving element of the Big Society Fund.
The scheme will be ring-fenced to organisations operating within North Norfolk
and will be branded as a District Council fund. However whilst the administration
would be arms length, the decision-making would not.
It is recommended that a grants panel, to be called the Big Society Board, be
established to approve the award of small grants of up to £5,000 and monitor the
impact of the Fund to include evaluating the success of projects and assessing
their value for money. The Board would operate within the constraints of the grant
criteria to be determined by the Council and would be supported by a council
officer as well as the Community Foundation. The approval of grants of £5,000
or more will be approved by the Cabinet. [I do not see the need for a different
level for capital grants.]
The eligibility criteria for the awarding of grants can be as wide or as narrow as
the Council determines. The provisional set of criteria which was circulated with
the last report in November/December has been updated and is attached at
Appendix 2 for members’ consideration and approval.
Cost of administration
The cost to the Council of the Norfolk Community Foundation administering the
grant giving scheme will be in the region of £27,000 per annum subject to
approval of the proposed segmentation of the total Fund as detailed later (6% of
£450,000). A competitive procurement exercise is not required as NCF is a
charitable organisation and no other organisation within Norfolk offers a
comparable service.
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Support for the voluntary sector– to provide support and advice to charitable
and community organisations to enable the sector to develop and flourish by
maintaining appropriate networks, sharing best practice, offering training and
other services and increasing the number of new volunteers. This is a key aspect
of growing the Big Society.
Support could be provided through Voluntary Norfolk or a similar organisation
and would be specified, costed and monitored through a service level agreement
(SLA). The SLA defining the package of support and the monitoring framework
could be competitively tendered as a pre-determined product or it could be
developed with the selected provider after receiving input from stakeholders.
Either approach will provide an opportunity for Scrutiny Committee to be involved
in the development of the end agreement.
Draft outcomes for a service level agreement are attached at Appendix 3.
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Community capacity building – to provide support and guidance to individuals
and community groups in order to assist them with the development of a project
from initial conception through to sustainable operation with a focus on
encouraging community responsibility and accountability for the project. This is,
again, a key aspect of growing the Big Society and must be available alongside
the grant funding available from the North Norfolk Big Society Fund.
Support could be provided through Voluntary Norfolk, the Rural Community
Council or a similar organisation and would be specified, costed and monitored
through a service level agreement (SLA). The SLA defining the package of
support and the monitoring framework could be competitively tendered as a predetermined product or it could be developed with the selected provider after
receiving input from stakeholders. Either approach will provide an opportunity for
Scrutiny Committee to be involved in the development of the end agreement.
Draft outcomes for a service level agreement are attached at Appendix 4.
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Community planning and locality regeneration – with a focus on localities, this
will be channelled through existing democratic structures with parish and town
councils adopting local leadership roles. The range and nature of support will
vary depending upon the needs of each community concerned but could include
the creation of a shared vision to identify projects and stimulate community-led
planning, building capacity in smaller parishes, providing advice on project
delivery and governance arrangements and the development of specific
community schemes.
While the delivery mechanism for each such project will be customised to meet
the needs of the individual community, it is recognised that there is likely to be a
difference in the scale of requirements between parish and town councils. It is
therefore recommended that distinct but complementary support and delivery
models are adopted, each incorporating best practice and the learning from
experience elsewhere whilst remaining sufficiently flexible to allow the delivery of
bespoke solutions to individual localities.
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Working in rural parishes – support could in many instances be provided in
partnership with a specialist organisation such as the Rural Community Council,
which although not receiving direct funding, is already working with parishes
across North Norfolk by request and subject to available resource capacity. Any
such in third party involvement will be considered on an individual basis to ensure
that such involvement meets the objectives of the relevant community.
Working in towns – because of the range and potential scope of town-focussed
initiatives, it is envisaged that this tranche of support would usually be coordinated direct by the District Council which has already been actively engaged
in establishing local partnership Boards in Wells-next-the-Sea, Holt and North
Walsham to support visioning exercises and project development. For example,
in Holt, this work will now inform the development of a neighbourhood plan which
the Council has agreed to resource if our bid to DCLG to be a governmentfunded pilot is unsuccessful. A presentation for Members and Town Councils on
the process is being organised for February 2012.
The towns form the hubs of our economic and social infrastructure and their
importance in driving forward our Corporate Plan should not be under-estimated.
The Council should develop and maintain close links with each of the towns,
building or refreshing relationships which involve the local councils, district and
county members and business and community representatives. Identifying major
projects and schemes that will improve the economic prosperity of our towns and
deliver jobs and housing will almost certainly need public sector intervention to
initiate momentum, although the type of such intervention will vary from town to
town. For example, we should be considering the potential of the County
Council’s infrastructure fund as a source of public sector funding to pump-prime
development in addition to exploring how the New Homes Bonus reserve can be
applied as a stimulus to economic growth.
