7. Priorities for 2006-08

  Comment on this chapter

7.1 Review ChangeUp consortia and their role and develop a clearer focus for consortia funding, more closely tied to the outcomes that Capacitybuilders is seeking to achieve. The intention is to secure more effective:

• joint working or rationalisation of services, where appropriate;
• better practice on diversity; and
• effective advocacy for support for infrastructure.

The review is to be completed by June 2007.

7.2 Deliver the main grant funding programmes (Continuation Development Fund, Consortia Projects Programme and Improving Reach) in a timely and effective fashion – investing at least £28 million to enable ChangeUp consortia to provide concrete and tangible improvements in line with their infrastructure investment plans by the end of March 2008.

7.3 Ensure that the infrastructure support needs of social enterprises and non-profit social companies are fully integrated in our general objectives and activities. Capacitybuilders will be working with appropriate bodies in the social enterprise field, including the Social Enterprise Coalition, to follow through the Social Enterprise Action Plan launched by the Government in November 2006.

7.4 Develop a learning and innovation programme, initially examining:

• cost-effective mechanisms for providing intensive support to VCOs (e.g. peer review, pro bono support);
• how to increase local authority support for capacity building;
• the potential for establishing funder coalitions to support capacity building in particular locations and specific sub-sectors; and
• the support needs of clusters of VCOs and social enterprises working in particular regions.
   

7.5 Develop a rigorous evaluation programme brief by the end of January 2007 with a view to commissioning an evaluation of the ChangeUp programme so far – from early spend in 2003 through to December 2006.

7.6 Develop a new set of objectives and outcomes for the provision of national support services and consult the sector between January and March 2007. These new sets of objectives and outcomes will cover the ChangeUp themes – performance, workforce development, finance and funding, governance, volunteering and ICT provision.

7.7 Commission new main contractors to deliver the above national support programme. Tender applications: May to July 2007. Tender contracts agreed: September 2007. New programmes launched: April 2008.

7.8 Assess the potential for launching a specific public service delivery capacity building grant programme in liaison with the third sector and in the context of the Government’s Public Service Delivery Plan, which was published in December 2006. Proposals for a new grant programme will be published in July 2007 for consultation with Futurebuilders and other appropriate bodies.

Q3a Do you agree with the priorities detailed for 2006 to 2008? Comment

Comments

[John Baxter]

Apart from 7.2 - sad. Reads like some plan to be implemented when we colonize Mars.

[Lesley Wood]

I welcome the idea of funding to support VCOs to get ready for public service delivery (7.8) but it is urgently needed- now. Small and medium sized organisations are struggling to survive, and larger ones to maintain services. Good staff are leaving the sector. This VCS capacity, once lost, will take a long time to restore.
The link to social enterprise support suggests that Capacity Builders should be talking to RDAs about deploying their Business Links resources more creatively to meet the infrastructure needs of third sector organisations in a more bespoke and effective manner.
For the record, what is needed is the capacity to support:
Consortium development
Marketing and communication
Lobbying, brokerage and negotiation with agency commissioners who have patchy understanding of third sector roles and needs
As well as all the usual stuff about business practice and planning.

[stephen woollett]

6. Priorities for 2006-8
6.1 CapacityBuilders should refer to "infrastructure consortia" rather than "ChangeUp consortia”. ChangeUp is just one source of investment and one that may well have a limited life. Infrastructure consortia and individual organisations need to broaden their approach to investment and must be discouraged from having "all their eggs in the ChangeUp basket".

6.2 A corollary of this is that the consortia review process must strike a balance between recognising the independence and wide ownership of consortia, the need for flexibility to reflect local circumstances with the reasonable need for robust, transparent and effective governance and accountability processes.

6.3 We think it is appropriate to take an open and broad approach to national support services - thinking more laterally than the current six high level objective themes. One option might be to structure services around three themes:
• Third Sector effectiveness
• Third Sector investment
• Volunteering development

6.4 In devising appropriate models of delivering support services nationally the following principles should be adopted:
• Users (e.g. front-line VCOs) have real influence on what and how services are delivered.
• Services are fully joined up "horizontally" (between themes) and "vertically" (local-regional-national).
• Direct delivery at regional or local level should be in partnership and consultation with infrastructure organisations and consortia operating at that level.
• Service providers should be accountable to front line organisations through appropriate mechanisms.

6.5 Destination 2014 needs to recognise that in the main social enterprises require distinctive infrastructure services and organisations designed to meet their particular needs. These services must be well connected into infrastructure for VCO to ensure good signposting and cross-referral and collaboration on matters of common interest but cannot simply be "bolted on" to existing VCO structures. A clear distinctive national strategy for social enterprise infrastructure, albeit one which dovetails with VCO infrastructure, is required within a revised 2014 strategy. This needs to reflect government's strong encouragement that social enterprise support is linked into mainstream business support structures focussed on Business Link.