Supporting Voluntary Action
Growing
our
Influence 2013-2014 report
Foreword Voscur’s Voice and Influence service has had a productive year in achieving its twin aims of ensuring the Voluntary and Community sector (VCS) has a strong and influential voice and strategic involvement in local decision-making. Through facilitating collaboration, organising citywide fora, advocating through media campaigns and lobbying individual decision-makers, we have helped Bristol’s VCS shape local policy and compete effectively in an age of ‘open public services.’ By coordinating action on various fronts, we have influenced improvements to the delivery of individual services (see Children First, p4, and Falls Prevention, p6), successfully challenged City Council commissioning processes (see Home Care Commissioning, p7) and ensured social inclusion is part of economic growth (see Local Enterprise Partnership, p8-9). We held our annual Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly in July 2013 at The Park in Knowle. This gathering of VCS activists discussed the issues faced by our communities and shared possible solutions. Priorities identified included: reducing the poverty gap; commissioning and procurement; and reclaiming open spaces. The first topic led to an exploration of new investment models and further work to increase social investment in the city. The second resulted in a number of radio programmes, using public media to hold decision makers to account, and a major conference: ‘Commissioning and the VCS – One Year On.’ The third led to ‘Painting the Town Green,’ an event focused on creating opportunities for the VCS to participate in Bristol’s year as European Green Capital in 2015.
Neighbourhoods and Communities Network Themes for our Neighbourhoods and Communities Network this year included improving health providers’ engagement with Neighbourhood Partnerships, the City Council’s review of Neighbourhood Partnerships, the Bristol Pound and new approaches to neighbourhood funding, including investigation of social investment mechanisms and diverse approaches to community development.
Economic regeneration To help areas facing high unemployment and supermarkets’ stranglehold on household diets, we invited Bristol Pound to discuss their ‘Real Economy’ initiative at our September Network. This introduced their plans for alternative economic networks - developing local food supply chains, supporting small local enterprises, pop-up markets, buying groups and a local currency - to the organisations that can make them happen. In November we showcased different approaches to regeneration, including the
revitalisation of high streets in Bedminster as part of the Business Improvement District and Portas pilot, and Backing Our Bristol, an initiative that aims to enable Bristolians to become investors in local services.
Social investment Building on relationships developed with our Local Enterprise Partnership (see page 8), January’s Network featured Big Issue Invest and the Social Investment Business (Cabinet Office) identifying social investment opportunities applicable to the West of England’s voluntary,
In addition to supporting local organisations, the impact of our Voice and Influence work has also been reaffirmed by achieving a distinction for the ‘representation’ aspect of our organisational Quality Award, renewed this year by the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA). This report summarises the work of our specialist networks, expands on the examples above and highlights some of our VCS Advocates and findings from our annual Voice and Influence survey.
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Popup shops in Bristol’s “Bear Pit” pedestrian underpass, part of city centre regeneration
community and social enterprise sector. Linking the social value organisations generate to a social enterprise model that delivers financial returns to organisations’ funders is controversial and challenging, especially as we’re already adapting to contracts replacing grants and increasing competition for private trusts and foundations. However, it’s often the most difficult social issues that are addressed by charities and social enterprises - homelessness, youth unemployment, financial exclusion, mental health which may benefit most from social investment. Social investment has the potential to enable preventative work on precisely these cross-sector problems that due to public spending constraints, wouldn’t otherwise be possible. So, as more organisations consider new funding models, over the next few years Voscur will create further opportunities to investigate social investment, and other models, together with investors and local communities. 3
Children and Young People’s Network Network events this year have covered issues including Extended Services and the Children First service, Bristol Youth Links providers – who is doing what, Community Asset Transfer, Young Healthwatch, Raising the Participation Age, and JSNA data on the rising child population. The network is actively engaged with the Raising the Participation Age strategy group and carried out a survey of VCS experiences of the First Response and Early Help services in order to inform future delivery.