The Council needs to ensure that it has the capacity, skills and resources to work
with the local community and town councils in a positive and constructive way,
responding to requests to manage services and/or assets as well as supporting
the development and delivery of projects. The new ways in which the Council
plans to work with local communities and respond to their needs will have a
significant impact on the shaping of our organisational management
arrangements and must therefore inform the thinking behind the restructuring of
the senior management team.
Funding
The total funding available for the launch of the fund in 2012/13 is £1.169 million, with
£675,000 approximately being available on an ongoing annual basis.
It is recommended that the fund is earmarked initially in the following way;
Sum available
Revenue
Capital
Total
£
£
£
1,169,413
200,000
Community grant funding
250,000
Voluntary sector support
50,000
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200,000*
450,000
50,000
Community capacity building
Support for locality regeneration
(NNDC enabling budget)
Discretionary rate relief
50,000
100,000
50,000
100,000
68,000
68,000
Community transport schemes
Lost investment income from
use of capital receipt (calculated
at 2%)
28,000
4,000
28,000
4,000
Holt neighbourhood plan
(contingency if bid
unsuccessful)
20,000
20,000
Total allocation
570,000
770,000
Remaining sum
* to be funded from capital receipts
599,413
0
The funding for the community transport schemes will continue for one year pending
the joint Scrutiny review of community transport being progressed jointly with
Broadland DC. [We need to include in the table funding for NNBF which continues for
another year.]
Using capital receipts creates some headroom within the Council’s own revenue
budget to ensure that it has the necessary resources and skills to support the towns
in delivering their vision and taking forward joint projects.
Conclusions;
The draft grant criteria are attached at Appendix 2. Draft outcomes for service level
agreements are attached at Appendices 3 and 4.
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APPENDIX 1: voluntary infrastructure organisations working in North Norfolk
A) Voluntary Norfolk
Voluntary Norfolk’s mission is to support volunteers and voluntary organisations
across Norfolk, something we have been doing since the organisation was first
established in 1969. What we do can be broken down into three broad categories:
volunteers, voluntary organisations and voice.
We call them “the three Vs of Voluntary Norfolk.”
1. Volunteers
Volunteers are at the heart of all that we do. Through four volunteer centres (in
Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Cromer and Thetford) and a team of Volunteer Coordinators across the county, we work to recruit volunteers - matching personal skills
and interests to the right volunteer opportunities – and to promote the benefits that
volunteering brings to individuals and to Norfolk as a whole.
Last year 8,846 volunteers contacted Voluntary Norfolk to find out how they can help
in their communities.
2. Voluntary Organisations
Voluntary Norfolk supports a wide range of community and charity organisations with
expert help and advice. Over 300 local organisations are members of Voluntary
Norfolk which allows access to a range of specialist free and paid-for services and
we work in partnership with many voluntary and public sector bodies for the benefit of
people in Norfolk.
3. Voice
Voluntary Norfolk also acts a voice for community and voluntary organisations,
ensuring that whatever the organisation size, the value of volunteers and voluntary
organisations is recognised and represented when public sector partners and
government consider local and national policies and funding.
In North Norfolk…..
Voluntary Norfolk currently has a team of staff covering North Norfolk. The team
offers a wide range of advice and support for voluntary and community organisations
based in the area.
North Norfolk development workers offer one-to-one advice and support for
organisations as well as training sessions and active learning workshops covering a
range of issues that can help with long-term planning and the day-to-day running of
your group.
vcsTogether is the Forum for over 400 voluntary and community groups active in
North Norfolk. It brings together local groups to talk about issues of concern and
lobbies for improvements. vcsTogether enables the voice of voluntary groups to
heard.
vcsTogether Forum meets every six months to discuss current topics of mutual
interest and concern. It is run by a steering group made up of around twenty
representatives. Membership of the Forum is free and open to everyone involved in a
local voluntary or community group that benefits people in North Norfolk.
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B) Norfolk Community Foundation
Norfolk Community Foundation aims to create a culture of giving that will change
people’s lives.
The Foundation is a grant giving organisation that awards grants to local groups and
projects that are in real need of funding and that will make a real difference to the
community and people they serve.
The Foundation also provides a service to individuals, families, businesses and
organisations who wish their charitable giving to have a lasting benefit to their local
community and fund causes of special interest to them.
Community Foundations…..
A Community Foundation works to promote philanthropy within a specific
geographical area. It does this by raising new monies to build an endowment fund
from individual and corporate donors, making grants from the investment income and
other funds to community groups tackling local disadvantage. Over time it builds up a
collection of endowed funds from many donors working with them to meet their
charitable aims and the needs of their community.
In essence a Community Foundation is a vehicle for corporate and other giving which
can act locally and sensitively to help build social capital over the long term. The
concept originated in the United States and Canada over eighty years ago. Many
North American Foundations now command assets worth billions of dollars, making
millions of dollars of grants each year. The Community Foundation model is still
relatively new in the UK with the first Foundations established in 1986. There are now
over 60 Community Foundations in the UK holding £100 million in endowment and
making grants of over £53 million a year. This collectively makes Community
Foundations the fifth largest grant-maker in the UK today.
