The Spalding Neighbourhood Board says it ‘followed a robust process’ after it unveiled where it’s first £2.2m of government money will be spent – with 96 per cent of it is going to organisations its members are part of.
The group, set up to spend £20m of government funding over ten years for ‘left behind towns’ as part of the now named Pride In Place scheme, has named six new projects it’s to give the first big tranche of funding too.
It says it had 35 expressions of interests, of which 22 were shortlisted.
Of the six, four are projects which have members on the 18-person board – The Spalding Gentlemen’s Society, Spalding Business Improvement District (BID), the Lighthouse Community Hub and CVS Lincolnshire.
A fifth, the charity Tonic Health, doesn’t have a member on the Spalding board, but its CEO is on the Boston Town Board looking to deliver improvements in that town.
The only project set to receive money with no representation on a town board is Project St Thomas given £78,444 to help secure that community centre created by St Norbert’s Catholic Church in the former Methodist Church on St Thomas’s Road.
The £2.2m figure also includes the previously announced £640,000 towards training new community wardens and appointing a private security firm in the interim.
The money is going to South Holland District Council whose leader Nick Worth is also a member of the Spalding Neighbourhood Board (itself previously called the Spalding Town Board).
It’s not known which other applications were considered. Meetings of the Spalding Neighbourhood Board are not held in public and documents relating to meeting and agendas are updated infrequently.
The Voice contacted the Spalding Neighbourhood Board chairman Robin Hancox and received a statement as we went to press.
It states: “The funding awards followed a robust and transparent process with all applications assessed against clear criteria and supported by independent external experts.
“Governance was strictly observed throughout: all relevant board members formally declared interests and were excluded from any discussion or decision-making relating to their organisations’ applications.
“Decisions were made solely on the strength of the bids and their alignment with evidenced community need and locally identified priorities.
“The process was rigorous, fair and conducted with full integrity.
“The board is representative of the community and therefore well connected in terms of being able to address the priorities.”
