| State the Delegated Authority that you are relying on in order to make the decision | Delegation from the Mayor to the Chief Executive as follows: I authorise the Chief Executive of the Council, or any officer nominated by the Chief Executive as his Deputy in this regard, to make Executive decisions of a policy, financial and operational nature in response to the Covid-19 emergency |
| Subject of decision | Expenditure of test and trace grant to sustain capacity of key VCS partners |
| Text of decision | On the 17th September 2020 the Chief Executive exercised his delegation from the Mayor to make the following allocations from the test and trace grant. 1. £100k is to be allocated from the test and trace grant for community capacity building, in particular with regard to communication of key COVID-19 messages and disseminated through the local authority small grants fund; 2. £250k of the test and trace grant is allocated to support Voluntary and Community Sector capacity to respond to outbreak management, prevention and recovery. Following the applications process a greater than expected number of applications have been received from VCS organisations who are making a positive contribution to the work dealing with issues caused by COVID-19. We therefore make the following additional allocations. 3. 1. £210k is to be allocated from the test and trace grant to VCS organisations supporting people suffering from problems with mental health and isolation as a result of COVID-19 through the local authority small grants fund; 4. 2. An additional £130k of the test and trace grant is allocated to support Voluntary and Community Sector capacity to respond to outbreak management, prevention and recovery. |
| Reason for decision | Decision making on expenditure of the test and trace grant, issued by the government under s.31 Local Government and Finance Act, is an Executive decision. The grant’s stated purpose is to provide support to local authorities in England towards expenditure lawfully incurred or to be incurred in relation to the mitigation and management of local outbreaks. This is a key decision as it impacts two or more wards of the town and involves expenditure of more than £150,000 Benefits include; Supporting the financial health and sustainability of the voluntary and community sector as a crucial partner in the town’s recovery and outbreak prevention and management Building capacity for the delivery of COVID-19 communication and action at a very local community level Ensuing those organisations who are trusted sources of community support are enabled to support and communicate key COVID-19 messaging in a timely and accessible manner both for prevention and outbreak management Targeting those organisations that have direct reach into those groups disproportionality impacted by COVID-19 related harm Developing a broad network through which communication and support for any changes to COVID-19 messaging can be quickly managed e.g. in the event of local lockdown measures Sharing learning, best practice and provision of inter-organisational support through a network of community COVID-19 champions aligned to the grants. |
| Other options considered (if any) | Other potential options would have been to; Undertake a full procurement process to identify a provider; however the intention is to allocate funds across multiple groups at grass roots level through an accessible route for smaller providers. Securing multiple providers enables the grants to reach a wider range of providers across different communities. Delivering this internally was discounted due to the intention to build external capacity across local community groups to support the COVID response and outbreak prevention and management. The level and quality of the grant applications received demonstrate the capacity of the VCS sector to effectively support efforts to minimise COVID related harm |
| Has an Impact Assessment been carried out - if so please attach a copy to the decision using the upload attachment screen which follows | Yes |
| Declarations of Interest by any member or relevant local government body | None |
| Who have you consulted as part of the decision making process | The Mayor has been consulted along with members of the local authority’s strategic co-ordination group. |
| Date of decision | 4 December 2020 |
| Service area | Public Health & Public Protection |
| Name of Delegated Officer making the decision - i | Chief Executive - Tony Parkinson |
| Name of the Officer making the decision - If power has been sub-delegated to another officer | Not Applicable |
| Issue date:- | 9 December 2020 by Bernie Carr |
| Creation date:- | 9 December 2020 16:51:27 by Bernie Carr |
| Background paper/Impact Assessments | Copy of Decision Form (335K/bytes) Copy of Impact Assessment (94K/bytes) |