[Community Radio] Community radio application - single funder restriction

[Babs McCool]

Dear All
 
When is a partnership a single body (for the purposes of  community 
radio applications)?
 
In Scotland there are multi-agency partnerships called Social Inclusion 
Partnerships, in England  I believe the equivalents are called Local 
Strategic Partnerships.
  Up here these partnerships are designed to co-ordinate support in 
areas with high levels of deprivation and to effect 'joined up 
thinking' on the ground, so I assume same for England?
 
A number of projects in Scotland which are applying for community radio 
licences will be going to their local SIPs for funding, and I would 
like to know whether projects elsewhere in the UK treating your Local 
Strategic Partnerships as one corporate body, and therefore expecting 
the maximum 50% rule under the Community radio Order to apply?
 
In Scotland we are interpreting SIPs as multi -agency funders to which 
this rule would not apply. I have checked with Communities Scotland , 
the government agency up here with responsibility for regeneration and 
SIPs policy and they tell me that if Ofcom chooses to identify a SIP 
as a single corporate entity, it could in law, as it is actually 
classed as a single body under the Freedom of Information Act, but they 
think this would be an 'odd way to interpret' a SIP, as Communities 
Scotland,  the government regeneration agency in Scotland are clear 
that they see SIPs as multi agency groups facilitating community 
development through pooling funds, and parters represented on SIPS do 
not not necessarily see themselves as part of a single entity, but part 
of a vehicle for making regeneration work better than it did in the 
past.
 
From a Scottish perspective, if the 50% rule is adopted for SIPS by 
Ofcom, this could cause problems for projects who will have to find 
alternative sources of funding  These are some of the most 
under-resourced groups in the poorest areas.
 
I would be very interested to know what is going on over the border on 
this one!
 
Regards
 
 
Babs McCool
CMA Scotland