Kirkbank House, English Street, Dumfries
Dumfries and Galloway, DG1 2HS, Scotland
Tel: 01387 260028 Web:
MINUTES
Local Action Group – CommunitiesGroup Meeting
Wednesday6 September, 10am
Held at:The Stove, Dumfries
Present / Heather Brash - Pri / (HB) / Clair McFarlan - Pri / (CM)Ed Forrest - Pri / (EF) / Mairi Telford Jammeh - Pri / (MT)
Harry Harbottle - Pri / (HH) / Jennifer Wilson - Pri / (JW)
McNabb Laurie - Pri / (ML)
Staff / Nicola Hill / (NH) / Jessie Mason / (JM)
Apologies / Lewis Boddy / (LB) / Anna Johnson - Pub / (AJ)
Norman Burns - Pri / (NB) / Rob Wells - Pri / (RW)
Welcome & Apologies
Chair, Heather Brash welcomed everybody to the meeting, noting that Cathy Agnew had requested to move back to the Strategic Management Group,due to workload, she is unable to participating fully in the Community Group
Declarations of Interest: There were no declarations of interest.
- Minutes of previous Meeting held on 7 June 2017
2.1Minute was approved. Proposed by JW, seconded by HH.
2.2 Electronic approval has been granted toC054 – Millennium Centre, the applicationdeferred from the previous round.
Application update
2.3 Exercise to Happiness – the match funding has been confirmed and the letter of offer signed. The start date is to be agreed.
2.4 Border Community Broadband – Community Broadband Scotland has reviewed all of their awards. Update from Southern Uplands Project has been that the project may be withdrawn. Updates will be fed back to the Group when available.
2.5 South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project – the Langholm Initiative have advised that they are no longer in a position to be Applicant Organisation and the project has been withdrawn. There will be a new application made with SUP as the Applicant Organisation. Due to the intended use of the SUP office in Selkirk, the application will now be led by Scottish Borders LEADER. It will remain a cooperation project and need to come to our Communities Group. The group were asked if they would consider the application by email or prefer to see it at a meeting. After discussion it was suggested that the Group would be happy to consider the application by email if this helped the process but if there was time and opportunity the Group would also be happy to see the application come to the December meeting. A show of hands confirming 5 of the group would be happy for this. (Ed Forest declared his interest and did not vote). HH suggested it would be helpful to have the differences in the application highlighted for reference.
- Consideration of Application
All project decisions are based on Scottish Government issued Guidance version 4.0
C151 – Riverside Outreach
Applicant – Riverside Centre, total eligible expenditure is £70,385.00, grant of £18,535.00 requested (26.33%).
Deferred at 7th June – to next LAG meeting.
This project will see the Riverside Centre extend their services to more rural areas of Wigtownshire, to provide an outreach service for individuals who cannot access their centre due to lack of transport and rural isolation. The project involves the purchase of a minibus, as well as providing activities and the provision of a healthy meal during these outreach services. Match funding secured in full. The applicant has attempted to address the feedback received at draft stage.
There were a number of technical issues and suggestion highlighted at the meeting on 7 June 2017 when this application first came to the Communities Group to be considered.
Reasons for deferral:
- Application needed to expand information on the outreach services the project intended to deliver.
- To demonstrate innovation the LAG would like to see how this activity differs from core activities or from similar organisations in the region.
- Further connections with Age UK and Third Sector D&G were suggested.
A number of points were discussed and generally agreed that the principle of the project was very good and they could identify that the need was there. They clearly established the need for their own vehicle and demonstrated links to other related activities. The cost of the minibus is quite high in relation to the amount of the project. The group were keen to understand whether the vehicle would be used for other purposes, the applicant had included a variety of statements of support. HH highlighted the transport plan from LARCs which showed an intended week's use by the Group and others, showing use for 34 hours, confirming that other groups in the area would benefit. The group identified that the application focused on the minibus rather than the benefits to those experiencing social isolation, which they were able to address because of the facility of the vehicle. The group highlighted weaknesses in how the application had been written, but not the premise, and suggested giving mentoring advice if the applicant is interested.
Following discussion the group then scored the project.
Scoring
- Does the project embody originality, embrace experimentation or demonstrate innovation?
- Does the project applicant demonstrate adequate knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to deliver?
- Does the project demonstrate clear linkages to other related local activities or strategies?
- Does the project demonstrate evidence of community, market or business need/demand?
- Does the project demonstrate value for money?
- Does the project clearly demonstrate additionality?
- Does the project adequately recognise and address participation barriers or risks?
