Council set to review local grants policy

MORVAL Parish Council chairman Andy Jackson has reassured organisations and residents that no offence was intended when the council decided to review its annual grants policy.

The council traditionally sets aside £1,000 a year of council tax-payers money to reward what it describes as ‘voluntary groups or charitable organisations working for the benefit of the parish and its community.’ 

In recent months there have been moves to update the policy, which had not been reviewed for some time, but it appears that in trying to make the procedure more transparent, some misunderstandings may have occurred.

There had been suggestions that some applications might have been made made contrary to the spirit of the council’s policy and also that some council tax-payers money that was gifted to organisations had not been spent exactly as had been intended.

Both the Parish Church of St Wenna’s and the Flower Festival had taken issue with any suggestion that they might have done something wrong.

Churchwarden Mike Willmott spoke passionately during the public participation section of the March monthly meeting of the council, admitting that he was ‘taken aback’ to be queried about the grant the church had received in the current and previous financial years, towards maintenance costs of the open public churchyard. 

That was caused, in part, by an apparent discrepancy between the council’s grants policy, and the terms and conditions in the council’s grant application form that applicants submit.

He said he believed that the church had complied with all its responsibilities under the grant conditions but felt that the council’s review had led to ‘unfortunate inferences’. 

He added: “I have to tell you people have taken great exception to this.”

The council later discussed proposed changes to the grants policy and it was agreed that the clerk would now prepare a new policy, incorporating councillors’ suggestions, and present it to the next meeting (at Widegates Village Hall, on Wednesday, April 3; 7.00 pm).

The chairman reiterated that they had not accused anyone of wrong-doing and they were not implying that anyone had done anything untoward.

However, it was public money with which they were dealing when awarding the grants, and that had to be properly accounted for.

Lessons had been learned, he said, but because all grant applications – and, indeed, all parish council spending – had to be ratified by annual audits, future applicants would have to meet the requirements of being awarded a grant.

31st March 2024