Moving to a Unified Grants Process and a Single Monitoring Framework

1. Moving to a Unified Grants Process and a Single Monitoring Framework Jim Gray Acting Head of Community Planning, Corporate Services Dept, Glasgow City Council

2. Grants Integration Project Aim Our vision is that the significant resources that Glasgow City Council gives out as grants to the third sector are used efficiently and to meet its policy and service delivery priorities.

3. Moving to a Unified Grants Processand a Single Monitoring Framework • Background • Grants Integration Project • – Benefits, Objectives, Scope • Single Monitoring Framework • Stakeholder Engagement • Equality Impact Assessment

4. Background • The grant integration project takes place against the following background: • SOA setting out a shared agenda and key targets • In 2010, FSF will no longer be ring-fenced allowing more focussed targeting of resources • The current economic climate requiring greater efficiency of public spending.

5. Background Responsibility for the Glasgow City Council Social Inclusion Budget transferred to the Community Planning Section of Glasgow City Council to be co-ordinated alongside FSF. This is the starting point for the integration of all Council Grant Budgets.

6. Benefits • The Grant Integration Project aims offer the following benefits: • A more strategic approach to grant allocation. • A clear focus on strategic objectives (Council’s and SOA). • Improved information sharing across services and partner agencies. • Reduction in potential for duplication of funding to the third sector. • A more efficient and unified approach to grants provision. • It is hoped this will be the first step towards alignment of all grants provided by all Community Planning partners directly to the third sector within the Single Outcome Agreement.

7. Objectives • establish links between Council grant programmes and the SOA • match investment to Council policy and service delivery priorities • identify opportunities for savings (efficiencies and/or redirection) • rationalise and simplify all grant administration processes • agree common performance standards for all grants  • improve value for money and reduce duplication • deliver a more client focussed approach to grants provision

8. Scope • The scope of this project includes: • All funds paid by the Council to the third sector as grants • review existing administrative systems associated with Council grants (application, assessment, monitoring, reporting etc) • standardise financial and non financial monitoring through a Single Monitoring Framework • common policy on reserves

9. Single Monitoring Framework • All grant funded projects and programmes will adhere to a Single Monitoring Framework • This framework has previously been used to monitor the Fairer Scotland Fund but will now be adapted to cover all Glasgow City Council grant schemes • Feeds into reporting structures for Glasgow’s Single Outcome Agreement

10. Monitoring Process • Each project/programme monitored against aims, objectives, targets and budgets agreed in their funding application • Projects/programmes complete six monthly and annual monitoring returns and should receive a monitoring visit at least once a year

11. Monitoring Process (cont) • There is a layered process for agreeing targets in order to link activity on the ground to the SOA outcomes and Community Planning themes • Each project selects a range of outputs to work against that demonstrate their work on the ground • These are in turn linked into the local outcomes in the SOA and subsequently the Community Planning Themes and Scottish Government’s Strategic Objectives • Each project can select up to two Strategic Objectives, two Community Planning Themes, three local outcomes per Community Planning Theme and three outputs per local outcome.

12. Agreeing Targets – an Example • Strategic Objective (e.g. Healthier Scotland): • Community Planning Theme (from Community Plan – e.g. Healthy Glasgow) • Local Outcome (from SOA – e.g. Increase the proportion of residents involved in physical activity • Local Output (e.g. Number of people supported to access or participate in exercise related activity, inc. through Education) • Target (e.g. 200 people)

13. Monitoring Criteria and Traffic Light System • Projects are monitored against a range of criteria including: governance; grant draw down; financial expenditure; submission and quality of monitoring reports; and performance/progress against targets • Projects are then placed into a red, amber or green category based on the criteria above • These categorisations are used to prioritise monitoring visits, etc, and highlight projects/programmes with particular issues when it comes to making funding decisions

14. Implementation • Stakeholder Engagement • Equality Impact Assessment

15. Questions? Glasgow Community Planning Partnership - www.glasgowcommunityplanningpartnership.org.uk Glasgow City Council - www.glasgow.gov.uk