- Does the project clearly tackle at least one of the LDS themes:
- Economy | b. Land, Coast and Marine Environments | c. Sustainable Settlements
- Does the project clearly demonstrate what will be achieved by the project – Outcomes/Indicators/Target Groups?
- Are you happy that this project fits comfortably with the LEADER LDS?
TOTAL SCORE / 26
Application group score:26/36
Number of Members APPROVING: 6
Number of Members NOT APPROVING: 0
The decision was taken to APPROVE this project.
C173 – Building the Case for a Care Campus
Applicant is The Crichton Trust, total eligible expenditure £137,600, grant of £67,600 requested (23.37%).
The idea of a Care Campus for Dumfries and Galloway has been under discussion across several organisations since 2014. It is focussed on adopting new approaches to ageing and testing a model to provide housing, social and community support with access to care for older people, combined with innovation in education, skills development and research. Match funding has been secured in full.
Discussion took place and it was felt this was a very academic led proposal. It is understood that this is a feasibility study to learn how to find solutions to our ageing population. The application has a strong fit with the LEADER LDS and, although on first examination may appear very academic, does have the potential to deliver the necessary information to inform development of solutions for the older generation in Dumfries and Galloway.
The application has been well written and makes good use of academic expertise. It needs to demonstrate how a wider stakeholder group can engage with the project. It was felt there are many innovative thinkers in the region and they should be involved in the project if they have not already been.
This piece of work and its outcomes with its consultations will establish viable options. It needs to be a region wide concept, not just in the Dumfries area. It was felt there was sufficient merit to the project for it to be considered positively. There are significant issues in our region and one of the main people involved in the application is a renowned expert in “End of Life Care”, we should harness this expertise for our region. Feedback has been taken on board and the application no longer seeks to prove a preconceived concept – the project will develop an approach based on the research findings.
Conditions should be applied to the offer of grant:
- Independent Reference Group – the LAG would like to see a reference group established to provide independent scrutiny to the Care Campus Strategic Action Group. The group should have region-wide representation including LEADER representation.
- Design – the project will need to demonstrate that it has consulted/engaged with the design/visual arts sector in Dumfries & Galloway.
- Housing - the project will need to demonstrate that it has consulted/engaged with the Strategic Housing Services of Dumfries & Galloway Council and all housing associations/providers across the region.
Scoring
1 Does the project embody originality, embrace experimentation or demonstrate innovation? / 32 Does the project applicant demonstrate adequate knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to deliver? / 3
3 Does the project demonstrate clear linkages to other related local activities or strategies? / 3
4 Does the project demonstrate evidence of community, market or business need/demand? / 3
5 Does the project demonstrate value for money? / 2
6 Does the project clearly demonstrate additionality? / 2
7 Does the project adequately recognise and address participation barriers or risks? / 3
8 Does the project clearly tackle at least one of the LDS themes:
Economy | b. Land, Coast and Marine Environments | c. Sustainable Settlements / 3
9 Does the project clearly demonstrate what will be achieved by the project – Outcomes/Indicators/Target Groups? / 2
10 Are you happy that this project fits comfortably with the LEADER LDS? / yes
TOTAL SCORE / 24
Application group score:24/36
Number of Members APPROVING: 5
Number of Members NOT APPROVING: 1
The decision was taken to APPROVE,this project.
AOCB
4.1 Update on Expressions of Interest – NH updated on reasons for EOI’s not being taken forward to application stage. There are a number of reasons, from change of mind to personnel changes, etc.
4.2 Are there any figures available for review of applications on LARCs? The team is under a great deal of pressure with the level of support required for applicants. We are not losing any smaller groups due to the electronic application process, but that may be because they have not been supported previously on the paper based system, therefore they have no point of reference to work from.
4.3 Day of the Region is underway with Newton Stewart happening next. LAG members were encouraged to visit DoR website.
4.4 Amaze me LEADER in Finland was a great success, a very positive experience for all involved. A presentation will be delivered to the full LAG in October. NH is now writing a proposal to go to the Communities Group in December for hosting Amaze me LEADER next year in Dumfries and Galloway.
4.5 EF confirmed that Emily Taylor will represent Southern Uplands Partnership at the Man and Biosphere at Delta Po, Italy from 18 – 23 September, she will provide a report to LEADER for inclusion in the full LAG meeting on 11 October.
5 Date of Next Meeting
6 December, 2017, The Belted Galloway Cafe, Newton Stewart, at 10.00am.
Meeting closed at 11.50am.