Scarborough Council accepts £750,000 in grants for projects including tackling rough sleeping

Scarborough Council has today accepted more than £750,000 in grants for projects ranging from improvements to the Cinder Track, helping Eastern European nationals and tackling rough sleeping in the borough.
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The authority’s cabinet approved the funding for the initiatives as it considered the updated financial position of the council, which is now projecting a year-end surplus of £135,000 for its budget.

The councillors heard that £136,000 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which was announced by the government earlier this year, would be used to provide funding for a dedicated mental health nurse, the borough’s rough sleeping co-ordinator and to provide a rough sleeper accommodation fund.

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A total of £32,000 from a number of funds will be used towards the Citizens Advice Bureau-backed Pomoc initiative.

Stock image. Picture: JPI MediaStock image. Picture: JPI Media
Stock image. Picture: JPI Media

Pomoc, which means help in Polish, seeks to address barriers to accessing public and voluntary sector services for Eastern European nationals living in the borough.

A report prepared for the cabinet added: “Through the project, two part-time dedicated community development workers will be employed to help Eastern European nationals to navigate local services and provide information, advice and guidance as well as engaging in a programme of community building.”

The final grant was £583,000 from cycling charity Sustrans for improvements of the Cinder Track between Scarborough and Burniston.

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Cabinet member Cllr Carl Maw, the portfolio holder for stronger communities and housing, welcomed the rough sleeping funding but worried that it was just for one year.

He added: “We are all aware that there is no solution to rough sleeping that is just to put a roof over someone’s head, there also needs to be support services around it.”

Cllr Maw was told by the council’s accountancy manager Neil Hughes that the scheme was part of a pilot project and if it was successful it was “hoped” the funding would continue.

Mr Hughes was updating the cabinet on the authority’s financial position at the end of quarter three of the financial year.

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He told members that a year-end surplus of £135,000 was now anticipated, up from £20,000 forecast at the end of quarter two.

The surplus, which will be transferred to the General Fund Reserve, is from higher than anticipated income from the off-street car parks in the borough, which had been forecast to make a loss for the year of £111,000 but were now likely to break even, Mr Hughes added.

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