 OK, so I've sent you live, but the usual 20 seconds applied. Thank you. Yeah, I'm trialling doing minutes today in the background. So if there's like a hiccup, then it might take me a little bit longer to get on the mic and sort whoever out just to let you know. But yeah, nothing else has changed. In that case, if we all speak very quickly, so it's very difficult for Liam to keep up, yeah? Right, I reckon we're ready to go, are we? Liam. Yeah, I think we're all good. Thanks. Thank you very much. Good morning, members, officers and members of the public who may be viewing the live stream for this meeting. Welcome to the meeting, the Grants Advisory Committee. I'm Councillor George House. I'm the chair of the Grants Advisory Committee. For the information from members of the public, the role of this committee to consider and make recommendations to the lead cabinet member for finance. That's Councillor John Williams. On applications made under the council's grant schemes, Councillor Williams then makes his decision taking into account our recommendations. Members, can you please remember to mute your microphones unless you are called to speak? And then you'll obviously need to unmute, which is the amusing part when people start to talk when they're still muted. Apologies. Number one on the agenda, Aaron, would you better do the roll call please and give us any apologies? Thank you, chair. Good morning. We have apologies from Councillor Sue Ellington today and Councillor Heather Williams will be substituting for her. So we've got two Councillor Williams present today. Councillor Heather Williams, please mark your present. Yeah, I'm here in substituting for Councillor Sue Ellington. But as I wasn't present at the previous meeting, I'll abstain from the minutes. Thank you. Councillor Dalton, please. Yes. I'm here. Member for Fenderton and for Bourdon Ward. Councillor Hindley. Hello. Yes, I'm here. Councillor Bill Hindley. I am Member for Over and Willingham. I'm substituting for Claire Deltafield. Apologies. Thank you. Councillor Macdonald, please. Yes, good morning. It's Councillor Peter Macdonald. I'm the Member for Duxford Ward. Thank you very much. And Councillor Hales, clearly we are aware that you are also here. Councillor John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance. Can you also announce yourself, please? Yes. Hello there. I'm John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance and also represent Fenderton and Bourdon Ward. Thank you very much. I can confirm that we're quarreled for this meeting. Thank you, Aaron. Right, for those members of the public watching, the two Williams voices you heard, one's a lady, one's a gentleman, one's got a beard, one hasn't. And I can obviously tell you which way around there is, because I'm looking at them. So thank you very much indeed, guys. Thank you, Doug. Officers, could I ask you to unmute and introduce yourselves? We've got Catherine Hawkes. Yes. We have Aaron Clark. Yes. We have John London. Yes. And we have Liam somewhere in the background as well. This is you, Catherine. Sorry to jump the gun there. Catherine Hawkes, I'm Program Manager for within the Sustainable Communities and Well-Being Team. Thank you. Aaron. Morning. Thank you, Chair. A Democratic Services Officer for this meeting. And I'll be closing the meeting today. Thanks, John. Hello. My name is John London. I am the Northstone Community Development Officer and have also been running the grants advisory committee process. Sorry, the community chess processes. Thanks. And Liam. Hi there. I'm Liam. I'm the OV Officer running all of the audiovisual side of today's meeting. Brilliant. And we have Leslie McFarlane coming along. She's going to present one of our service supports grant later on, but she's just running a fraction behind. Thank you very much. Moving on, Decorations of Interest. Do any members of the committee have any Decorations of Interest to declare? In relation to any of the items on the agenda, please? If you just raise your hand, and I'll call you forward. I'll take that as a note. Thank you very much. Moving on to the minutes of the last meeting. Councillor Heather Williams, who is going to do there. Thank you. So this will be on page one of your agenda. I'll go through the normal process, just read the page number out if you can stick your hand up and call out. So that's page one, page two, and page three. Good. So no amendments. Can I take that from affirmation as that I can sign those off as a correct record? Yes. Lovely. Thank you very much. Sorry. I'll just touch the key. Item number five. It was two sets of minutes. I beg your pardon. I do apologise, everybody. Okay. So moving on to page five of the second set of minutes. Again, same process. Page five. Right. This was all the zero carbon, guys. So that's page six, page seven, and page eight. Aaron, if you can make a note that there was no alterations to either set of minutes now that I've checked myself. Okay. Item number five on the agenda is a community chest funding applications. Chairman, please, could I have a question? Certainly. So could I ask if all of the applicants for the zero carbon grants have been notified, both those that were successful and those unsuccessful? Okay. Can I answer that? Please do. Yeah, I can confirm that all of the applicants have been notified by now at this point. The decision has gone through its calling period, and therefore the applicants have been able to be notified of the results. Okay. Thank you. It was out on the face of social media a while back. I did see it a couple of days ago. Brilliant. Okay. Item number five. This is John London, I think. Please, if you don't mind, John. Thank you very much, Chair. So before we start on these, just to say that for all of these applications, the relevant councillors have been notified. And for all of these applications, we have all of the correct documentation has come in. I'd also like to just note, as an aside, that we had a few what we would consider to be edge cases where there was a discussion amongst officers as to whether this should be brought forwards to Grant's advisory. And the end result we had is that if there is a question, we should probably bring it to you and it should be you that answers that question. So we would welcome any further guidance if you think actually one of these cases shouldn't have come before you. But we figured you should make that decision, not us. So the first application. John. John. Sorry. I do apologise for interrupting. Would you mind if you got any of the applications today? There's five, isn't there? Five, yes. If any of those applications