RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet approve the aligning of a range of information, advice and preventative support services into an expanded ‘Supporting the Voluntary and Community Sector’ programme which sits under the umbrella of the Civic Pride Fund (see section 1.2-1.5).

2. That Cabinet approve the Prospectus as the basis on which to fund these services (see section 3.11-3.15).

3. That Cabinet note the funding available for 2023-26 and to approve the proposed allocations against each of the programme themes (see section 7).

4. That Cabinet approve the scoring methodology and weighting to select providers (see section 3.19).

The Cabinet Member for Civic Pride presented the report and thanked organisations for their collaboration and their work on recent issues including the Covid-19 pandemic and assisting Ukrainian refugees.

The funding would cover multi year grants between 2023-26 and brought several funding streams into one fund. The Council were looking to invest over £5m pounds.

Following the consultation process it was noted that smaller organisations had struggled to access some of the funding previously and therefore £50,000 a year had also been put aside for Merton Giving to award grants and Merton Connected has been tasked with assisting with targeted bid help.

The Cabinet Member thanked officers for their work and thanked the independent chair of the group.

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet approve the aligning of a range of information, advice and preventative support services into an expanded ‘Supporting the Voluntary and Community Sector’ programme which sits under the umbrella of the Civic Pride Fund (see section 1.2-1.5).

2. That Cabinet approve the Prospectus as the basis on which to fund these services (see section 3.11-3.15).

3. That Cabinet note the funding available for 2023-26 and to approve the proposed allocations against each of the programme themes (see section 7).

4. That Cabinet approve the scoring methodology and weighting to select providers (see section 3.19).