Pot of money for local projects due to be halved

A funding pot worth £136,000 for councillors to invest in local projects could be halved as it is due to be replaced by a smaller grant scheme.

Since 2022, each of North Northamptonshire Council's 68 councillors have been allocated £2,000 each financial year for them to choose local initiatives and groups within their wards to spend it on.

The council's executive meets on 14 April to discuss plans to get rid of this current Ward Member Empowerment Fund and develop a future Youth Empowerment Grant Scheme.

Martin Griffiths, Reform leader of the council, said the proposed change of focus "clearly aligns" with its priority of families.

Under the new plans, the council could re-purpose £68,000 of funding from the existing scheme to develop a new grant fund aimed at young people, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It will be co-designed with the Youth Advisory Council and focus on empowering young people, supporting projects to strengthen communities and reduce harm, and enabling young people to influence local funding decisions.

If approved, the new scheme has been given a target launch date in September.

"We recognise the importance of our younger residents' voices and are here to listen to them," Griffiths said.

"After all, we hope that many of children and young people in the area will live in North Northamptonshire for years to come."

While the member empowerment fund is proposed to be scrapped in future years, a reduced funding pool of £68,000 will still be accessible for ward members this financial year.

Councillors will have just three months to apply for their projects, compared to previous years where applications were accepted up until March of each financial year.

After August 2026, no more councillor funding applications will be allowed and any unused grants will be allocated to the general revenue fund.

In the last financial year, councillors spent over £80,000 on community projects, with 58 elected members participating.

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