DD2723 ‘Green Roots’ Community Microgrant Pilot

1.1.    This decision request concerns delivery of the Mayor’s commitment to establish a new Green Roots programme. 

1.2.    Green Roots will take a multi-pronged approach to addressing social justice in nature, empowering Londoners to make their neighbourhoods more nature-rich, healthy and climate-resilient. 

1.3.    The programme will build capacity and capability at different scales to enable delivery for partners, boroughs and local communities. A core aim is to make funding and tools rapidly and directly available to communities at a ‘micro’ scale. 

1.4.    Research, testing and development is needed to inform an approach to community grant giving that is supportive, accessible and impactful at a neighbourhood level, whilst also representing best value for the GLA’s public funds. 

1.5.    Community funding levels are anticipated to be very low (£200-£1000). As a strategic authority, the GLA does not have capacity or mechanisms to effectively deliver direct funding at this scale, nor the significant community support needed to ensure its success, so it is necessary to collaborate to achieve this.

1.6.    This Director Decision request seeks approval to award up to £110,000 to London National Park City Foundation as a contribution toward its costs to pilot delivery of a community microgrant scheme, and accompanying community empowerment and activation activity, to inform the design of the Green Roots programme. 

London National Park City

1.7.    London became the world’s first National Park City in July 2019, launched by the National Park City Foundation in collaboration with the Mayor of London and 260 partners and organisations. 

1.8.    London National Park City (LNPC) is a grassroots movement that aims to reconnect every citizen with urban nature and equip communities with the ability to make their neighbourhoods greener, healthier and wilder.

1.9.    A core part of LNPC’s work is its volunteer Ranger Programme. 130 accredited LNPC Rangers are currently active across London. Rangers are drawn from and directly connected to London’s communities, encouraging and delivering local action in a way that aligns closely with the Mayor’s priorities.

1.10.    The LNPC Ranger programme is designed to be accessible and inclusive, and any Londoner can apply. LNPC are working actively to ensure that the Ranger community represents the diverse communities of London, with current information showing that:  

•    8.2 per cent identify as having a disability  
•    18.6 per cent identify as LGBTIQ+
•    17 per cent come from a lower socio-economic background
•    29.6 per cent identify as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic
•    25 ethnic communities are represented
•    12 religion/faith groups are represented.  

1.11.    The Ranger programme will be developed further in the coming year with an enhanced Ranger training offer and expanded recruitment, especially in London's most deprived boroughs. 

1.12.    Working closely with community groups, Rangers are currently invited to apply for ‘microgrants’ on a regular basis to enable delivery of projects at a neighbourhood level. With grants usually made of £200 - £1,000, funding goes towards equipment and materials to support practical gardening, construction, planting, and other hands-on outdoor activities. 

1.13.    Project delivery is supported by accredited LNPC Rangers, bringing quality assurance and closely supporting community groups to access funds they typically would not be able to. 

1.14.    Core delivery funding for LNPC is currently provided via grants from the National Lottery Community Fund and City Bridge Foundation. Funding for Ranger microgrants has historically come from a combination of public crowdfunding, individual and corporate donations, and has been short-term and changeable. 

Proposal

1.15.    LNPC’s focus on diversity and inclusion and meaningful community empowerment aligns well with the aims of the Green Roots programme. Their existing small scale microgrant scheme delivers community funding and activation at the scale and depth sought for this element of the Green Roots programme, and is ready for expansion. They are well-placed to rapidly test broader delivery in a way that meets the Mayor’s aims. 

1.16.    The award of GLA grant funding as a contribution to the costs of a pilot project will accelerate expansion of LNPC’s Ranger programme and community microgrant scheme, and inform the future design of the GLA’s Green Roots programme. 

1.17.    The project will be match funded by others, with a total project value of £185,000; GLA funding will play an important role in leveraging these additional funds. LNPC is committed to directing the majority of funds to microgrants (68 per cent), alongside a smaller portion for community empowerment and engagement activity and grant administration (32 per cent).

