First Draft
Southwark VCS Strategy - First Draft for
Comment
Explanatory note
We’re making this first draft of this strategy available for your comment. If you came
to one of the workshops, we hope it captures what was discussed. Let us know if
anything is missing.
We have indicated where there are further specific questions or areas we would
welcome your further thoughts on. These are:
•
•
page 16 under the Common Outcome Framework
page 21 Making Best Use of Assets and Resources
Provide comments to:
Gordon McCullough ([email protected])
Andrew Matheson ([email protected]).
Or come to one of the drop in sessions:
Tooley St – downstairs area, 13 September 2-5 pm
Cambridge House – 15 September 10-1
VCS Strategy
1
First Draft
Common Cause
Common Purpose
Southwark Voluntary and Community
Sector Strategy
2017-2022
1. Introduction
Southwark is a great place to live, to learn, work, volunteer and get involved. We have a
proud history, a solid sense of community and a great ability to transform and renew sometimes against the odds. Our borough brims confidence and ambition. Our strengths
are those of tolerance, cohesion and diversity. And the voluntary and community sector
(VCS) embodies all of this, alongside a determined independence, fairness and energy, to
deliver the very best for residents in Southwark. That's why it's hard to find anyone who
doesn't recognise the value of the voluntary sector in Southwark. That's also why the
contribution of this sector is crucial to the future shape of the borough and the wellbeing of
its people.
So is there a need for a new strategy for the voluntary sector or is it about staying true to all
of the above without the need for something fresh? Well the simple fact is that no matter
how you choose to describe it - 'austerity' - cuts - the last few years of resource reduction in
the public and voluntary sector means that the game is changing almost beyond recognition.
The old rules no longer stack up.
Recognising this changing world, and making good on a Council Plan commitment to
enhance the work of the voluntary and community sector, in 2014 the Southwark Health and
Wellbeing Board established an independent Early Action Commission with our neighbours
in Lambeth. The commission was to focus on tackling the root causes of preventable
problems that, if left unchecked, can ruin lives and trigger demands for costly services. The
contribution of the VCS is vital to preventing this happening.
Published in 2015, the Commission’s report was welcomed as an important contribution to
putting prevention and early action at the heart of service delivery. More specifically the
Early Action Commission identified four goals that deliver better outcomes. These were
“resourceful communities”, “preventative places”, “strong, collaborative partnerships” and
“systems geared to early action”. Much of the £25 million the council invests in the sector is
already ‘preventative’ in meeting needs. But its impact is not evaluated or tracked.
The Commission celebrated the positive work of the voluntary, public and private sectors
that helps people flourish, reduces demand on costly public services, and creates the right
conditions for prosperity and well-being. For example, the healthy high street initiative,
VCS Strategy
2
First Draft
which is about restricting fast food outlets and betting shops, promoting active travel through
high street design and making better use of underused public spaces.
Although it’s great to point to successes and the initiatives already underway, all partners
recognised there are opportunities to be bolder and to go further. For example, the report
gave less attention to the ways in which the VCS working with partners can help
communities address current challenges in by making early action the ‘norm’.
In light of this, we see a need to develop a new and different VCS strategy for Southwark,
which embeds early action in service delivery; harnesses the unique position and
relationships the voluntary sector has to build community resilience in collaboration with
public and private partners, and creates a sustainable sector.
2. A new tri-partite strategy
We are using the work of the Early Action Commission as the basis for creating this new
strategy.
This new strategy is a three-way collaboration involving the VCS, the council and the NHS.
The timing means the new strategy is being developed as Southwark refreshes its Council
Plan to achieve a fairer future for all, including incentivising healthier lifestyle choices
through providing free swim and gym for all residents. The council has worked jointly with
NHS Southwark Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to set out a fresh Five Year Forward
View of health and social care to 2021. Its purpose is to improve life expectancy and reduce
health inequalities in Southwark, by helping more people to take greater control of their own
health and ensuring local services are brought together and designed around local
population need.
Here is an opportunity to take the values of the sector and translate them into action. This is
a new settlement, recognising the different financial climate we are operating in. It will put
financial resilience at its centre and make duplication, short-term fixes and inefficiency things
of the past.
It sets out a new deal between the voluntary sector and its public and private sector
partners, where impact is measured by the contribution made to establishing and sustaining
strong and flourishing communities, and pride in place; where the quality of lives are judged
not only in life-changing events like a new job, but also by how well communities connect
with each other, be active, get involved and make a difference. Success will be measured
by less demand on precious intensive care and support, so that our reduced public
resources can be prioritised to those in greatest need. This, in turn, will create opportunities
to divert investment into early help and support to residents.
Grounded in the findings of the Early Action Commission's work, this strategy starts with a
number of core principles:
•
Recognising the tough financial challenge this borough faces, we must reduce
duplication between services, commission efficiently and reduce demand on
intensive interventions (e.g. hospital and care homes), and invest in enabling people
to remain healthy and independent for longer in their own homes and communities;
•
A stronger focus on outcomes for residents, working together to improve outcomes
and provide a better experience of engagement;
VCS Strategy
3
First Draft
•
Ensuring Southwark is a safer and fairer place, where everyone can fulfil their
potential and access the opportunities that living here presents - and none gets left
behind;
•
Knowing that there are people affected by complex social issues like mental health or
domestic violence, we must deliver new interventions that improve the life-chances of
those at greater risk;
•
Mobilising community action and making the best use of community resources,
universal services, community capability and volunteering, local knowledge and
spaces;
•
Build more capacity by promoting volunteering, and support fundraising by working
strategically across partners and the wider community.
The four listening events demonstrated to us all that there is a new social reality in
Southwark that has to be understood, negotiated and transformed.
