Maximising VCFSE social value outcomes in Cheshire & Merseyside
Social value is about the good we can achieve within our communities related to environmental, economic and social wellbeing.
We have an incredible network of over 15,000 VCFSE organisations who are already tackling these issues head on, driving innovative solutions, enabling our public services and delivering compassionate support for people across Cheshire and Merseyside.
And it’s clear that the social value system, which requires our public sector to consider how it can use its purchasing power to build capabilities, strengths and assets within our communities, presents huge opportunities to go even further.
To realise this potential, over the next few months we will be convening a working group of system leaders to co-produce guidance that supports our system to maximise VCFSE social value outcomes.
Jointly sponsored by our public and VCFSE sectors, the project will provide an opportunity to build more inclusive public sector commissioning of social value, increase VCFSE capability in bidding for social value, including with the TOM System*, and better highlight pathways for collaboration between the sector and other public sector suppliers in delivery.
Whether or not you are involved through the Working Group, please do share any reflections or questions you have about this work. And we look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.
*The Local Government Association-endorsed Social Value TOM System is the most established and trusted method for measuring and recording Social Value today. It provides an evidence-led framework with clear, consistent guidance and a fully transparent methodology.
Flagship Cheshire and Merseyside State of the Sector 2023 report launched
VSNW is pleased to share the 2023 flagship Cheshire and Merseyside State of the Sector report for the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector (VCFSE) in partnership with NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, the VS6 Partnership and Cheshire and Warrington Infrastructure Partnership.
VSNW CEO, Warren Escadale said, 'We are proud to support this vital piece of work, which enables effective representation for the sector. Partner engagement is at the heart of what we do. I would like to give thanks to Racheal Jones from One Knowsley; our VSNW Research and Policy Officer, Laura Tilston; and the Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership for their hard work on producing this report.'
The State of the Sector report highlights extraordinary statistics and insights into the VCFSE sector across Cheshire and Merseyside, alongside the notable impact made possible through the work carried out by the organisations and people in our sector.
Through analysis of findings from our region-wide state of the sector survey and external data, the report evidences the size, scale and scope of the VCFSE sector in Cheshire and Merseyside. Over 19,500 VCFSE organisations are working to support those in need, committed to building thriving neighbourhoods, communities, towns, and cities across C&M - these have been measured to show the immense size and scope of the sector. Alongside a combined workforce of over 36,000 employees and 352,000 volunteers, the VCFSE sector contributes over £896.6 million to the Cheshire and Merseyside economy each year.
The report identifies key opportunities to build upon to further unlock the potential of the VCFSE sector through effective partnership working within health and care systems, enabling the sector to be ambitious in tackling health inequalities and providing social justice across Cheshire and Merseyside.
You can explore the key findings for Cheshire and Merseyside and more information here.
Autumn Statement 2023: A Summary for the Voluntary Sector in the North West
Following the the Chancellor's Autumn Statement 2023 we have emphasised two key points that affect the voluntary sector in the North West in particular. Thank you to NAVCA, Big Issue and the Resolution Foundation for providing further insight into the broader ramifications for our communities - links below.
Lancashire Combined County Authority (CCA): The government has announced plans to create a Lancashire Combined County Authority (CCA), without a Mayor. This new authority will have powers to make decisions on transport, planning, and economic development in the region.
Single Funding Settlement for Greater Manchester Combined Authority: The government has agreed to a single funding settlement for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which will be agreed in the next Spending Review. This means that the authority will have more certainty over its funding ahead of April 2025 and after the next election. Andy Burnham said of the new Memorandum of Understanding with the Treasury: “This moves our city-region towards a Welsh-style or Scottish-style funding arrangement with Whitehall and is a big vote of confidence in Greater Manchester.”
Further Insight:
Resolution Foundation Summary: For a more in-depth analysis of the Autumn Statement, the Resolution Foundation has published a summary that examines the impact of the announcements on the economy and public finances. Follow this link for the full summary.
Big Issue Article: The Big Issue has published an article that explores the potential impact of the Autumn Statement on benefit claimants, including those who are disabled or sick. Follow this link for the full article.
