Commissioning Options:
Infrastructure and Capacity-Building services for
the Voluntary and Community Sector 2012 - 2015
CONSULTATION
1
CONTENTS
1.0
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 3
1.1
Capacity building and infrastructure services .................................................... 3
1.2
The local voluntary and community sector ........................................................ 4
1.3
How the Council will commission infrastructure and capacity building services 5
1.3.1
How we will procure ................................................................................... 6
1.3.2
Consultation ............................................................................................... 6
1.3.3
National Health Service Richmond ............................................................ 7
2.0
NATIONAL AND LOCAL POLICY ........................................................................ 8
2.1
National policy................................................................................................... 8
2.2
Local policy ....................................................................................................... 9
2.2.1
Volunteering............................................................................................... 9
2.2.2
Village Plans and Community Engagement ............................................... 9
2.2.3
Commissioning Council ........................................................................... 10
2.2.4
Personalisation ....................................................................................... 10
2.2.5
Social Enterprise rich Borough ................................................................ 10
3.0
CURRENT PROVISION OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPACITY BUILDING
SERVICES .................................................................................................................... 12
3.1
Local Provision ................................................................................................ 12
3.1.1
Council funded services ........................................................................... 12
3.1.2
Council support ........................................................................................ 13
3.1.3
Independent local support........................................................................ 13
3.1.4
Support for Small Business and Social Enterprises ................................. 14
3.2
National and regional services ........................................................................ 14
4.0
CONSULTATION ON OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES .................................... 15
4.1
A vibrant voluntary and community sector ...................................................... 15
4.2
Volunteering .................................................................................................... 17
4.3
Influencing and agreeing priorities .................................................................. 18
4.4. Market Development ....................................................................................... 20
4.5
Procurement ................................................................................................... 21
4.6
Performance monitoring and review ............................................................... 23
4.7
Possible models for capacity building and infrastructure service delivery ....... 24
5.0
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE .............................................................. 26
APPENDIX .................................................................................................................... 27
Service Description of Infrastructure and Capacity Building Services 2010/11 ............. 27
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1.0
INTRODUCTION
The Council is committed to sustaining a vibrant voluntary and community sector and
recognises its valuable contribution to civic life. To achieve this goal the Council has
had a role in helping to build the capacity and infrastructure of voluntary organisations
through funding the provision of support services to organisations other than front-line
services.
Funding of these services is due to end on 31 March 2012. The Council is therefore
looking to identify its new commissioning intentions for supporting the voluntary and
community sector which reflects new local and national priorities. These are explored
further in the paper and include community involvement, volunteering and developing
new models of service delivery such as social enterprises.
Alongside the funded infrastructure services, the Council undertakes its own capacity
building of local organisations such as developing the marketplace and improving
services through quality assurance systems.
Current services were initially commissioned in 2009 and the context for commissioning
this type of service has changed. There are challenges for all partners and the Council
wants to ensure that the voluntary and community sector has the skills and expertise to
thrive in this new environment. In the future the Council will seek to achieve greater
synergies between its own business need in relation to commissioning and external
infrastructure and capacity building services.
The purpose of this paper is to identify local need for capacity building and infrastructure
support, identify shared outcomes and explore some possible models for the delivery of
that support and to invite local stakeholders to give their views on the type of support
required, before defining a model that will be commissioned to underpin and assist the
sector in developing its full potential. It will also investigate the best means of
maximising value from money spent on capacity-building.
The Council would like to invite the voluntary and community sector and other
stakeholders to respond to this consultation by answering the questions in section 2.
This report will be available on the Councils website and circulated via Richmond
Council for Voluntary Service. There is a six week consultation period and the deadline
for responding is Tuesday 14 June 2011.
1.1
Capacity building and infrastructure services
Infrastructure services can be described as the physical facilities, structures, systems,
relationships, knowledge and skills that exist to support and develop, coordinate,
represent and promote frontline providers of services, thus enabling them to deliver their
services more effectively. These can include advocacy and providing a voice to other
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organisations, facilitating partnerships between providers and increasing awareness of
the voluntary and community sector amongst key audiences. The services should then
enable organisations to better:
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define and achieve their objectives;
engage in consultation and planning;
manage projects;
take part in partnerships, social enterprise and service delivery.
In Richmond upon Thames there are a wide range of infrastructure and capacity
building services available, some of which are provided or funded directly by the Council
whilst others are provided independently of the Council such as National Council for
Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) or the non Council funded services of Richmond
Council for Voluntary Service (RCVS). In identifying future options in this paper it is
important to consider the wider context of provision and to ensure that the Council
commissions services that do not duplicate other services.
1.2
The local voluntary and community sector
Richmond upon Thames has a vibrant voluntary and community sector with many
examples of local people making a difference to their community and leading change.
There are approximately 750 organisations located in the borough supported by many
more volunteers. In terms of the local sector it is important to note that there are a
number of organisations that operate on a regional, national or international level and
that the majority do not have a direct relationship with the Council such as through
funding.
This options paper seeks to identify what support the sector needs, any generic or
specific weaknesses that exist and how these could be addressed through the provision
of suitable infrastructure and capacity building services.
The needs and demands created by far-reaching economic, social and political changes
of the last few years have brought budget and welfare reforms on a scale previously
unknown, leading to a stronger focus on local needs and the capability of the residents,
communities and clusters to provide more services for themselves.
The Council has embarked on a change programme, focusing on the following roles:
 community leadership
 community capacity-building; and
 commissioning functions to ensure delivery of local services.
The voluntary sector and wider community will be key partners in helping to deliver the
Council’s change programme.
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A national survey of the voluntary and community sector in 20081 found that local
organisations tend to reflect slightly more confidence than nationally in their propensity
to survive through difficult periods, possibly attributable to their own sound structures
and practice, being active over wider geographic areas, more constant sources of
income and supported by a fuller complement of management, trustees and technical
and practical support mechanisms. A majority of respondents (67% compared to 52%
nationally), said that they had never applied to the local statutory bodies for funding;
though, the minority which had applied for a contract or grant had tended to be
successful. Responses to other questions indicated that about 24% had very little direct
contact or knowledge of how the statutory services complemented or could affect their
voluntary service delivery.
1.3
How the Council will commission infrastructure and capacity building
services
The Council will adhere to the agreed commissioning principles of: transparency;
fairness and stakeholder involvement in developing its commissioning intentions. The
commissioning timetable is as follows:
Table 1:
Timetable
Action
Date
Options Paper in preparation
January 2011 – April 2011
Consultation on Options Paper with the Voluntary
Sector (six week consultation period)
April 2011 – June 2011
Finalise Commissioning Intentions
July 2011
Cabinet report seeking agreement to procurement
exercise based on options paper and final
recommendations
July 2011
Initiate the procurement process
July 2011
De-commissioning of current services
September 2011
Contract start date
1 April 2012
National Survey of Third Sector Organisations, MORI autumn 2008, in relation to question N17 “Taking everything
into account, overall, how do the statutory bodies in your local area influence your organisation’s success?”
1
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Where funded services currently provided by voluntary or community organisations are
no longer required, we will follow good practice principles, including a notice of
termination period that is sufficient for an affected organisation to make any necessary
adjustments.
The Council and other partners are keen to streamline the process as much as possible
to ensure best value for all parties, though being mindful of the legal frameworks in
which the Council operates in relation to procurement.
There is a six-week consultation period, ending on Tuesday 14 June 2011 in which you
are asked to consider and respond, on behalf of your organisation to the options set out
in section 2.
After the consultation period, the next step will be to analyse the responses and make
recommendations to the Cabinet for consideration and approval in summer 2011.
1.3.1 How we will procure
Once we have agreed the outcomes to be achieved and commissioners have agreed
the model for meeting those outcomes, Cabinet approval will be sought to initiate the
procurement process.
It is intended that the contract period will be for three years commencing 1 April 2012.
In developing our commissioning intentions we will take account of other infrastructure
and capacity building services being available and thus eliminate duplication of
provision.
1.3.2 Consultation
In addition to this formal consultation the Council has carried out a number of other
consultation exercises with the voluntary sector, the outcomes of which will feed into the
needs analysis contained in this paper. These include the Voluntary Sector
Commissioning Conference2, Stakeholder Event3, Self-directed support Market
Development workshop4 and Voluntary Sector Mapping Exercise.
2
Voluntary Sector Commissioning Action Plan, June 2010
Voluntary Sector Stakeholder Event Report, September 2010
4
SDS Market Development Workshop feedback, March 2010
3
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1.3.3 National Health Service Richmond
Previously NHS Richmond has jointly funded infrastructure and capacity building
services with the Council. National and local health agencies are currently undergoing
review and change and the local authority has a role in integration and promoting joint
working to deliver joined up health and social care services which meet local needs.
The Council and the health service are developing a joint commissioning team who will
lead the commissioning of adult services, including those commissioned from the
voluntary sector. It is the intention to jointly commission infrastructure and capacity
building services and the Council will be working with our health partners to look at
options for joint commissioning arrangements.
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2.0
NATIONAL AND LOCAL POLICY
2.1
National policy
The Coalition Agreement of May 2010 promised “to disperse power more widely in
Britain”, an aim central to the Localism Bill5 that promises to bring new rights and
powers for communities and individuals, as well as new freedoms for local government.
There will be encouragement to voluntary and community groups to:
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get things done and achieve local ambitions, testing and implementing bright
ideas locally;
greater opportunity to voice opinions on any local issue of importance;
be prepared to take over local amenities threatened with sale or closure, with
time to develop a bid to acquire public assets that come on the open market.
At the same time, radical changes are taking place in the way local authorities carry out
their business, commissioning and contracting, merging and sharing, divesting and
localising practices are becoming more commonplace in the quest for efficiency and
maintaining priority services with reliable quality.
The Cabinet Minister for Civil Society and the Office for Civil Society see the voluntary
and community sector as a key driver of the new localism. Under the all-encompassing
title of the Big Society, the strategic priorities affecting the voluntary, community and
social enterprise sectors are:
 making it easier to run an organisation;
 getting more resources into the sector to underpin its resilience and
independence; and
 making it easier for charities and social enterprises to help the state deliver
better public services.
The Big Society policy agenda centres on empowering communities, encouraging
charities and social enterprises to offer people high-quality services, and generally
promoting social action.
The reform agenda covers a wide range of policy areas, including:

