Decisions

Background to report:

In February 2022 the Government announced a package of support known as the Energy Bills Rebate (EBR) to help households with rising energy bills.

The package consisted of:

·        Non-repayable payments of £150 to households occupying properties in council tax bands A-D (including those valued in band E but subject to a disabled band reduction)

·        A £200 reduction to electricity bills applied by energy companies in October, to be paid back over the next five years. (This has now been superseded and increased to a £400 reduction which does not need to be repaid)

·        £144 million of funding to billing authorities to support to other energy bill payers who are not eligible under the terms of the core scheme, or to provide carefully targeted ‘top-up’ payments to the most vulnerable households in bands A to D.

Dacorum has been allocated £289,350 to create its local scheme – this is funding which will need to be returned to Government if not spent, but will not be topped up if our spending exceeds the allocation. 

Local authorities have discretion over the design and implementation of their local scheme. This paper outlines a proposed local scheme for Dacorum.

Background to report:

In February 2022 the Government announced a package of support known as the Energy Bills Rebate (EBR) to help households with rising energy bills.

The package consisted of:

·        Non-repayable payments of £150 to households occupying properties in council tax bands A-D (including those valued in band E but subject to a disabled band reduction)

·        A £200 reduction to electricity bills applied by energy companies in October, to be paid back over the next five years. (This has now been superseded and increased to a £400 reduction which does not need to be repaid)

·        £144 million of funding to billing authorities to support to other energy bill payers who are not eligible under the terms of the core scheme, or to provide carefully targeted ‘top-up’ payments to the most vulnerable households in bands A to D.

Dacorum has been allocated £289,350 to create its local scheme – this is funding which will need to be returned to Government if not spent, but will not be topped up if our spending exceeds the allocation. 

Local authorities have discretion over the design and implementation of their local scheme. This paper outlines a proposed local scheme for Dacorum.

Recommendations made and reasons:

To award a grant of £10,000 to Chipperfield Tennis Club

In the Spring round 2022 a community grant application was made by Chipperfield Tennis Club (CTC) which received approval at the grants panel meeting on 15 June 2022.

The project is to provide new floodlighting to the front tennis court and to replace the back floodlights with the latest sustainable LED technology. The project has been an aspiration for many years to provide more tennis playing time throughout the year.

CTC have recently secured full planning permission which was fully supported by Chipperfield Parish Council and the adjacent Blackwell's cafe (a focal meeting point for the community).

The key benefits of the project include:

•           Increased court usage – The proposed floodlights will significantly increase the amount of tennis played on the front court. Currently the front court usage is severely limited in terms of its use from September-April.

•           Increased peak court time – The proposals will significantly increase the peak court times (4pm-9pm)

•           Increased coaching opportunities - The proposals will allow a greater number of coaching sessions for players of all ages and abilities (including after school activities/coaching)

•           Increased school use – Having two courts with flood lights will mean the club will be able to support more children’s tennis in conjunction with the neighbouring primary school, St Paul’s. This will be an opportunity to promote more tennis and exercise for children in the local community.

•           Enabling club social tennis events – will allow for social tennis to operate all year round.

•           Enabling competitive tennis – the lights on both courts will enable matches vs various other local teams.

•           Increased membership – it will allow the Tennis Club to increase its capacity for new membership as a result of the increase in peak court time available.

•           Crime prevention –  increased passive surveillance to help reduce opportunities for anti-social behaviour and vandalism

In summary the project will bring a number of social benefits, such as increased community cohesion, promotion of sport and wellbeing, and facilitating social interaction

Total project cost £36,000

Funding:

£10,000 DBC grant

£20,500 own resources and fundraising

£2,000 Blackwell’s Trustee’s

£2000 Chipperfield Parish Council

Background

Chipperfield Tennis Club is a village club run entirely by a dedicated team of volunteers as a non-profit organisation that seeks to primarily promote social tennis. The club currently has approximately 370 members, consisting of 105 family memberships, 40 Adults, 12 Students and 2 Juniors. The Club also provides coaching sessions and is regularly used by the adjacent primary school (St Paul's CoE). Tennis coaching is also provided for the school children.

CTC holds club competitions, social events and designates court time for mixed social tennis of all abilities during the summer months.  The vision is to provide more playing time for all during the autumn and winter months by providing flood lighting on the front court in line with the approved planning permission.

The club is contributing funds from their own resources as well as fundraising activities, and they have applied for grants from other funders, namely the English Cricket Board, Sport England, HCC Locality Funding and Hertfordshire Community Foundation.

The proposed installation of safety netting will enable the club to host home games, both as part of leagues and friendly matches, while adhering to the requirements of the Parish Council.

The application was assessed through the Community Grant Scheme, which is specifically set up to support Community, Voluntary, Arts and Sporting groups that benefit the residents of Dacorum.  There are three rounds of Community Grant funding per financial year.  Applicants are invited to apply for funding and the applications are assessed by a panel of officers, who will be looking at how well it meets the criteria of the fund; whether the project supports the Councils objectives and how it supports the following five ways to well-being: be active, take notice, learn, give and connect. 

Recommendations made and reasons:

To award a grant of £10,000 to Chipperfield Tennis Club

In the Spring round 2022 a community grant application was made by Chipperfield Tennis Club (CTC) which received approval at the grants panel meeting on 15 June 2022.