fall into the category you just discussed, would you just highlight that as you come to that application? Yes, I will. Thank you. So the first one falls into that category. So this is a grant application from Melbourne Primary School PTA. And it's for the renovation of their 1960s era swimming pool at the school. The reason why this would fall into that category is because the pool is part of the physical building of the primary school, which is owned by the County Council. However, the County Council obviously is not involved in the day-to-day running of the school and the school itself is not involved in the day-to-day running or the finance of the pool. An agreement was made between Meldriff Primary School and Meldriff Primary School's PTA that if the pool was to continue operation, this is a longstanding agreement, that the PTA would be entirely responsible for funding the pool. Historically speaking, there has been community access for the pool. Obviously in the last year, there's been no access for anyone due to the pandemic. And they have noted that they have an aspiration for continued community use. However, there are other things that would need to be rectified outside of the scope of this grant before that further community use would be able to be reenacted. So this is why you can see that it's in that edge case as to whether you would consider this to be replacing statutory funding from the counter-counsel because it is counter-counsel owned. However, no statutory funding has gone towards this swimming pool for I wasn't able to get an exact age. However, none of the people that are involved in it from the PTA or from the school can remember when the school was involved in funding this. So this is a historical agreement that has gone back quite some time. They are going to the PTA planning to fund 50% of the works to renovate the pool from their own funds, 25% from community fundraising and 25% from grant applications. The extra works that need to be done for community access is securing toilet facilities for members of the public to be able to use the school as well. When I talk about historical community use, it has been historically still families that have been involved in the school, either parents or other family members and also the local pre-school using the pool as well. Thank you very much, Chair. Thank you, John. Okay, members. Who's got any questions? Councillor Dalton. Yes, well, this is a question for Councillor John Williams. If he could give us his advice on how this fits with school funding and we don't support, we can't support applications where County Council should be funding this. It seems to me it's borderline. It's a good project that is borderline. So I'd like Councillor John Williams advice, please. Well, I think it it's down to community access, really. Isn't it? I mean, it's clear from the report that this really pool is not funded by the County Council or the school, although it's on land owned by the County Council. It looks I mean, I would suggest that if it had community access, then it would certainly satisfy me. But it's the community access that's the issue here. Yeah, OK. OK, thank you, John. Thank you, Clare. Right. Follow that up, please. I'll keep quiet. So, so yeah, my I have two questions. One was the amount of community access and how could we satisfy ourselves that that was sufficient? And secondly, it seems to me from the text here that they've only just started fundraising. And what we the only amount that we could offer is a very, very small proportion of what they would be needing. And whilst I'm very well disposed towards this, I wondered if it might be better to say to ask them to get on fundraising and then come back to us when the thousand pounds could make a difference. Not against it, but those are just my thoughts for the moment. Thank you, Clare. OK, Peter or Bill, I don't know which one of you put your hand up first or Bill, you put yours down. I've put mine down because Clare has actually just asked. It's kind of the point that I've been making. OK, then Peter and then Heather. From a county council perspective, I think I'm right in saying that there is zero funding from the county. This is all a PTA activity. And therefore, we can sort of take that out of the equation. I mean, it does state that the pool is open at times to a wide range of community members as it has been in the past. Personally, I think if you just get a verification of that and also perhaps a confirmation when the funds will be raised, then I would be satisfied. Thank you, Heather. Thank you. So I think I'm just going to reference what you said earlier about whether they come back later, but having looked at things like this before, it's quite difficult to get your first grant and it's quite difficult to get your first sort of step on that on that chain. One of the first things you're asked for is, have you got what other grants have you got? And I do appreciate that this is a small amount in it's a 20 or 20 seconds of what they need, but I think they could really benefit from a pledge from us to that money. Whether we actually part with that money and so later on until they've secured more funding that's a different question but I would be supportive of actually giving them that start that they need really. And I think if they have the resources to open up to the community that's great but it's definitely we can see it's in need of some work and should be supported in my view. Thank you, Chairman. Thanks. Bill. Thank you, Chairman. I agree with Councillor Heather Williams that I've been involved in raising money for a community projects and I know how important it is to get a good kickstart you know get some money in the bank it makes a huge difference so I'd be supportive of this. Great stuff. John sorry mate you're still muted John. The difficulty with this is that if we agree to give them a thousand pounds towards their fundraising that then prevents us that takes the thousand pounds out of this year's budget and it's clear I think from the report but it's very unlikely that they are going to need that thousand pounds this financial year I can't see them raising the amount of money they need and for this work anyway to be done until until the least of spring. But the problem is that thousand pounds is not then available for someone else who can go ahead and do something this financial year so I wonder whether we could indicate to them this yes we are willing to give the thousand pounds and so they have something there to show that you know to go to other lenders and say look we've got thousand pounds from Southcams but actually