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5
health and social care, making GP consortia responsible for commissioning most
NHS services;
adult social care tending towards more social, voluntary and community sector
control and provision;
the voluntary and community sector being encouraged to bid for the delivery of
criminal justice services and employment support programmes.
Localism Bill December 2010
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2.2
Local policy
The Council and the health service fully recognise the benefits that can be achieved
from the provision of services by the local voluntary sector and its importance in such
areas as:
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improving and enriching the quality of life for residents, especially more
vulnerable residents;
the contribution that volunteers make in terms of skills and time which helps to
maintain the fabric of local communities;
providing services that enable people to live independently for longer without
intervention by the statutory services;
acting as a voice for local communities to help improve services; and
delivering services which offer people local solutions, tailored to their individual
needs.
2.2.1 Volunteering
Achieving national and local aims depends very much on the willingness of residents to
offer their time, skills and experience to the multitude of services, activities and projects
that sustain our thriving community. In considering the best means to develop the
voluntary and community sector’s capacity, the Council, and other statutory partners,
will be looking to invest in structures that support and encourage individual volunteers
and volunteering in general. To deliver this the Council will establish a Volunteer-forRichmond scheme, especially drawing on older people.
Reflecting the Council’s desire to engage communities and residents, the Council has
canvassed residents’ views through the All in One survey with over 13,500 responses.
The next stage is a series of village planning events being held from May to July.
These events will be used to feedback messages from the survey and identify how
people would like to be involved.
2.2.2 Village Plans and Community Engagement
It is intended that one output from the planning events will be a set of village plans
drawn together with local communities. Building capacity is crucial to the success of
this programme.
A summary of the topline results of All in One Survey can be found here.
Of the respondents, over 6,000 people wanted to be kept informed of how they could
get more involved in the local area, indicating a potentially high level of participation in
developing village plans and general community involvement. This bodes well for the
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development of community involvement and local input to the many active voluntary and
community organisations in the Borough. We will aim to harness this goodwill and
community effort by targeting a proportion of Council support specifically at the
development of volunteering and community involvement.
2.2.3
Commissioning Council
The Council is moving to adopting a commissioning model with less direct provision and
more services provided by other organisations including social enterprises and
voluntary organisations. We will aim to work with the sector through greater
collaboration and better understanding of the operating needs of voluntary organisations
and have adopted some principles to help us do this; in summary, they are:
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transparency;
clear and widely available information relating to all invitations to bid, submit
proposals or engage in other ways with the Council and partners;
developing consistent processes for commissioning across all departments of the
Council.
2.2.4 Personalisation 6
Personalisation represents a fundamental change in the way that the Council supports
local people, but also how individuals are empowered to make positive choices for
themselves to meet their own identified needs. The process of implementing a
personalised approach is called self-directed support. The main principle is around
equality and choice for all people in need of care or support and for this to apply to both
people receiving assistance from the local authority and those who self fund their own
care. Local authority assistance is in the form of a personal budget made available for
individuals who will be able to choose their own service provider. For this to work
effectively individuals need choice in the marketplace. This is a significant opportunity
for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors to raise revenue through
selling services to meet local demand.
2.2.5
Social Enterprise rich Borough
A social enterprise is defined as: “a business or service with primarily social objectives
whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the community, rather
than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners” 7. Social
enterprises offer considerable benefits to individuals and the wider community. Along
with other local stakeholders the Council has established a Social Enterprise
6
7
What is Self Directed Support? - London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Definition published by Business Link
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Partnership. This partnership will deliver an environment that promotes the emergence
and growth of social enterprises, leading to a social enterprise rich borough.
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3.0
CURRENT PROVISION OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPACITY BUILDING
SERVICES
3.1
Local Provision
3.1.1 Council funded services
The Council grant funds a range of infrastructure and capacity building services both for
the whole sector (generic services provided by RCVS) and specific sectors (through
Strategic Leads). Grant funding has been awarded for a three year period starting on 1
April 2009 and ending on 31 March 2012. The table below provides a breakdown of
funding for the financial year 2010/11.
Table 2:
Breakdown of Funding for Infrastructure and Capacity Building
Services 2010/11
LBRuT
Corporate
Grant
NHS
Richmond
Age Concern (now Age UK)
28,080
10,920
39,000
Richmond Advice and Information on
Disability
31,820
5,180
37,000
Richmond Carers Centre/ Richmond
Crossroads
17,000
11,000
28,000
Richmond Citizen Advice Bureaux
35,150
1,850
37,000
Richmond Council for Voluntary Service
152,000
45,000
197,000
Richmond Council for Voluntary Service
(Children and Young People Strategic Lead)
37,343
4,657
42,000
Richmond Council for Voluntary Service
(Learning Disability Strategic Lead)
32,000
6,000
38,000
Richmond Council for Voluntary Service
(Community Involvement)
0
50,850
50,850
Richmond Environment Network
38,000
0
38,000
Total
371,393
135,457
506,850
Organisation
8
Total
8
The council manages partnership funding on behalf of NHS Richmond as part of this programme and
the two funding streams are shown separately in the table
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Each of the organisations shown in the table above provides a range of services
according to the needs of their members and partners in their shared sphere of
influence. The range includes advice, information and best practice dissemination,
training, representation and being a voice for the sector. A detailed description of
services can be found in the Appendix.
All organisations have been awarded funding against a set of priorities and performance
indicators upon which they are monitored on a six-monthly basis.
During 2010 the Council undertook a review of its corporate grants programme as part
of its comprehensive budget review. This was carried out in partnership with affected
organisations through ongoing discussions about local priorities and improved ways of
working to protect services for the most vulnerable. Further to the review the Council
identified a saving of £40,653 for 2011/12 from the corporate grants budget for
infrastructure and capacity building services.
3.1.2 Council support
The Council directly provides the following support to the sector as part of its
commissioning role:
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facilitating the engagement of the voluntary and community sector in identifying
local priorities and helping to shape services.
advice on the procurement process
Commissioners support organisations in developing new models for service
delivery
advice and support on quality assurance such as safeguarding and equalities
duties
administration, leadership and facilitation of various networks and forums
3.1.3 Independent local support
There are a range of infrastructure services offered independently of the Council that
are available to voluntary organisations. Organisations providing such services include
Social Enterprise Richmond, RCVS, Richmond Aid, Richmond Adult Community
College and Richmond Carers Centre. Although some of these organisations receive
funding from the Council they also raise funds from non statutory sources to deliver
capacity building services to local voluntary organisations.
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3.1.4 Support for Small Business and Social Enterprises
