To consider a proposal for the setup of a South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Crowdfunding Scheme which will maximise funds raised for community based initiatives.  

That:

1.       Working with Boston Borough Council and South Holland District Council as our partners in the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (S&ELCP), a Crowdfunding scheme be established with one or both partners;

2.       Approval be given to enter into collaborative contract arrangements with Boston Borough Council (the lead contracting party) and South Holland District Council to appoint ‘Spacehive’, as the external civic crowd funding company, to provide external management of the scheme on behalf of the Councils;

3.       Delegated authority be given to the Deputy Chief Executive – Communities and the Assistant Director for Wellbeing and Community Leadership, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders across the Partnership, to agree final arrangements for the Crowdfund Scheme, including process, criteria, final costs of the scheme and the awarding of grants;

4.       A set up payment of £11,333 funded from the Economic Growth Reserve be approved;

5.       A Crowd Fund ‘pot’ of £30,000 funded from the Economic Growth Reserve be approved

6.       A review of the benefits of the scheme be undertaken after an initial period of two years.

A report was presented that set out a proposal to seek approval to procure a crowdfunding partner to develop a S&ELCP Crowdfunding Scheme to enable funds to be raised for community–based initiatives.  The initial set up cost was £34,000 and would be split between the three partner Councils.  Additional funding would then be proportioned from each council to promote projects within each geographical area.

Boston Borough Council would procure the service on behalf of the sovereign councils within the Partnership.

During his introduction the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships, Councillor Marsh highlighted a revision to recommendations 1 & 3 as detailed in bold below:

1.                   Working with Boston Borough Council and South Holland District Council as our partners in the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (S&ELCP), a Crowdfunding scheme be established with one or both partners;

3.           Delegated authority be given to the Deputy Chief Executive – Communities and the Assistant Director for Wellbeing and Community Leadership, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders across the Partnership, to agree final arrangements for the Crowdfund Scheme, including process, criteria and final costs of the scheme and the awarding of grants.

During discussion the Portfolio Holder for Finance sought further clarification on recommendation 5, Crowd Funding Pot of £30,000 from the Economic Growth Fund Reserve.  It was noted this related to:

·                       Schemes within the ELDC area;

·                       Further funding would depend on benefits derived from any schemes and whilst further funding may be requested, this would be within the Council’s control and not unlimited.

Following which it was

RESOLVED

That:

1)   Working with Boston Borough Council and South Holland District Council as our partners in the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (S&ELCP), a Crowdfunding scheme be established with one or both partners;

2)   Approval be given to enter into collaborative contract arrangements with Boston Borough Council (the lead contracting party) and South Holland District Council to appoint ‘Spacehive’, as the external civic crowd funding company, to provide external management of the scheme on behalf of the Councils;

3)   Delegated authority be given to the Deputy Chief Executive – Communities and the Assistant Director for Wellbeing and Community Leadership, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders across the Partnership, to agree final arrangements for the Crowdfund Scheme, including process, criteria, final costs of the scheme and the awarding of grants;

4)   A set up payment of £11,333 funded from the Economic Growth Reserve be approved;

5)   A Crowd Fund ‘pot’ of £30,000 funded from the Economic Growth Reserve be approved;

6)   A review of the benefits of the scheme be undertaken after an initial period of two years.

Reasons:

Civic Crowdfunding aims to give residents and community groups the ability to attract funding from their communities, local authority and local businesses in an increasingly challenging financial environment.  Crowdfunding allows local groups to develop a community project via an online public platform and then seek additional financial support though online pledges. 

This scheme would build on the success of the Councillor Grant scheme and the forthcoming Community Lottery Scheme, allowing projects to gain further contributions from a larger pool of people and businesses via match funding.

The aim of the scheme was to support local projects and make communities stronger, more connected and more empowered by supporting projects that matter to them.  This scheme will enable the Partnership to support the priorities of the local communities.

Other options:

Not to establish a partnership Crowd Funding Scheme.