Questions over new Bolton Community Alliance funding

Community Alliances were introduced across the borough this year replacing the old Area Forums, which had last met before lockdown more than three years ago.

But a recent meeting of Bolton Council heard concerns about the lack of documents published and open meetings held to decide how funding is handed out to different groups.

Cllr Sean Fielding, of Breightmet, said: “I still have a concern about transparency around the allocation of what was previously known as area forum funding.”

He added: “It seems very odd to me, it seems like there’s a culture of secrecy around area forum funding.

Community Alliances have been introduced across Bolton (Image: Newsquest)

“I almost feel like I’m not allowed to tell people that it exists and that there’s something wrong if I go on the Breightmet community Facebook page and say if you run a group you can tap into this.”

In December this year, a full meeting of Bolton Council heard how communities all over the borough had been urged to take up the new model.

They also heard how most areas still had more than £20,000 available for spending as of September.

But more recently Cllr Fielding spoke at a meeting of the authority’s corporate and external issues scrutiny committee about how the old system had been more well documented.

He said that the now defunct Area Forum system included public meetings, with documents published on the council’s website and diary about how funding was allocated.

Cllr Fielding said: “In the absence of that, one of the consequences is that there was no budget published for three years.”

But he also said that he was encouraged by the changes in how the new Community Alliances promised to work with people.

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Cllr Fielding said: “The model is that we meet people where they are rather than meet people at a school and church hall once a quarter and you come to us and speak to us.”

He added: “And I think the model has the capacity and the potential to add more value to the community than the model which it replaced.”

In response, the meeting heard how Bolton Council has begun publishing information on its website and that details will be shared with ward councillors first.

The meeting also heard how this will be added to in the new year.