Compact at Work - Creating a space for cross-sector dialogue in Warrington

In seeking to improve their relationship with the local voluntary sector, Warrington Borough Council created the new post of Third Sector Partnership Development Officer. The new role, managed jointly by the council and Warrington Voluntary Action, coordinates a Third Sector Network Hub, which hosts meetings of strategic importance to cross-sector relationships and ensures a positive dialogue is maintained between the council and the voluntary sector. 

This work led to a Local Compact Partnership Award nomination at the 2015 Compact Awards.  

If you have other stories or evidence of similar work, please let us know by contacting Helen Walker, Communications Officer at helen.walker@vsnw.org.uk. 

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Compact at Work - Creating a space for cross-sector dialogue in Warrington
 

Better Data - Making the Third Sector Case for Health Improvement

The report of the Better Data research into how the third sector and public sector partners can effectively utilise and share data has been published. It calls for a national approach to help third sector organisations to use data resources to meet the needs highlighted by the NHS England Five Year Forward View. The Better Data agenda was developed in conjunction with Public Health England and Regional Voices delivery partner One East Midlands to help third sector organisations use publicly available data sources.

In the current financial climate, the need for organisations to demonstrate their worth to commissioners has never been greater. The key recommendation, based on telephone surveys with the Regional Voices network of third sector infrastructure organisations and Public Health England colleagues, is the development of a national approach to equip third sector organisations to access, understand and apply available tools and resources including the PHE knowledge and intelligence gateway and NICE guidance. This could be achieved through awareness raising sessions, sharing of good practice and information, and building the capacity of the third sector to engage with public sector partners. 

Download the Better Data report.

New IPPR North Report - Too small to fail

How are smaller charities faring in the current climate, and how can they be helped to evidence their impacts and continue to serve their communities? Small and medium-sized charities are a vital part of civil society in Britain today, and with an income of around £7 billion in England and Wales alone they account for one-fifth of the sector’s income.

This report, the first in our programme of research on 'The Future of Civil Society in the North', reviews the available evidence on the value of small and medium-sized charities (those with annual incomes of between £25,000 and £1 million), and on how recent changes to public policy have impacted upon them. It draws upon evidence published by academics, thinktanks and third-sector organisations, as well as material gathered through a wider call for evidence issued as part of this project.

Smaller charities have considerable strengths: many are rooted or embedded in their local areas, and play a key role in building and nurturing social networks. They also boost local social capital by building local capacity and developing links both within particular communities and between them and other networks and bodies, and are considered uniquely well-placed to engage directly with those who are hardest to reach.

However, despite its valuable work, successive reviews have found little evidence of a distinctive ‘offer’ from the voluntary sector as a whole, or from small charities in particular, and there is a lack of rigorous evidence to support many of the claims that are made for it. Furthermore, while smaller charities can develop their own frameworks of evidence to help attract funding, their often limited capacity makes this a challenge, and there are limits to how some aspects of their work can be usefully quantified in any case. Those that are able to produce the most reliable and comprehensive evidence base are not necessarily those that are most embedded in their communities.

Against a backdrop of rising demand and the long-term reduction in grants in favour of contracts, the income that the voluntary sector as a whole receives from government has fallen, and smaller organisations have been hit particularly hard. At the same time, the nature of public service delivery has changed significantly since 2010, with a shift towards the use of competitive commissioning models in which all types of provider compete to deliver public services. There is compelling evidence to suggest that large organisations, including some large charities, are increasingly dominating the market for public service provision, to the detriment of small and medium-sized organisations.

Given these findings, this report presents the following recommendations.

1. Small and medium-sized charities should be offered more and better support from umbrella organisations to help them evidence their impact, and develop their capacity for monitoring and evaluation.
2. Commissioning and procurement teams within local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and other public agencies should be made more accountable for delivering social value.
3. In-keeping with its commitment to prioritising diversity of scale in its general procurement agenda, the government should pledge to increase the proportion of central government spending that goes to small and medium-sized charities, as it has done already for smaller private companies. Local authorities could also benefit from setting their own similar targets for contracting with smaller organisations in both the private and voluntary sectors.
4. Those organisations that have moved or are moving away from grant-giving in favour of commissioning or more complex forms of social finance should review the impact that this has on small and medium-sized charities that might not be able or willing to engage with such forms of funding, but may still provide greater social value-for-money than those that are more adept at bidding for funding and providing formal evidence of outcome improvements.

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Too small to fail: How small and medium-sized charities are adapting to change and challenges

VSNW sign letter to the Prime Minister on anti-advocacy clauses

Along with over 140 other charities, Voluntary Sector North West have signed a letter to the Prime Minister to express concern about the proposed 'anti-advocacy' clause that the government is proposing to include in new grant contracts from 1st May 2016.