ask them to defer it until next financial year because as I say otherwise we're going to be earmarking a thousand pounds which won't be spent that could be spent on another project in the meantime. I think John Heather. Thank you Chairman I think that echoes what I was suggesting about pledging the money to them without potentially giving it until they've got more in place but I would be keen to hear officers view as to whether they think that would actually affect so I don't know what happened to my screen there would actually affect their ability to go off and grants do they actually need the money to say they've got it or are pledges sufficient because I understand what Councillor John Williams is saying but the whole point of what we were saying is to give them that start if we then did something that prohibited from getting the start that would sort of be a downside to it but definitely open to the idea of it Thank you Claire Yeah I agree with Councillor John Williams I think that we can encourage them and say that the money would be there but not until next year and also I think just a little bit more information on community involvement but generally speaking I'm supportive on those grounds Thank you John London please I would just like to point out from the community funding applications cover sheet we had this this year 58,000 and change to spend we currently still have in the pot 48,500 pounds left to spend due to a historically low number of applications due to the crisis Catherine Oh thank you I was just going to make the same point really just to say that there's a significant amount still left in the pot but also that the group applying for the money might need to demonstrate that they actually have the cash in the bank depending on who else they're applying to and if any of those funders decide that they want to caveat their funding with some initial works being done prior to them giving their grant they won't be able to do that they won't have some of those grants with them already so it might inhibit them, it might not but it might if we don't actually give over the money we could always do that with the caveat that they give that back in its entirety at the end of the year if they haven't managed to spend it which I think is the in the criteria anyway Is at the end of the year or in the 12 month period In 12 months from when it's granted they would need to give it back Right so they'd have to give it back by December or whenever you choose I mean you can say you've got to do years if you like Chair I'm happy in those circumstances that we don't need to do what I suggested Okay then Aaron Thank you chair, apologies I was just to say that I don't think they need to raise the full 23,000 because the applications also stated they're planning to fund 50% of that themselves I think the actual amount that they need to raise is half of that so you wouldn't anticipate that would be as much of a problem Yeah Heather It was just to say that given the advice we've had I think we should give them the money and the grant but I would also be open to extending given there was a scale to this project allowing them say two years to spend the funding if required rather than just the one or if we can put some sort of review in place after a year rather than have to give it straight back I think that would be suitable because it's not a project where they've got £200 to fundraise or something it is a substantial sum and the current climate does make it very difficult for PTAs to fundraise so we're in except for fines it might require us to be a bit more flexible than we normally would be Okay thank you well basically with regards to any money's coming back or whatever we tend to have the officer's guidance on that one obviously they have a much more on their finger on the pulse of each of the applications themselves and that in conjunction with the member for finance so I'll take your point on that one I think I'm probably feeling that we're going to grant this what I'm hearing and seeing with the caveats if they don't spend it then officers will review as to whether it comes back and do that review with John One of the questions I was going to ask actually just to for clarification John and Catherine if you don't mind is that has someone got a lot of noise going on in the background so I can hear a kind of whirring sound that might be me hold on sorry all right just mute that's better that was your hair dry wasn't it has that resolved it that was your hair dryer as you may think so I couldn't possibly comment right if we grant now into the financial year comes in April so we would it would be unrealistic to say that's having it back in April if you haven't spent it because the chances are they're not going to spend it but that also means they can reapply for another grant I'm assuming from April but if they haven't spent the first one does that negate them asking for another one because technically they would be allowed to apply for something else in that area the PTA so that was my only my only concern with this is if we if we keep it rolling for the 12 month period so over to you too Catherine or John I that's an interesting question Catherine I don't know if they can actually apply for the same thing again can they I haven't got the criteria in front of me I'll try and find them so that they can apply for the same project again or for the same thing within the same project again we can verify that for you and and as long as depending on whether you'd be happy to grant them something else for within the same project or not we can we can fund on that basis okay thank you Peter yeah thank you I'm just a little bit concerned we're over engineering this we have a number of questions already answered there are a couple of questions maybe we get an answer to we have surplus in the funds I really would like us to get on and grant this and move on Fair enough that's similar only that I was going to respond to say even if they do apply that doesn't mean just because you applied doesn't mean you get so I think that's something that if it happened we could deal with at a later time and not something to affect our decision making today okay thank you right so I think we're agreed that we're going to grant unless anyone sings out and says no so I'm going to take that as unanimous okay Aaron and John over to you for number two thank you very much application number two is from an organisation a charity Cambridge past and present and it is for Bourne windmill which is a windmill that was in operation from the 1600s until the 20th century and is one of the oldest windmills in the country