Agenda item

Report of the Contract and Partnership Manager

The scrutiny committee received the report of the Contracts and Partnerships Manager. She introduced the report providing the background to the original report and noting that all the recommendations had now been actioned. The work continued to be overseen through the CVS Liaison Group to discuss emerging issues, the business plan and initiatives.

Clare Baars-Gordon, Watford and Three Rivers Trust (W3RT), highlighted some key areas in the report including recent volunteer recruitment events, the release of £16,000 in funding through the Community Fund for the cost-of-living crisis and the work with the Chamber of Conscience. The recommendations had provided an opportunity for introspection and to review approaches.

Alex Murray, W3RT, explained how Covid had changed the way of working. One priority was more events to encourage charities to network together. Regular surveys were undertaken to ensure that the local context and future requirements were well understood. The services were now engaging with more diverse groups within the town and support was being provided.

Discussing the report, the committee raised the following areas:

·                 The Chamber of Conscience was a CIC set up by the Chamber of Commerce as a way to collaborate with charities. Philanthropic giving and corporate volunteering were increasingly important to the voluntary sector. Volunteering levels had not recovered since Covid and a drop in government support to the charity sector was anticipated.

·                 W3RT engaged well with faith groups and diverse communities in the town. A lot of work had been undertaken but more could be done. Recent funding of £750,000 had been granted including to a number of groups who worked with faith and BAME communities locally. Further suggestions about how to reach out to other groups were welcome.

·                 The Golden Volunteer Platform, which organisations that were members of W3RT could use, provided a snapshot of the diversity of the volunteer workforce in the town but it was not a complete picture. W3RT were happy to share this data but it represented a fraction of the local volunteers and they were looking to grow the pool of volunteers.

·                 There was ongoing work to reach out to young people and their families. They had met with staff from Laurence Haines School to disseminate information that could be shared with the school community.

·                 W3RT had been working with West Herts College to engage young people and currently had a student undertaking a creative media placement with them. This was a pilot programme that could be rolled out to other groups. Working with schools was a huge opportunity and a volunteer fair was planned in the near future.

·                 There were six young people on the Kickstarter apprenticeship programme and this was an excellent career and skills development opportunity.

·                 Outlining the due diligence that took place as part of the funding process, it was noted that it covered governance, reporting and diversity. Monitoring also took place at the end of the project to understand how effectively funding was used. Stories from the funding had been celebrated at an event in July.

·                 A balance had to be struck between maintaining good governance and ensuring the funding was accessible. Work was ongoing to standardise the processes across Hertfordshire.

·                 Paid membership of W3RT had been paused during Covid. This was under review in the context of the cost-of-living crisis. Engagement with groups was ongoing and especially with grassroots organisations that needed more support with administration. The aim was to build trust and ensure they become sustainable.

·                 The Chair of the trustees had recently changed and the new Chair was keen to extend the diversity of the board.

The Portfolio Holder added that the pandemic had impacted the community and engagement. The census would show how the community was more diverse than anticipated which was exciting. Challenges that remained were how to engage better and encouraging individuals to work with W3RT. She also underlined the priority of youth engagement and was hoping to hold a conference for the youth groups in the town. She expressed her thanks to the teams at W3RT and the council for their hard work in this regard.

RESOLVED –

that Overview and Scrutiny Committee notes the report and closes off the review of actions.