For further information about Lancashire’s Combined County Authority follow this link.
Download the NAVCA Briefing Document
UKSPF Digital Connectivity Grants (Round 3) – Online Briefing Sessions, w/c 13th November and 20th November
VOLA is launching Round 3 of its UKSPF Digital Connectivity for Community Facilities Grants programme on Monday 20th November. Grants of up to £10k will be awarded to successful applicants in February 2024.
Over the first two funding rounds, a total of £578k has been awarded to 82 Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector organisations across the Liverpool City Region. In this round, a further £297k is available, with specific funding allocations for each borough.
Watch this brief film to see if you think this grants programme could be for you.
In partnership with each boroughs’ local CVS, VOLA is running a number of online briefing sessions to explain the fund’s purpose, eligibility criteria, key requirements, application process and what can/ cannot be funded. These will take place week commencing 13th November.
Halton & St Helens – Wednesday 15th November, 11am–12 noon (hosted by Halton & St Helens VCA - book your place here)
Knowsley – Wednesday 15th November, 2-3pm (hosted by One Knowsley - book your place here)
Wirral – Thursday 16th November, 1-2pm (hosted by Wirral CVS - book your place here)
Liverpool – Friday 17th November, 12-1pm (hosted by LCVS - book your place here)
Sefton – no online session. Instead, VOLA will be promoting the fund at the Funder’s Marketplace at Sefton CVS’ annual conference on 28th November and through other networks.
While each of the briefings will have a local feel, the vast majority of the content will be the same, so people are invited to join whichever session is most convenient. You will receive the Zoom link when you’ve booked on.
An additional, extremely useful online briefing will be held on 20th November, 2-3pm, focusing on technical considerations when developing-public access computer facilities, with plenty of helpful hints and tips on what you need to do, things you will need to purchase, etc. To book your place, email andrew.coulson@volamerseyside.org.uk and he will send you the link.
If you are interested in applying for a grant, it is strongly recommended that you attend both sessions. Each will take no more than 1 hour of your time, will greatly increase your chances of success, ensure that the facilities you set up are fit-for-purpose, and will ultimately help you to avoid lots of potential pitfalls, saving you time/money in the long-run!
For further information on the fund, including FAQs and application guidance, please visit VOLA’s website.
Thriving Places: Scaling up the local VCFSE role in Community Regeneration
The Labour Party Conference once again visited the city of Liverpool this year, bringing together hundreds of politicians and organisations from across all sectors to discuss and explore a vision for a Labour Government.
In collaboration with the VS6 Partnership and Locality, VSNW held a fringe event titled “Thriving Places: Scaling up the local VCFSE role in Community Regeneration” at St Nicholas Church overlooking the River Mersey in Liverpool city centre. Our panel was made up of VCFSE sector leadership including Gill Bainbridge (Merseyside Youth Association and member of the VS6 Partnership), Tony Armstrong (Locality), Warren Escadale (VSNW) along with our event Chair Sally Yeoman, Vice Chair of VS6 and Chair of VSNW (Halton & St Helens VCA).
The purpose of our fringe event was to explore community regeneration under a Labour government, particularly the role of the VCFSE sector within building thriving and healthy communities.
It starts with children and young people
Gill Bainbridge kicked off the event from a children and young people’s perspective, with a key message of the critical need for person centred approaches with long term investment to make positive generational change. Gill believes that in order to achieve this we need to start with young people and provided a background to how today’s “austerity generation” have been left exposed to the consequences of political decisions. Particularly, children growing up in the most deprived communities have been hit the hardest. The impacts on young people of cuts to funding and closures of key community youth services, alongside the diminishment of the Every Child Matters agenda, have been exacerbated by recent COVID and cost of living crises and has overwhelmed VCFSE organisations left to pick up the pieces.
European funding was key in filling this gap in supported and, despite its bureaucratic nature, it was essential in being able to direct support to those most in need. However, the UK-Shared Prosperity Fund, the post-Brexit replacement for EU funding, has been less successful with a 40% reduction in funding for Liverpool alone creating a perfect storm of less funding but increased demand.
