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More than £300,000 for community projects has gone unspent, despite councillors being made aware of the available funds.

In July this year, it was revealed that only 30% of the Community Empowerment Fund (CEF) had been spent in the 2020/21 financial year – money which is meant to support community projects, clubs and charities.

Residents and groups are able to apply to access funding through the CEF. The scheme works by allocating each ward £4,490 per councillor for that area.

Nearly six months on, there is now £319,500.67 in the CEF pot which has not been spent by Caerphilly County Borough councillors. This is despite “awareness sessions” being held by the council to inform members of the scheme.

At a Voluntary Sector Liaison Committee meeting, held on June 23, Blackwood councillor Kevin Etheridge said the scheme should be marketed to the voluntary sector, in addition to the awareness sessions to better inform ward councillors.

No CEF money has been spent in Abercarn, Crosskeys, Darran Valley, Maesycwmmer, Moriah and Pontlottyn, Nelson, New Tredegar, Twyn Carno, or Van.

Nelson is represented by Cllr Brenda Miles and council leader Sean Morgan.  When asked why the money hadn’t been spent, Cllr Miles said: “We have got a few expressions of interest, but one decided not to proceed and the other one is still ongoing.

“Sometimes people aren’t quite ready with their applications to proceed.”

Cllr Judith Pritchard, who represents the St. Cattwg ward for Plaid Cymru, said: “The council was extremely conscientious of the fact it’s public money and were asking for a lot of information from groups.

“I know for some areas what the organisations wanted just wasn’t possible in the criteria.”

Cllr Pritchard said she and her fellow ward members pooled together their allocated money. Glan y Nant allotments benefitted from new drainage as a result of the funding.

A third round of bids for the CEF were submitted in November, but the results of these have not yet been revealed.

In June, Cllr Eluned Stenner, cabinet member for finance, said: “One thing with the Community Empowerment Fund, I am aware there are many wards out there where the councillors have actively tried to promote the fund, whether or not it was Covid that stifled some of the voluntary groups, they didn’t come forward with suggestions.

“But, it isn’t down to the local ward members to come up with projects – it’s for the members to engage with voluntary groups.”

Positive use of the CEF

Some wards, such as Argoed, Gilfach, Machen and Rudry, Morgan Jones and St Cattwg, have spent all their allocated money on community initiatives.

Argoed councillor Walter Williams said the money he had been allocated had gone to Markham youth group, Manmoel Village Hall, and Gerwyn Price’s Markham junior darts academy.

Gemma Baker, of Salvaged Creations Wales, which runs the youth group, said the money had made a big difference to the children of Markham.

Ms Baker said the team spent the money on a pop-up skate park. The club now has skateboards, scooters, portable ramps, helmets and pads for the children to use, following a grant of £1,703.

She added: “We’re proud to welcome anybody into our group. We class our groups as inclusive and it’s key to what we do.”

Cllr Amanda McConnell said the money in Machen and Rudry’s pot had gone to Graig y Rhacca Community Association and Machen Primary School’s Parent Teacher Association.

A wooden train was purchased by Machen’s parents association to encourage autistic children to play outside.  A climbing frame was also bought for the nursery.

The Labour councillor said the awareness sessions were “very useful” and allowed her and her fellow ward member Cllr Chris Morgan to answer any questions community groups had.

Cllr McConnell added: “This is a great initiative offering communities to develop and deliver projects aimed at meeting the needs of our residents. Key to this is  the involvement of local ward members as one of the key contact points in local communities.”

Council statement

In a statement, Caerphilly County Borough Council said three online training sessions were held for councillors explaining the fund and the role they had in working with the community to identify relevant projects.

Thirty-nine projects were supported with £235,000 of funding during the first round after the elections, which closed on September 30.

The council said: “The next round of bids will shortly be considered, with the council keen to support as many community projects through the Community Empowerment Fund as possible.

“We will continue to work with elected members to identify opportunities and would encourage any community groups who have an idea for a project to visit our website in the first instance www.caerphilly.gov.uk/cef before speaking to their local councillor about the project.”