The Council’s website contains extensive signposting links to support for businesses
which are available for local voluntary organisations such as Green Business Initiatives,
services offered by other agencies such as Richmond Adult Community College and a
free Business Continuity Service. The Council is keen to promote the use of these
different sources of advice and support to strengthen local organisations and create a
vibrant and prosperous borough.
3.2
National and regional services
As well as locally provided support there is a range of regional and national services
available for local voluntary organisations.
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National Association of Voluntary and Community Associations (NAVCA)
http://www.navca.org.uk/
London Voluntary Service Council (LVSC) http://www.lvsc.org.uk/
National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/
Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
http://www.acevo.org.uk/
Volunteering England http://www.volunteering.org.uk/
South London CVS Partnership http://www.slcvspartnership.org.uk/.
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4.0
CONSULTATION ON OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES
This section will examine local needs and propose outcomes and broad objectives to be
achieved through newly commissioned services. The three themes are:
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how we enable a vibrant voluntary and community sector
support and grow community involvement and volunteering
engage with the sector in the commissioning process.
There are a series of consultation questions for respondents to consider and space within
this document to write comments, including additional comments not directly related to the
consultation questions.
4.1
A vibrant voluntary and community sector
The Council values the contribution the sector makes to enriching local communities and
the borough environment. Organisations and new community led initiatives need access to
advice and information to assist their development and enable them to flourish. Clear
communications and good working relationships between all partners are important in an
environment of reduced resources.
The Council is seeking to adopt a holistic approach in identifying its commissioning
intentions; recognising that many of the outcomes and objectives identified under section
4.3 to 4.6 will also contribute to a vibrant voluntary and community sector.
Proposed Outcomes
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A vibrant and prosperous voluntary and community sector which:
o understands and responds to local need
o is diverse and covers a wide range of sectors
o is inclusive
o is financially sustainable and able to attract and secure new resources into
the borough and,
o has robust governance and operational infrastructure
Richmond upon Thames is an environment where new ideas for meeting local
priorities from individuals and voluntary organisations can flourish
Avenues of communication between the whole sector and statutory partners are
clear and well understood
Consultation Question:
1a.
Are you in agreement with these outcomes?
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Consultation Question:
1b.
Are there other outcomes that you would recommend? Please describe.
Proposed Objectives
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An up-to-date and publicly accessible database on voluntary and community
organisations operating in the borough
Facilitate effective communication between voluntary and community sector and
statutory partners
Facilitate effective support and advice for members of the community to take forward
new ideas
Facilitate the development of initiatives that meet local priorities
Effective dissemination of information to voluntary and community sector providers
on local and national priorities and key agendas
Training, advice and development work to improve individual organisations capacity,
infrastructure and sustainability e.g.
o Fundraising and sustainability
o Safeguarding
o Recruitment practices and workforce development
o Quality assurance
o Governance
o Business planning
Consultation Question:
2a.
Are you in agreement with these objectives?
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Consultation Question
2b.
Are there other objectives that you would recommend? Please describe.
4.2
Volunteering
Fundamental to the strength and success of the local voluntary and community sector is
the huge volunteering contribution made by people residing and working in the borough.
The Council directly supports a range of volunteering initiatives through Richmond
Volunteer Centre (managed by Richmond Council for Voluntary Service), youth
volunteering and commissioning services from voluntary sector organisations that
recruit volunteers.
Over 6,000 respondents to the All in One survey stated that they wanted to be kept
informed of how they could get more involved in the local area, giving a strong
indication that volunteering and community action will grow in the future.
Proposed Outcomes
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People know how they can volunteer and be involved in their local community
Older people who want to volunteer have the means to do so
People are able to be involved in delivery of services
Consultation Question
3a.
Are you in agreement with the above outcomes?
Consultation Question
3b.
Are there other outcomes that you would recommend? Please describe.
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SECTION TWO
Proposed Objectives
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Work with the Council to develop a Volunteer for Richmond initiative
Provide a co-ordination function to recruit and place volunteers in a range of service
settings
Identify placements and opportunities for volunteers to develop their own skills as
well as to help others
Support voluntary and community organisations to work appropriately and effectively
with volunteers to create a welcoming environment
Consultation Question
4a.
Are you in agreement with the above objectives?
Consultation Question
4b.
Are there other objectives that you would recommend? Please describe.
4.3
Influencing and agreeing priorities
The strategic direction adopted by the Council involves individuals, community groups,
voluntary organisations, whether new or established, working together to assume
greater control over their lives, shaping and delivering services to the local community in
which they live. The Council’s direct provision of services will therefore diminish.
Proposed Outcomes
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
Voluntary organisations, service users, carers and patients have a clear role in
helping to identify priorities
Voluntary organisations, service users, carers and patients help to shape local
services
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
Voluntary and community sector is engaged and represented within strategic
partnerships
Consultation Question
5a.
Are you in agreement with these outcomes?
Consultation Question
5b.
Are there other outcomes that you would recommend? Please describe.
Proposed Objectives
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Users, carers and patients are supported to have involvement in shaping public,
private and voluntary sector services
Support and advice to stimulate the marketplace and develop services that
individuals, managing their own care, want to buy
Support and advice for voluntary and community organisations (providers and nonproviders) to be represented within strategic partnerships
Voluntary and community sector is supported and advised on their involvement in
local consultations
Consultation Question
6a.
Are you in agreement with these objectives?
Consultation Question
6b.
Are there other objectives that you would recommend? Please describe.
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4.4.
Market Development
It is in everyone’s interest, particularly vulnerable members of the community and their
carers, to widen the choice of services and providers available to them. In pursuit of
value for money, opportunities to share provision or other means of exploiting the bigger
scale opportunities will also be investigated. The Council’s approach to commissioning
will ensure more organisations engage in the development and provision of services,
including those external to the borough or from neighbouring areas, commercial, not-forprofit and social enterprises.
Proposed Outcomes
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Voluntary and community sector is able to access a wide range of commissioning
opportunities
More collaboration with the voluntary sector in delivery of services
People who are self funders or are in receipt of a personalised budget can buy
services from the voluntary sector that help to meet their needs
A diverse marketplace that is fit for purpose including social enterprises and
community led services
A financially independent and sustainable voluntary and community sector
Consultation Question
7a.
Are you in agreement with these outcomes?
Consultation Question
7b.
Are there other outcomes that you would recommend? Please describe.
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Proposed Objectives