Gill would like to see proper long-term investment in place that is not one size fits all but instead wraps around the needs of individuals and communities. Secure 10 year funding contracts would enable organisations to properly invest in their services and communities without barriers of short term contracts, allowing the retention of key staff and forward planning. Investing in our children and young people is where we will achieve the generational change that is needed to build thriving communities across Liverpool City Region, and without this we are at risk of going round in circles.
The community empowerment revolution
Tony Armstrong shared Locality’s vision for community regeneration through a lens of hope, optimism, and ambition at a local level. Building on Gill’s previous points, Tony talked about how “the system” is fundamentally broken and how as community organisations we have the skills and knowledge necessary to develop a more sustainable, community driven system that works for everyone, not just those at the top.
Tony put forward the idea of a community empowerment revolution in which we can build sustainable food systems, develop community owned energy, provide opportunities for children and young people and eradicate health inequalities. To do this, we need to build stronger local economies, provide great locally ran public services, and decision making made locally with genuine community conversations. Tony also echoed Gill’s point around 10 year contracts, going further to state that trusted local organisations shouldn’t need to have to go through a competitive tendering process alongside private sector organisations. We are values focused organisations; therefore, we should be seen as partners, not suppliers. Similarly, it should be easier for publicly owned buildings to be owned and ran by the community, for the community.
Key pillars outlined by Tony to achieve this vision include having good local funding streams and investment for the VCFSE sector, developing good partnerships within communities that decide how the investment is allocated, community ownership of buildings and energy, and ultimately the need for local decision making powers. The full community empowerment vision will be published by Locality very soon and will contain further details on how we can work over the next 12 months to make this vision a reality.
Building the right relationships
Warren Escadale reinforced the points already made on what is needed to regenerate our communities and explored how we can work with key partners and public sector organisations to develop a well organised VCFSE sector. To do this, Warren laid out five key proposals for achieving this:
Spend better – VCFSE organisations know what works in their communities, they understand their communities better than anyone and quite often are already providing services to meet these needs. Public sector organisations need to trust in our sector, and rather than reinvent the wheel when it comes to services they should focus on increasing capacity in what we know already works, with longer term investments.
Build capacity in communities – Double devolution needs to happen to give communities more opportunity and power to make decisions for themselves.
Deliver social value – There needs to be better, more focused ways of delivering social value in communities. A community levy on public sector contracts with dedicated investment into the VCFSE sector is a critical method of being able to deliver this effectively and sustainably.
One workforce – Our problems are not siloed, so why are our workforces siloed? We need to better integrate our public sector and VCFSE sector workforces to provide more efficient services for our communities and to be able to truly adopt a person-centred approach
Nurture the VCFSE ecosystem – Any investment into the VCFSE sector must nurture our ecosystem, help it grow healthy and sustainably for the future, both at a place level and also regionally
These five are early proposals getting ready for local, mayoral and national elections in the next 12 months, and forerunners for conversations at VSNW’s annual conference on 22nd November at the Village Hotel, Warrington. ‘To book your place to attend our conference, ‘Building Wealth in our Communities’, please click here
VSNW, VS6 and Locality would like to extend our thanks to those who attended our event. We hope you found it useful, inspiring, and hope that you are able to use the conversation had to help influence your politicians and counsellors locally.
For further information, please visit.
Callout for VCFSE children and young person’s representative to sit on Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board
Cheshire and Merseyside’s Integrated Care Board are seeking a children and young person’s representative from the VCFSE sector. The terms of references can be found here Please note that the terms of reference are currently in draft form and will be finalised after the first meeting.
If you are interested in this role, please send an expression of interest of no more than 300 words explaining why you would be suitable for this role, along with your CV to Amy Wood - amy.wood@vsnw.org.uk
The closing date is 10th October 2023 at 4pm.
Healthy & Home: Embedding the VCFSE in Hospital Discharge
A new video telling the story and achievements of the Warrington and Halton “Healthy & Home” has been produced, highlighting the difference the project has made in people’s lives and the important role of the VCFSE sector within hospital discharge services.
