Decision details

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing an update on Round 4 – 2022/23 of the Council’s Strategic Events and Festivals Fund.  The report provided details of the bids submitted, the current position with regard to Covid, and recommendations regarding the eligible bids being put forward to receive grant funding.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    Agreed to the award of eligible SEF Round 4 grants amounting to £94,500.

2.    Agreed to awarding Tarbert Seafood Festival the amount applied for given that funding is available and that this does not prejudice the other applications.  This would amount to an additional £800 and would bring the total award for SEF Round 4 grants to £95,300.

3.    Agreed that any SEF grant offer only be formally issued upon confirmation from the individual event organisation that the event is formally confirmed and is definitely going ahead and still meets the SEF Round 4 criteria.  These grants were detailed in Appendix 1, Table 1, to the submitted report.

4.    Agreed not to award ineligible SEF Round 4 grants as detailed in Table 2 of the submitted report.

5.    Agreed to continue delegation of powers to the Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth to allow any subsequent amendment to existing grant requests to be made brought about as a consequence of future Covid restrictions regarding holding of events/mass gathering in 2022/23. Any amendment to a current grant request/offer would only be considered if the amendment related to either the same level or a reduction in the request from and constitute up to 75% of legitimate and eligible expenditure.

6.    Noted that at the February 2021 Council budget meeting the Council agreed funding of £90,000 for an SEF Round 4 (2022/23), to be augmented by any underspend in 2020/21 and similarly that the SEF round 3 underspend would be earmarked and allocated to 2023/2024.

7.    Agreed that the underspend from SEF Round 4 (2022/23) is made available to a further call for applications with a deadline of April 2022.

8.    Agreed to recommend to Council that any remaining underspend following the call for further applications from SEF Round 4 (2022/23) is earmarked and used to augment a future SEF round for 2024/25 – Round 6.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 18 January 2022, submitted)