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New ways of working: Children First
What was the issue? The City Council’s Children and Young People’s service has developed new ways of working, as part of its change programme called Children First, so it was necessary to raise awareness of these changes to ensure organisations and individuals know when, why and how to access them. What did we do? The Voice and Influence service organised a Children and Young People’s Network meeting in May 2013 to discuss the Children First programme, with a particular emphasis on the First Response and Early Help services prior to being rolled out citywide, but also included information about the Single Assessment Framework (SAF), 4
Integrated Family Support and the Family Intervention Teams that work under the Troubled Families programme. Following this meeting the Voice and Influence service continued to promote and raise awareness of the new services until they went citywide at the end of 2013.
service leads, to ensure VCS organisations input would be considered in developing the services. What has changed? The Council has committed to using the survey findings to adapt the services and also acknowledged that to
To maximise support for vulnerable children, the Council acknowledged it needs to work more closely with the VCS In February 2014, the Voice and Influence service conducted a survey of VCS groups that work with children and young people. This was circulated to network members to gather information about organisations’ levels of awareness of the services, their experience of using them, and any suggestions for improvement. The results of the survey were analysed and sent to the City Council’s Children and Young People’s
maximise the support for vulnerable children and young people they need to work more closely with the VCS, using their expertise to both provide support services and raise awareness of services available. To this end the Voice and Influence service is now working jointly with the Early Help Partnership Managers and Bristol Youth Links senior team to identify “under the radar” VCS groups that could provide early help services for Children First.
Fiona and Lexus on Imayla’s Wildly Different Programme funded by the BIG Lottery Reaching Communities at Boiling Wells
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Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the rising child population What was the issue? Bristol is experiencing rising numbers of children within the City that will have an impact on all service providers, including the VCS. Therefore it was important to inform the sector about these changes and highlight the data available to them to ensure they can effectively plan service provision in response to these changes. What did we do? In June 2013, the Voice and Influence service participated in the JSNA Seminar “Bristol’s Rising Child Population A Strategic Response”. A summary report of the
seminar was produced and disseminated widely via the Children and Young People’s (CYP) Network and publicised in Voscur’s Thrive! Magazine. This was done to ensure all VCS organisations were aware of this issue, the data
The City Council has gained a better understanding of how different JSNA datasets would be useful for particular VCS organisations
available to them and that a strategic approach was being developed. Furthermore two CYP Network meetings were dedicated both to promoting utilisation of JSNA data in service planning and to facilitating VCS feedback to the City Council on the data that is currently available. What has changed? The VCS is now better informed about and aware of the JSNA, particularly the use and availability of datasets relating to the rising child population for use in service planning. Additionally, the City Council has gained a better understanding of how different datasets would be useful for particular VCS organisations, such as those working with specific age groups.
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Health and Social Care Network Network events this year covered issues including Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) information session, self-directed support, quality assurance, Bristol as a dementia friendly city, Home Care consultation, and commissioning intentions in health and social care. This network has supported the VCS in influencing the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, making a targeted effort to ensure the views of Equalities groups were heard. Concerns raised within the network led to our active engagement in the planning of Home Care commissioning to ensure it was accessible for VCS providers.
The Building Health Partnerships Agenda has demonstrated how the VCS can add value at a practical and strategic level to improve outcomes for vulnerable people in Bristol.
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Using the power of the VCS to reduce falls amongst older people
What was the issue? Following changes to the NHS in 2013, with the shift of Public Health to the Local Authority, there was a concern that existing work on falls prevention among older people could be lost. It is estimated that there are 16,000 people in Bristol who are vulnerable to falls, which in the UK is the leading external cause of death in people over 75 years of age in the UK. Additionally, the number of older people falling in Bristol is projected to increase faster than can be explained just by the ageing population . What did we do?
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Bristol CCG has invited Voscur to help their Transformation Team develop its preventative work, bringing experience of social and community-based models to complement clinical approaches.
Working with Age UK and the Bristol CCG the Voice and Influence service successfully
secured £16,000 from the Department of Health’s Building Health Partnerships learning programme to continue work on falls prevention. The Voice and Influence service drove forward the development of specialist training in order to develop a group of VCS “casefinders” who understand and are able to promote the issues around falls. The training is believed to be the first of its kind developed in England.
issue. • Reducing falls is now seen as a wider issue with the Bristol CCG having nominated a Service Improvement Lead for falls prevention work that has been allocated to the CCG Transformation Team. • The Voice and Influence service will be involved in the review and revision of the Falls Pathway.
Building Health Partnerships has demonstrated how the VCS can add practical and strategic value to improve outcomes for vulnerable people in Bristol What has changed? • Successful lobbying contributed to falls being chosen as a priority area under the Better Care Programme, resulting in more resources and funding dedicated to this
Falls has been chosen as a priority area under the Better Care Programme, with a target to make a 3% reduction in people over 65 being admitted to United Hospital Bristol Foundation Trust. As a priority area more money and resources will be available.