Community Foundations in the UK are all members of the Community Foundation
Network (CFN). Established in 1991, CFN represents its members at a national and
international level; negotiates and manages national grant making and funding
opportunities on behalf of its members, examples of which include the Lottery
Fairshare and Comic and Sports Relief. In addition CFN disseminates best practice
throughout the network and provides individual support as needed.
C) Norfolk Rural Community Council
Norfolk Rural Community Council is an independent charity founded in 1986 to
support communities across Norfolk. We are committed to continuing to provide and
develop a range of services that meet the needs of communities. We lobby on rural
issues at strategic level providing a voice for the local communities of Norfolk. We
divide our role under three headings:
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Community Support - helping communities all the way from identifying
needs to delivering solutions with friendly support and genuine expertise.
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Rural Advocacy - to provide a voice to rural communities to ensure that
decisions on services, policies and strategies do not discriminate against
them and adequately serve and reflect their needs.
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Developing Solutions - to research, consult and develop initiatives to solve
the problems faced by our communities
Norfolk RCC holds quarterly Council Meetings in conjunction with Norfolk Rural
Forum.
The Norfolk Rural Forum consists of representatives from a range of constituencies
in Norfolk that are intended to reflect specific county themes and issues across the
three pillars of sustainable development - environment, economy and community. Its
specific responsibilities are:
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To lobby on behalf of Norfolk's rural areas at local, regional and national level
by taking the county view to the East of England Rural Forum which in turn
provides a link between regional rural stakeholders, and a range of
government agencies and departments
•
To provide a forum for debate, the exchange of information and best practice
to ensure that it is shared and disseminated through networking with other
county rural forums, existing rural networks and non-member organisations.
•
To encourage relevant rural research where appropriate.
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APPENDIX 2: draft eligibility criteria for Big Society Fund community grants
What type of projects would the fund support?
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Projects that will improve or support the social fabric of our communities and/or
deliver economic improvements to North Norfolk.
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Example of activities that would be supported;
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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The provision of new and improved community facilities e.g. play
equipment.
Setting up new support groups or mechanism to meet specific needs in
local communities e.g. lunch clubs for older people.
Start up costs for new community activities.
Community events which promote community involvement e.g. Christmas
lights.
Towns and villages ‘in bloom’ schemes.
What will not be funded;
1.
2.
Ongoing revenue costs for administering groups or organisations.
Ongoing revenue costs for buildings and infrastructure
Who would be eligible to apply?
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Local voluntary organisations, charities and community groups, including Parish
and Town Councils.
Larger regional and national charities/organisations if the funding is to deliver a
specific project in North Norfolk
In either case it will be necessary to demonstrate that the local community
supports the project and is making an appropriate financial or other commitment
to its delivery. It will also be necessary to show how the project will strengthen
and grow the social fabric of the community, the fundamental purpose of the Big
Society Fund.
Funding commitment
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There will be no limit on the number of times that an organisation, charity or
community group can apply but the expectation is that only one application will be
made in any one year.
A 2 year funding commitment could be made to any organisation but only if
certain grant criteria are met and the organisation has more than 50% of its
funding committed from other sources for the equivalent period.
Awards of Grant
•
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Grants of up to £5,000 (to be spent within 12 months) – To be agreed by a grants
panel called the Big Society Board.
Grants of over £5,000 – Cabinet decision
Audit / Evaluation of Grant
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In agreeing the award of grant there would need to be an evaluation form that is to be
completed at the end of the financial year for grants over £5,000.
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APPENDIX 3: draft outcomes for an SLA for voluntary sector support:
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A strong and flourishing voluntary sector.
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A broad range of voluntary organisations operating successfully in North
Norfolk.
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Processes for replenishing and increasing the numbers of volunteers.
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An effective community network of voluntary organisations enabling individual
organisations to keep in touch with others and meet together to share ideas
and learn from each other.
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Easy access to information and advice for individual organisations.
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Effective communications between the voluntary sector and the District
Council and other key partner agencies eg. health, county and parish
councils.
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An annual report on the profile, achievements and general health of the
voluntary sector.
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APPENDIX 4: draft outcomes for an SLA for community capacity building
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Support for individuals and organisations/groups of organisations in bidding
for revenue and project funding.
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Resource base to provide access to support and advice for project delivery
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Input to - parish planning
- neighbourhood planning
- local community infrastructure projects eg. village halls, play
equipment, etc
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Advice and help to access funding.
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Support to enable community ownership projects eg village shop/pub.
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Focus on capacity building, skilling and dissemination of best practice, etc.
- principle of knowledge transfer.
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Build and support parish council networks with geographical areas to facilitate
consultation, etc.
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Ensure strong relationship between town and parish councils and other local
community groups to maximise capacity available for local projects.
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Build relationships with voluntary sector network.
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