More details about the proposed new clause can be found on the GOV.UK website - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-new-clause-to-be-inserted-into-grant-agreements. The exact phrase reads:

"The following costs are not Eligible Expenditure: Payments that support activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action".

Many other groups have expressed concern about the impact of such a clause on the important work that many of us do in helping to inform government policy. Some of the details are still unclear about how the clause will actually work in practice.

The letter and full list of signatories can be found on the NCVO website - https://www.ncvo.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/1249-charities-letter-to-the-prime-minister-on-anti-advocacy-clauses-in-grant-agreements

Two innovative Salford services selected for Realising the Value programme

Two Salford services dedicated to giving people the tools to make improvements to their health and wellbeing have been selected to take part in a national programme funded by NHS England.

Being Well Salford and Unlimited Potential (in partnership with Inspiring Communities Together) have been chosen as two of the five local sites selected to participate in the Realising the Value programme, led by Nesta and the Health Foundation, and in partnership with the consortium Voluntary Voices. Through the programme, the organisations will enhance their services across Salford whilst championing their innovative models for health and wellbeing.

The Realising the Value programme is focused on making person and community-centred approaches a reality and is about strengthening the case for change, identifying evidence-based approaches that engage people in their own health and care, and developing tools to support implementation across the NHS and local communities. On completion, the work of the participating sites will be shared. It will develop the participating services, and share them nationally as examples of how best to achieve the vision of NHS England’s Five Year Forward View. 


Being Well Salford
This project provides a team of coaches who work with individuals for up to 12 months on a one-to-one or group basis to make positive changes in terms of mood, weight, being active and smoking or alcohol intake.

Regarding taking part in the programme, Simon Kweeday, Assistant Director for Being Well Salford said: “We are really excited to be part of the programme. We look forward to learning more about how we can have a national influence, and how to further develop to continue to provide a first-class service to Salford residents.”

Being Well Salford was chosen due to its track record of transforming services – moving away from old-fashioned and expensive NHS models of delivering public health, and creating services that reach communities that are traditionally hard to impact creating effective, lasting change.

This is reflected in the service being presented with two awards recently, the Royal Society of Public Health presented a Health and Wellbeing 2015 award to Being Well Salford and Public Health Minister Jane Ellison MP recognised the service for its outstanding contribution to the public’s health – selecting it for the prestigious Public Health Minister’s Award.


Unlimited Potential
The Unlimited Potential services improve wellbeing by focusing on the strengths of local people, rather than their needs. 

For instance, one project is focused on improving the wellbeing of disadvantaged children by finding new ways of working with their fathers. This work led to Salford Dadz - a network of local fathers who have created male-friendly spaces where positive role models talk openly ‘shoulder to shoulder’, as well as taking part in fun dad-child bonding activities.

Unlimited Potential is working in partnership with Inspiring Communities Together, a local community organisation that works to engage older people and their carers - again, focusing on an individual’s strengths.

Chris Dabbs, Director of Innovation at Unlimited Potential said: “The opportunity to work with leading national organisations participating in the Realising the Value programme is one that we could not turn down. Having two of the five sites selected locally in Salford reflects the quality of innovation and practice that exists here in engaging with local people in the city.”
 
Realising the Value is a programme of work funded by NHS England and delivered by a consortium of partners including Nesta, the Health Foundation, Voluntary Voices (made up of National Voices, Regional Voices, NAVCA and Volunteering Matters), the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University and the Behavioural Insights Team. For more information about the programme, please visit the Realising the Value website.

GM Health and Social Care Devolution Event Presentations

From April 2016 the Greater Manchester will take full responsibility for its devolved £6 billion health and social care budget. Nearly 100 people from VCSE organisations attended a GMCVO meeting on 27th January to discuss the five-year strategic plan for health and social care in Greater Manchester. The presentations from the event are now available.

The plan has been built on the content being developed out of ten locality (borough) plans submitted jointly by councils and the NHS, and is intended to improve the health and social care of people in Greater Manchester by putting more focus on prevention, whilst also addressing the funding shortfall of £2 billion predicted by 2021.

The event provided an opportunity for delegates to hear about the draft plan from Warren Heppolette, Strategic Director for Health and Social Care Reform Greater Manchester, and how Salford and the LGBT community have been involved. Towards the end of the session, the ‘assembly’ broke up into small groups to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the VCSE offer as participants in health and social care devolution.

