Bristol City Council
Commissioning VCS Infrastructure Support – Consultation
1. What are we consulting you about?
The grant agreement for the VCS Infrastructure Support service (known as
‘The Support Hub’ and the VCS Assembly) is coming to an end in April 2016.
We need to review how it is currently working, address any gaps and access
issues and ensure that there is a grant agreement in place for May 2016.
This will ensure that there is the necessary support in place for a thriving
voluntary and community sector when the VCS funding prospectus (see
below) and the associated grants rounds are launched in the city.
2. Background
In 2010, Bristol City Council produced a Commissioning Strategy for VCS
Infrastructure (by which we mean support for VCS organisations) to address
the following:
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The need for a cohesive city-wide set of services responding to the needs
of the VCS and the city;
The reduced availability of support for VCS organisations following
changes to the council’s community development service;
The challenging funding changes faced by the VCS in the forms of
commissioning and the impact of the recession.
Commissioning aims:
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A more sustainable VCS sector in Bristol;
A stronger voice for the VCS in Bristol;
Improved continuity of funding and service planning for VCS Infrastructure
Support provider – a minimum three year funding period with potential
further two years.
(a) What the VCS organisations in Bristol told us about what they
wanted
(i)
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The Survey of VCS organisations told us:
They were satisfied with information and advice services; training; funding
advice, networking, volunteer support and governance and legal support;
however
They wanted improvements including more clarity about the services
available; access to services outside work hours; more tailored and more
practical services; more specialised support and more awareness on
specific equalities issues.
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(ii)
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The VCS told us their key priorities were:
Improving funding and financial stability (for infrastructure services);
Providing better services;
Increasing VCS influence in the city;
Adequately addressing the needs of BME VCS organisations.
The VCS told us they wanted Infrastructure Support to be delivered:
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(iii)
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Overall, face to face, followed by On-line and e-mail advice, Training,
courses and learning events, tailored training and consultancy,
Forums and networking and Outreach.
Some Equalities VCS groups ranked these differently – eg. BME VCS
preferred face-to-face and outreach styles to on-line support
Focus Groups and interview respondents said they wanted:
Improved clarity about what services are on offer and easier access to
them – a ‘one-stop shop’ approach;
‘Layers’ of service organised around needs of VCS groups at different
stages of their development;
Improved access to Specialist services – e.g. HR, buildings support;
Consistent high quality and reduced duplication of services;
A balance between practical, ‘hands-on’ support services and
influencing/strategically-focused services;
Increased commissioning, tendering and partnerships skills to enable them
to compete for contracts;
More tailored work to support equalities VCS groups;
A community development model ‘hand-holding’ service.
.
(b) VCS Infrastructure Service Outcomes
In response to that consultation, in 2010 our goal was to grant fund coordinated, coherent and customer-focused VCS Infrastructure Support
with common referral, recording and impact measurement processes
and shared quality standards. We wanted this to enable the effective
demonstration of the accumulated impact of VCS Infrastructure
Support Services in supporting a thriving Voluntary and Community
Sector in Bristol.
The current outcomes (revised 2014):
Outcome 1
Outcome 2
The Bristol Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) has
increased capacity, sustainability and quality. (The VCS
becomes more effective, efficient and sustainable).
(i)
The Bristol Voluntary and Community sector
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(ii)
is well-informed about the current and future
operating environment
The Bristol Voluntary and Community Sector
is well connected to all sectors.
(There is improved information sharing,
partnership working between VCS
organisations and the Business, Public and
Social Enterprise Sectors).
Outcome 3a)
Outcome 3b)
Outcome 4
Bristol VCS groups have a strong and influential voice.
(There are structured routes for consultation and
dialogue within the VCS that enable the diverse voices
of the VCS to be heard. VCS infrastructure support
services facilitate dialogue, consultation, influence and
feedback).
(Formerly outcome 4) – The VCS has strategic
involvement. (The VCS is represented and is
influencing planning and policy making at strategic
levels as a result of infrastructure support activities.)
(formerly outcome 5) – Bristol VCS groups contribute
effectively to meeting the changing needs of the city
(VCS groups are supported to develop and innovate to
meet changing needs and to identify patterns of need to
feed into strategic needs assessments in the city)
(c) Award
A competitive grant application process was undertaken and Voscur were
awarded the grant in Feb 2011 initially to March 2014. This was
subsequently extended for a further two years to March 2016 following a
review of performance.