Development work with voluntary and community sector to establish new service
delivery models
Training, advice and development for commissioners on commissioning from the
voluntary sector
Consultation Question
8a.
Are you in agreement with these objectives?
Consultation Question
8b.
Are there other objectives that you would recommend? Please describe.
4.5
Procurement
Procurement is the “buying” part of the commissioning process and can include contracts,
grants and support in kind to enable a particular outcome to be achieved. The Council is
subject to legal frameworks which determine how it procures services under contract. For
procurement to be effective there needs to be a healthy and dynamic marketplace where
organisations are able to compete fairly and equitably with one another; this helps to
achieve best value.
Proposed Outcomes

A diverse range of not for profit providers that can compete in the marketplace and
offer best value and so add benefit
Consultation Question
9a.
Are you in agreement with this outcome?
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Consultation Question
9b.
Are there other outcomes that you would recommend? Please describe.
Proposed Objectives
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
Training and support for the voluntary and community sector on the procurement
process:
o tendering and contracts
o bringing added value and a competitive edge to contracts e.g.
demonstrating social impact for voluntary and community sector
o business and contingency planning for voluntary and community sector
o financial management
Facilitate the development of voluntary and community sector consortia to bid for
contracts
Partnership work with the Council to identify key market development areas
Consultation Question
10a.
Are you in agreement with these objectives?
Consultation Question
10b. Are there other objectives that you would recommend? Please describe.
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4.6
Performance monitoring and review
Successful delivery of services requires robust performance monitoring and management.
Proposed Outcomes
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A high performing voluntary and community sector that increases its market share of
current service provision
Quality assured voluntary and community sector services (both commissioned by
the Council and by individuals) which meet local priorities and contractual
requirements
User focused providers that can use the experiences of their customers to improve
services
Accurate and relevant performance monitoring data to measure service impact
Consultation Question
11a.
Are you in agreement with these outcomes?
Consultation Question
11b. Are there other outcomes that you would recommend? Please describe.
Proposed Objectives

