Decision details

Executive recommended that Full Council approved in relation to the VCS grants within the scope of the review:-

1)    To continue funding VCS organisations at current levels for 2020/21 whilst the key points raised during the review detailed in this paper were addressed;

2)    In June/July 2020 carried out a review of current areas of funding and set new funding objectives in line with the Councils corporate objectives and current needs within the community and report to the Scrutiny Committee in September 2020; and

3)    During 2020/21 officers should work closely with all grant recipients to ensure targets were met and grants were offering value for money.

Executive recommended that Full Council approved in relation to the Taunton and West Somerset Citizens Advice Organisations:-

1)    To agree an additional allocation of £25000 within the Councils 2020/21 budget for a ‘one off’ grant in order to help maintain the Local Assistance Scheme and to provide staffing capacity to enable Citizens Advice Managers to engage with transformation related work;

2)    To agree an additional allocation of £8000 within the Councils 2020/21 budget to enable the joint commissioning of a consultant to work alongside the Citizens Advice (CA) services;

3)    To jointly commission (with other District Councils and Somerset County Council) a consultant to work with the CAs to explore different operating models, transformation of service delivery, use of technology and interventions to reduce service demand;

4)    To undertake a comprehensive review of SWT financial support for CA services during Summer/Autumn 2020 following receipt of the consultant’s report; and

5)    To work proactively with Citizens Advice Taunton (CAT) and West Somerset Advice (WSA) to explore suitable accommodation options.