1.18.    Consulting with communities and working with others as necessary, LNPC will establish sustainable and appropriate structures, systems and mechanisms for simple, efficient, accessible and inclusive microgrant giving. This will include setting up formal microgrant giving infrastructure comprising fair and accessible application, selection and award processes; monitoring and support services; reporting processes; and communications and promotion. This work will test and refine approaches and provide a firm foundation for scaling up their programme if the pilot proves successful. 

1.19.    Working with accredited Rangers and community groups, LNPC will test on-the-ground delivery of a community microgrant pilot programme, initially in (but not limited to) LNPC’s priority boroughs of Islington, Barking & Dagenham and Hounslow. 

1.20.    Projects will have a particular focus on work that makes London’s neighbourhoods more nature-rich, healthy and climate-resilient. 

1.21.    Details of the metrics to be used to evaluate the outcome of the pilot will be agreed at project launch to ensure outputs inform whether and how Green Roots can support microgrant provision in future. These will include (but are not limited to) the collection of data to enable analysis of engagement levels, recipient demographics, green infrastructure outcome delivery and the administrative burden on LNPC and grant recipients. 

1.22.    This DD seeks the Executive Director’s approval of expenditure up to £110,000 for this project from the Urban Greening budget across two financial years (2024-25 and 2025-26), subject to future budget confirmation. 
 

2.1.    The proposal set out in this DD will contribute to meeting key London-level outcomes:

•    Londoners can enjoy green and wild spaces across the capital 
•    London is resilient to extreme weather and the impacts of climate change.  

2.2.    The Green Roots programme will also make a substantive contribution to the following wider London-level outcomes:

•    Londoners live in neighbourhoods that are well-planned and designed 
•    All Londoners live in a city that supports their mental and physical health.

2.3.    The proposal will enable progress against the ambitions of the London Environment Strategy to:

•    protect, enhance and increase green areas in the city, to provide green infrastructure services and benefits that London needs now and in the future
•    back greater community involvement in the improvement and management of London’s green spaces and natural environment
•    reduce the impacts of climate change and help store carbon
•    improve air and water quality, and reduce flood risk 
•    promote healthier lives, reduce car dependency and encourage more walking and cycling
•    improve biodiversity and ecological resilience
•    increase tree canopy cover by 10 per cent, and ensure that over half of London is green by 2050.

Project objectives

2.4.    The project will help to achieve the following objectives: 

•    accelerate the evolution and growth of LNPC’s Ranger programme, enhancing support for individuals and communities to actively influence their local area. 
•    accelerate and expand enhancement and development of community grant giving for London through a higher volume of microgrant projects. 
•    establish principles and mechanisms for continued delivery of a community microgrant scheme that can be supported by a broader mix of funders.
•    analyse performance and share learning to inform the long-term design of the GLA’s Green Roots programme and community grant giving practices.

Expected project outcomes: 

2.5.    Through the Green Roots programme, and particularly its community microgrants element, the GLA aims to empower Londoners to make their neighbourhoods more nature-rich, healthy and climate-resilient.

2.6.    LNPC and GLA will be provided with information and capability to establish a long-term, sustainable, investable community microgrant model to benefit communities into the future. 

2.7.    In support of that, the expected outputs from the pilot include: 

•    delivery of circa 95 microgrant funded projects (most to be completed within six months of award) 
•    a report analysing the success of the pilot programme against agreed reporting metrics to inform the design of the Green Roots programme. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London and the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; as well as to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who have a protected characteristic  and those who do not. 

3.2.    This involves having due regard to the need to remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share or are connected to a relevant protected characteristic; taking steps to meet the different needs of such people; and encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low. This can involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without one. 

3.3.    The project outlined in this DD will assist delivery of the policies and proposals in the London Environment Strategy, which has been informed by a full integrated impact assessment, including consideration of equalities.  The Equalities Assessment Report for the London Environment Strategy noted that exposure to poor environmental conditions is much higher among Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners.

3.4.    Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners, and lower-income Londoners, are more likely to live in areas of deficiency of access to green space, or in areas where greenspace quality is poor. GLA research has found that women, adult Londoners aged 25 and under, lower-income Londoners and social renters visit parks less often.  National research has found that Black, Asian and minority ethnic people are least likely to visit green spaces. Similarly, 21 per cent of households in London lack access to a private or shared garden; across England, Black, Asian and minority ethnic people are less likely to have access to a garden than White people. 

