The Alliance Party has come up against Unionist parties in a local council borough over community funding this year for the VE day 80th anniversary.
An Alliance councillor at Ards and North Down Borough Council said he was “uncomfortable” with a DUP proposal to double the funding pot put forward by council officers, from £500 per event to £1,000 per event.
In the latest meeting of the council at Bangor Castle, the chamber was split on the matter. On a non-recorded vote 24 elected representatives were in favour of a DUP proposal, from the DUP, UUP, and others, while 14 were against from the Alliance Party and others, with one abstaining from voting.
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That means doubling the pot of funding for the ratepayers in the borough from £30,000 to £60,000, a rise from the originally proposed 30 grants of £500 to 60 grants of £1,000.
A notice of motion was agreed at committee level in the summer for the council to fund commemorations to mark on 8th May 2025 80 years since VE Day – the official end of the Second World War in Europe. Officers were asked to outline potential ways the historic anniversary could be commemorated.
It was suggested that this would include any national plans for beacon lighting and the council working with local people and local community groups to mark the occasion, with a budget included in the upcoming rate setting process.
A query was raised at committee level by DUP and UUP elected representatives around why proposed grants should only be £500 per group. The two parties felt that this wasn’t a sufficient sum particularly for those events which were much larger.
In response council officers stated: “In the paper presented to the committee, £500 was suggested as the upper limit for grants from the perspective that this can be paid in full in advance in line with policy.
“Anything above this would require the applicant to have the ability to have sufficient cashflow to pay for 50 percent of their claim before claiming it back. However, if applicants were able to do this then administering grants above £500 would be possible.
“It was felt from past experience, that this fund would more likely be utilised by those groups, whereas larger groups could avail of the Community Festivals Grant.”
At the recent full council meeting DUP Councillor Jennifer Gilmore put forward the proposal to lift the limit from £500 to £1,000. She said: “Previously community groups had gotten back to us stating it was difficult to organise something for the £500 amount, and was challenging to put that in place.”
UUP Alderman Philip Smith, who seconded the proposal, said: “You don’t get much for £500. I appreciate the issues around claiming back, but I think that £1,000 is probably the sweet spot in terms of ensuring lack of difficulty for groups to self-fund, while at the same time giving them enough to be able to provide a half decent event.”
Alliance Alderman Martin McRandal said: “I agree with the reasoning for increasing the individual maximum amount that can be claimed for to £1,000, but I am uncomfortable with the idea of just doubling the budget like that from £30K to £60K.
“It has just landed on us tonight. I don’t think it is the way we should be doing things, and it should have to go back to committee.”
A further report will return to the council giving further options for funding applications within the new £60,000 budget.
English (United States) ·