Key information
Decision type: CEO
Directorate: Development
Reference code: CD176
Date signed:
Decision by: Davena Wilson, Director of Land and Property
Executive summary
This form requests a decision to grant fund a two-year extension to the Canal Volunteering Programme, which began in 2021 (DD135). This will build on the momentum created by the programme, securing the long-term stewardship by the community and local businesses of the area along the Grand Union Canal in Old Oak and Park Royal.
The Canal & River Trust (CRT) has agreed to jointly fund the programme.
Decision
That the Chief Executive Officer approves expenditure of £50,000 over financial years 2022/23 and 23/24, consisting of:
i. Grant expenditure of up to £40,000 to the CRT to continue its Canal Volunteering Programme, noting that:
• £30,000 to fund half the cost of a community organiser role embedded within the CRT
• up to £10,000 to match-fund the delivery of biodiversity improvements along the canal.
i. Up to £10,000 for OPDC to conduct additional benchmarking, evaluation and legacy planning
Together with expenditure for the first year for the programme approved by DD135, this will take total expenditure across the three years to £100,000.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
Background and context
In 2021 OPDC grant-funded the Canal & River Trust (CRT) £50,000 to develop and manage a volunteer programme for the Grand Union Canal in the OPDC area. The grant was funded by OPDC’s Great Place Scheme (£35,000) and OPDC’s Good Growth Fund (£15,000). A further £12,000 was committed to the programme by the CRT in staff time, technical support, and plants.
The programme helped deliver OPDC’s ambitions for the Grand Union Canal as set out in the Canal Placemaking Study (2018) and the Canal Water Quality Study (2021). It did this by giving, through volunteering, local communities and businesses a stewardship role in respect of the canal - and also by delivering biodiversity improvements alongside the Grand Union Canal.
The grant funding allowed the CRT to recruit a dedicated local community organiser who has worked with local stakeholders to run twice-weekly volunteer events. Within the first nine months, the programme supported 1,791 volunteer hours; resulted in 831 bags of waste being removed; improved 365m2 of green space; helped improve drainage of the polluted Willen Field Swale; saw 140 new trees planted; and engaged with 46 businesses.
The programme is fully integrated within engagement and volunteering activities in the wider area, in particular with the time-banking platform Echo, which allows volunteers to earn Echos for their time contributed to the project, which they can go on to spend on services provided through the time-banking platform.
Due to the success of the programme, CRT will, subject to receipt of grant from OPDC, fund 50 per cent of the local community organiser’s role for a further two years (financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24).
As well as match-funding this role, OPDC’s grant would support the delivery of biodiversity improvements over the two-year period in question.
The proposal and how it will be delivered
This decision form is asking for grant funding to extend the Canal Volunteering Programme for a period of two years ,building on the success and lessons-learned from the one-year. This will support the long-term placemaking and regeneration of the canal.
Some £40,000 will be grant-funded to the CRT. As the legal operator of the Grand Union Canal and adjacent towpath, the CRT is uniquely placed to support OPDC’s priorities for the Grand Union Canal and towpath, and so the grant is not subject to a competitive exercise.
In terms of funding sources:
• £30,000 of revenue grant funding will come from OPDC’s Economic Development budget and will pay for half the costs of a community organiser role, within the CRT.
• £10,000 in capital grant funding will come from OPDC’s GGF round 2 funding and will match-fund biodiversity improvements, including the delivery of canalside planting and floating reed beds. The full list of capital works will be agreed between OPDC and CRT at the beginning of each financial year.
• £10,000 in revenue funding will come from OPDC’s Economic Development budget and will pay for additional benchmarking, evaluation and legacy planning.
CRT will, as part of the grant agreement, will commit to resourcing the programme at a level equivalent to £10,000 per year for: staffing and logistics to help run volunteering activities, project management, and delivery of additional biodiversity and ecology improvements.
Additional tasks to be delivered by the CRT as part of the grant include:
• Managing and delivering a programme of volunteering activities with a focus on litter picking, vegetation maintenance and biodiversity improvements.
• Securing capital funding to support the delivery of biodiversity and ecology improvements.
• Work with OPDC’s Engagement team to contact and involve the community, prioritising underrepresented groups, in line with OPDC’s community engagement strategy.
• Building partnerships with local businesses for a long-term engagement and investment in the canal.
• Drafting evaluation and legacy reports to support the continued volunteering work.
Objectives and expected outcomes
The overarching objective is to provide OPDC with more leverage over the biodiversity and public realm quality of the Grand Union Canal, and to deliver on its ambitions to facilitate community and business stewardship, and improve the canal’s .
The specific objectives and expected outcomes of this project are:
Strategic fit
This project aligns with the ambitions of OPDC's In the Making programme aiming at delivering improvements and initiatives within locations where it is possible to accelerate delivery, and to provide confidence that OPDC are bringing forward the regeneration of Old Oak and Park Royal, by
• Creating immediate benefits for local communities from the public investment and regeneration in old Oak and Park Royal by improving physical links, open spaces and community infrastructure.
