Report of the Deputy Chief Executive

This report provides information on the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Infrastructure service, specifically on the co-design process and recommendations for a new VCS infrastructure service contract.

The Committee received a report of the Deputy Chief Executive which provided information on the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Infrastructure Service, specifically on the co-design process and recommendations for a new VCS infrastructure service contract.

The Statutory Deputy Leader referred to the main points and themes within the report, which included:

• The co-design process;
• The co-design recommendations; and
• Next steps.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• That the findings from the work of the Our Manchester VCS Fund Task and Finish Group were also relevant to this work, for example, in relation to communication with Members and clarity for VCS groups on what support and advice they could expect from the infrastructure provider and from the Council;
• How it would be ensured that organisations which were bidding for the contract did not have an advantage over others through having been involved in the co-design process;
• The need for clarity on what support the infrastructure provider could and could not provide so that Members knew when it was appropriate to signpost VCS groups to them and so that the groups were clear on what the offer was;
• Whether it was expected that the same amount of money would be invested in the infrastructure contract or whether the service would be reduced due to budget pressures;
• How the infrastructure provider was expected to facilitate the engagement of other suitable groups, such as disability-focused organisations, in fora where it was more appropriate for them to attend;
• How greater clarity could be provided on the support that the Council and the infrastructure provider each provided in relation to Community Asset Transfers and how support for Community Asset Transfers would be done differently in future; and
• The proposal that the contract could be awarded to more than one provider and how this would work.

The Statutory Deputy Leader advised Members that it was valuable to have the existing infrastructure provider involved in the co-design process so that they could share their experience but that it was important that they and other organisations which were interested in bidding for the contract were not involved in the later stages of making decisions about the content of the contract.

The Principal Resources and Programmes Officer advised Members that she would feed back to the Programme Lead the point about ensuring clarity on what the infrastructure provider could and could not provide.  She informed Members that, as part of future funding rounds for the Our Manchester VCS Fund, a representative of the Council’s Programme Team would be present at meetings with the VCS groups to ensure consistency and clarity of information for the groups.  She reported that, at the present time, officers were working on the basis that the amount of money invested in the infrastructure contract was expected to be similar to that under the previous contract.

The Statutory Deputy Leader informed Members that the Council had an ambition to increase the number of Community Asset Transfers but wanted to ensure that the groups involved were able to manage the properties they were taking over and that the details of the support to be provided through this process was still being developed.  She reported that there would need to be greater clarity in the final contract of the role of the infrastructure provider in facilitating the engagement of other suitable organisations in fora, where appropriate. 

The Programme Development Officer reported that, if more than one provider was awarded the contract, it would be expected that the providers would work in partnership and that the work could be divided based on their expertise.  The Statutory Deputy Leader clarified that the Council would consider bids from individual organisations and joint bids from more than one provider.

Decision

To note the report.