Tower Hamlets Council Extends Grant Programmes Amidst Review
Tower Hamlets Council's Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub-Committee has approved a three-month extension for the Mayor's Community Grants Programme (MCGP) and the Emergency Fund, pushing their end date to June 30, 2027. This extension is intended to facilitate the design and implementation of a new, comprehensive programme.
The decision, made at a meeting on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, follows a review of performance reports for the MCGP. The programme currently supports 105 projects across five key themes, and the extension aims to ensure the continued delivery of vital services by the voluntary and community sector.
Afazul Harkad, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communities, explained that recent elections had caused delays in consulting with the sector and designing the new programme, making the extension necessary. He assured the committee that lessons learned from the current programme would be incorporated into the new three-year, nine-month programme, which is planned to run until March 2031.
A report detailing the proposed approach, priorities, and timetable for the new initiative is scheduled to be presented to the Cabinet on October 13, 2026.
The extension will cost £846,900 for the MCGP and an additional £25,000 for the Emergency Fund.
Councillor Kabir Ahmed highlighted the significant impact of the programme, noting that nearly 48,000 residents have been supported through cost of living initiatives, including over 15,700 receiving welfare advice, securing more than £3.1m in debt write-offs and 15,000 successful appeals
during the 2025/26 period. Harkad acknowledged the need for better communication of these achievements and suggested exploring platforms like the existing voluntary community sector award ceremony to celebrate successes.
Performance reports for January-March 2026 and April-June 2026 indicated that while most projects were rated 'Green' (on track), some faced challenges. In the January-March 2026 period, four projects were rated 'Amber' due to specific issues: SocietyLinks – Rainbow Links (pending evidence of impact measurement), Deafplus – Improving deaf and hard of hearing residents' English, Maths and digital skills (impacted by staffing instability), Tower Hamlets Parents Centre – Women's Health Matters (participant numbers dropped due to Ramadan and an annual impact report was not submitted), and Council of Mosques – CoM Community Empowerment Project (lacked quantified data and structured evidence of outcome measurement).
In the April-June 2026 period, two projects were rated 'Amber': Toynbee Hall - Playful Tower Hamlets - Nurturing Bodies and Minds (due to staffing transition issues) and the Council of Mosques' 'CoM Community Empowerment Project' (which continued to face challenges with data and evidence).
Robert Mee, Voluntary & Community Sector Grants Lead, clarified that as the MCGP is a multi-year initiative, there is no mechanism for reallocating underspent funds to other projects. He also explained that organisations set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and outcomes as part of their grant applications, which are then monitored, often involving baselines and demonstrating progress against targets, such as a young person improving their educational attainment grade.
Regarding the Council of Mosques' project, officers are actively working with the organisation to improve that data collection so they can provide better information for us.
The report does not specify a timeline for when this project is expected to be rated 'Green'.
Councillor Abdi Choudhury suggested inviting relevant Cabinet members to visit funded organisations and including previous RAG (Red, Amber, Green) ratings in future reports to illustrate progression over time. The committee noted the reports.
Public reports pack 14th-Oct-2026 17.30 Grants Determination Cabinet Sub-Committee