Agenda item

6.1

The Committee received a report of the Community Services Manager, Huda Ahmed which set out details of the spend in respect of this £100,000 that had been authorised by the Community Services Manager, in consultation with the LAC Chair and in accordance with the delegations granted in September 2021 and June 2022. 

6.2

The Community Services Manager explained that he anticipated expenditure for the following themes were as follows: -

·       £50,000 for Children, Young People and Families

·       £20,000 for Environment

·       £20,000 for Communities and Neighbourhoods

There was also £10,000 unallocated, to account for elements of spend not currently envisaged.

6.3

Each theme had identified areas of priority, and these were as follows: -

Children, Young People and Families

• Allocated £10,000 between the East LAC wards to fund projects that supported children and young people - match funded from ward pots.
• Funding five Saturday clubs that have been set up across the East LAC wards to run free various activities targeting Children and young people, that promote health and wellbeing, total cost £20,000
• Allocated funding to projects that supported young people and organisations that deal with Anti-Social behaviour

Environment

• Awarded each East LAC ward £5,000 to deal with fly tipping and waste and other environmental projects

Communities and Neighbourhoods

• Awarded community organisations/agencies across all four wards that support residents and communities with costs of living, for example, run activities that help people across all ages deal with loneliness and isolation

6.4

A member of the public, asked if any funding could target children under the age of 10 years old.

The Community Services Manager mentioned that herself and the member of the public had a meeting scheduled for February therefore options for this this could be discussed then.

The Chair agreed that younger people did also need some provision although it was agreed to target young people over the age of 10 as it was believed that they would benefit from the funding more.

6.5

A member of the public, asked whether the Council could better enforce penalties to those who were fly-tipping in these wards. This would mean that the Environment theme would not have to allocate £20,000 for fly-tipping therefore that budget could be used for a different service.

The Chair mentioned that each LAC had approximately £57,000 allocated to them to tackle fly-tipping, graffiti and litter hotspots across all 4 wards. The £20,000 mentioned at the meeting was for £5,000 to be allocated to each ward to tackle environmental projects in their areas. The Chair added that it was a very difficult process to prosecute people who were fly-tipping.

6.6

RESOLVED: That the East Local Area Committee notes the expenditure against the £100,000 budget to address local priorities in the East LAC in 2022/3, as detailed in the report