THE PROVISION OF CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO CONDUCT A FULL REVIEW OF WINCHESTER CITY COUNCIL'S GRANTS PROGRAMMES

Winchester City Council ("the council") is seeking to appoint a professional consultancy to conduct a full review of the community grants programme. The grants programme was last reviewed in 2018 and, since then, has been subject to small revisions, mainly to accommodate budget constraints. The underlying principles and processes for awarding grants has not changed, therefore this review needs to be comprehensive and expansive to cover all aspects of what the programme aims to achieve, who it supports and how, what the support is, where it is delivered and the outcomes achieved. Aim and Scope of Work The review has four primary aims: • to conduct an evaluation of the current community grants programme / other grants awarded for community benefit, to understand the full impact of these; • to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of current grant giving processes and procedures; • to understand how best to account for the value and benefit from other financial assistance provided by the council to Voluntary and Community Sector organisations; • to provide an options appraisal to understand the optimum deployment of funds in the future. The review is intended to ensure changes are transformational, well targeted, consider all potential options, ensure the council continues to meet its statutory obligations and takes account of all emerging pressures. The budget is up to £30,000. The contract is to commence late February 2024 and expire end of July 2024