At the Stratton Parish Council meeting held on 20th September 2016, the following criteria for the awarding of grants under Section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972, was agreed.
Section 137 refers to the Power of local authorities to incur expenditure for certain purposes not otherwise authorised. A local authority may, subject to the provisions of this section, incur expenditure which in their opinion is in the interests of, and will bring direct benefit to their area or any part of it or all or some of its inhabitants.
The general provisions of Section 137 will apply and the criteria against which applications for grant support will be assessed, is as follows:-
Any group, club or registered charity:
- based in the parish of Stratton
- based jointly in Stratton and another of the Chalk Stream parishes
- based in another of the Chalk Stream parishes and attended by the residents of the parish of Stratton.
Any project within the parish of Stratton which would benefit, in the opinion of the Council, the residents of the parish.
Any group, club or registered charity based outside of the parish which provides a direct service to/for the benefit of residents of the parish.
Organisations or groups which are privately run (which make a charge and make a profit,) are not eligible for a grant.
The Chairman of the Parish Council, along with and two other councillors, have been delegated to decide on the allocation of any funding requests received.
All organisations previously awarded grants will be informed of the new procedure and invited to submit applications under the new arrangements.