| Topic: | Re:Irreplaceable loss | |
| Posted by: | Philippa Bond | |
| Date/Time: | 22/12/15 09:40:00 |
| One of the things that she was there to do was to apply for grants that are put up for grabs. That seems to be the way everything is done nowadays - there are funds available from various bodies eg EU, WRAP, defra, Mr Pickles' successor etc. They have to be competed for. I think it is a bit of a Catch 22 situation as the Councils' grants have been cut so that they may not have the staff who will/are able to put in the time to get this extra funding. This makes more work for Councils as they have to find out what different funds are available, find out whether any of them would be suitable for the Borough and then put together a winning bid for them as they may not win them and may in fact spend a lot of time and energy doing this which is ultimately wasted. I can imagine that stressed departments may not be available to think around this especially when so much has become tick-box orientated. There needs to be a lot of cooperation from everyone elsewhere to achieve this. There are often strings attached. Not achieve something in the timescale and you have to give the money back. (I am reminded of cycle lanes plonked all over the country obviously without enough consultation as to the best positioning.) I wouldn't even be surprised if the Town Centre Manager's job itself wasn't the result of a grant. The situation might look good on paper (or on the Excel sheet) but in practice may be completely different. It does need team work. |