• Establishing a strong identity and profile for Old Oak and Park Royal further afield to attract high calibre investors and organisations who will deliver the visions; and
• Piloting activities and local initiatives that could grow with the regeneration of the area and potentially occupy space in new developments.
The project will help deliver objectives set out in OPDC’s Canal Placemaking Study (2018), in particular:
• Working with local community to foster a sense of custodianship and a ‘canal community’ that achieves ongoing and long-term stewardship and management (CPS recommendation EH2.3).
• Demonstrate tangible, on-the-ground interventions and a readiness to work with the wider community and business community (CPS recommendation CL6.2); and
• Provide a continuous green edge throughout Old Oak and Park Royal, simultaneously considering the creation and protection of habitat, ensuring effective species movement and enabling access to nature (CPS recommendation EH1).
The project addresses a number of objectives set out in OPDC’s Engagement Strategy (2021): Involve, Collaborate, and Empower. It does so by delivering placemaking priorities set out in the document, in particular:
• Coordinating engagement with partners and stakeholders, by bringing the three Boroughs and the CRT on board of a coordinated volunteering programme.
• Celebrating and caring for the local area, by giving local people an active role in planning, designing and managing improvements along the canal and in open green spaces in the area.
• Broadening the ways to be involved, by creating a varied programme of volunteering opportunities catering to people with varying interests and levels of commitment.
The project builds on the in-depth engagement with local community, groups and businesses undertaken as part of OPDC’s Great Place Scheme (2017-2021).
OPDC must have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to the need to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. No adverse impacts on people with protected characteristics are expected.
Both initiatives we will consider how to best involve local young people, older people, as well as the local disabled community and other underrepresented groups, cultural communities and faith groups. OPDC will see to it that the CRT provides evidence of meeting the standards set out in the Equality Act.
Any contracts and agreements between OPDC and CRT delivery partners will explicitly refer to the diversity of the wider OPDC area and require the grantee to explain how they intend to be inclusive in their approach to developing and delivering the project and meet OPDC’s obligations under the Equality Act 2010. This will help OPDC and the Mayor to deliver equality and inclusion policies to promote an accessible and inclusive environment and meet the Equalities Duty by identifying opportunities for existing and newly arriving communities to benefit from development in the OPDC area.
OPDC will monitor the application of the terms of the grant agreement throughout each stage of the grant, through the quarterly monitoring and reporting process.
Project governance and assurance
The project will be managed by OPDC’s Principal Urban Designer, assisted by an Engagement Officer. They will manage the Grant Agreement with the CRT and have regular project review meetings.
A steering group has been established with officers from OPDC and CRT, and meets monthly to discuss the progress of the implementation of the programme.
The progress of the project and delivery of KPI’s will be captured in quarterly reports to be submitted to OPDC by the delivery partners. Any payments made to the delivery partners will be based on the delivery of KPI’s evidenced in the reports.
Risks and issues
Other considerations
Communications and engagement
OPDC’s Communications Team will provide support to ensure volunteering opportunities are widely advertised within the wider OPDC area and reaches hard-to-reach members of the community by making use of targeted social media campaigns and other bespoke outreach opportunities.
Safeguarding
Any grantee appointed to deliver parts of this project will need to demonstrate they have appropriate safeguarding policies and insurances in place in accordance with OPDC and GLA requirements.
Sustainability
The initiative is an opportunity to demonstrate OPDC’s commitment to environmental sustainability and promote environmentally sound and innovative green space management and maintenance approaches. OPDC will ensure that any grant agreements include clear references to OPDC’s sustainability and environmental policies and standards and set clear targets in close consultation with OPDC’s sustainability officer.
Data protection
Any grantee appointed to deliver this project will need to demonstrate they are capable of managing personal data of the people they engage with in compliance with GDPR policies.
Conflicts of interest
No one involved in the preparation or clearance of this Form, or its substantive proposal, has any conflict of interest.
Cumulative expenditure on the programme, inclusive of DD135, is up to £100,000.
The expenditure requested through this decision is £50,000 over two financial years (2022/23 and 2023/24) broken down as follows:
Expenditure funded from the Good Growth Fund will be recognised as Revenue Expenditure Funded from Capital Under Statute (REFCUS) as there will be no end asset owned by the Corporation.
Further expenditure is subject to the Corporation’s decision-making process.
The report above indicates that the decision requested of the Director falls within the OPDC's object of securing the regeneration of the Old Oak and Park Royal area and its powers to do anything it considers appropriate for the purpose of its objects or purposes incidental to those purposes, as set out in the Localism Act 2011.
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 (race, disability, gender, 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 6 (above) of this report.
The report indicates that the contribution of £40,000 to the CRT amounts to the provision of grant funding and not payments for works, supplies or services. Officers must ensure that all funding is distributed fairly, transparently, and in a manner which affords value for money in accordance with the OPDC's Contracts and Funding Code.
Officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement is put in place between and executed by the OPDC and recipient before any commitment to fund is made.
Signed decision document
CD176 Canal Volunteering Programme