3. Structure of the service and activities
There are two principle elements to the service:
1. The Support Hub
The Support Hub provides support from a team of staff who have skills in
governance, funding and finance, commissioning and training & skills
development. The support Hub offers courses such as business planning,
recruiting volunteers, being a good trustee etc. This is supplemented by peer
support through forums such as the Trustee forum. Specialist and intensive
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support is also offered to organisations. Priority for this is agreed through the
prioritisation protocol (see Appendix 2).
2. A Voice and Influence Service
Voice and influence has been developed through the creation of a new VCS
Assembly to ensure a co-ordinated VCS voice on important issues in the city.
Elected VCS Advocates sit at the heart of the Assembly, ten VCS Advocates
have been elected from and by VCS organisations in Bristol to attend
partnership boards and work together to influence issues of importance to the
VCS. The Advocates are supported by the Voice and Influence team to gather
intelligence from the sector that can influence strategy, policy and practice.
Three VCS networks enable organisations in specific working areas to share
experiences and approaches and work together to influence policy and
decision making affecting these areas:
 Children and Young People
 Health & Social Care
 Neighbourhoods and Communities
A brief summary of activities for 2014-15 demonstrates some of the information
submitted to commissioners in the performance reporting (Appendix 1)
3. Current landscape and strategic drivers
(a) Reduced Bristol City Council budget and workforce
BCC has experienced a 37% reduction in revenue budgets between 2011-16
and has experienced a massive reduction in staffing levels in the last 18
months. This has had a knock on effect on the ability of teams to undertake
some of the community based activities, assistance given to VCS
organisations or partnership working that was done in the past. There are
likely to be further cuts in the future.
(b) Social Value Act/Community Right to challenge/Community Investment
Companies (CICs)
Government policies and legislative changes have been introduced to open
up the market place to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the
voluntary sector. Although there has been little impact in the city to date,
greater impetus is likely in the near future as a result of these changes.
BCC is in the process of agreeing a Social Value Toolkit to firmly embed the
principles of social value in the commissioning of services and goods and
recommendations as to how it might be extended to support SMEs and VCS
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organisations to compete more effectively in the market place for contracts
and services. VCS Infrastructure Support would have a significant enabling
role in this.
The Community Right to Challenge allows voluntary and community groups,
charities, social enterprises, parish councils, local and fire and rescue
authority staff to bid to run authority services where they believe they can do
so differently and better. This may be the whole service or part of a service.
There has been a slow start in this area but the support and funding
mechanisms are in place to facilitate this and the relaxing of procurement
barriers may well act as a catalyst in this process. Again, VCS Infrastructure
Support would have a significant role in facilitating this change.
As with the Community Right to Challenge, there has been a relatively slow
growth in CICs. However, changing conditions could mean a surge in the
development of CICs with the right legislation and infrastructure in place.
(c) Re-establishment of the BCC Community Development Team
The community development function has been re-established in the city
council providing an asset-based community development service to Bristol
communities. Some of that support provides links between the VCS
Infrastructure Support and community-based capacity building to enable
community-based VCS organisations to develop and thrive.
As a result of a review in 2014, the council’s community development function
and team has been re-established. The community development team often
works alongside the VCS Infrastructure support hub to assist in the
development or the recovery of organisations in crisis to enable them to
thrive.
(d) VCS Funding Prospectus
The council currently invests £7.5 million of grant funding into the voluntary
sector to deliver services which meet many different needs across the city.
Investment ranges across a wide range of groups and services, represented
via all directorates, from supporting local community buildings and delivering
community advice services, to delivering community transport and supporting
victims of crime.
The Council needs to ensure that this investment is making the maximum
impact on the major challenges faced by the city, and the people that need it
most get the best value and the maximum benefit from this investment. The
proposed prospectus model will set a strategic approach to grant funding, with
clear priorities for the council’s grant investment in order to tackle the city’s
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biggest issues, while still offering VCS organisations flexibility in the style of
delivery.
The prospectus will be agreed and in place in 2016 and there will be a
number of grants rounds underway during 2016-17. It is essential that there
is a stable and established VCS infrastructure support service in place in the
city to assist VCS organisations in the grant funding rounds.
(e) The changing nature of VCS Infrastructure support – NAVCA Change for
Good report
A recent report by NAVCA (National Association for Voluntary and Community
Action) has focussed on how infrastructure is funded and delivered in the new
landscape of recession and reduced local authority funding. The report
recognises that ‘The Infrastructure of the future is likely to be a much leaner
enabler, broker and catalyst rather than necessarily a deliverer.’ In a climate
where organisations do not have the resources to pay for services and advice
there is a need for a stream of funding to facilitate this and future investment
needs to ‘deliver capacity by unlocking social capital and leverage’. VCS
Infrastructure providers ‘must be relationship builders and brokers capable of
levering resources’.
