RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet agreed to allocate £1,324,209 Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy money to 22 individual projects received through the 2022 Civic Pride Fund - Investing in Neighbourhoods bidding round as set out in Appendix A in line with Merton Council’s approved criteria;

2. That Cabinet approved the award of funding is subject to: (a) any conditions shown against each bid recommended for approval in Appendix B and the (b) due diligence being carried out to ascertain if grants do fall under the UK Subsidy Control Regime which came into effect on the 4th January 2023 and where necessary to comply with the regime and the Subsidy Control Act 2022;

3. To delegate authority to the Interim Executive Director of Environment, Civic Pride & Climate in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Civic Pride to make any amendments to funding bid amounts recommended for approval, in line with Merton Council’s approved criteria;

4. That Cabinet noted the review of the implementation of the Ward Allocation Scheme from 2019 to 2022 included at Appendix C;

5. That Cabinet endorsed the implementation of a further Ward Allocation Scheme from April 2023 to March 2026 in accordance with paragraph 2.28 of the report.

6. To delegate authority to the Interim Executive Director of Environment, Civic Pride & Climate in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Civic Pride to allocate Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy Funding to support the implementation of a further Ward Allocation Scheme to March 2026 in accordance with paragraph 2.29 of the report.

Councillor Judge withdrew from the room for the consideration of this item as he had declared an interest.

The Cabinet Member for Civic Pride presented the report noting that 15% of CIL monies were set aside for neighbourhood projects. The Cabinet Member thanked officers who had reviewed a large number of applications and Cabinet Members who had reviewed and prioritised them. The Cabinet Member thanked everyone who had applied, noting that £1.3m was to be distributed across 22 projects. The Cabinet Member explained the recommendations and gave an overview of the projects being awarded funding.

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet agreed to allocate £1,324,209 Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy money to 22 individual projects received through the 2022 Civic Pride Fund - Investing in Neighbourhoods bidding round as set out in Appendix A in line with Merton Council’s approved criteria;

2. That Cabinet approved the award of funding is subject to: (a) any conditions shown against each bid recommended for approval in Appendix B and the (b) due diligence being carried out to ascertain if grants do fall under the UK Subsidy Control Regime which came into effect on the 4th January 2023 and where necessary to comply with the regime and the Subsidy Control Act 2022;

3. To delegate authority to the Interim Executive Director of Environment, Civic Pride & Climate in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Civic Pride to make any amendments to funding bid amounts recommended for approval, in line with Merton Council’s approved criteria;

4. That Cabinet noted the review of the implementation of the Ward Allocation Scheme from 2019 to 2022 included at Appendix C;

5. That Cabinet endorsed the implementation of a further Ward Allocation Scheme from April 2023 to March 2026 in accordance with paragraph 2.28 of the report.

6. To delegate authority to the Interim Executive Director of Environment, Civic Pride & Climate in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Civic Pride to allocate Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy Funding to support the implementation of a further Ward Allocation Scheme to March 2026 in accordance with paragraph 2.29 of the report.