Elected Member Briefing - Blairgowrie and District Community Council grant

About this briefing note

Report by: Fiona Robertson

Date: 3 November 2022

Subject: Grant application from Blairgowrie and District Community Council for emergency funds during the Covid pandemic

Responsible Officer: Fiona Robertson, Head of Culture and Community Services, Communities Directorate           

Publication

This Briefing Note has been published on the Council's website following circulation to Councillors. 

Details

Purpose

This briefing note is issued in response to a question raised by the current Vice Convenor of Scrutiny and Performance Committee on 2 August 2022 regarding the process followed to award funds from Eastern Local Action Partnership (LAP) to Blairgowrie and District Community Council in March 2020. 

Briefing Information

Liaison with LAPs and community groups during the Covid pandemic was managed by the Community Welfare Workstream, part of the Council's emergency response command structure. It reported actions, risks and issues on a daily basis to Silver Command with escalation to Gold Command where appropriate.

At the start and height of the pandemic the priority for the Workstream was to quickly establish support systems for people who were Shielding or otherwise particularly vulnerable. The wider support to communities provided by community groups such as Blairgowrie and District CC enabled the Workstream to focus on Shielding/vulnerable people, in line with national guidance and directives at the time.

On 26 March 2020 the Workstream Lead with responsibility for community liaison recommended that, whilst operating under emergency powers, LAP grants should be capable of fast-tracking via approval by the LAP Chair and Lead Officer rather than the LAP as a whole, as would be the normal procedure. This was to enable support to be quickly directed to where it was most needed. This decision was made on 26 March 20200 and is noted in the Record of Decisions under Emergency Powers provided to Full Council, 24 June 2020.

On the evening of 25 March 2020 a funding request for £5,000 to the LAP from  Blairgowrie & District CC had been circulated to the LAP for approval. Following clarification questions from two LAP members about the purpose of the grant it was approved. No LAP members objected to the grant award.

The grant monitoring report from the applicant, received October 2020, states that £3,322 was spent on:

Food

• Installing food larders
• Running a lunch club
• Volunteer training (food hygiene etc)
• Volunteer expenses
• Venue hire

On 28 October 2020 the LAP agreed that the balance of the £5,000 could be used by the grant applicant to continue these activities. A further monitoring report received January 2021 provided details of expenditure on this balance.

The community council reported that up to 300 people each week benefited from the project, supported by around 40 volunteers each week.