Issue - meetings

Review and approval of Grant Management Policy

Purpose:

To present the Executive with a new Grant Management Policy (‘The Policy’) for approval and adoption.

To provide an over-arching Policy that provides guidance to employees on the Council’s governance and approach for administration and management of grant income, in order to ensure that we are maximising outcomes, minimising risk and delivering the greatest benefit to our communities.

Recommendations:

That the Executive resolves to:

Approve and adopt the Grant Management Policy attached to this report as Annex A.
Delegate authority to the Director of Finance (s151) to approve future minor amendments to the Policy, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, Assistant Director Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit, and the Assistant Director Legal Services.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance, introduced the item the purpose of which was to present the Executive with a new Grant Management Policy (‘The Policy’) for approval and adoption.

In his presentation the Executive Member made the following points:

The Council now had a widened scope for the delivery of multiple grant schemes to residents and businesses. Such schemes could be in the form of locally agreed community grant schemes, or via distribution of central government schemes and emergency funding.
To ensure funding was distributed properly and spent lawfully, the Policy had set out to minimise risk while maximising benefits for the community.
The Policy had detailed: roles and responsibilities; funding agreements; outcomes; eligibility criteria; assessment and awarding process; conflicts of interest; segregation of duties and due diligence checks.
The Policy had set out processes to be followed when managing grants, including applying for external funding, developing and launching new grant schemes, verification and due diligence checks and the distribution of funds.
To mitigate fraud and error, the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit had developed a grant toolkit. This provided guidance on the minimum verification and due diligence checks which must be undertaken.

Councillor Smith proposed accepting the recommendations in the report.

Councillor Andy Graham seconded the proposals.

Councillor Duncan Enright, Deputy Leader of the Council, noted that the Policy and the processes proposed were identical to those he had worked with as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Rural England Shared Prosperity Fund which had provided grants across the district. In that case the process had worked well, and it was therefore good to see this formalised. Councillor Enright thanked the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit for their work.

The proposals were put to the vote and were agreed unanimously.

The Executive resolved to:

1. Approve and adopt the Grant Management Policy attached to this report as Annex A.

2. Delegate authority to the Director of Finance (s151) to approve future minor amendments to the Policy, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, Assistant Director Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit, and the Assistant Director Legal Services.

Issue - meetings

Review and approval of Grant Management Policy

Meeting: 15/07/2026 - Executive (Item 509)

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