it's a tourist attraction in the village of Bourne and I know that several members are familiar with this with this particular attraction I was chatting to to Cambridge past present and future about this they underwent some routine investigations of the beams that hold up it's like a big X of wooden beams that holds up the entire windmill and then takes two people to push it around to move it into the wind and they found that there were some quote unquote repairs made to those beams back in the 1980s using cement they were aware there was a small amount of cement but they didn't realise that someone had come in and filled in the entire the inside of the beams cement obviously will trap water there was rot and they were unfortunately unable to complete the investigation because the investigator refused to be near it because he felt that it was so bad it might collapse it's therefore been closed to members of the public and put at the Heritage at Risk Register by Historic England they've been very very clear with regards to the funds that would be brought forwards which is that there are a set of things that need to happen in quick succession so the first thing that they need to do is to get some emergency scaffolding underneath it just in case it does collapse and then they're going to be finishing the investigation and then once that investigation by the professional is complete they'll be able to know the order of works for renovating the windmill they've been unable to give a total project cost because that investigation wasn't unable to be completed but they estimated it would be about 80k to get it sorted they have raised 26k so far and as I say this £1,000 will be towards whatever is the next emergency thing that needs to happen in that process thank you Thank you chair Councillor Dunton Chairman I'm sorry I should have said this before my husband is a commissioner for Historic England so I don't know and they have had money from I don't know whether I can comment on this could I have some advice on that your husband is a commissioner for Historic England so obviously he's been involved in the discussions and the funding for this so I don't know whether I should comment I'm really sorry I should have said that at the beginning I had read it before is that all right things happen it's a slightly difficult one in a sense there is no benefit to be gained from any funding so I would say that's a non-procuniary non-procuniary interest okay then I will comment okay Bill I was just going to suggest what Aaron just said it's non-procuniary interest I would suggest that we it clears uncomfortable I get the feeling that we may approve this even without her vote but anyway that's another way that's by the way that was all I wanted to say okay any members got any questions for John and the team unusual in that case then we may as well just move straight to the vote just stick your hand up if you support it thank you thank you for myself included thank you very much that's a recommendation to finance lead as a recommendation number three please John thank you chef this is another one that is possibly an edge case it's less of an edge case than the last one but it's still in that we had conversations about it so this is an application from Ladybird playgroup in thriftlow they are a registered charity there is a phone going off sorry that's me it was me a tenner just like ten pound ten pound chair I know I know serves me right carry on John so basically speaking the Ladybird playgroup is responsible for the physical area that their charity occupies which is part of the local school the school is owned by Dices of Ealy multi-academy trust DMAT which is also an independent charity but you know they're a multi-academy trust the matting needs to be updated I have received some pictures of the matting just after this application was put in it's fairly standard rubberized play matting it's coming up in the corners nothing particularly special the question is whether or not that would be allowed as it is technically within the area of the school and I know that there has been some conversations previously about funds going towards multi-academy trusts the lease hold is a 20 year lease hold with Ladybird playgroup thank you very much chair thank you John, Heather thank you I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on round matting so this may sound like a very simple question but I think for me the issue is yes it's a quick and passive purpose but is it something that could be moved if they choose to move or is it something that once laid down is permanent and you can't remove it would not be something that you would be able to remove again it's not matting that you would lay down it's if you have sort of a mental image of a school playground and you have that sort of colourful shredded rubber substance that is usually made out of recycled that then gets laid out on the floor they tend to survive for 5-10 years so I wouldn't necessarily consider it to be a 888 it will definitely not be of any use by the end of the lease hold of Ladybird playgroup thank you that was what I was asking Bill I'm just really asking for advice it doesn't appear that there's going to be any community use for this it's very much just for the Ladybird playgroup and it's connected to an educational trust gives me some difficulties really but I'm happy to take advice on whether or not that's something that I should be concerned about the fact that it's not going to be used to community use from our understanding of the guidelines the reason why the reason why we don't normally fund educational educational grants is because the funding would normally come through from the council so if for example this had come through from the school itself for the use by year one for example then we would have clearly not brought this forward to you however playgroups and nurseries are not funded by a statutory body they are independent charities and therefore as far as we are aware this would come under the same application process as for example if the local scouts had applied for something for their area so that's our understanding of the situation thank you Claire yeah I think that's answer to my question and if it's clear it's an independent charity I would be happy to support this David yes likewise following on from John's observations there is no link with the diocese that's clear they have a registered charity number and they're clearly independent and therefore we have to assess them as such thank you hands down guys if you've got your hands up Claire right okay I think the simplest thing here I mean I don't