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A decision made (14.12.07) to increase grants for the Community Safety Fund.

Decision Reference: MD-T-2007-00
Decision Summary Title :	DS Community Safety Fund – Award Of Grants		Date of Decision Summary:	28 November 2007
Decision Summary Author:	Alan Muir Head of DVS & Inspector of Motor Traffic		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	WR Community Safety Fund – Award Of Grants		Date of Written Report:	28 November 2007
Written Report Author:	Alan Muir Head of DVS & Inspector of Motor Traffic		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Community Safety Fund – Award Of Grants
Decision(s): The Minister approved:- Increasing the maximum interim award for grants awarded from the Community Safety Fund to £10,000 per project; The balance (£7,000) of an application from Jersey Fire Service for a grant of £10,000 to replace smoke detectors in pensioners’ homes; An application from the Road Safety Training Officer for a grant of £7,950 to purchase a Driving Simulator for pre-driver training.
Reason(s) for Decision: To allow small but important community safety initiatives to proceed.
Resource Implications: Maintenance of the apparatus provided by the grants will be met from the relevant organisations’ existing budgets.
Action required: Subject to the Minister approving the grants, the sums to be disbursed to the relevant organisations.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Community Safety Fund - award of grants

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

COMMUNITY SAFETY FUND – AWARD OF GRANTS

Purpose of the Report

To consider awarding grants for relatively small sums from the Community Safety Fund.

Background

The balance of the Community Safety Fund - £250,865 at 31st December 2006 – was transferred to a TTS controlled account as agreed by the Minister for Transport and Technical Services on 7 March 2007, Ministerial Decision number MD-T-2007-0024.

In March, a report was submitted for the Minister’s consideration, outlining how the Community Safety Fund might operate in future, including

· Setting up a separate business unit to hold the funds.

· Establishing a Community Safety Fund Board to manage the disbursement of the funds.

· Inviting applications for membership of the board and recommending the make up to the Minister.

· Setting terms of reference for the board.

For various reasons, no decision has yet been made on implementing any of the above. However, applications for grants from the fund have been received.

In June, interim arrangements for considering applications for and awarding grants from the Community Safety Fund, for small but important initiatives, were approved by the Minister (MD-T-2007-0058). Four grants were awarded.

Discussion

The following table lists those organisations and persons who have submitted applications for or made enquiries about grants from the fund.

Organisation	Amount Requested	Purpose
Fire Service	£10000 (£3000 granted)	Replacing smoke detectors in pensioners’ homes.
Communicare Pre-school Group	£110 (Granted)	11 booster seats.
P Lutwyche	-	No details
Community Charitable Trust	-	Emergency Fund to provide loans to Islanders who would not be granted loans by banks.
Jersey Council on Alcoholism	-	Refurbishment and training for facility at Margaret House.
Deputy of St John	£24000	Pedestrian crossing and traffic calming at Parish Hall.
Child Accident Prevention	£2595 (Granted)	Training Programme for Health Professionals in reducing the number of children suffering accidental burns.
Child Accident Prevention	£520 (Granted)	Printing leaflets for Safety in Action Week.
Police – Road Safety Training Officer	£7950	Purchase of a Driving Simulator for pre-driver training
P Newman/Dep Pitman	£23000 per year	Bi-annual funding of “Hands-Off” (mobile ‘phone) campaign.
Fire Service	£9800	Smart Car for Community Fire Safety campaign.

The Fire Service had intimated it would have to suspend the service of replacing smoke detectors in pensioners’ homes as there were no more funds available. An interim grant of £3000 was made to allow the service to continue until firm procedures are in place. Grants were also made to Child Accident Prevention (two grants) and to Communicare Pre-school Playgroup.

The criteria previously approved by the Minister for considering applications and awarding grants in the interim are:-

· The proposal should be beneficial to the community at large;

· For one off items of expenditure directly related to community safety;

· Island based;

· For proposals that would significantly enhance or raise awareness on community safety and for which there is no or insufficient public funding;

· A maximum interim award of £3000 per project.

Pending a decision on how the Community Safety Fund should operate, it is suggested that the maximum interim award figure be raised to £10000 per project and further grants awarded. Subject to the Minister approving the revised maximum interim award, it is suggested that the application from the Fire Service for the balance of £7000 for smoke detectors and the Road Safety Training Officer for the driving simulator (£7950) be approved and awarded.

The driving simulator will be transportable and will support current road safety training initiatives undertaken in schools and at Highlands College by representatives of the Police and DVS. In addition, it can be used in initial assessments for stroke victims and other drivers who have been disabled who wish to return to driving. Similarly, it could be used for initial training of potential new drivers, such as persons who have an autism spectrum disorder.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to:-

Approve the maximum interim award for grants awarded from the Community Safety Fund be increased to £10000 per project;

Award grants to the following organisations;

Jersey Fire Service a grant of £7000

Road Safety Training a grant of £7950.

Reason(s) for Decision

To allow small but important community safety initiatives to proceed.

Action Required

Subject to the Minister approving the grants, the sums to be disbursed to the relevant organisations.

Written by:	Alan Muir

Approved by:	Caroline Anderson, Director of Transport

ASM

28 November 2007