Presentations given at the event were:

VSNW - GM VCSE Reference Group

Greater Manchester Combined Authority/NHS Manchester - Health and Care Voluntary Sector Strategic Partners

Salford CVS - A Salford perspective

Description of VCS Assembly

North West organisations shortlisted for the Social Value Awards

Individuals and organisations in the North West have been shortlisted for the UK’s first Social Value Awards that are sponsored by KPMG. The awards recognise and celebrate good practice in commissioning and providing social value.

The winners will be announced on 11th February during a ceremony at the Social Value Summit hosted by Interserve and Social Enterprise UK. Find out more about the event.

Shortlisted organisations and individuals

Social Value Leadership Award for an Organisation

• Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) Procurement Hub: AGMA consists of 10 local councils in the Greater Manchester region and has developed a social value policy and framework to address issues affecting the whole region

• Halton Borough Council consistently considers social value in decisions and has implemented a social value policy, framework and charter

• Durham County Council has invested in understanding their region’s priorities and how their own social value procurement can help to achieve these priorities

• Liverpool City Council has set social value as a priority from mayoral level down

Social Value Leadership Award for an Individual

• Laura Pechey of the charity HAGA, based in Haringey that works with and on behalf of people, families and communities affected by alcohol. Laura Pechey brought in specialist support to explore how to embed the Social Value Act locally

• Anne Lythgoe, Strategic Manager at Salford City Council, has been involved with delivering, monitoring and teaching social value principles for over 15 years

• Dave Sweeney, Director of Transformation at NHS Halton Clinical Commissioning Group and Halton Borough Council, has been instrumental in promoting the development of social value in Halton

Promoting and Mainstreaming the Social Value Act Award

• HACT is the housing sector’s innovation agency which supports the sector to build the skills to better understand social value

• Kier Group is a property, residential, construction and services group working with organisations to promote social value

• Landmarc Support Services has embedded social value into the management and operation of the Ministry of Defence’s UK Defence training estate

• The Social Value Portal is a social enterprise dedicated to building the capacity of both the public sector and business to implement the Social Value Act

• The Wates Group construction services company is committed to creating employment and training through trading with at least 1 social enterprise on every live construction project
   

Driving Value for Money Award

• Gloucestershire County Council embedded social value throughout the tender process when it went to market for a new IT services provider

• Data Performance Consultancy works with public authorities to develop social value frameworks to measure social value and provide best value for money

• Fusion21 is the national social enterprise that provides procurement and regeneration services to public sector members

More information about the shortlisted individuals and organisations can be found on the GOV.UK website.

NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans - NAVCA Briefing

NHS England requires every area to produce a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) as part of the NHS Five Year Forward View. This presents a great opportunity for local infrastructure. STPs are local blueprints that every part of the country will need to produce for “accelerating its implementation of the Forward View”. The “most compelling and credible” STPs who will receive the earliest additional funding will be judged on the reach and quality of the local process, including community, voluntary sector and local authority engagement.

NAVCA have stated that a lot of members are finding health and CCGs an increasingly important source of support for local charities and community groups. If this is the case for you, no doubt you will already be involved in developing STPs. However, there are members who tell NAVCA they are struggling to get heard. STPs may give organisations a new opportunity to develop relationships with the partners in their local health and care system – as they will want to show they are engaging with the voluntary sector. The briefing will give an overview of STPs and suggest ways you can make the most from this opportunity.

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NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans briefing

The Economic and Social Benefits of Social Prescribing - The Rotherham Evaluation Report

The evaluation was carried out by Sheffield Hallam University on behalf of Voluntary Action Rotherham, and examined a three-year pilot programme in which GPs were allowed to refer people with long-term conditions to voluntary sector organisations. The report outlines the range of social and economic benefits that social prescribing has brought to the local community.

Social prescribing is a new term for non-medical services that aim to prevent worsening health for people with long-term health conditions. In recent years locality-based social prescribing services have increasingly been developed by health and social care commissioners to provide a mechanism for linking patients in primary care with sources of social, therapeutic and practical support in the voluntary and community sector. In Rotherham, the social prescribing service is delivered by Voluntary Action Rotherham (VAR) in partnership with more than 20 local voluntary and community organisations.

The annual evaluation report provides an assessment of the social and economic impact of the Rotherham Social Prescribing Service between September 2012 and March 2015. The results showed a reduction in demand for urgent hospital care, an increase in wellbeing and a range of positive, measurable social and economic benefits.

This information was previewed at the 2015 VSNW Conference in a workshop by Janet Wheatley from Voluntary Action Rotherham - a video of this workshop is available. In the video, Januet explains more about this work and some of the outcomes achieved.

Links

Rotherham Social Prescribing Summary Report
Rotherham Social Prescribing Full Evaluation Report