Training and support for the voluntary and community sector on
o quality assurance
o performance management
Consultation Question
12a.
Are you in agreement with these objectives?
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Consultation Question
12b. Are there other objectives that you would recommend? Please describe.
4.7
Possible models for capacity building and infrastructure service delivery
There are many different approaches to meeting the outcomes described above. Our
aim is to seek stakeholder views on the most appropriate method; the final options
could also include a combination of different approaches. Therefore we would like
views on whether there are any alternative models or developments you think would be
effective or less effective.
E.g.
1.
2.
3.
delivering all services through one provider
dividing up the services into distinct commissioning areas
a more diverse model where the sector can draw on funding to meet their
capacity and infrastructure building needs
We would like to seek your views on possible models and invite your suggestions for
alternative ways that the needs of the voluntary and community sector and statutory
partners can be met.
Consultation Question
13.
Please describe here possible models or service delivery that would be
suitable for your organisation and help you to achieve your goals.
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SECTION TWO
Consultation Question
14.
Please use this section to add any further comments to the consultation
25
SECTION TWO
5.0
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE
Thank you for your help. Your responses are enormously helpful and will assist in
enabling a vibrant voluntary and community sector and achieving real benefit for
residents in London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Please enter your details in the table below and return your completed consultation
(preferably via email) to:
Melissa Watson
Voluntary Sector Partnership Manager
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Civic Centre
44 York Street
Twickenham
TW1 3BZ
Email:
Telephone:
melissa.watson@richmond.gov.uk
020 8487 5225
Consultation Submission Deadline: Tuesday 14 June 2011
If you have any queries about the consultation please contact Melissa Watson at
melissa.watson@richmond.gov.uk or on 020 8487 5225.
Respondent Details
Name of organisation
Name of respondent
Address
Email address
Telephone number
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SECTION TWO
APPENDIX
Service Description of Infrastructure and Capacity Building Services 2010/11
Age Concern Richmond – Strategic Lead for Older People
Chief Executive
Suite 301, 3rd Floor
Parkway House
Sheen Lane
East Sheen
SW14 8LS
E: sandram@acrut.org.uk
T: 0845 6011149
W: www.acrut.org.uk
LBRuT
NHS
Richmond
£28,080
£10,920
LBRuT
Carers
Total Grant
£39,000
To provide specific advice and guidance in the delivery of services for older people in
order to increase capacity skills and resources.









