Information

Request

• The list of governance checks you undertake in relation to the distribution of public funds through the grants programme you oversee?

• How many organisations with one person who has sole authority on bank accounts overseeing transactions you have funded under above scheme?

• What safeguarding you put in place to ensure that no public funds are misappropriated due to the above issues?

• The names of all organisations funded where they have a sole person listed as the owner, governing person of that organisation?

• Majority of funders say ‘For CICs you must have a minimum of two directos, who can not be related. There must be no Person with Significant Control (PSC).  How many have you funded which don’t meet these requirements?

Response

Under the FOI act can I please ask for the list of governance checks you undertake in relation to the distribution of public funds through the grants programme you oversee?

• We list the documentation and supporting evidence required to apply for grants through the Office of the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner on our website.
• Once an application is received for funding, documentation along with the application are assessed.
• For the Making Northamptonshire Safer fund – these are scored against a grant matrix and then passed to the commissioner and monitoring officer for consideration. Often, requests are made for further information and documentation where the Commissioner or Monitoring officer would like further assurance either about the project itself or the organisation requesting funds.
• For the Road Safety Community fund – applications along with supporting documentation are sent to a funding panel for their assessment and consideration. Members of this panel come from a variety of organisations including Northamptonshire Police and the NRSA (Northamptonshire Road Safety Alliance) . A decision is then made in regard to the funding based on their discussions and knowledge of the need in the area where the application has come from.

How many organisations with one person who has sole authority on bank accounts overseeing transactions you have funded under above scheme?

• Due to the nature of the organisations that apply for funding, their governance and practises require them to avoid sole authority. The road safety fund grant recipients are often parish councils with business accounts and . for those organisations applying for funding through the Making Northamptonshire Safer fund, as part of the application assessment governance and those listed as governors or trustees are looked at to ensure no sole authority or individual person is accountable.

What safeguarding you put in place to ensure that no public funds are misappropriated due to the above issues?

• All grants that have been awarded are required to provide reports on how the money awarded was spent and how it has benefitted the people of Northamptonshire. This is done to ensure the money awarded is spent on what was requested in the application. When a grant is awarded, the recipient organisation is required to read and sign a contract to agree to this. this is a requirement for all of the grants awarded through the Office of the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner or Northamptonshire.

The names of all organisations funded where they have a sole person listed as the owner, governing person of that organisation?

• None

Majority of funders say ‘For CICs you must have a minimum of two directors, who cannot be related. There must be no Person with Significant Control (PSC).  How many have you funded which don’t meet these requirements?

• None

Details on the process used in relation to grants can be found on our website here