A new grant to enable communities to develop and deliver projects aimed at meeting the needs of residents and local people took a step nearer to approval as it was endorsed at the Caerphilly’s Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee.

The Community Empowerment fund grant scheme will enable communities to develop and deliver projects aimed at meeting the needs of their residents. Key to this will be the involvement of local elected members as one of the key contact points in local communities, who will work with and support local community groups to develop project ideas that meet identified need on a ward basis.

Cllr Eluned Stenner, Cabinet Member for Customer, Performance and Property Services said, “In the council’s resident survey ‘The Caerphilly Conversation’, respondents told us that 78% felt it was a positive suggestion to make a community budget available to residents, to enable them to do more things for themselves in future. 89% of respondents also agreed that offering incentives to communities would likely encourage them to take greater pride in their area.

We’ve listened to residents’ feedback; this new £328,000 annual ‘Community Empowerment Fund’ will empower residents, supported by their local councillors to make a real difference in their communities”.

The Community Empowerment Fund proposal will be considered for final approval by Cabinet next month.

Should it be endorsed, the maximum allocation available to an organisation/community group would be £4,490 per member, per ward).

Applications would be expected to show a positive impact on their areas and have community involvement in the project. They should also have good working relationships and partnerships, value for money and be financially sustainable.