The Home Care Commissioning Process
What was the issue? The City Council’s Home Care commissioning process raised several concerns among service providers who were reluctant to challenge the process directly for fear that doing so would damage business relationships. Of particular concern was the reduction in the number of provider contracts, down from 55 to 11, as this level of reduction would negatively impact on an organisation’s ability to move away from ad hoc and discretionary funding for delivering community services to more sustainable revenue generation by delivering statutory services in the home care market. What did we do? In response to these concerns the Voice and Influence service
approached and engaged with Bristol’s Compact Liaison Officer to make them aware of these concerns and agree a way forward. One of the first steps taken was to organise an additional service provider meeting to those scheduled in the Home Care consultation plan. A workshop event was also held to capture providers concerns about the commissioning plan which included that: • Dividing contracts into 11 provider zones, each worth about £1.5 million a year, would be too large for any one VCS organisation to bid for.
Photo from UBU volunteering
on the VCS. Ultimately, Voscur took the unusual step of writing an open letter to Mayor George Ferguson outlining these concerns as it felt they • By only allowing a joint were not being adequately and several liability model addressed. The letter was would effectively prevent backed up with news stories, any consortium bids being e-bulletins, web-based and submitted due to the shared twitter information. liability issue. • Despite no You Said, We Did documentation being produced following the previous consultation phase which ended in October 2013, the tendering timetable was due to start in January 2014, one of the busiest times of the year for home care providers, and combined with the Christmas/New Year break meant very little time to prepare. Additionally, the Voice and Influence service made two submissions to the consultation process, one regarding Compact compliance and one regarding the impact
What has changed? • The joint and several liability requirement was replaced with a lead provider liability model to facilitate the submission of consortium bids. • The timetable was greatly extended, with the tender process starting in June 2014 to allow organisations sufficient time to prepare. • A You Said, We Did document and a Home Care Plan were produced before the tender process facilitating greater transparency in the commissioning process.
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Cross-sector initiatives supporting VCS influence
Community radio The Voice and Influence service recognised that it was
not taking full advantage of local and mainstream radio. Although networking and consultation events have been effective, as outlined above, it was decided that broadcasting discussions and debates on community radio would significantly widen the service’s reach to new audiences. In addition it would provide an opportunity to hold politicians and decision-makers to account. To date a range of issues have been promoted and debated, ranging from the influence of equalities groups, the Mayor’s budget proposals, and the City Council’s approach to
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commissioning. For example, in November 2013, the service facilitated the debate “How the city buys its services” to discuss ways the City Council could improve its engagement with Bristol’s VSC in relation to commissioning services. The debate was hosted by the Voice and Influence service manager with guests including Assistant Mayor Gus Hoyt, City Council officers and representatives from the VCS. The outcome was commitments from the Assistant Mayor to support the development and subsequent delivery of a major event entitled “Commissioning and the VCS: One Year On.” Attended by over 100 VCS organisations, it identified areas of good practice and priorities for improvement
to ensure the City Council’s commissioning processes benefit both the VCS and public services. Utilising community and mainstream radio has significantly expanded the reach of the service, with close to 30,000 people listening to the Mayor’s budget proposal programme alone - many of whom would not have engaged with it via other media.
Strategic engagement with the LEP Although VCS organisations have been engaged in the west of England’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) there was recognition that they
Attendees and speakers at the ‘Commissioning and the VCS: One Year On’ event in February 2014.
Attendees and speakers at the ‘Commissioning and the VCS: One Year On’ event in February 2014.
needed to work collectively and strategically to secure their role in the delivery of the LEP’s priorities for growth. During the summer of 2013, eight VCS infrastructure organisations from across the sub-region* met to discuss the opportunities that could arise from engagement with the LEP which resulted in the establishment of the West of England (WoE) VCS Infrastructure Group. This group immediately engaged in consultation activity in order to influence the two strategic documents the LEP were tasked to complete: the European Union Structural Investment Plan (EU SIF) and the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP).
* The Care Forum, CVS South Gloucestershire, Quartet Community Foundation, Social Enterprise Works, Voluntary Action North Somerset, Voscur, West of England Sport, and West of England Rural Network.
In October 2013 the first consultation event was held to discuss VCS engagement with the LEP and was attended by over 90 organisations, primarily from Bristol but covering the West of England VCS.
