Issue - meetings
MSG Theme 5: Community Engagement, Cohesion and Resilience Arrangements from 1st April 2017"
Meeting: 27/09/2016 - Commissioners' Decision Making Meeting (Item 6.1)
Decision:
Emily Feiran-Reed Service Manager, Cohesion Engagement and Commissioning presented the report which outlined a rationale for the adoption of a commissioning approach to voluntary sector activities around community engagement cohesion and resilience from April 2017.
The Chair invited Councillor Mukit to comment on the report on behalf of the Grants Scrutiny Subcommittee (GSSC) and he indicated that, in general, the proposal was endorsed. He also
· highlighted the importance of the work of small local voluntary sector organisations to vulnerable groups and
· raised concerns that local organisations would find the transition to commissioning arrangements challenging and, due to competition, these might be prevented from applying
Noting the concerns raised, the following information was provided to Commissioners and Co-optees
- it was intended that engagement would be facilitated through training on commissioning and co-production would give opportunities in this respect.
- since the services in this theme were not categorised as essential care services, there was scope to explore commissioning flexibly.
- the proposals reported would serve to test the suitability of the intended approach.
- the introduction of commissioning based procurement did not rule out all other forms of future grant-making.
Commissioners noted that co-production can appear fearful to small and inexperienced organisations and Commissioners asked officers to respond to the issues raised by GSSC.
Action by, Steve Hill, Head of Benefits Service, Resources
RESOLVED
That the report be noted
Meeting: 20/09/2016 - Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee (Item 5)
Minutes:
This report was generally endorsed by Members as a positive move by the council. The main points of the discussion maybe summarised as follows
Councillor Abdul Mukit highlighted the importance of the work that small, local voluntary sector organisations made to delivering services to vulnerable groups. He raised a concern that local community organisations would find the transition to commissioning challenging. He stated that as the procurement rules precluded contracts being ring-fenced to organisations in Tower Hamlets, that the voluntary sector would find it difficult to compete with larger organisations from outside the borough, and may be put off applying, despite the capacity support being offered.
In addition, the Committee wanted reassurance on the following areas of concern that a move from grant-giving to commissioning could bring for the sector.
1. There should not be an under-estimating of the culture change that the move to commissioning represented, especially for small voluntary sector organisations.
2. The support offered by the Council and through the CVS must be robust and plentiful to facilitate this transition;
- There must still opportunity for the development of new ideas and creativity in the new model as had existed under the previous grant-aid process;
- The social benefit should be positively weighted in the tendering process and that the Council should look to other local authorities so as to identify best practice;
- There should be a greater focus on outcomes rather than outputs in these contracts;
- As the timetable for delivery was a challenging one consideration needed to be given to ensure there was enough flexibility in the process and Members suggested that it was made clear that the contract delivery commencement date was an ‘expected’ delivery date;
7. That whilst the Council cannot restrict the bidders, either to local voluntary organisations or to small groups based in Tower Hamlets. That the specification and assessment of tenders can however specify the nature of what is expected and how the applicants will be judged. It is therefore possible to ask for experience of working in Tower Hamlets or with the local community.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.