A grant or subsidy is any payment made by Stondon Parish Council to be used by an organisation or individual for a specific purpose in the furtherance of the wellbeing of the community, either generally, or for a specific purpose and which is not directly controlled or administered by Stondon Parish Council. The purpose of any grant or subsidy given by Stondon Parish Council is to support initiatives in the local community and to help create opportunities for the residents of Stondon that are not, as a matter of course, funded by Stondon Parish Council.
Guidelines for Grant Applications
- It is a condition of any grant application that the group or project must bring direct benefit to the residents of Stondon. All applications must clearly demonstrate how this will be achieved.
- Grant Aid application forms are available from the Clerk or from the Parish Council website. Application forms must be submitted along with the latest set of the group’s accounts in or before December for the following financial year. It is important that all questions on the application form are fully answered and that any appropriate additional information, which supports an application, is provided.
- Grant applications cannot be made retrospectively.
- The scheme provides start-up awards for new projects as well as grants for existing organisations. Applications will be considered for ongoing running expenses and individual projects.
- Applications WILL NOT be considered from:
- Organisations intending to support or oppose any particular political party or to discriminate on the grounds of race or religion
- Private organisations operated as a business to make a profit or surplus
- Local groups whose fund raising is sent to a central HQ for redistribution
- National Charities
- Applications will not normally be considered from national organisations unless funds are to be used solely for projects in Stondon Parish.
- Applications from religious groups will only be considered where a clear benefit to the wider community can be demonstrated irrespective of their religious beliefs.
Compliance with this requirement will need to be demonstrated throughout the project. - Schools will not be grant aided for activities that take place during the school day unless, in the opinion of Stondon Parish Council, their application is for the benefit of the wider community.
- Any grant must only be used for the purpose for which it was awarded unless the written approval of Stondon Parish Council has been obtained in advance for a change in use of the grant monies, and that any unspent portion of the grant must be returned to Stondon Parish Council by the end of the financial year in which it was awarded.
- Although Stondon Parish Council will give as much help as possible, the administration of and accounting for any grant or subsidy shall be the responsibility of the recipient.
- Stondon Parish Council reserves the right to request any further information that it deems necessary to assist the decision making process. Account will be taken of the amount and frequency of previous awards and of the extent to which funding has been sought or secured from other sources or own fund-raising activities.
- Ongoing commitments to award grants or subsidies in future years will not be made. A fresh application will be required each year.
- The size of any grant awarded is at the sole discretion of Stondon Parish Council.
- Stondon Parish Council may make the award of any grant or subsidy subject to such additional conditions ad requirements, as it considers appropriate.
- Stondon Parish Council reserves the right to refuse any grant application which is considered to be inappropriate to the objectives of Stondon Parish Council.
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7_00-SPC-Grant-Aid-Policy.pdf
application/pdf7_00-SPC-Grant-Aid-Policy.pdf Open Download Copy Link 239.97 KB 2022-06-08 8 June 2022 2022-06-08 8 June 2022 |
239.97 KB | 8 June 2022 |
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7_10-SPC-Grant-Aid-Application-Form.docx
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document7_10-SPC-Grant-Aid-Application-Form.docx Download Copy Link 67.98 KB 2022-06-08 8 June 2022 2021-11-18 18 November 2021 |
67.98 KB | 18 November 2021 |
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7_10-SPC-Grant-Aid-Application-Form.pdf
application/pdf7_10-SPC-Grant-Aid-Application-Form.pdf Open Download Copy Link 318.42 KB 2022-06-08 8 June 2022 2022-06-08 8 June 2022 |
318.42 KB | 8 June 2022 |
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A-briefing-note-on-the-General-Power-of-Competence.pdf
application/pdfA-briefing-note-on-the-General-Power-of-Competence.pdf Open Download Copy Link 155.65 KB 2022-06-14 14 June 2022 2022-06-14 14 June 2022 |
155.65 KB | 14 June 2022 |
4
The Council has powers to support Grant Funding using two key powers.
The power of first resort is called the General Power of Competence and this is used by qualified Councils. The alternative, more limited power, is known as Section 137 (Local Government Act 1972 Section 137).
Funding to any body will be open to be challenged by the auditor, or by a local government elector objector at audit (pursuant to s.16 Audit Commission Act 1998), on the basis that the expenditure is larger than the direct benefit to the area or residents would justify.
Councils must therefore exercise care when considering the amounts of proposed expenditure under GPC or Section 137 and, if in doubt, should seek advice.