regularly and continues to meet with the LEP to ensure local VCS organisations benefit from potential European investment. Additionally, Voscur played a key role by working with
Over 90 VCS organisations participated in the first consultation (organised by Voscur’s Voice and Influence team) with the West of England LEP to advocate for investment in social inclusion via the voluntary sector. The sub-region’s VCS is now recognised as an important part of the delivery and achievement of the LEP’s priorities due to the effective collaboration and close working relationships that have been established across the sub-region. The WoE VCS Infrastructure Group has met
partners to ensure the Big Lottery Funding opt-in offer was considered as match funding to the European Social Fund resulting in a total of £6m being made available to tackle the economic consequences of social exclusion across the sub-region. 9
Part of this infographic was created using an image by DigitalRalph CC BY-2.0
Consultation on current proposals for services for Residential and Day care in Bristol, Nov 2013
Homecare Consultation Oct 2913
Consultation event: Residential care and day care in Bristol, Nov 2013 H&SC Network: Plans for a Quality Assurance Scheme and ‘What’s dementia go to do with me?’, Sept 2013
H&SC Network: Community Support Services, Jan 2014
Building Health Partnership Seminar, July 2013
Improving Services for Deaf People, Apr, 2013 BLF Fulfilling Lives: Ageing Better, May 2013
H&SC Network, Apr 2013
HSC Network: Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group, Apr 2013
CYP Network: Raising the participation age, Feb 2014
CYP Network, Feb 2014
VCS Assembly - Reclaiming the Agenda July 2013
City Wide NP Meeting: Your Neighbourhood Partnership, June 2013 City Wide NP meeting: Neighbourhood Partnership Review and The Bristol Pound Sept, 2013 How civil society can best engage with the LEP, Oct 2013
N&C Network: The new real economy initiative, Nov 2013
“Great opportunity to think and connect together.” N&Cs Network, Nov 2013
Neighbourhoods and Communities
Voscur’s Voice and Influence work is broadly divided into three areas ...
Health and Social Care 10 10
“‘The data presented will be invaluable in helping us to plan our services and bid for funding.”
Disclosure and Barring Service - Duty to Refer, June 2013
CYP Network: Bristol Youth Links services - who’s doing what? Oct 2013
HSC Network: Self-Directed Support and Marketing, June 2013
“Excellent opportunity to discuss issues with other voluntary providers and to update understanding.”
CYP Network: The Future of Extended Services and the new Children First Service May 2013
Children and Young People 11 11
Advocating in action!
Voluntary and Community Sector Advocates are elected by VCS organisations in Bristol to provide a voice for the sector at partnerships, meetings and during decisionmaking processes on issues of importance to the VCS. The Voice and Influence service supports VCS Advocates to ensure that they reflect the views, knowledge and expertise from across the sector in Bristol to help inform and influence relevant decision making partnerships and processes in the city. In this section we put the spotlight on the work of several VCS Advocates. But first let’s take a look at them all... 12
Dom Wood (1625 Independent People)
CYP Outcomes Board
Sandra Meadows (PEYTU)
CYP Outcomes Board / Bristol Safeguarding Children Board
Poku Pipim Osei (Babbasa Youth Empowerment Projects)
CYP Attainment and Progression Board
Fiona Castle (Imayla)
Central & East Area Partnership Executive Board (CYP)
Karen MacVean (Shelter)
Bristol Safeguarding Children Board
Vicki Morris (Knowle West Health Park)
South Area Partnership Executive Board (CYP)
Judith Davis (Creative Youth Network)
North Area Partnership Executive Board (CYP)
Katie MacVean (Shelter)
CYP Outcomes Board
Paul Hale (1625 Independent People)
Bristol Safeguarding Children Board
Peter Walker (Ara)
Health and Wellbeing Board
Graham England (Ara)
Reducing Re-offending board
Tim Lloyd Yates (Alive!)
Older People’s Partnership Board
Alistair Dale (Youth Moves)
JSNA Strategic Group
Jackie Boyce (Rethink)
Bristol Provider Forum (HSC)
Alex Raikes (SARI)
Safer Bristol Partnership
Fuad Mahamed Community Learning (Ashley Community Housing) Partnership Board Sarah Renshaw (Local Learning Ltd.)
Community Learning Partnership Board
Katherine Piper (Shelter)
Restorative Justice Board
Alex Raikes Support Against Racist Incidents (SARI) VCS Advocate on the Safer Bristol Partnership “I was elected as the Safer Bristol Partnership Advocate in 2012. This is the partnership which brings together the key partners – public bodies and providers who have a duty to keep the City safe, to make sure the people of Bristol feel safe and to tackle crime and disorder effectively.
and crime reduction work as this can often be missed by the other partners who are nearly all statutory. I have done all I can to influence commissioning so it is fair and accessible for our sector and makes the best use of our skills and added value to the partnership’s objectives.
I was elected because I have a long history of working in crime reduction – having helped to lead and run SARI and make it the high profile charity that it is today.
The role of VCS advocates on the strategic partnerships/ boards in Bristol is incredibly valuable. The advocate is not there for their own gain or the gain of the agency they are from – they are there to utilise their specialist knowledge and powers of influence to ensure the VCS always contributes and influences any relevant citywide strategy.
