Agenda item

The Director of Delivery, Communications, and Political Governance submits a report to inform the Commission of the proposed new Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprise (VCSE) strategy.

The Assistant City Mayor (Equalities) Councillor Patel was invited to introduce the report and reminded the Commission that the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations played an increasingly vital role in the city. It was noted that the sector had long been a valued partner of the City Council as well as many other public sector organisations and benefitted from closer working relationships.

Councillor Patel then commented that due to Covid-19, the VCSE relationships were changing and had been heightened during the pandemic.  This impact had also been enhanced due to recent budget cuts where the sector had been asked to increase partnership working and strong relationships to ensure sustainability.  It was noted that discussions were being held to guarantee that post pandemic, a coordinated approach and support to the sector could be continued.

The Head of the City Mayor’s Office presented the details of the report and stated that ongoing research locally and nationally had been undertaken and that an evaluation of the support to voluntary sector organisations, faith groups and other partners had been delayed due to the pandemic.

The report demonstrated the methods of a proposed engagement strategy with stakeholders and referred to available resources and the intention to develop the strategy, and review it over the year, including internal and external impacts and developments.  The initial work had identified a series of themes where clear pledges would be made against those themes, alongside a series of actions and identified principles behind the pledges.

It was recognised that the revised strategy would reposition the work of the City Council with the VCSE sector, particularly due to the potential of scarce future funding, but that support as an enabling partner would continue to ensure long term sustainability.

In response to questions, it was confirmed that the infrastructure support, a needs assessment process, and support from the Community Action Fund / Crowd Funding would all receive due consideration.  The issues concerning the impact on the strategy following the conclusion of the Voluntary Action Leicestershire contract were also acknowledged.

Members also expressed concern at the significant numbers of voluntary organisations that had closed due to reductions in their financial support from the Council, and that the new strategy was therefore vital.  It was considered that greater accessibility to the mapping of organisations receiving support was also required.  It was recognised that some smaller organisations would be able to access funding through the commissioning approach, and that in many cases a relatively small amount of funding could lead to significant outcomes for those organisations.  In relation to larger organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, the objectives of the strategy to increase partnership working and other support separate from funding to continue strong working relationships were reiterated.

In conclusion, the timeframe of the revised strategy was confirmed in accordance with the manifesto commitment, with updates being submitted to the Commission in the interim, particularly to provide updates on the availability of budgets and distribution of the funding.

AGREED:

                   To support the launch of the VCSE Engagement Strategy in April 2022.