know if you want to say anything John Williams yeah just that John said really I think he does meet our criteria as well I thought okay can we just have a shout of hands then please all those in favour that's all of us Aaron including me yeah thank you in that case John number four please fantastic thank you this is another one this is a pre-school Haslingfield little owls pre-school in Haslingfield funnily enough and this is for a materials and equipment capital purchase because this is a capital purchase the landowners shouldn't really matter that much but in this case it isn't a school it's the local Methodist church and what they have applied for it's a really interesting one which is for some woodworking tools for use by the pupils aged two to four and these woodworking tools and a small amount of materials that would go with them and safety equipment will be only for the use of the children at the pre-school and I think it is worth noting I didn't include it all in this documentation however obviously we phoned up the pre-school and asked some searching questions about health and safety with regards to children using woodworking tools and we were I am satisfied that the school has done or that the nursery has done due diligence and has good experts in place to look at this and was able to show me evidence that other pre-schools are doing similar things so this is not a one-off project by this particular school this is part of a wider thing that is happening in other pre-schools and there's sort of a known educational thing for pre-schools the exact list of equipment it's quite a long list of items and they're asking us for the the total funding cost for this of £924.25 thank you chair Thanks John I have to say I love the picture and it looks like it's proper tools it's actually not children being wrapped in cushions and being given blunt pairs of scissors to chunk up bit of paper I absolutely without wishing to sound determined love this I think it's absolutely tip-top right let's go to the gang Heather you were up first then Claire please thank you and I'm slightly biased of a three-year-old that has done whistling at her pre-school and the children well she definitely loves it and also you know quite often it's outside when they do things it's really encouraging good behaviour long-term exactly what it says and wanting to fix things and actually being quite inventive and everything else and I'm aware that they're applying for the full grant but as I said earlier it's so difficult to fundraise and do other things at the moment and I think they should be really endorsed and supported and wish them all the best because it looks I wish I could have a go wish they were doing that in my principal not so long ago of course what's the nursery you hear me ask okay Claire Claire no I'm supporting if only because the three little people in the photograph are all girls perhaps on that basis then we should knock it back this is about equality surely we should have a picture of a boy in there as well right that's it let's not do it then right okay hang on John hold on I will say just because it was pointed out I will say that this was these are not pupils at that school because obviously they haven't had the equipment yet this was provided and is part of the grander scheme of things but just to say those are representative children not the actual children in the likely event of them being funded you put your hand down as well please could you ask them then John to send pictures in their report because I think this is worth a million pounds frankly right Bill you did have your hand up Peter's still got his hand up I'm just supportive okay I just wanted to make a similar point to two points first of all most of the carpenters that I know are men so I think this is a pretty positive sign for diversity and I was wondering whether they were building a stable given it's this time of the year well done Peter they're going to have to crack on a bit aren't they it's not just cutting up they've got to learn join me otherwise you'll come down alright okay gang I think this is a no-brainer and that would be that so I'm assuming it's a positive if you don't put your hand up okay thought I'll catch you out that's lovely Aaron that's a hundred percent again John number five please thank you very much chair this one was also a an extreme edge case this was the one that started us thinking about whether we should really bring things to you or not so this is a an application from triple school PTA interestingly enough this is the primary school that the ladybird play group is at however it's an entirely separate application from a separate organization they have no knowledge of each other's applications and the school does not have enough iPads for use by by the children in the school and the PTA has taken on board the task of fundraising to bring up the number of iPads in the pot that the school has in their application they did mention obviously working from home and the difficulties of the difficulties encountered from educating people in 2020 with all of the issues the reason why we were unsure whether we should bring this to you is obviously there is and there is no community access it will be just for the children in the school however it is an application being brought forward by the PTA not by the school and it is being brought forward because funding has already been declined for extra iPads by the by the county council so we decided that it would be up to you to make that decision not us I enjoy Bill first then Claire this gives me a lot of trouble I am all for raising the amount of IT equipment in schools but that the academy trust and the county council ought to be paying for this not us that's my view Claire yes I feel the same I'm a governor of Great Wilbur and primary school and we really really struggle with the provision of iPads and the PTA has to work hard to raise the money for them because they've only got one actually so we shouldn't be funding what is the proper responsibility of other people to fund this thanks Claire John Williams thank you chair I agree with Claire I looked at this I thought actually there's no difference between this I don't know if you remember but we had an application from Linton Village College PTA about refurbishing a swimming pool which was the ownership of the county council and and unlike the previous application about the swimming pool that we had earlier this was actually a property of the county council and should have been you know maintained by the county council and also on the Meldriff primary school that would be open to the community