The project is to provide new floodlighting to the front tennis court and to replace the back floodlights with the latest sustainable LED technology. The project has been an aspiration for many years to provide more tennis playing time throughout the year.

CTC have recently secured full planning permission which was fully supported by Chipperfield Parish Council and the adjacent Blackwell's cafe (a focal meeting point for the community).

The key benefits of the project include:

·        Increased court usage – The proposed floodlights will significantly increase the amount of tennis played on the front court. Currently the front court usage is severely limited in terms of its use from September-April.

·        Increased peak court time – The proposals will significantly increase the peak court times (4pm-9pm) 

·        Increased coaching opportunities - The proposals will allow a greater number of coaching sessions for players of all ages and abilities (including after school activities/coaching)

·        Increased school use – Having two courts with flood lights will mean the club will be able to support more children’s tennis in conjunction with the neighbouring primary school, St Paul’s. This will be an opportunity to promote more tennis and exercise for children in the local community.

·        Enabling club social tennis events – will allow for social tennis to operate all year round.

·        Enabling competitive tennis – the lights on both courts will enable matches vs various other local teams.

·        Increased membership – it will allow the Tennis Club to increase its capacity for new membership as a result of the increase in peak court time available.

·        Crime prevention –  increased passive surveillance to help reduce opportunities for anti-social behaviour and vandalism

In summary the project will bring a number of social benefits, such as increased community cohesion, promotion of sport and wellbeing, and facilitating social interaction

Total project cost £36,000

Funding:

£10,000 DBC grant

£20,500 own resources and fundraising

£2,000 Blackwell’s Trustee’s

£2000 Chipperfield Parish Council

Background

Chipperfield Tennis Club is a village club run entirely by a dedicated team of volunteers as a non-profit organisation that seeks to primarily promote social tennis. The club currently has approximately 370 members, consisting of 105 family memberships, 40 Adults, 12 Students and 2 Juniors. The Club also provides coaching sessions and is regularly used by the adjacent primary school (St Paul's CoE). Tennis coaching is also provided for the school children.

CTC holds club competitions, social events and designates court time for mixed social tennis of all abilities during the summer months.  The vision is to provide more playing time for all during the autumn and winter months by providing flood lighting on the front court in line with the approved planning permission.

The club is contributing funds from their own resources as well as fundraising activities, and they have applied for grants from other funders, namely the English Cricket Board, Sport England, HCC Locality Funding and Hertfordshire Community Foundation.

The proposed installation of safety netting will enable the club to host home games, both as part of leagues and friendly matches, while adhering to the requirements of the Parish Council.

The application was assessed through the Community Grant Scheme, which is specifically set up to support Community, Voluntary, Arts and Sporting groups that benefit the residents of Dacorum.  There are three rounds of Community Grant funding per financial year.  Applicants are invited to apply for funding and the applications are assessed by a panel of officers, who will be looking at how well it meets the criteria of the fund; whether the project supports the Councils objectives and how it supports the following five ways to well-being: be active, take notice, learn, give and connect. 

Agree recommendation           [  ]

Request further information     [  ]

Recommendations made and reasons:

To award a grant of £9,250 to Dacorum Bangladeshi Welfare Association

In the Spring round 2022 a community grant application was made from Dacorum Bangladeshi Welfare Association which received approval at the grants panel meeting on 15 June 2022

In 2020 DBWA completed the purchase of their premises – the DBWA Centre (formerly the Grovehill Clinic) having relied on moving between community centres for the previous 15 years. This permanent base now gives the platform to expand the range of activities on offer and cater for even more of the community.

Since then the DBWA have expanded weekend children’s classes and ladies’ facilities to include fitness classes. DBWA has also facilitated external speaker led talks (including Mental Health Awareness) and further educational classes. MMA fitness classes are being run for children and adults, and they are increasing their diversity by engaging with more of the non-Bangladeshi ethnic communities (they now have a larger makeup of Sri Lanka, Arab and African members of the community).

With increased use of the building comes extra use of gas/electricity/water. The DBWA Centre inherited a legacy heating/hot water system that has been creaking under the pressure of extended use. Heating use is inefficient as either the whole building is heated up or it stays off, there is no temperature control and importantly there was no hot water.

With this in mind, DBWA have been approved for a Community Grant for 2022 to help with the cost of replacing the legacy heating system with a more efficient and reliable one which can cope with the current and future extended needs of the centre.

Total project cost £12,250

Funding:

£9,250 DBC grant

Background

The Dacorum Bangladeshi Welfare Association (DBWA), based in Hemel Hempstead, was formed in 2005 with the primary aim of supporting the growing Bangladeshi community in the town. They are a non-profit organisation and registered charity who have actively sought to bring together the community providing regular organised activities to cater for all genders and age groups. These activities include classes for children and adults (men and women), congregational prayers, annual fun days and tuition classes primarily focussed on English and Maths. The success and maturity of the organisation means that focus of the organisation is no longer limited to solely the Bangladeshi community. They welcome people from all backgrounds and there is now a significant number of people attending classes and events that are from diverse backgrounds.

The application was assessed through the Community Grant Scheme, which is specifically set up to support Community, Voluntary, Arts and Sporting groups that benefit the residents of Dacorum.  There are three rounds of Community Grant funding per financial year.  Charities are invited to apply for funding and the applications are assessed by a panel of officers, who will be looking at how well it meets the criteria of the fund; whether the project supports the Councils objectives and how it supports the following five ways to well-being: be active, take notice, learn, give and connect.