Thurrock Council’s Cabinet is set to agree a new approach to grant funding at its meeting on Wednesday 18 November.
The report recommends a council-wide reset of the council’s approach to community grant funding, ensuring consistency in decision-making, and clarity to ensure there is open access to grants where possible, with elected members playing a lead role in decision-making about grant allocations.
The report sets out a renewed commitment to transparency and local democratic accountability by ensuring that the ownership of decision-making about the council’s community grants programme sits with elected members.
The reset includes:
- The establishment of a new Committee of the Executive – the Thurrock Council Grants and Awards Committee - to hold its first meeting in January 2027. The Committee will exercise delegated authority for the consideration and approval of discretionary grant applications and other benefits in kind to the voluntary and community sector, monitoring grant expenditure and outcomes, and oversee transparency and reporting arrangements.
- A review of current grant funding arrangements including where third parties are allocating grants on behalf of the council.
- The publication annually, and with real-time updates, of all awarded grants.
The council continues to see the voluntary and community sector as an important partner in delivering support to residents and wants to ensure that all local VCS organisations have fair access to funding opportunities, and clarity over decision-making.
Cllr Milena Bingley, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Children’s Services, said: “In Thurrock, we know there is an army of voluntary and community organisations that go the extra mile every day to help make our borough a place to be proud of. We ask a lot of our voluntary and community sector organisations, many of whom operate on a shoestring.
"Where there is funding available for work in the community, it’s really important to this administration that it is visible and accessible to all eligible organisations, that there is complete transparency about the process, and that all funding goes towards things that benefit local people.
“Residents elect councillors to take important decisions, and so it’s right that elected members take a lead role in making sure precious funding goes to the right organisations to deliver the right support for local people.
“I look forward to taking this work forward with members and officers to ensure that consistency, transparency, value for money, positive outcomes, and democratic accountability are all key features of our approach to grant funding.”