STAFFORDSHIRE Moorlands District Council has taken steps to ensure fairer allocation of community grants worth £15,680 a year.
In the past, a few parishes have benefited more than others from the council’s long-running Community Chest scheme.
At the most recent meeting of the authority’s cabinet, it was agreed to divide the Community Chest across the district’s 27 electoral wards by the number of councillors per ward.
Subject to approval by the full council on Saturday, February 27, a single-member ward will get £280, while two and three-member wards will receive £560 and £840 respectively.
The new approach will start in April.
The council’s communities team will give members application forms and publicity material to distribute to local community groups.
Applications will be determined by Gill Burton, the council’s portfolio holder for communities, and Mike Bowen, chairman of the communities overview and scrutiny panel, in consultation with the relevant ward member or members.
At the end of each January, any unallocated ward funds will be made available to wards with additional applications.
Councillor Burton said: “The Community Chest has been successful in the past but, as the years went by, some parishes started to do better than others.
“This is clearly unfair as everyone pays the same Council Tax to the district council.
“The new approach will ensure that all wards are treated the same.
“It will also give ward councillors a greater say in determining applications.
“Again, this is sensible as ward members are well placed to know what their parish needs.”
To keep costs to a minimum, the new Community Grant will be managed by the communities team, whereas the Community Chest was administered by Staffordshire Moorlands Community and Voluntary Service at a cost to the council.
The council’s Village Hall Grants will continue as before.