this isn't open to the community and this is something that should be provided by the trust I'm sorry I believe that the the diocese of Elise got tons of money to be honest with you I think it's appalling that they are not supplying their schools with sufficient iPads and I don't think it's in our gift to do it it's not it's not something that we should be doing so whatever you say I will be turning this one down sorry enough so I think this one is I don't think it's as clear cut as perhaps it's been made out I think there is a balance in here because you know it's common practice that PTAs do try to raise money for equipment I remember my dad as part of PTA at my school the first computer that was in our school was raised by the PTA in the classroom and it's not as if there obviously is finally the same more so there obviously has been some provision been made and the provision will probably have to be quite red spread throughout the county for the council so I don't think I think it's difficult because what they want to do is have more to give more children access and that's something that I can't disagree with the amount that they're applying for is very high to the total project cost and I can understand I can understand the comments that have been made by others I feel a bit uncomfortable saying no full stop it'd be nice if we could contribute something for the full amount but if we could give them something I think because as I say PTAs are really struggling to fundraise at the moment with the current restrictions it's something that in a normal year they'd have had a summer fate they'd have had a bonfire night something that would have raised this money for those needs at the school and they can't do that at the moment so I do feel torn I agree the amount applied for is too high a percentage but I don't feel comfortable saying no full stop Chairman, thank you Thank you, right, Peter's next and before you start Pete John, you've still got your hand up was that legacy and Claire you've got your hand up is that to come back again? Can I just come back on what Councillor Heather Williams has said it is not a parent's responsibility to fund essential equipment for their school it is a government responsibility PTAs are there to raise things for like to have things not essential things essential things should be provided by the government or the local educational authority or the academy trust and I totally disagree that parents should be funding essential equipment for their children's education full stop Before I come back Peter, you were next Yeah, all I would like to say is I think in the new year we should just have a brief review in anticipation of other PTA submissions I do agree with John that it isn't the function of this fund to backfill shortfalls in educational provision that's not what we're about however there have been many PTA submissions for things which are available to the wider community and we've granted those and I think that's been right and so in the new year I'd just like to have one of the committee meetings or even offline a discussion about clarifying that policy because also to be fair to PTAs if they continue to submit I don't want them to be disappointed and perhaps not understanding why we as a council are turning that down so it might help the communication with the various parent-teachers associations Thank you, Claire Thank you, Chairman I agree with Peter and note that we have supported PTA projects in the past where there's been community involvement and I just wanted to make it clear in my remarks that I do wholeheartedly support the work of PTAs but I think this is something slightly different Thank you I'm going to have to take Ben before I come to it it is difficult I too support PTA in the work they do what I'm surprised about actually is that the TRIP CLO school has got a heck of a reputation it really has it's a very sought after school people fight tooth and nail to get their children in there from around here and I'm surprised that they couldn't collect 984 or 1181 pounds and 84 pence it surprises me even with a raffle that you don't have to do socially distance it just seems to me to be something there hasn't been much thought going to this if you like to explain why they've come to us for a grant funding some of money because something else has failed somewhere down the line somewhere else so anyway that's my thoughts I am personally coming down on the side of I'm surprised you haven't been able to fund this from somewhere else and I'm not that inclined Claire you still got your hand up can you put that down Heather please Thank you I think it's not quite fair to say that it's a failure to provide essential equipment because without knowing how many they already have because I think the issue is that they want some more to give you know every child but the moment they're sharing so if they're all sharing one then that's a very different different sort of issue if you've got 10 children trying to share one or if you've got 5 or 6 children trying to share 3 and that's almost one for two so I don't think we can really comment with the information we've got there about what is or isn't failing to be provided we've got a PTA that wants to do more and as I said I do think that the total applied for is too high but I stand by what I said that I don't feel comfortable saying no outright I think it'd be nice to ask them some but I'd also question what the point is of us even coming to a conclusion because as we've heard Councillor John Williams has said regardless of what we say he's going to refuse it so Chairman with the greatest respect I think you know we're in a pointless situation if whatever even if we were to approve it he's going to get refused so you know perhaps we should just let me interrupt you Heather one thing that I pride myself on on this committee is that we have our two benefit you've had your two benefit and you will continue to have your two benefit as long as this committee session runs John is in total to his opinion but there may be something down the line in our discussions that we come back to John London in a minute and we'll come back to Claire in a second but there may be something that for whatever reason changes his mind so I'm going to stick my foot down and we're going to be extremely polite to each other every single one of us are going to be very polite to each other from now on. John over to you then coming to Claire. Thank you very much just coming back to Councillor Heather Williams point about numbers of iPads when I phoned up the PTA they have they didn't give me an exact number but they