Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

Councillor John Armour, prior to consideration of item 5 (a) (Argyll FM) on the agenda, advised that he was a Director of Argyll FM.  He advised that he would leave the meeting during discussion and deliberation of the item.

The Minute of the Campbeltown Common Good Fund meeting, held on 28 February 2024, was approved as a correct record. 

The Common Good Fund resolved in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the press and public for the following items of business, on the grounds that it was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 6 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

The Trustees gave consideration to a report and verbal update from David McGregor, Simmers & Co., detailing the current position of the investment transaction activity for the period.

Decision

The Trustees agreed to note the statement and balance of income available. 

(Reference:  Financial Statement, Simmers & Co Chartered Accountants, dated 4 June 2024, submitted)

The Trustees gave consideration to the Fund’s annual accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024. 

Decision

The Trustees agreed to note the contents of the Fund’s annual accounts. 

(Reference:  Annual Accounts, Simmers & Co Chartered Accountants, dated 31 March 2024, submitted)

The Chair ruled, and Trustees agreed, to vary the order of business. This minute reflects the order in which items were discussed.

The Trustees gave consideration to an application from Friends of Castlehill, which had been deferred for consideration from the previous meeting of the Fund.

Decision

The Trustees noted that the Friends of Castlehill had withdrawn their application.

The Trustees gave consideration to the application from Kintyre Young Voices.

Decision

The Trustees agreed:

1.    to request further information in relation to the application following the meeting; and

2.    to continue consideration of the application by e-mail following the meeting.

The Trustees gave consideration to an application from Mull of Kintyre Music and Arts Association.

Decision

The Trustees agreed to award the group £6.000.00 to assist with the costs of running the annual Mull of Kintyre Music Festival in 2024.

The Trustees gave consideration to an application from Shopper-Aide.

Decision

The Trustees agreed to award the group £3,000.00 to assist with the costs of delivering 5 weekly social groups for a period of 4 months.

The Trustees gave consideration to an application from Youth Impact.

Decision

The Trustees agreed to award the group £1,950.00 to assist with the costs of increasing the number of activities provided during the school holidays as part of their Summer Programme.

Having declared an interest in the following item of business, Councillor Armour left the meeting at this point and took no part in discussion or deliberation in relation to the item.

Having noted the absence of Councillor Armour, the Governance Manager advised that the Campbeltown Common Good Fund was inquorate and as such was a consultation meeting. 

The Governance Manager further advised the remaining Trustees that following a decision made by Council at their meeting on Thursday, 19 May 2022, a delegation had been given to the Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support (or his representative) to determine applications in consultation with Ward 1 Members, and the decision made is recorded on that basis.

The Trustees gave consideration to the application from Argyll FM.

Decision

The Trustees agreed to award the group £3,000.00 to assist with the purchase of replacement studio broadcasting equipment, and equipment to support out-of-studio broadcasts.  

Councillor Armour rejoined the meeting for the remainder of the items of business.

Consideration was given to the End of Project Monitoring information provided in respect of all previous awards from the Fund. 

Decision

Members agreed to note the position of End of Project Monitoring Reports as outlined in the report.

(Reference:  End of Project Monitoring Report, dated 5 June 2024, submitted)

Discussion took place in relation to the Fund’s criteria and it was agreed that the criteria would be amended to reflect that applications to the Fund would not ordinarily be considered where the amount of funding requested exceeds £1,500.00. It was agreed that this would assist with preserving the funding available, due to a recent significant increase in applications to the Fund.

Discussions took place in relation to changes which could be made to the Fund’s criteria to ensure that submitted applications were of a high quality, and to assist Trustees in making their decisions. It was agreed that the Governance Manager and Senior Committee Assistant, in consultation with Trustees, would arrange to update the criteria following the meeting.

It was noted that the Governance Manager would liaise with Community Development colleagues following the meeting around signposting applicants to support which may be available in relation to submitting strong funding applications.

The Trustees asked the Governance Manager and Senior Committee Assistant to liaise with the Council’s Communications team in relation to issuing a press release, to advertise the positive impact of the Fund.

Wednesday, 4 September 2024

The Trustees noted that the next meeting of the Campbeltown Common Good Fund would take place on Wednesday, 4 September 2024.