Appendix B

Locality Budgets

Principles for the Hertfordshire Scheme

There are two fundamental principles

·  The funding from the Locality Budgets scheme must be used for purposes which promote the social, economic or environmental wellbeing of Hertfordshire.

·  Locality Budgets cannot be used for purposes which would be contrary to the county council’s prevailing policies or be used for any purposes prohibited by law

The approach will be flexible:

·  Bids can be made for either capital or revenue projects or both

·  Members may initiate bids for funds within their Divisions (though payment must be to organisations)

·  Funding can be awarded to an activity outside of the Member’s division if it can be demonstrated that people from within the division can benefit from the activity.

·  Pooling of budgets between Members can occur when an activity covers more than one division, or be of benefit to people from more than one division

·  Payments to benefit individuals can be made, but only through an organisation which is able to support individuals.

·  Members are encouraged to seek additional or matched funding wherever this is appropriate

Rules and practical issues

·  Members must declare any personal interest relating to an organisation when recommending their bid, as described in Part 2 of the Hertfordshire County Council Code of Conduct for Councillors

·  It is expected that each Member will use their total allocation each year. If a portion of the allocation for the year is not committed, it cannot be carried forward into the next year’s allocation

·  Bids made by or on behalf of campaigning groups must be compliant with the local government code of practice on publicity.

·  Funding will be one-off (i.e.) with no ongoing revenue or capital commitment to the Locality Budgets scheme (though the same scheme in successive years could be supported as the result of a new bid). A contribution can be made to ongoing costs as long as it is clear that the contribution is one off. In cases where the bid may incur ongoing financial liabilities, the bid must show how this longer term commitment is to be met

·  Payments can only be made to organisations (including district/borough, town/parish councils and the county council).

·  Organisations will need to obtain and retain (for a period of 3 years) evidence of expenditure for audit purposes

3. The Bid Process

There will be an allocation of £10,000 per Member Division. A bidding process will be used with money allocated following advice from the local Member.

The role of the monitoring officer

The Chief Legal Officer has overall responsibility for the scheme. Her role will be to ensure that the proposals meet the principles of the scheme, not to express views on the quality or viability of any proposal. Day to day administration of the scheme is by the Locality Budgets Officer under the remit of the Head of Member Services.

Making a Bid

·  An organisation can make a bid for funding by completing and submitting a bid form (Form A attached)

·  Bid forms will be made widely available in paper form and online to download from hertsdirect.org.

·  All completed forms will be submitted to the Locality Budgets Officer at County Hall who, on receipt of the form, will forward a copy to the local Member for consideration

Approving a Bid

·  Bids will be considered and determined by the local Member

·  If a Member approves a bid, they will complete a recommendation form (Form B attached) and return it to the Locality Budgets Officer

·  The Chief Legal Officer and the Head of Policy (or their nominated representatives) will approve and pass for payment those bids which meet the requirements of the scheme. The Locality Budgets Officer will ensure that expenditure does not exceed the Member’s allocation for that year.

Notification of Successful and Unsuccessful Bids

·  Once a bid has been approved, the Locality Budgets Officer will authorise Serco to make payment.

·  Members will notify each applicant as to whether or not their bid has been successful in writing or by email

·  The Locality Budgets Officer will place a notice on hertsdirect.org of the outcome of all bids made under the scheme. These notices will be placed not more than six weeks after the bid has been determined.

·  Notice of bids which have been approved for funding will also be recorded on the individual Member’s page on hertsdirect.org.

·  The County Council will publish, on an annual basis, expenditure made under the Locality Budget scheme with details of the nature of grants made.

4. Publicity and Timing of the Locality Budgets Scheme from 2010 onwards

·  Launch article in the March edition of Hertfordshire Horizons magazine inviting bids to be made to a nominated Locality Budgets Officer.

·  Launch on hertsdirect.org on 1 April. This will also include links to the electronic forms and guidance

·  Launch of the scheme to be covered in the local press

·  Announcement of successful bids in the year to date in the January edition of Hertfordshire Horizons

·  Announcement of the remaining successful bids in the March edition of Hertfordshire Horizons, along with the launch of the following year’s bid process

The above timetable may be amended to take account of the County Council election cycle.

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