Agenda and decisions

7.1

Funding delegated by the Council to LACs in 2024/25 amounts to £100,000 per LAC to address issues identified in the South Community Plan. Following consultation with the South LAC Members it is proposed that, as in 2023/24, this budget should be allocated so that £25,000 is spent per ward. Of this £625 per ward will be used to create a £2500 operations budget, leaving £24,375 per ward to spend on Community Plan priority issues.

In order to enable financial decisions to be made more quickly, given the delays caused by the two pre-election periods (local election and general election) it is recommended that the level of expenditure that can be approved by the Community Services Manager in consultation with the LAC Chair under the authority delegated by the LAC is raised to sums up to £10,000. All other conditions would remain the same so decisions may be taken provided that:

• The decision is taken in consultation with the Local Area Committee Chair
• Spending is in line with any specific purposes of the allocated budget
• The decision may not approve expenditure of more than £10,000
• A report detailing the delegated spending decisions taken by the Community Services Manager is presented to the next Local Area Committee meeting.

7.2

RESOLVED:

That the South Local Area Committee:

1. Agrees the approach set out for use of the 2024/25 budget, using the £100,000 allocation to provide £25,000 per ward to develop projects in line with the South LAC Community Plan 
2. Authorises the Community Services Manager to make decisions on expenditure from any budgets allocated to the Local Area Committee provided that:

• The decision is taken in consultation with the Local Area Committee Chair Spending is in line with any specific purposes of the allocated budget
• The decision may not approve expenditure of more than £10,000
• A report detailing the delegated spending decisions taken by the Community Services Manager is presented to the next Local Area Committee meeting.

7.3

Reasons for Decision

The South LAC is asked to approach to its 2024/25 budget outlined in the report to address the identified local priorities within the South LAC Community Plan.

7.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

The LAC could choose not to allocate budgets at this stage, but this would delay local projects and facilities for local communities.

Decisions on grant awards could be reserved to the LAC but this would inevitably delay delivery of priority actions to address specific issues identified in the Community Plan.

All decisions on expenditure to support Community Plan priorities could be delegated to officers. However, this would restrict and undermine the LAC’s ability to monitor its delegated budget and delivery of the Community Plan.