Delivered by Warrington Voluntary Action and Halton & St Helens VCA, Healthy & Home is a two year project funded by NHS Charities Together in collaboration with Warrington and Halton Hospital Trust. The model ensures that VCFSE organisations are fully involved in the discharge process as valued and trusted partners. The service is coordinated through VCFSE hospital discharge link workers based within the hospitals discharge hub, assisting with arranged packages of support for patients going home, from simple practical tasks to complex specialised support.
The model provides VCFSE support at the right time, with support in place for timely hospital discharges and upon arriving home to enable people to live more independent in their own homes and reduce the likelihood of readmission.
Healthy & Home has recorded some significant outcomes including:
· Within a 12 month “snapshot”, 76% of people referred to Healthy & Home did not re-appear in A&E
· Potential cost savings of between £145,520 (Based on each individual having one visit to an urgent care centre with minimal investigation) and £1.3 million (Based on each individual requiring an ambulance to A&E on one occasion, with complex investigations upon arrival).
· In one case alone, a saving of £72,000 (equal to the cost of 2 VCFSE Link workers for 12 months) was made when a Healthy and Home personal care plan for a patient was delivered via VCFSE Link workers.
The Healthy & Home project in Warrington and Halton has highlighted how multi-agency work with the VCFSE sector can be transformed to deliver positive outcomes for communities, improve quality of life, reduce lengthy hospital stays and prevent re-admission. Similar projects across the North West are also reporting positive outcomes, such as Cumbria CVS’s “Third Sector Referral Co-ordinator Team” delivered in partnership with VCFSE organisations in the region.
The success of these models clearly highlight the benefits of the VCFSE sector being equitable partners within the design and delivery of health and care services and working together to make the best use of resources at a regional and place-based level, as well as providing quality care to services users.
Callout for VCFSE Representative to sit on NHS Cheshire and Merseyside's People Board
Part of the new NHS Health and Care Partnership, this senior board leads on health and care workforce issues. The Terms of Reference are here.
We are looking for sector representation. If you are interested in this role, please complete an application form, a monitoring form and attach a copy of your CV and send to Dena Kynaston: dena.kynaston@vsnw.org.uk by 11 September 2023.
If you would like to discuss the role further, please contact Warren Escadale: 07753147664.
Please note that Warren will be on leave at times during the summer period and he will get back to you as soon as possible.
Work supported by VSNW featured in NHS VCSE Engagement Framework
NHS England has published a framework for addressing practical barriers to integration of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in integrated care systems. The framework supports leaders in integrated care systems (ICSs), NHS providers, local authorities, and VCSE organisations to recognise and address challenges and barriers that have an impact on their ability to integrate VCSE organisations as system partners.
The framework is organised into three sections,
1. A list of challenges and barriers that are commonly experienced when trying to work in partnership with, and when integrating, VCSE and statutory provision and activities.
2. A list of ‘approaches’ that highlight what people have done to improve things together in relation to each of the above areas.
3. A series of case examples which provide more detail on the practical actions that people took within local systems when implementing approaches to integrating the VCSE sector and which take account of the overall journey and context.
The barriers and challenges are organised in relation to three key areas of integration: Commissioning and strategic planning, including the role of the VCSE sector in service design and delivery. Sharing data, intelligence, and insight, including using VCSE data to inform population health management and social prescribing. Within the case studies, VSNW’s support for VCSE engagement with the Cheshire and Merseyside ICS and work on the Greater Manchester VCSE Commissioning Framework are highlighted.
The framework was commissioned as an independent resource and published by the NHS England Voluntary Partnerships Team and produced by Shilpa Ross, Helen Gilburt, Clair Thorstensen-Woll and Nick Downes at the King’s Fund.
The framework can be read here https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/a-framework-for-addressing-practical-barriers-to-integration-of-vcse-organisations-in-integrated-care-systems.
NHS guidance on partnership with VCSE organisations can be read here https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/part-rel/voluntary-community-and-social-enterprises-vcse.
Read the thoughts of one of the framework authors here https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2023/04/partnership-working-vcse-ics.