Convening and attending Network, Strategic and sub-committee meetings;
Establishing partnerships between local voluntary agencies and dissemination of
information;
Attendance at and participation in relevant publicity events - including National
Older People’s Day;
Liaison with LBRuT to monitor progress of strategic lead outcomes and identify
emerging issues;
Provide 10 information sessions and 2 training sessions information and training
sessions for older people (to provide or in partnership with other parties) to
address emerging issues arising from the implementation of SDS;
Take the lead in encouraging voluntary sector to identify vulnerable older people
and implementing a support and/or referral process;
To develop information protocols and work in an integrated way with other sector
leads such as carers, physical disability and mental health organisations;
To bring in additional resources into the Older people’s sector e.g. increased inkind support such as volunteers, securing bids, improved working practice, and
take up of SDS etc;
To attend all equality and diversity network meetings to ensure that older people
from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are supported.
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SECTION TWO
Richmond Advice & Disability information (RAID) – Strategic
Lead for Physical Disability
Chief Executive
4 Waldegrave Road
Teddington
TW11 8HT
T: 020 8831 6080
E: L.Byrne@richmondaid.org.uk
W: www.richmondaid.org.uk
NHS
Richmond
£31,820
£5,180
LBRuT
Carers
Total Grant
£37,000
Raised awareness of RAID’s services and their role as a Strategic Lead amongst the
wider public and voluntary and community organisations through provision of a
website, press releases and presentations to local disability groups.
 Continued work on JCB on Disability and Long term conditions and supporting the
work of the Disability Equality Action partnership (DEAP);
 Sharing information from the various strategic meetings to the wider disabilityrelated voluntary sector community (including user-led and self-help groups) in the
borough;
 Provide up to date information, advice & guidance via Network Committee
Meetings / face to face / by telephone and production of RAID quarterly newsletter,
website and advice service;
 Continued participation in KSO forum;
 Undertake volunteer recruitment campaigns and provide volunteering training and
access to NVQ accreditation.
Richmond Carers’ Centre/ Richmond Crossroads – Strategic
Lead for Carers
Chief Executive
Richmond Carers Centre
5 Briar Road
Twickenham
Middlesex
TW2 6RB
T: 020 8867 2381
E: chiefexec@richmondcarers.org
LBRuT
LBRuT
NHS
Richmond
£17,000
£11,000
LBRuT
Carers
Total Grant
£28,000
Deliver Strategic Lead functions for the Carers’ sector, through the following services: Promote opportunities for carers to participate in support groups and self manage
through the Action for Carers’ Network;
 Deliver training session on equalities/diversity and undertake marketing and
promotional activities to reach ‘hidden’ carers and more diverse communities;
 Coordinate and deliver annual carers’ conference;
 Actively participate in local consultation forums and other relevant strategic
meetings to represent the carers sector;
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SECTION TWO