The report findings are that many infrastructure bodies were responding in
new and innovative ways to the changing environment. But it also found that
the sector ‘is so busy coping with the problems of today that it often lacks the
foresight to adapt to change effectively’. The report also asserts that a
significant proportion of local organisations are hanging on for the "good
times" to return, and too few understand the scale of change still to come as a
result of public sector cutbacks or wider societal factors.
The report recommends that local infrastructure organisations should make
sure they have the necessary skills in areas including navigating change,
focusing scarce resources and demonstrating their value. Funders, the report
says, should offer longer-term funding for infrastructure organisations and
should collaborate with other funders to maximise the effects of their funding.
The full report can be found here: Change for Good report
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Appendix 1
Headline information from VCS Infrastructure service 2014-15
This appendix presents a brief summary of Voscur’s activities from 2014-15 and demonstrates
some of the information required by commissioners in performance reporting.
The VCS Support Hub
The most common activity areas described by groups seeking support from Voscur in 2014-15 were (in
order): health, advice, education/training, community development, and support and development.
VCS activities
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
In terms of support provided, the most common areas were (in order): legal structures, start-up,
fundraising, governance, and strategy.
Support categories
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
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Training to the sector
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480 people attended from 142 community organisations
56 courses offered, such as:
 Writing small fundraising bids
 Being a good trustee
 Leadership skills for managers and supervisors
 Good practice in social media
Support to the sector
 236 support enquiries (40 from BME led organisations), such as:
 Legal structures
 Start up
 Fundraising
 Governance
 Strategy
 206 support sessions covering areas such as:
 Developing a legal structure
 Organisational start ups
 Safeguarding policy updates
 Merger of organisations
 54 specialist support sessions covering areas such as:
 HR e.g. redundancies, policies, grievances
 Property asset transfer
 Volunteer placements
 22 organisations received intensive support packages.
Support to smaller organisations:
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Applications to our Kick Start Your Organisation course (for emerging organisations) in
2014-5 tell us that the following issues have motivated people to come together to start new
organisations:
 Social isolation (of young people; of people with health [including mental
health] issues, of people from new communities)
 Environmental social action
 Unemployment (amongst BME people in Ashley; amongst people in
Lockleaze; employability of young women)
 Life chances (of children in care; for male survivors of sexual abuse)
 Health and wellbeing (healthy eating and lifestyles)
 Hate crime in the context of employment
Organisations that receive support through Kick Start must have e clearly identified a need or gap
in service and that their project will have impact and reach.
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Voice and Influence:
During the year Voscur shared policy, information and practical intelligence with VCSE
organisations and explains how they can use it to strengthen their services. Our website received
1,817,337 page views this year, and we saw an increase in our social media and e-bulletin
subscribers. Regular radio shows reach audiences of up to 50,000 people. More than 1,000
people attended cross sector meetings and events.
VCS advocates, volunteers, employees and trustees have worked together to influence policies,
strategies, and services to improve the city’s work with vulnerable people and precarious
communities, including at the Health and Wellbeing Board, Bristol Children and Families Board,
Green Capital 2015 and many others. Highlights include:
West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
This year there was a focus on influencing the LEP to present opportunities to VCSE organisations
working with people furthest from employment. This included shaping the LEP’s plan to utilise the
ESF/Big Lottery Social Inclusion Fund, resulting in £6million Lottery funding being made available
in the West of England.
Social Investment and Bristol’s VCS
A cross-sector event tackling key issues in social investment was organised. Voscur is working
with investors to improve access to funds and build investment readiness within the sector.
Social Value and Commissioning
Voscur held two events held in partnership with Bristol City Council, the Compact, Bristol CCG,
and the Police Crime Commissioner. This work is contributing to the social value of Bristol’s VCS
being fully realised in the city.
Mayor’s budget
Voscur helped to influence the Mayor to allocate a proportion of the £3.9m windfall pot to early
intervention activity and are working collaboratively on the implementation of this fund.
City Devolution
Voscur held the first public event in Bristol on this theme, bringing together a panel of community
activists from across the city-region who discussed devolution from the perspective of
neighbourhoods and communities.
Bristol 2015
Voscur’s ‘Painting the Town Green’ event offered dialogue between a range of city-wide
organisations and Bristol Green Capital. 120 previously non-engaged VCSE organisations
working in sustainability are now actively part of Green Capital.
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