3.5.    Climate impacts are felt unequally across London, with poorer, disadvantaged communities often living in conditions that magnify the impact of climate change. Climate impacts can also be felt disproportionately amongst people with protected characteristics, and there is a high level of intersection across impacts. 

3.6.    The proposed project outlined in this DD responds to and aims to tackle these disparities. With a core focus on diversity and inclusion, the project will seek to find genuinely accessible ways for Londoners to improve their neighbourhoods. LNPC Rangers will work actively with community groups and residents’ groups, empowering them to get involved in neighbourhood greening activity. 

3.7.    Work will focus initially in LNPC’s current priority boroughs of Islington, Barking & Dagenham and Hounslow, selected through a detailed analysis against a variety of indicators. Future rounds of Ranger recruitment will seek to increase the number of Rangers from London’s most deprived local authorities by 25 per cent (including Brent, Haringey, Enfield, Newham, Barking & Dagenham – based on ONS Census data 2021) meaning that communities in these boroughs will directly benefit from this work. 

3.8.    LNPC will continue to analyse Ranger diversity data alongside London census data to highlight areas where representation could be improved. Broader project equalities implications will be kept under ongoing review as individual project applications are assessed and projects are delivered.  

Climate and Equalities impact assessment

3.9.     A climate and equalities impact assessment has been completed as part of this project: 

4.1.    The key risks and issues for this project are: 

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.2.    This project will contribute towards: 

•    Environment Strategy Policy 5.1.1: protect, enhance and increase green areas in the city, to provide green infrastructure services and benefits that London needs now and in the future 
•    London Environment Strategy Policy 8.2.1: reduce the risk and manage the impacts of surface water, sewer, fluvial, reservoir and groundwater flooding in London 
•    London Environment Strategy Policy 8.2.3: increase the amount of sustainable drainage, prioritising greener systems across London in new development, and also retrofit solutions 
•    London Environment Strategy Proposal 5.1.1.f: back greater community involvement in the improvement and management of London’s green spaces and natural environment 
•    London Environment Strategy Objective 5.1: increase tree canopy cover by 10 per cent, and ensure that over half of London is green by 2050 
•    Inclusive London Strategic Objective 12: work with partners to help ensure our approach to improving green spaces is inclusive 
•    London Health Inequalities Strategy Objective 3.3: a greener city where all Londoner have access to good-quality green spaces 

Considerations for the provision of grant funding and subsidy control 

4.3.    The proposed award for grant funding to LNPC does not constitute a subsidy for the purpose of the Subsidy Control Act 2022. This is because the proposed recipient is not engaging in economic activity, i.e. they are not operating on a market in which there is competition. 

Conflicts of interest

4.4.    No conflicts of interest have been identified for any officers involved in the development of this proposal or drafting or clearance of this decision form. 
 

5.1.    Approval is requested for expenditure of up to £110,000 as a contribution to London National Park City Foundation’s costs for delivery of its Community Microgrant pilot scheme to inform design of the ‘Green Roots’ programme, and associated community activation and empowerment activity. 

5.2.    The expenditure will be funded from the Urban Greening budget within the Environment Unit.

5.3.    The planned spend profile is shown below:

5.4.    The expenditure for 2024-25 will be funded from within the Environment Unit’s approved budget for 2024-25 financial year. The budget for 2025-26 has been included within the budget plan but requires formal approval as part of the mayor’s budget setting process and so the grant agreement will need to use the usual break clauses that can be exercised if required if alternative funds cannot be found within the Unit’s budget.  

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Director concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers; falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further, or that are facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London; and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’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, the 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 (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation) 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.    The Subsidy Control Act 2022 requires that applicable grant funding comply with its subsidy control principles or otherwise fall within the scope of an exemption under the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Officers have set out at paragraph 4.3, above, how the proposed grant comply with the Subsidy Control Act 2022 

6.4.    If the Director makes the decisions sought, officers must ensure that the award of grant funding, it is distributed fairly, transparently, in manner that affords value for money and a grant-funding agreement is put in place between, and executed by the GLA and LNPC before any commitment to fund is made.