DD2631 Community Resilience Fund – Round 2

1.1.    Borough Resilience Forums (BRFs) are responsible for multi-agency emergency planning at the local level, as determined by borough risks and needs. They contribute to emergency planning for London, as directed by the London Resilience Forum (LRF). They facilitate cooperation and information-sharing between resilience partners at the local-authority level and the LRF.
1.2.    Local authorities across London operate emergency planning or resilience teams that coordinate the local authority’s preparedness and response to emergencies. These teams also act as secretariats to their local BRFs.
1.3.    The UK Government National Resilience Framework, published in December 2022, had a focus on, and ambition for, a whole-of-society approach to resilience. This includes the involvement of the voluntary and community sector (VCS).
1.4.    A new London Communities Emergencies Partnership (LCEP) is operational at a pan-London level. This brings together the community, faith, funders, equalities and voluntary sectors. The LCEP contributes directly to the LRF exercising and emergency response whilst supporting civil society engagement in resilience. 
1.5.    In January 2023, the Community Resilience Fund was launched in partnership with London Plus. It received 22 eligible applications. Of these, 11 VCS organisations, across 11 London boroughs, have been awarded funding to improve local community resilience. These projects are working collaboratively with their BRFs and local authorities.
1.6.    Following the demand from round one, and ambition to support the continuation of the Community Resilience Fund across London, a second round of funding will be opened to support further engagement across communities.
1.7.    The Fund will continue to strengthen BRFs’ community-resilience approaches and help build local initiatives for the new LCEP to work with.
 

2.1.    This funding’s objectives are to:
•    create or improve local community-resilience partnerships between the VCS, BRFs and statutory partners (primarily local authorities)
•    increase local-community preparedness through new or improved joint planning 
•    strengthen local community-resilience practice through creating or improving communications channels; using data and insight; and/or using exercising scenarios. 
2.2.    The expected outcomes of this grant funding are:
•    increased community preparedness for emergencies 
•    improved relationships between the VCS and statutory agencies 
•    improved communications channels for responding to emergencies 
•    improved data and insight into community preparedness.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the Public Sector Equality Duty – that is, the need to:
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
•    advance equality of opportunity
•    foster relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.
The equalities comments should specifically relate to the decision.
3.2.    The Community Resilience Fund will improve engagement with and understanding of communities, among BRFs and local authorities, in response to emergencies.
3.3.    The inclusion of community partnerships at a local level will improve mechanisms for the LRF to engage with these partners.
 

4.1.    The following key risks have been identified:

4.2.    This proposal will support the People and Places strands in the Mayor’s City Resilience Strategy.
4.3.    There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.
 

5.1.    Approval is sought for expenditure of up to £60,500 in 2023-24 to deliver community grants. This contribution will be funded from pilot funding received by the GLA from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (MD2845), and is included in the budget for Resilience within 2023-24.
5.2.    The funding should be monitored against outcomes outlined in section 2, and any deliverables should be outlined in funding agreements.
5.3.    This funding will be managed and administered by the Resilience team in the City Operations Unit, within the Strategy and Communications Directorate.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Executive Director fall within the exercise of the GLA’s statutory duties to promote tourism to, in and through Greater London; and powers to promote and/or to do anything that is facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, economic development and wealth creation within Greater London. In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
•    consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2    In taking the decisions requested of her, the Executive Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010; and to advance equality of opportunity. and foster good relations. between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.3    Officers have indicated that the expenditure proposed amounts to the provision of grant funding as a contribution to related third party project costs and not a payment for services to be provided. They must therefore ensure that the proposed funding is disbursed in a fair and transparent manner in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. 
 

7.1.    The Community Resilience Fund will be delivered through grant funding to VCS organisations. These groups will work with and through their local authorities and BRFs.
7.2.    Key dates are detailed below: