GOOD causes in Brentwood have received grants totalling nearly £55,000 after all, following a review of the borough council's decision to allocate the funding.
At a meeting of the authority's overview and scrutiny committee at the Town Hall on December 11, councillors voted unanimously to take no further action in respect of the decision to hand out grants totalling £54,745 to 25 of the borough's community groups, including radio station Phoenix FM and Warley-based Trampoline Club Recoil Twisters.
The decision, made by the council's asset, infrastructure and localism panel on November 21, was 'called-in' by three Tory members of the overview and scrutiny committee, namely Will Russell, Ann Coe and Roger McCheyne amid concerns that due process might not have been followed.
Those who have benefited from the grants, dished out under the authority's Share Fund initiative, received the money at the Town Hall on Wednesday.
Speaking at last week's meeting, Cllr Russell said he had called-in the panel's decision after he was contacted by a community group disappointed to have missed out on funding.
The group, he said, had concerns about some of the bids which had been approved and so he decided to seek support for a call-in. However, he stressed: "The money for the winning applications is safe."
Cllr McCheyne told the meeting: "The due process doesn't seem to have been done properly.
"We are not here to take any of the money away at all but it should be shared around a little bit more amongst all the charities and people who need it."
Meanwhile, Cllr Coe, who is the mayor, said she had heard the word "corruption" used in relation to the way in which the bids were decided and that, consequently, she had to support the call-in.
She then hit out at the harsh criticism she had received from fellow councillors on social networking sites in the wake of her decision, before adding: "I often hear corrupt council blah blah blah but for the sake of transparency we needed to do this."
Brian Partridge, the council's head of localism and partnership, said that the process for assessing the bids was broadly the same as the process which was used to assess the first round of Share Fund bids which were agreed earlier this year.
Russell Quirk, the Tory chairman of the asset panel, described the meeting as "totally unnecessary and totally unwarranted," much to the disgruntlement of other councillors present who were heard to remark: "It's about the process."
Mr Quirk insisted his panel had followed due process before adding: "This isn't about the Share Fund, this isn't about community groups, this is about something else."
Lib Dem Cllr Karen Chilvers, vice-chairman of O&S on the night, questioned why no one had raised concerns about the award of cash until ten days after the asset panel meeting, saying: "No-one has convinced me there is anything wrong with the process."
Tory Cllr Chris Hossack backed Cllrs Russell, McCheyne and Coe, saying: "If we want to be absolutely transparent then call-ins should be encouraged."
However, Lib Dem Phil Mynott said: "I have had the word corrupt used to me about the council on a number of occasions but I don't try to call-in something every time I hear it. This action to me suggests a degree of naivety."
