Item 12 - Grants Programme Performance Report - Year 2 (G15/7)

Summary    

London Councils’ grants programme is in year three of a four-year cycle, 2013/14 to 2016/17.  The programme has clear priorities and, within these, specifications and outcomes. 35 projects are currently funded to deliver these. These projects have been commissioned following competitive applications. Payment is conditional on delivery of results. 
This is a report on the achievement of the programme in:
•    The final quarter of 2014/15 (which is quarter eight of the programme)
•    The second year 2014/15 (all four quarters combined)
•    The two years of the programme 2013-15 (all eight quarters combined).

Recommendations    

A. The Committee is asked to note 
1.    That at priority level, for the two years of the programme, performance in this quarter of:
a.    priority 1: Homelessness was 39% above target (see section 2.2)
b.    priority 2:  Sexual and domestic violence was 21% above target (see section 2.3)
c.    priority 3: ESF tackling poverty through employment was 4% below target (see section 2.4)
d.    priority 4: Capacity building was 17% above target (see section 2.5).
2.    That for priority 3: ESF tackling poverty through employment:
a.    payment is directly performance related, so under-performance means less money is paid to the providers (on a quarterly basis)
b.    the performance of projects can vary considerably from quarter to quarter, so one quarter’s performance should not necessarily be viewed in isolation (see section 2.4.2)
c.    this quarter’s performance has been adversely affected by the on-going delays in the new UK-ESF programme. London Councils believes that this uncertainty is causing high staff turnover and capacity issues
d.    projects are aware that if they under-deliver in quarter 9, they will not be paid for this
e.    the London Councils ESF programme continues to perform well compared to other ESF programmes in London. 29% of participants go into jobs.  This is the highest level in London even though the London Councils programme works with the hardest to help (see section 2.4.3).
3. That at project level, in the red, amber, green (RAG) system (see section 3):
a.    34 of the 35 projects are green, with strong performance
b.    one project is amber, St Mungo Community Housing Association, in Priority 3, meaning its performance is satisfactory. This project has worked with an extremely difficult client group, rough sleepers with substance problems. However, it is the case that the project will not be paid for the targets that have been missed in this quarter or in the ninth quarter
c.    the performance of five of the 35 projects is falling. Officers will concentrate performance management on these. This will include more intensive monitoring and agreement on action that project managers will take to improve performance. Last quarter, the performance of eight projects was worsening, so the number in this group has reduced. Officers will report progress at the next Committee meeting
d.    In the Committee’s performance management regime, any project’s performance that is 15% or more below its targets in two consecutive quarters is reported to the Committee with recommendations for remedial action. No project is in this category in this quarter.
4. That on programme management:
a.    Officers have completed 52 monitoring visits against a target of 70 for the year. Officers have not been able to complete all the planned visits because of a lack of capacity in the team (see section 4)
b.    during the fourth quarter of 2014/15, all projects have submitted quarterly monitoring reports and all have been paid the correct amount on time, within four weeks of approving quarterly returns (see section 4)
c.    London Councils officers set up a task group with borough officers to identify ways of strengthening the relationship between the programme and boroughs. This has met once. Further work on this has been limited due to resource constraints in the London Councils team. The issues that have been raised will be taken forward as part of the full review of the programme (see section 5)
d.    the programme of Committee presentations and visits continues. No Committee visit took place in the last quarter. There is no presentation at today’s meeting as this is the Grant Committee’s AGM (see section 5).
B. The Committee is asked to note the annual statement from London Funders (see Annex D). London Councils pays an annual subscription to London Funders of £60,000 on behalf of London boroughs. This saves a total of £14,800 per year. London Funders is the membership body for public, private and independent funders and investors in the work of civil society across London (see section 6).
C. The Committee is asked to comment on the performance of the Grants Programme to date as set out in this report.