Issue - meetings

The item was introduced by Charles Barlow (Head of Community Partnerships), who reminded members it had been agreed to review the VCSE sector support service after a year of operation. It had been in place since 1 April 2022 and would run for three years, with an option to extend that for a further 24 months. Charles Barlow said at the end of the first year all services were performing well against their outcomes in each service specification. He said this was in spite of a challenging landscape for the community and voluntary sector. There had been extensive stakeholder engagement and strong elements of coproduction with the voluntary sector had been demonstrated. Two rounds of market testing had taken place, which identified how to apply social value to a greater degree than previously and how digital delivery would be implemented as among the key factors. How services would play their part in reacting to climate change had also been considered. The service specification also took into account community power, asset-based ways of working and the levelling up agenda. The specification sought to move towards an outcome-based service. A tendering process had been carried out and all services were now being successfully delivered.

Members said the report was very positive and provided a great level of detail of the successes of the three different delivery strands. Members agreed to record their thanks to officers for their hard work and efforts.

Responding to a question from Councillor Tromans, Charles Barlow said each of the suppliers had their own boards of directors that provided an additional layer of scrutiny. The performance metrics produced by each of the suppliers was uploaded into the Council’s performance management system. Charles Barlow said the national Citizens Advice Bureau had a very robust scrutiny process and local data samples would be supplied on a weekly basis and go through vigorous overview and scrutiny.

Members noted the contents of the report.