Agenda item

Kevan Liles, CEO of VAL will deliver the presentation.

143.    Presentation by Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (VAL).

The Commission considered a presentation by Kevan Liles and Simon Jenner of Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (VAL) concerning its recent activities in delivering the County Council’s countywide infrastructure contract. A copy of the slides forming the presentation is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation, the following points were noted:

General

·         VAL had seen a reduction in County Council funding from £920k to £600k over five years. It would see a further reduction in 2014/15 to £450k. During this period, the number of volunteers in Leicestershire had increased from 200,000 to 500,000 – an increase of 130%. The number of community groups and organisations supported (2,500) had also seen a significant increase;

·         VAL obtained £3 million of additional funding through other competitive bidding/tendering processes to provide a range of other services to the public and voluntary sector, such as its support for HealthWatch Leicestershire. A further example given was VAL’s support for “Think Leicestershire’s” work to recruit volunteers, which was added to the Council’s existing infrastructure support contract. A concern was expressed that VAL could be seen to be obtaining additional work and funding from the Council without having been through a competitive process. It was noted that the Commission had agreed at its previous meeting that the Council’s contract with VAL would be audited by the Council’s Internal Audit service;

·         There was a criticism amongst some local groups that VAL was not sufficiently visible in communities. It was acknowledged that, due to reductions in funding, the District Development Officer posts, which had engaged with communities at a local level, had had to be removed. VAL had taken a decision to prioritise support rather than visibility;

·         Austerity measures had impacted medium sized community groups who were already delivering services previously. Smaller groups had been better able to adapt because they were less reliant on public money. Reduced public money to support activities and services had meant that communities were more engaged than ever before. Innovation would be the key to success in securing funding going forward. Those groups who continued to rely solely on public funding would struggle to survive;

·         VAL provided some support to all groups, but prioritised those groups whose activities supported the Council’s strategic priorities. Groups that fell outside of this remit were directed to other sources of support;

·         It was highlighted that without VAL’s support, community groups across the County would have been less successful in areas such as funding bids. A recent national study supported the view that community groups were less likely to secure funding without an effective support organisation in place;

·         The relationship between VAL and district voluntary sector organisations had improved though it was acknowledged that VAL no longer had the resources to attend district meetings. A network of quarterly forums had been set up by VAL in the Districts that funded them (Charnwood, Harborough, Melton and North West Leicestershire) to enable engagement between VAL and voluntary sector/community groups;

Community Libraries

·         It was VAL’s belief that the period between the Council ceasing to run a library and a community successfully taking it over independent of infrastructure support would be at least two years. Support would be required through this period;

·         VAL hoped to have a dialogue with the Council to extend the infrastructure contract and secure extra funds to assist with community library support. VAL outlined its offer, which would include governance support and training in areas such as resource management. The Council had yet to make a decision on its community infrastructure support offer, as a Scrutiny Review Panel had been charged with taking evidence from community groups and making recommendations to the Cabinet. The Chairman asked that the minute of the discussion with VAL on this issue be reported to the Scrutiny Review Panel.

RESOLVED:

That Mr. Liles and Mr. Jenner be thanked for their informative presentation.