£250,000 can now be given to projects not on the budget by Chichester District Council

The allowed amount used to be £100,000 and was one of the powers of financial control held by officers and councillors – powers which had not been reviewed for more than ten years.

During a meeting of the full council on Tuesday (April 8), a number of changes were made to the Constitution after the overdue review was carried out.

One of the changes allowed officers to accept grant funding and use it – rather than having to run it by the cabinet – to cover the full cost of projects.

Richard Bates, chair of the corporate governance & audit committee, said: “Currently, even small grants must be reported to cabinet and, depending on value, also to council before a decision can be made.

“This change will enable the council to respond quickly to grant funding offers, which often have very short response deadlines.”

Decisions from officers would have to be made in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer. Any projects which would only partially be covered by the grants would still have to be pushed further along the chain of command.

Other changes included requiring a Project Initiation Document for schemes costing more than £250,000, rather than the previous £175,000; and changes to the limit of virements – the transfer of funds from one budget to another – allowed to be made by cabinet, councillors and officers.

Mr Bates said: “The changes are intended to balance the need for timely, efficient and effective decision making, while also safeguarding public funds.”