said that for their largest group they have at least one between two and the smallest class group they don't have enough for one iPad for every child they are they have an ambition to get to the point where even the largest group has one iPad per child and I'm aware that they have made multiple other funding bids to other organisations but they just wanted to sort of keep everything separate for their own reasons so they've funded ask them to fund three they'll be asking somebody else to fund another three they'll be fundraising to do another however many until they get up to their target number. Thank you John Claire you're muted Claire I suspect we might have more of these applications the more that the Covid restrictions go on and the more people are doing online learning so I do endorse Peter's suggestion that we come back and we look at PTAs but doesn't change my mind in respect of this particular application but I do think PTA applications would deserve a special discussion Thank you very much take your hand down please Claire Catherine are you going to I don't seem to be able to raise my hand on the icon there but just there they are I just wanted to say we can bring you some proposals for changes to wording within the criteria a future meeting so it's not okay thank you right members I get the impression from comments that we are ready to refuse this on the basis of refusal and the basis that Peter's suggestion endorsed by Claire that we have a little chat perhaps in the new year as to with officers recommendations for how we may or may not tweak the PTA side of application going forward even if it's on a temporary basis because of what's happened this year would you would you support the the refusal this time but with the encouragement if those discussions in the new year change what we may or may not support that we ask officers to contact the Triplo PTA and ask them to either resubmit or we just live up this application and make a decision on the next available committee how does that sound yeah yeah could I comment I think when we've done a brief review we sort of refresh the guidelines and issue those to parent teachers associations and identify over the past 12 months projects that have been approved and why and those that haven't and why and I think that will help them a lot okay thank you you'll notice that Bill just before you go are you going to refuse my position hasn't changed since my first comment I would go against this okay Bill's not going guys he's just going to pay his respects to the oldest member of his village who's just passed away and he's gone past I think in a procession so he'll be back but he's just so we've got his back already can I have a show of hands for support please and may I have a show of hands for refusal and I'll take Bill as that and Heather how would you like to vote would you like to abstain yes Chairman because I don't agree with the amount but I also don't agree we shouldn't be funding thank you could you make a note of that please Aaron right John thank you very much chair I just like to for bells and bracelets confirm that we have said yes to the pool we have said yes to the window we have said yes to lady birds we have said yes to working with the caveat that they need to send us cute pictures we have said no to the iPads as it would replace statutory funding with no community use however we will possibly be changing the guidelines and will notify you if that change affect this application would you mind using the word review rather than change just in case we stay without if you wouldn't mind please I've changed that thank you thank you very much John and Catherine for your efforts on this are you staying or going if you would allow me to leave I've got a sick daughter in the other room so I'm probably going to head off with that's okay well I hope I wish her well and I wish you and you and yours a very happy Christmas New Year from all of us I'm assuming we should do certainly yes very Christmas from from us to all of you thank you very much thank you John you're stuck with me for a little bit longer I'm saying Leslie okay thank you right now we've got Leslie to come in Leslie McFarland hi Leslie thank you chair firstly apologies that my camera I have another malfunction so it's not working again today so I'm bringing the service support grant update this report is to update members on Q1 and Q2 performance for the organizations which are in receipt of greater than 15,000 pounds unless otherwise requested and this is part of their contractual agreements I think I'd also like to know as well that we have been in contact regularly with all of these organizations so you're just monitoring the impacts of COVID and we have I think we took a report at the end of September possibly I can't remember exactly maybe in October so there shouldn't really be any surprises in the reports that we've received but yes kind of over to you now for a comment yeah you're on me I'm afraid do you know it's been I've really tried hard not to catch myself out my phone rang just as an explanation I'm going to pay me 10 quid that's fine but it's my wedding ring that I've put into the Judas to have mended and that was the Judas telling me that my my beloved her gold band of my anchor is ready for collection that's now going to cost me 10 quid more right okay um may I go with Claire I looked up at the same time I think you both pinged at the same time so um yeah thank you um so um I really enjoyed reading these reports um and I was particularly struck by the good work of all of them but particularly the Citizens Advice Bureau and um the background information that we were given um I think it's really good that we can support organizations like that and also good that we asked them for reports um because it it really helps us to understand what's going on across the district in our communities um and I want to just put in a special word for the Farmland Museum um because they've done a lot of work in the last two years to reach out I hate that phrase I know but I can't think of a better one than me to now in this case I think it really does mean reaching out to the community um and I think they've really tried their best to cover the times when they had to be closed um and as you know from their previous presentations they do depend um on us a lot for their work um and they've really tried to modernize themselves um and so it's really good to hear um what they're doing and um the fact that they've really sort of taken on board um the lockdown and and used it uh for benefit thank you Claire I'm going to help you out Claire if you don't like the