Membership of safeguarding adults committee and/or relevant sub committees –
including Health and Well-being Partnership;
Provide specific advice and guidance in the delivery of services for carers and
keep peer organisations up to date on related policy, funding, legal, and quality
assurance;
Integrated working with other sector leads such as physical disability, older people,
substance misuse and mental health.
Richmond Citizen’s Advice Bureaux – Strategic Lead for
Advice Services
Chief Executive
The Advice Centre
61 Heath Road
Twickenham TW1 4AW
T: 020 8891 2145
E: susansmith@rcabs.org
W: www.rcabs.org.uk
LBRuT
NHS
Richmond
£35,150
£1,850
LBRuT
Carers
Total Grant
£37,000
To command the support of public and relevant voluntary and community
organisations as the lead local voluntary agency for advice services through:
 Quarterly collection of RCABS client issue data via electronic CASE system;
 Regular participation at strategic meetings and information fed into strategic for a
including the Homelessness Forum & NHAS, LBRUT Disability, Equality & Access
Partnership, PCT Commissioning Strategy, St Georges Mental Health Trust
Partnership Group;
 Training and capacity building on advice-giving and/or welfare issues given to at
least four other agencies ensuring that such organisations have the necessary
advice, guidance and information on advice service policy and practice they need
to deliver;
 Register of advice providers drawn up;
 Active participation in SW London Advice Plus grouping for improved quality and
access;
 Aim to establish at least two new working partner-ships/ by two or more advice
agencies and the SW London legal forum plans are developed for improved quality
and access;
 Terms of reference developed for an Advice Services Network [ASN] and provide
training/capacity-building to ASN members (i.e. introduction and Training of
Trainers) so that Advice sector organisations can actively promote and implement
equalities and diversity in their advice-giving.
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SECTION TWO
Richmond CVS – Strategic Lead for Children and Young
People
Chief Executive
1 Princes Street
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 1ED
T: 020 8255 8500
E: heatherm@richmondcvs.org.uk
W: www.richmondcvs.org.uk



LBRuT
NHS
Richmond
£37,343
£4,657
Children’s
Services
Total Grant
£42,000
Consult with voluntary and community groups working with children and young
people to assess current priorities, current provision and issues;
Membership of and representation at agreed strategic meetings and forums and to
consult with the VCO’s on identified issues and report back to appropriate
partnership/s;
Work with partnership service heads to contribute to the development of the
Children and Young Peoples Plan 2009-13 encouraging sustained involvement of
local organisations in the planning and delivery of services detailed in the Children
Plan 2009-13 and other initiatives such as children’s centres and extended schools
(linked to the multi-agency delivery framework);





children and young people’s services including information on legal requirements
e.g. safeguarding;
Work in partnership with the Council to deliver/facilitate capacity building youth
focused training/information session - around quality, participation, diversity/
Equality etc;
Advocate for the needs of disabled children and young people at a strategic level,
and co-ordinate responses from the sector to feed into the planning process and
delivery of the Children’s Plan 2009-13;
Maintain the profile of the needs of disabled children and young people on the
partnership boards and ensure that their needs and those of their parents and
carers are represented to the wider voluntary sector and partner agencies;
Establish links with the emergent Voluntary Sector Forum co-ordinated by RCVS,
and ensure that the opportunities for partnership and the views of the children and
young people’s voluntary sector are represented on this forum.
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SECTION TWO
Richmond CVS - Generic infrastructure and capacity
building
Chief Executive
1 Princes Street
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 1ED
T: 020 8255 8500
E: davids@richmondcvs.org.uk
W: www.richmondcvs.org.uk
LBRuT
NHS
Richmond
£152,000
£45,000
LBRuT
Carers
Total Grant
£197,000
Provision of infrastructure support to the third sector through:
Giving a voice to the local voluntary sector through strategic representation, leadership
and negotiation with stakeholders so that more organisations have a sense of positive
engagement with community planning, local priorities, visibility to statutory process via:



