Call to relax rules meaning county councillors can help fund coronation parties but not some charitable causes

Lorraine Beavers, Labour’s deputy opposition group leader at County Hall, has called for more flexibility in the authority’s discretionary member grants initiative after she was left unable to offer financial backing to the charitable effort that she wanted to bolster.

That was because the work was being done by her local town council - and the county council will not allow its members to transfer any of the grant cash they receive to the more than 200 lowest-tier local authorities operating at town or parish level across Lancashire. Instead, the money - which usually totals £2,000 per year - is reserved solely for distribution amongst voluntary, community and faith sector organisations.

For the second year in a row, County Hall is throwing an extra £500 into each councillor's grant pot - for royal-related reasons. The additional cash for 2023 is intended to help fund local celebrations of the King’s coronation in May, having last year been earmarked for commemorations of the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

While County Cllr Beavers praised the principle of the scheme at a recent cabinet meeting, she said there needed to be a rethink of the restrictions placed on how the money can be used by the authority's 84 members.

“I wanted to give money towards [an initiative] which was to put coats and shoes on children’s backs in the cost of living crisis and also [to purchase the likes of] continental quilts.

“Schools identified [families in need] and the town council went out, got the [items] and the schools gave them to said families.

“[Councillors] are not allowed to give member grants to town councils, but it was a fantastic community initiative, looking after the vulnerable families within the community,” explained County Cllr Beavers, who represents the Fleetwood East division.

She added that the clothing project was not the only one which she has found falls foul of the grant rules, telling cabinet members that she had also been unable to give £300 to enable one of the county's newly-created 'warm hubs' to purchase games to entertain the people making use of the service.

Deputy county council leader Alan Vincent said that the ruling Tory group would be prepared to have a “cross-party debate” about the issue - but stressed that there were good reasons for the rules as they currently stand.

“In effect, what you’re doing…is funding parishes or town councils through the back door to a certain extent, [when] most of them…have fairly reasonable reserves. And therefore you’re asking an organisation like ourselves, which [is] struggling during the year, to give grants to people who are not struggling as much as us in certain circumstances.

“[Parish and town councils] are all different - some have a lot of money, some don't have very much money, some have no money at all.

“It’s not something that we’d get into an argument about, but… I think that [it] needs careful handling,” said County Cllr Vincent.

He suggested that the reserves of parish and town councils may need not to exceed a certain level if they were to be made eligible for support from member grants in future.

County Cllr Peter Buckley, cabinet member for community and cultural services at County Hall, told the meeting that the proposed increase in the value of member grants for 2023 - subsequently approved when the authority set its budget - would "really help people celebrate the coronation of King Charles III in style."

County council leader Phillippa Williamson added in a statement that she wanted communities across Lancashire to have the chance to celebrate "this once-in-a-lifetime event".