what was that phrase you just said that you don't like so I'm going to say that the Farm Museum have plowed on during the pandemic right you're all you're all welcome to come up with some and I've got another little gem okay I've sown the seeds for the for this coming year okay boys and girls uh over to you Heather you're next I feel like I've just opened my Christmas cracker with the jokes but uh and and yeah um and and farmers have most definitely plowed on throughout all this indeed but um and uh even some councils have got roped into the back of potato harvesters because of restrictions and households so it's they've done they've done really well and I've done my shift um but I wasn't going to say I was really pleasantly surprised about the statuses it's completely understandable the farmland museum you know that they've had delays but the fact that everyone has managed to stay on track with with what they're already planning under the circumstances particularly things like the CCBS and what have you um I think is it's really really good to be applauded and I think that's all I have to say really Fantastic Pete Uh thanks yeah I'd like to I'd like us to write to citizens advice to say two things first of all to thank them um for what they've what they've been doing um and and secondly to ask them to keep us up to date if you look at the age profile of um the people they're engaging with um a lot of young people in their 30s and I I fear this is going to become a theme of the next six months post COVID um so I just like to thank them acknowledge what they've done because they've done fantastic work please tell them somebody that I read the case studies the case studies are amazing of what they've done the case studies are generally older people um so we continue to support them and I'd like to hear more because I think those in that age group I mean a lot of age groups are affected but the chart shows that the main advice they're giving is between those between 30 and 39 years old yeah yeah it's going to be a difficult year difficult difficult year coming up um um yes thank you um also I meant to say this um there's some interesting information on the community car schemes I mean on page 39 it talks about the full-born community car scheme which we were hearing about recently at the Paris Council um which is is good so positive but I think we don't make enough of the fact that South Cams funds these schemes that's not always mentioned when they are discussed and it in in the case of these schemes here it's made a significant difference so um that's perhaps a chord to the officers um you know could we perhaps make sure that their funding is acknowledged thank you okay Leslie yeah um but also just wanted to add as well that I don't know whether members were aware that the government issued a winter support grant to the kind of upper tier authorities and much of that money was spent on voucher schemes for school meals but a great proportion of that also went for additional funding for citizens advice and for the Cambridge local assistance so in addition to the funding that we've been given them I think they've also received quite a large amount of funding to just increase capacity in anticipation of the demand as a result of COVID so I think you might be pleased to know that thank you that's really heartwarming actually um okay remind me recommendations and chairman could I have another question please yeah on page 43 um we've got a note developing a profile of informal group activity so I've got two questions then um one is um could members be made aware of what's going on there in developing a profile um so we all know what's going on across the district and in our own wards and secondly um just to note as you will know um that in our task and finish group we're also um kind of working on this aren't we um on yeah so just so that that's coordinated in the um community's team thanks Claire Leslie just as a quickie um I seem to remember seeing an email that you either sent or copied into and then made comment with Cecilia with regards to the newsletter is that correct um sorry in response to the Cecilia is doing um I'm just sorry I remember that if his name was the publicist Cecilia is one of her members and she's in the community's team and so that she's doing a newsletter or she her and Jay are doing a newsletter um which is listing help sources and what have you know I am certain I saw your name as part of the mobile warden scheme response and what have you so as Claire rightly said if there's anything in here that can be transposed and put into that as information as how we're going to do it there may be just another little another little edge that people can be aware of absolutely um well I'll have a look I think Cecilia's newsletter is fairly comprehensive uh and includes a lot of this support that is available from the third sector I will I'll cross reference thank you so much that's really kind thank you okay um members I don't see any hands up officers obviously uh Leslie if you've got anything else you'd like to say then great if not uh Catherine no nothing from me okay Liam did you manage to minute that a lot I I think so right we'll get Aaron to check them later on and give you marks out of 10 right right then that was a gender item number six and I think we just have to we just note in this aren't we and expression and gratitude correct me if I'm wrong Leslie we just we just yes I mean it's really just to review and if you had any concerns um to you know we don't ask us to make any additional inquiries well other than what's been already discussed in no it's wonderful thank you very much for bringing that that's super I'm happy to send a brief a sort of a um a letter to uh CAB on behalf of the uh grants advisory committee just thanking them that'd be lovely thank you yeah do you want that to go in your name any of you as members or on your behalf it'll be John Williams as the lead member for finance so if you don't mind great in that case the nice bit now if you like our day is going to continue elsewhere there's potato picking apparently and other stuff to be done um thank you very much colleagues officer and member for coming today doing what you've done that's brilliant next next committee meeting will be Friday the 29th of January 2021 at 10 a.m. I imagine it will be in the same format as we're looking at each other now probably until the end of next year by the sound of it okay thank you very much indeed and uh have a jolly good day thank you bye Merry Christmas thank you Liam can you kill the fade yep absolutely thanks very much let's choose a different