Effective engagement and consultation with local voluntary agencies through
attendance at meetings of the Local Strategic Partnership and develop and
facilitate the Local Strategic Partnership Voluntary Sector Forum;
Take the lead in establishing clear roles and process for community and voluntary
sector involvement at a strategic level;
Ensure representation and strategic involvement of sector specific lead agencies
in local planning and decision making process.
Provide strategic leadership for the voluntary sector in the development of the self
directed support model through:


Establishing a schedule of meetings among stakeholders;
Delivering a consultation event early 2010/11 and reporting on the event, including
dissemination as appropriate and establishment of a strategic plan for the next
period.
Ensuring effective voluntary sector engagement and representation in health
agenda’s, through:

Developing the capacity of the voluntary sector to respond to the Expert Patient
programme and to respond to community engagement and ensuring local
communities are able to contribute to shaping local health priorities and service
delivery models;
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SECTION TWO

Ensuring voluntary sector engagement and representation in the development of
emerging health strategies and increase awareness of safeguarding
responsibilities
Some of their other activities include:


One-to-One funding advice; business planning; sign posting of sources of
information around other resources and support; provide a reactive service (where
to find information, how to apply, implications for monitoring, full cost recovery etc)
for clients seeking funding support as part of their wider business planning
objectives;
Managing the Volunteer Centre, this is open for 20 hours a week over four days,
so that more people are engaged in volunteering.
Richmond CVS – Strategic Lead for Learning Disability
Chief Executive
1 Princes Street
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 1ED
E: davids@richmondcvs.org.uk
T: 020 8255 8500
W: www.richmondcvs.org.uk






LBRuT
NHS
Richmond
£32,000
£6,000
LBRuT
Carers
Total Grant
£38,000
Increasing RCVS’ existing extensive engagement with the Learning Disability (LD)
VCS and developing appropriate frameworks for that engagement which also
facilitate consultation.
Attending a wide range of strategic forums to represent and champion the views of
the LD VCS.
Maintain current knowledge on matters relevant to the LD VCS; develop and
disseminate information and resources accordingly, especially on key themes such
as SDS, Equalities and Diversity, Safeguarding and Increasing the Universality of
services. Supporting these with further advice, training, guidance and referrals.
In partnership, mapping services available to PLD’s of Richmond, collating and
distributing the information to enable informed choice.
Researching need, identifying gaps in the market and supporting VCS
organisations to develop/ work in partnership to fill them.
Identifying the key issues around SDS and supporting VCS organisations to
engage with and manage the changes.
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SECTION TWO
LBRuT
Richmond Council for Voluntary Service -Community Involvement
project
Chief Executive
1 Princes Street
Richmond
TW9 1ED
T: 020 8255 8500
E: davids@richmondcvs.org.uk
W: www.richmondcvs.org.uk
LBRuT
Carers
£50,850
Total Grant
£50,850
Engage service users and carers in the development of local strategies and plans
LBRuT
Richmond Environment Network – Strategic Lead for
Environment
REN Co-ordinator
6 Phoenix Wharf (upper deck)
Eel Pie Island
Twickenham TW1 3DY
T: 020 8892 0590
E: colin@richenvironmentnet.org.uk
W: www.richenvironmentnet.org.uk
NHS
Richmond







£38,000
NHS
Richmond
LBRuT
Carers
Total Grant
£38,000
Command the support of the public and relevant voluntary and community
organisations as the lead local voluntary agency for the environment.
Consult with voluntary and community groups working in the environment sector
and represent their views on strategic bodies in London Borough of Richmond
upon Thames, particularly to local statutory bodies.
Provide specific advice and guidance in the delivery of environmental services and
keep peer organisations up to date on related policy, funding, quality assurance,
legal and other developments
Promote community based sustainable energy initiatives (e.g. supporting the
council with street-level metering projects, green-street projects etc).
Raise awareness of climate change and energy-related topics amongst the wider
local population.
Raise awareness of reducing environmental impacts in the built environment e.g.
tarmacing driveways.
Provide ongoing advice and expertise to residents groups and voluntary and
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SECTION TWO
community organisations on energy saving measures and low carbon technologies
(inc. website, leaflets, demonstration visits, advice on funding opportunities for
renewable energy grants etc) in partnership with London Borough of Richmond
upon Thames
34