Annex

Ward Budgets - Proposed Changes

1. Community Officers are currently creating Neighbourhood Action Plans (NAPs) for each ward. This will give members a clear steer for their new ward priorities, help with deciding where to spend funding, and will identify gaps in provision where Community Officers could commission services.

2. It is proposed that ward funding is composed of the following elements from 1^ST August 2023:

a. allocate a minimum Ward Budget for Members to spend on priorities in their NAP that correspond with those of the administration (health/wellbeing/affordability). This would need to be an amount that is significant enough to make a meaningful difference in the those wards deemed ‘less needy’ as loneliness and isolation for example are still prevalent in more affluent wards;

b. introduce a second element based on need. This will be achieved by using a basket of indicators to rank wards based on need including, for example, IMD deprivation data, loneliness and isolation, and health data;

c. create a single pot of funding for multiple and/or ‘city wide’ applications. Currently, if an organisation wants to apply city wide, they must complete 21 applications which is challenging for any community or voluntary sector organisation.

3. Officers will work on the mechanism to achieve the above with the council’s Finance & Business Intelligence teams ahead of 1^st August 2023.  Final details of the scheme will be delegated to the Chief Finance Officer for approval