Since being in this role, I have made sure I have reported regularly via written and videoed reports. I consistently advocate for the VCS contribution to community safety
Peter Walker Addiction Recovery Agency (Ara) VCS Advocate on the Health and Wellbeing Board I have worked in Bristol for over 30 years, mainly in the voluntary sector but including time with Bristol City Council and the NHS. I have been the CEO at the Addiction Recovery Agency for the past 17 years.
The Health and Wellbeing Board is a new Council committee and brings together a wide range of issues that either directly or indirectly impact on health and wellbeing in the city.
The health and social care agenda is huge and subject to substantial changes not least with the forthcoming Better Care fund which will see the substantial transfer of resources from health to social care.
My challenge has been to ensure the VCS contribution to these issues is recognised and opportunities to be involved are reflected in commissioning practices which value small and medium sized groups in particular. 13
Voice and Influence Survey
Poku Pipim Osei Babbasa Youth Empowerment Projects VCS Advocate on the CYP Attainment and Progression Group I was elected on to the Attainment & Progression Board in 2012. It holds strategic partnership responsibility around the new 14 -19 school landscape and related sectorbased support, as well as progression for young people into employment, education and training. I was elected to represent the sector because of my work with Babbasa Youth Empowerment Projects (BYEP) over the last few years. BYEP provide services that create pathways into entrepreneurship and employment for young people, in Bristol’s disadvantaged inner city communities. What links my passion, the objectives of the A&P board, and the role as a VCS Advocate is the need to balance the available and accessible life chances to all Bristol’s young people. Since becoming a VCS advocate, I have endeavoured to:
• Take on the reflective views of issues and youth behaviour patterns articulated by VCS youth service providers, into board discussions. • Share pragmatic views on speculated policies and their potential impact on vulnerable young people in a community context. • Relay board discussions and proposed actions to the VCS sector, by means of video and written reports, through Voscur. The VCS advocate role on the A&P board is incredibly important. Firstly, to provide the dynamism and holistic perspective that the board needs to be effective. Secondly, to ensure that the voices of thousands of vulnerable children and young people are heard, in an era of fast changing politics and tighter economic purses.
Alistair Dale Youth Moves VCS Advocate on the JSNA Strategic Group I manage Youth Moves, a voluntary sector youth work organisation based in South Bristol. I believe passionately in the ability of the voluntary and community sector to work innovatively and creatively with hard to reach communities and provide long-term, sustainable solutions to issues that face 14
society today. As an advocate working on the JSNA Strategic Group it has been important to stress how the sector can meet the issues presented by the changing population of Bristol and in particular work with new communities arriving in central Bristol.
The 2014 Voice and Influence survey was circulated to VCS groups in Bristol. The survey sought to capture opinions on how effective Voscur’s activities are at helping to represent the views of Bristol’s VCS to decision-makers and the extent that its activities help ensure key decision-makers respond to the views of the VCS. A representative sample of forty-nine organisations responded, from across the spectrum of Voscur members in terms of size and activity.
• “Voscur does great work and keeps us in there with all relevant meetings and network opportunities that we need to strengthen our organisation and build partnerships.” • “Events organised by Voscur are well organised and usually much needed by community based organisations to enable them to keep up with change.” • “Very good, timely, relevant, topical events.”
“Voscur keeps us in there with all the relevant meetings and network opportunities that we need to strengthen our organisation and build partnerships.” Overall, the majority of respondents felt that the sector’s views were both heard and responded to. 81% rated Voice and Influence events as good or excellent, commenting: • “The quality is exceptionally high, we are extremely lucky to have such an amazing resource.”
Despite the overall positive view of our work from the sector, we are not complacent. We have more to do over the next year to promote and market our events and campaigns to ensure an even greater number of members are engaged in our work and benefit from our activities.
“To what extent do Voscur’s activities help ensure key decision makers respond to the views of the VCS? (2)” Responses from the survey:
Bristol Mayor
67%
Police and Crime Commissioner
82%
Senior public sector officers
67%
Elected Councillors
50%
(2) Regarding Voscur’s activities, of those expressing an opinion, the proportion highlighted said the relevant activity “ensures the views of the voluntary sector are responded to by key decision makers” well or very well.
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“Voscur do seem able to open doors and get in front of people that others are not able to.�*
* Proving the Economic Value of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector Infrastructure Support Organisations, University of Bristol, April 2014
Supporting Voluntary Action
Published September 2014
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Royal Oak House, Royal Oak Avenue Bristol BS1 4GB 0117 909 9949 www.voscur.org