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News Flash

 

Harrow Council ready to put extra £200,000 into community grants

HARROW Council is preparing to put up to £200,000 extra into community grants following an unprecedented rise in the number of applications from local groups.
A total of 130 groups – double the usual figure - will be considered for funding this year from an overall 'pot' of more than £700,000 after the Council made it easier for applicants to apply. The new criteria revolve around a test for the applicants to clearly demonstrate the value they bring to the community.
The sharp rise in applications could mean some organisations receiving a smaller allocation. However, to allow the system to 'bed in', Harrow Council is preparing to put up to an extra £200,000 into the scheme so that no organisation which was awarded a grant for 2009-10 and applied for 2010-11 should receive less money in that coming year.
Cllr David Ashton Leader of Harrow  Council said.  "The council very much values its relationship with voluntary organisations and recognises the enormous impact they have on the life of the borough.
"Everybody agreed that change was needed in the way in which grant applications are allocated and in order to improve things a new process has been put in place.  This year we received double the normal number of applications which meant that the amount requested was far in excess of the amount available, and that was certainly unexpected.
"However, no one who received a grant this year and has applied for 2010-11 should lose out in 2010-11. We are looking to use money from our reserves as a 'top up' so it is important to stress that no front line services will be affected by this additional investment."
However, Cllr Ashton cautioned that with a national squeeze on public sector spending, grant allocations would have to be looked at carefully for 2011/12. "We will work with voluntary organisations to see how we can better allocate the limited money available", he added.
The Grants Panel meets on March 3 when it will consider the latest applications and make recommendations on the allocation of any additional money.