Elected Member Briefing Note 2025, No. 72
About this Briefing Note
Report by: David Stokoe, Service Manager, Communities
Date: 18th June 2025
Subject: Fairer Communities for All
Purpose
To provide elected members with an overview of the new process for delivery of Community Investment Fund (CIF) and Participatory Budgeting (PB) for 2025/26, which will be delivered under the umbrella of Fairer Communities for All.
Briefing Information
Rationale and Background
In February 2025 Council allocated £200,000 for Community Investment Fund (CIF) and £100K for Participatory Budgeting (PB) to be delivered in the year 2025/26.
In previous years these funds have been delivered as separate funding streams. However, this has created a number of delivery and administrative issues -
- Feedback from community groups has been that multiple PKC grants can be confusing, particularly as the criteria is often very similar - inequalities, cost of living.
- Smaller community groups find it challenging to apply multiple times to separate funding streams due to staff and volunteer capacity and cannot always develop new projects to meet criteria.
- Some community groups have become dependent on CIF funding, showing an over reliance on PKC funds.
- Attendance at ward panels and representation from the community has been mixed and council officers and elected members can find it difficult to secure attendance from community members.
- PKC staff no longer have the capacity to manage multiple funding streams over a 12-month period as it vastly reduces the time for genuine capacity building and networking and places significant demand on business support and finance functions.
The proposal agreed at Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee (June 2025) was for CIF and PB funding streams to be managed as one process, as set out in section 2.
The funding pots for PB and CIF in the priority areas of Central and North Perth, South Crieff, Rattray, Alyth, Coupar Angus and Meigle will be combined. All other ward areas will receive CIF funding.
The engagement phase of the process will provide significant benefits by bringing groups together to discuss priorities and project ideas. This approach approved very effective in the delivery of the Warm Welcome Fund. Joint planning allows for identification of shared priorities, avoids duplication and allows for links and pathways to be made between groups, benefiting the beneficiaries they are working with. The current process for CIF does not allow for meaningful joint planning or delivery to take place.
Ward panels comprising of elected members, Council Officers and community representatives will screen applications before going to a public vote.
Budget allocations
WWard | Population (Census 22) | Initial Fund (equal split of 50% of CIF Funding) | Per Capita population allocation | 2024/25 CIF Underspends (allocated to highest areas of need) | PB Funding (allocated to highest areas of need) | Total |
1 - Carse of Gowrie | 9916 | £8333.33 | £6568.85 | £0 | £0 | £14,902.18 |
2 - Strathmore | 15,458 | £8333.33 | £10,340.14 | £11,814 | £20,000 | £50,487.47 |
3 - Blairgowrie & Glens | 11,248 | £8333.33 | £7551.23 | £11,814 | £20,000 | £47,698.56 |
4 - Highland | 8927 | £8333.33 | £5913.68 | £0 | £0 | £14,247.01 |
5 - Strathtay | 12,302 | £8333.33 | £8149.45 | £0 | £0 | £16,482.78 |
6 - Strathearn | 10,419 | £8333.33 | £7002.05 | £11,814 | £20,000 | £47,149.38 |
7 - Strathallan | 11,727 | £8333.33 | £7768.54 | £0 | £ | £16,101.87 |
8 - Kinross-shire | 14,119 | £8333.33 | £9353.12 | £0 | £0 | £17,686.45 |
9 - Almond & Earn | 10,162 | £8333.33 | £6731.80 | £0 | £0 | £15,065.13 |
10 - Perth City South | 16,641 | £8333.33 | £10,523.82 | £0 | £0 | £18,857.15 |
11 - Perth City North | 12,379 | £8333.33 | £8300.45 | £0 | £20,000 | £36,633.78 |
12 - Perth City Centre | 17,657 | £8333.33 | £11,796.87 | £11,814 | £20,000 | £51,944.20 |
Totals | 150,953 | £99,999.96 | £100,000 | £47,256 | £100,000 | £347,255.96 |
Carry forward of Underspend
At the November 2024 Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee a report to update on delivery of CIF was presented, setting out the spending allocations for 2024. This report also highlighted the following areas which had significantly underspent their CIF allocation-
- Highland £7438
- Almond and Earn £18439
- Perth City South £11949
- Perth City North £9098
At the June 2024 Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee it was agreed that the following communities would be treated as priority areas for Participatory Budgeting funding based on SMID and ACORN data as they currently experience the highest inequalities -
- Old Scone, Central and North Perth
- South Crieff
- Rattray
- Coupar Angus, Alyth and Meigle
At the June 2025 Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee members agreed for the CIF underspend from 2024 to be allocated to the areas of highest need as listed above (apart from North Perth due to its 2024 CIF underspend). This also supports the delivery of locality working for these priority areas.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Groups who are successful in receiving funding will be required to complete a 12-month monitoring report, setting out
- How they have used the grant funding
- The number of beneficiaries
- Numbers of volunteers supporting delivery
- Impact
- Case studies
In addition CLD staff will maintain contact with groups throughout the delivery process to support delivery and identify any issues at an early stage.
An evaluation report with an overview of progress and impact for the co-ordination and delivery of future grant funding will be brought to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee in Spring 2026.
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