For publication Bedford Borough Council – The Mayor and Portfolio Holder for Leisure & Culture March 2015 Report by: Jenny Poad, Head of Libraries Subject: Acceptance of grant for summer reading challenge volunteers 1. Executive Summary 1.1. This report is to request Portfolio Holder approval to accept a grant of £1,733 to support the engagement of young people as summer reading challenge volunteers during the school summer holidays in 2015. 2. Recommendations 2.1. That the Portfolio Holder considers, and if satisfied, accepts the grant award of £1,733 to support the engagement of young people as summer reading challenge volunteers during the school summer holidays in 2015. 3. Reasons For Recommendations 3.1. To enable the Council to engage and support young people in helping to deliver the 2015 Summer Reading Challenge in all libraries in the Borough. 4. Key Implications Legal Issues 4.1. There are no legal issues associated with accepting the grant and there are no onerous conditions associated with accepting the Grant. 3 Policy Issues 4.2. Targeting young people in deprived areas accords with the Council’s Corporate Plan Objective to improve outcomes and life chances for all children, and to narrow the gap for our underachieving children (Theme 3). Resource Implications 4.3. The total grant awarded to Bedford Borough Council is £1,733. This is one of a number of grants awarded by the Cabinet Office to library services across the country to support summer reading challenge volunteering in 2015. 4.4. The project elements in respect of this Council are: To meet the costs of recruiting and supporting additional volunteers to assist with delivering the summer reading challenge during summer 2015 £900 To fund the targeted engagement of up to 10 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds as summer reading challenge volunteers £833 Total £1,733 4.5. No additional resources are required as a result of this proposal. Risk Implications 4.6. By not accepting the grant the Council would not be in a position to develop the volunteer programme. This would result in a missed opportunity to increase audiences and engage with those who would benefit from active participation. Environmental Implications 4.7. There are no environmental implications associated with the acceptance of the grant and the running of the programme. 4 Equalities Impact 4.8. In preparing this report, due consideration has been given to the Borough Council’s statutory Equality Duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations, as set out in Section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. 4.9. A relevance test for equality has been completed. The equality test determined that the activity has a positive impact to Bedford Borough Council’s statutory equality duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. 5. Details 5.1. The Summer Reading Challenge is a national event which takes place annually in libraries. Last year over 3,000 children across the Borough took part in the challenge which is available through all the libraries – Bedford Central Library, Kempston Library, Putnoe Library, Bromham Library, Wootton Library and the mobile library. 5.2. The Cabinet Office has agreed, through its Accelerate Scaling Fund, to support young people as Summer Reading Challenge volunteers in 2015. This is a time limited project for the duration of the Summer Reading Challenge which runs from July to September 2015. 5.3. The funding awarded to Bedford is based on two outcomes: (i) Delivering increased volunteer numbers in 2015. Volunteers play an essential role in the delivery of the summer reading challenge. The target for 2015 is to recruit 38 volunteers for the summer – a 15% increase on last year. (ii) Targeted work to engage hard to reach young people as volunteers. The Borough is one of 12 pilot library services, who will each be targeting engagement with up to ten young people from socially deprived backgrounds as Summer Reading Challenge volunteers. Taking part in this pilot gives access to a small amount of funding to provide additional support for these young people. 5.4. The Library Service will be working with local organisations such as Bedford Volunteer Centre and First Place Training to recruit volunteers, as well as promoting the volunteering opportunity in libraries, schools, colleges, and through other local organisations. 5 6. Summary of Consultations and Outcome 6.1. The following Council units or Officers and/or other organisations have been consulted In preparing this report: Management Group Legal Finance 6.2. No adverse comments have been received. 7. Ward Councillor Views 7.1. Not applicable for this report. Report Contact Officer: Jenny PoadHead of Libraries jenny.poad@bedford.gov.uk File Reference: None Previous Relevant Minutes: N/A. Background Papers: None 6