To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Our Manchester Voluntary and Community Sector Fund Task and Finish Group meeting held on 12 July 2018.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12 July

2018.

To invite external stakeholders to talk about their experience of the process, to include Macc and VCS organisations which applied for funding, including groups which were successful and groups which were not.

Macc

Members welcomed Mike Wild, Sarah Whitelegg and Nigel Rose from Macc.

Nigel Rose informed Members about his involvement in the co-design process and ensuring the assessment process was followed correctly.  He reported that there had been a good co-design process, that communication had been good, that the governance arrangements were robust and that the Our Manchester principles were embedded in the process.

In response to a question on what could be improved, Mr Rose recommended clearer criteria for selecting participants for the co-design process, a more efficient decision process, a clearer discussion beforehand on how much organisations could bid for and better scenario planning for previously funded but unsuccessful organisations.

Sarah Whitelegg informed Members about the support which Macc had provided to Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations during the process, including information sessions, one-to-one support and support in completing the online application process, all of which, she reported, had received positive feedback. 

Mike Wild welcomed the co-design process and that a significant grant fund was being made available at a time of austerity; however, he recognised that there were always lessons to be learnt, including how VCS groups could be better supported through the process.  Ms Whitelegg added that feedback on the process before the announcement of the decisions had been positive.

Some of the key points that arose from the Task and Finish Group’s discussions were: 

·         To welcome that the new funding scheme had been developed through a co-design process;

·         To ask whether Macc had supported successful and unsuccessful groups following the decision;

·         Whether support for VCS groups could be delivered differently;

·         What could be done to develop the VCS sector in parts of the city which did not currently have a strong VCS sector;

·         What opportunities there were for different VCS organisations to work together;

·         Concerns that grants went to organisations which were experienced at writing grant bids, while other groups which did good work but did not have this expertise could miss out; and

·         Whether funding could be targeted at groups which were not receiving funding from other sources, as some large organisations were receiving money from several sources.

Ms Whitelegg confirmed that Macc had provided support to successful VCS groups and advised that she could provide Members with a list.  She advised Members that Macc had offered up to three hours of support to unsuccessful groups but that only a small number had responded and some groups had then struggled to attend sessions with Macc due to other commitments; however, she informed Members that Macc was working with the previously funded groups which had been unsuccessful in the first round and had received 12 months of funding.  She reported that Macc had delivered workshops in different localities and was looking at how it could do things differently, for example, offering support sessions on evenings or weekends.

The Programme Lead informed Members that his team would work with Macc to build capacity in north Manchester and also build the capacity of Black and Minority  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

Members are invited to review and approve the terms of reference and work programme.

The Task and Finish Group reviewed its terms of reference and work programme and discussed the issues Members wished to consider at future meetings.

Some of the key points that arose from the Task and Finish Group’s discussions were:

·         That, when the Task and Finish Group considered Members’ input in the process at its next meeting, it was important to ensure that any revised process was fair and transparent, utilising Members’ knowledge of good work going on in their ward without allowing unfair influence in favour of any “pet projects”;

·         Concern about how the membership of the co-design group was decided;

·         The importance of considering how funding particular VCS groups could positively impact on Council budgets by reducing demand for Council services; and

·         How VCS groups could be encouraged to work together.

The Programme Lead recommended that at the next meeting Members consider what communication should take place with all Members of the Council as part of the funding process, what the role of the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee should be, the governance arrangements and the extent of Member involvement prior to the decision-making process.  He advised Members that some VCS groups were already working together and that funding criteria could be used to encourage this.  The Deputy Leader reported that a newsletter would shortly be sent to all Members of the Council informing them about the work the funded VCS groups were doing.

The Chair advised Members that she would meet with the Programme Lead and the Deputy Leader to discuss how to take some of the issues raised further and to discuss the issues to be covered at the next meeting, which would be held on Thursday 3 January 2019 at 10.00 am.

Decisions

1.            To agree the work programme, subject to the above comments.

2.            To note that the next meeting of the Task and Finish Group will take place on Thursday 3 January 2019 at 10.00 am.