At tomorrow’s meeting, councillors will have the opportunity to restructure the Dunedin City Council’s grants policy after a review found the present system lacked clarity and transparency.
In a report to the meeting, staff present four potential governance models for grant decision-making, from reinstating the axed grants subcommittee through to a larger decision-making role for council staff.
The report follows dismay from community groups last year, after Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker’s governance system did not include a grants subcommittee to assess and approve applications.
The former subcommittee was expected to consider about 300 funding applications at a meeting that month, which was cancelled after councillors approved the governance structure.
Council staff were temporarily delegated responsibility for grants of up to $5000, a measure which expired on December 31.
One governance model proposed the return of the subcommittee, which last term included councillors, mana whenua as well as community arts and specialist representatives, to make allocation decisions for all grants above staff delegations, if any.
Another model proposed funding decisions for grants above staff delegation sit fully with the council.
Two hybrid models were also put forward.
Under one, small grants would be allocated by staff and mid-tier grants by a subcommittee.
Large or multi-year grants would be administered by the council.
Under the other model, staff would be responsible for small and medium grants, and all others would sit with the council.
A review of the grants system last year noted strong support for the council’s ongoing funding role.
Consistently, feedback had indicated the system would benefit from, among other things, greater clarity and transparency, more consistent governance and decision-making as well as reduced fragmentation across grant categories.
‘‘Feedback also indicated that while the grants system is valued and broadly effective, it lacks a coherent policy foundation,’’ the report said.
Councillors will also consider the council’s role, purpose, priorities and approach to grants tomorrow.
They will look to clearly define council grants and settle on a preferred method to determine the overall budget for grants.
A public workshop on the grants review was held last week.
