"What's happening to community cohesion cash?"

Towards the end of last week we had strong words about the ideas that people come up with when there's money on the table from an outside source.
Our comments were in the  relatively minor context of bids for a share of a £10,000 community pot to improve life for people living in High Street South. We highlighted a number of projects which we thought, quite frankly, were nothing but a waste of money, and which had been dreamed up just because the cash was there, and others which involved spending on projects which in the normal way of things would be the responsibility of others.
But our concerns pale into insignificance when compared those surrounding another scheme in which well over half a million pounds is being spent.
The scheme concerned is the Community Cohesion Project, which has attracted £660,000 in government grants to be spent by Boston Borough Council over a three year period at the rate of £116,471 in 2008/09 £213,529 in the past financial year and £330,000 in the year ahead - 2010/11.
We have learned that Boston Borough Councillor David Owens has asked for the community cohesion project to be put on the agenda of the borough's Scrutiny Committee, so that it can be determined exactly what is being done with the money.
He first raised the issue with the committee chairman Alison Austin in the first week of December, rightly making the point that councillors must ensure that money is spent wisely and appropriately.
He went on to say that past and current reporting methods of how the money is spent left a great deal to be desired, and it would benefit everyone involved to open this area to view by all.
The money is not being spent solely by Boston Borough Council.
Citizen's Advice, the Community and Voluntary Service, and Boston Mayflower are among the partners in the project, and Councillor Owens is keen that they should attend any meetings that are called.
Councillor Owens feels that we need to know exactly what each recipient of funding is actually doing with the money it gets, and where new staff have been taken on to fill new roles -apparently there are at least four - what have they delivered to date and what happens when the money runs out at the end of 2010/11.
Another interesting point raised by Councillor Owens is the question of what percentage of CAB and CVS total funding comes from this cohesion fund, as he feels that it may be prudent to ensure that this fund stream meets with the criteria of the Community Cohesion Strategy set out in a report to cabinet dated in July 2008.
This said: "Performance Management is a crucial element in both ensuring that we deliver the actions set out within the strategy but also in making sure we make a real difference to our communities. We need to show that our actions are having an impact and this requires clear and consistent application of the criteria set out below and a combination of both qualitative and quantitative measures." Councillor Owens says we need clear evidence that all recipients meet these strict criteria.
His own efforts have obtained a breakdown for the past, present and future spending under this funding stream, and Councillor Owens says he is "slightly concerned" that they appear to be lacking in any real detail.
Almost two months after his first request for matters to be looked at, Councillor Owens has again asked that the subject comes before the Scrutiny Committee - particularly given the timing in relation to budget setting.
This time he has taken a tougher line, saying "I feel it is imperative that we gain a thorough understanding of how the £660,000 of taxpayers' money has and is being spent. I expect to see representation of all those parties i.e. CAB and CVS in this scrutiny and wish to see them and others account for all expenditure that has been charged under the heading of Community Cohesion."
So far the only response has been from Acting Chief Executive Richard Harbord, who says he has the matter "in mind" and will find a "convenient" date as soon as he can.
We find it strange that such an obviously important issue - involving as it does many hundreds of thousands of pounds - should apparently be so difficult to pin down, and hope that the delays and excuses for inaction are soon swept aside to that things can be properly debated and accounted for.
Another interesting occurs to us.
So far, almost £330,000 has been spent on "community cohesion." This is an incredible sum to ordinary folks like us, but we cannot for the life of us think of a single example of how and where it has been spent and how the community is now a better place as a result. Would someone care to tell us? We doubt it.

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