The money will continue to empower communities to make important decisions about what kind of services and support they need, and how they can tackle inequality in their local areas.

The council’s Community Investment Fund aims to involve local people and communities in decisions about how council funding is distributed and spent. It supports investment in projects which tackle local inequalities and improve people’s quality of life.

The CIF budget is divided and administered on a ward-by-ward basis, with a Ward Panel made up of local community members and local elected members assessing applications from the community and agreeing funding. Any community organisation, big or small, can apply for funding.

Since 2018/19 over £2.4m of council funds have been allocated to grassroots community organisations through CIF, supporting almost 400 individual applications from community groups for local support services.

Participatory Budgeting puts decisions about where council money is spent in the hands of local people. A devolved budget is allocated to Local Action Partnerships across Perth and Kinross, and local organisations can pitch for funding for projects. People in those communities then vote to decide which projects they would like to see taken forward.

A meeting of the Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee on Wednesday 19th June will be asked to approve a 2024/25 budget of £300,000 to the CIF, and another £100,000 for Local Action Partnerships to spend on participatory budgeting.

Councillors will also be asked to approve the spread of the funding across each council ward.

Community applications for CIF money will open on Monday 22nd July, with decisions on about successful allocations in November.