To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2018.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2018.

Oral Report of the Programme Lead (Our Manchester Funds)

To review the two previous meetings of the Task and Finish Group.

The Programme Lead (Our Manchester Funds) provided an overview of the Task and Finish Group’s previous two meetings, noting that Members had received a lot of background information at its first meeting and had then, at its second meeting, heard from guests from Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations about their experience of the process.

Decision

To note the overview provided of the previous meetings.

To consider the decision making and communication processes relating to the Our Manchester VCS Fund.  To include the Our Manchester VCS Fund Decision Making Flow Diagram.

The Task and Finish Group received the following documents for consideration:

•           The Decision Making Flow Diagram;

•           The Co-design of Grant Programmes Policy;

•           The Grants Programme Booklet;

•           An example of the Our Manchester VCS Fund newsletter; and

•           An example of the Our Manchester VCS Fund Twitter account.

The Programme Lead informed Members that he had been planning to bring the Draft VCS Infrastructure Recommendations to this meeting but that they had not been available in time.  He reported that he would circulate them to Members after the meeting.

Members discussed the way in which decisions from the first funding round had been communicated to unsuccessful groups.  The Programme Lead reported that one of the lessons learnt from the first funding round was that the communication of the outcomes to organisations, particularly those which had been previously funded, could have been better and that this needed to change for future funding rounds.  Members also discussed the timing of the communication of the information, before Christmas, but noted that it was important to give sufficient notice (current guidance 90 days) and not to delay informing the relevant groups.

Members discussed at what stage local Ward Councillors should be involved in the process, including when they should be informed of the decision made in relation to VCS organisations in their ward.  The Programme Lead proposed that they be informed after the group had been informed but before the information was shared more widely.  He advised that grants were awarded subject to a due diligence process and that Ward Councillors could provide evidence-based feedback as part of this.  Members noted that this would only give Ward Councillors the opportunity to provide evidence to prevent an unsuitable group from obtaining funding, not to provide evidence to support a suitable group to obtain funding.  A Member also expressed concern that it would be politically difficult for a Ward Councillor to intervene to stop a group obtaining funding.  The Chair advised Members that decisions were taken based on evidence submitted and would not be influenced by lobbying from Ward Councillors.  She also reported that groups were informed that any grants awarded were subject to a due diligence process. 

The Programme Lead reported that the process had been co-designed by a range of stakeholders and that decisions were made based on this process and the evidence provided.  The Deputy Leader advised that Members had been invited to be involved in the co-design process.  The Executive Member for Adult Health and Wellbeing informed Members that the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee had received reports on the co-design of the new process so Committee Members had been aware of what was happening; however, other Members might not have read this information, despite it being available to them.  Therefore, she advised that it was important to communicate effectively with all Members, rather than assume that they were aware of this, and she suggested that a fact sheet for Members could be helpful.  She emphasised the importance of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To consider how communication with Members could be improved, including how local intelligence could be obtained at an earlier stage in the process and how better quality information could be provided to Members.  To include the Co-design of Grant Programmes Policy, the Our Manchester VCS Grants Programme booklet and examples of the Our Manchester VCS Fund newsletter and Twitter Feed.

This was discussed as part of the previous item.

To agree the Task and Finish Group’s final recommendations.

A Member advised that the Task and Finish Group was not in a position to agree final recommendations at this meeting.  He recommended that the Chair and the Programme Lead work together on a final report and recommendations, based on the discussions at the three meetings, which could be discussed and agreed at a further meeting of the Task and Finish Group.  The Chair agreed to this.

Decision

To ask the Programme Lead and the Chair to work together on a final report and recommendations which can be discussed and agreed at a further meeting of the Task and Finish Group.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

To review and agree the Task and Finish Group’s terms of reference and work programme, and consider any changes or additions that are necessary.

To consider whether the three substantive meetings that the Task and Finish Group has had have been sufficient to meet the Group’s objectives, or whether further meetings are necessary.

The Task and Finish Group considered the Group’s Terms of Reference and Work Programme.

Decision

To have a further meeting on 31 January 2019 at 2.00 pm to agree the Task and Finish Group’s final report and recommendations.