What is the emerging ambition?
The shared vision is the need to implement new ways of working together, by bringing about
a step-change to local commissioning and grant-giving, for the purpose of developing
stronger capability and asset use, that increasingly brings to bear upon complex health and
social issues a preventative, early intervention approach across Southwark communities and
neighbourhoods, consistent with the key messages of the Early Action Commission.
Together we can make resourceful communities that are safe, promote and increase health,
wellbeing and community tenure, while supporting the ambitions of Southwark citizens to
realise their full potential. We arrive at this vision with a realism that takes full account of the
limiting financial resources at our disposal and determined to make every penny count.
Our ambition for this strategy is to create a sustainable, confident and resilient voluntary and
community sector that works in collaboration with public and private partners to:
•
Deliver early intervention and prevention so there is a strong shared understanding of
how early action can improve Southwark residents’ safety and quality of life, whilst
reducing the strain on the public purse;
•
Sustain and build strong, cohesive communities and neighbourhoods where
residents feel able to support each other to shape the place they and their families
feel proud to call home.
By delivering this ambition through implementing this bold strategy, we intend to close down
the gap between recognising the inherent value of community and voluntary resources and
harnessing their power, reach and impact, to reset our policy and practice around early help
and prevention. Together our common purpose and combined efforts will reach people
early.
3. How we developed this strategy
•
The local voluntary and community sector, NHS Southwark CCG and Southwark
Council worked together to co-produce it;
VCS Strategy
4
First Draft
•
•
•
There were four ‘listening events’ where over 200 people attended and participated;
We listened to the opportunities, barriers and challenges facing the voluntary and
community sector in Southwark;
We considered the priorities people said were most important to make the changes
needed locally.
4. Strategic outcomes
Two strategic outcomes are set out in the emerging ambition:
•
A sustainable, confident and resilient voluntary and community sector, working in
partnership with public and private sector partners to deliver early intervention and
prevention so there is a strong shared understanding of how early action can improve
Southwark residents’ safety and quality of life, whilst reducing the strain on the public
purse;
•
Sustain and build strong, cohesive communities and neighbourhoods where residents
feel able to support each to shape the place they and their families feel proud to call
home
To be delivered through five strategic objectives:
-
Creating new ways of working together
Delivering a step-change in commissioning and grant-giving
Create strong prevention and community assets
Bring about more resourceful communities
Focus on skilful implementation.
Strategic objective one: Creating new ways of working together
•
•
Greater collaboration and information sharing leads to more joined efforts and
with better outcomes for residents;
Partners will work to realize the full potential of staff and citizens, enabling more
resourceful communities and individuals to take up a role at the heart of health
and social care.
Key Learning Points from our listening events:
Southwark commissioners are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of
Southwark people. Existing arrangements have not always delivered the best
outcomes for people who use services, their families and carers. There will be
significant improvements if we work together to implement new approaches.
This is about improving quality and overall value; it is not about cuts. If funding was not
an issue, we would still want to radically improve outcomes.
Strategic objective two: Deliver a step change in commissioning and grant
giving
VCS Strategy
5
First Draft
•
•
•
Fuller involvement of stakeholders in the commissioning cycle
Longer grant duration to make innovation happen and track outcomes
Further development of co-operative and citizen commissioning.
Key Learning Points from our listening events:
Put joint problem-solving at the heart of the commissioning process, to consciously
tackle complex issues that we are unable to solve using the traditional funder/provider
relationship;
Ensure co-production and collaboration is present at all stages of the commissioning
cycle;
Maintain and develop further a mixed economy of grant-giving and commissioning
contracts;
Commission on the basis of the needs of the local population around health and
wellbeing rather than the operational needs of provider organisations;
Develop a wider range of funding arrangements that permit innovation alongside
greater stability and security for local voluntary sector organisations that can deliver
impact;
Focus attention increasingly on value and effectiveness across the system of health
and wellbeing, rather than contract prices;
Emphasise that 'how' services are delivered is as important as 'what' services are
delivered;
Invest in the development and measurement of outcomes (for example building on the
user experience “I” Statements and system contribution);
Work to establish a baseline measures and agree improvement ambitions;
Explore the options to bring services together either through lead contractor
arrangements or through alliance contract approaches. This implies moving away from
a system with many separate contracts and instead moving towards inclusive contracts
for defined segments of the population that cover all of the various physical health,
mental health and social care needs of people within that group.
Strategic objective three: Create strong prevention and community assets
•
•
Stronger articulation and agreement across sectors on targeting prevention,
early intervention and early action
Explicitly measure impact.
Key Learning Points from our listening events:
To agree definitions that satisfy partners and have a real impact as early action;
Agree key impact measures around safeguarding, health, wellbeing, informationVCS Strategy
6
First Draft
sharing, advice and advocacy, volunteer and community action etc.
Fully flesh out early intervention and prevention, so there is a strong shared
understanding of the impact of early action in improving Southwark residents’ safety
and quality of life, whilst reducing the strain on the public purse;
Work between local estates commissioners and voluntary and community sector
organisations to develop a comprehensive and coordinated approach to affordable
property across the borough to secure the tenure and sustainability of the voluntary
sector to work within local Southwark communities and neighbourhoods, including
working through the opportunities and responsibilities around asset transfers.
Strategic objective four: Bring about more resourceful communities
•
Support informed choices and self-management through empowerment,
changing the style of clinical consultations in health and providing appropriate
education and skills development;
•
Enabling a step-change in the use of assistive technology and increasing use of
personal budgets;
•
Activate communities to build social capital and resilience, for example: letting
people know what services are already available and how to access them; and
supporting the development of a wider network of voluntary and community
support.
Key Learning Points from our listening events:
Enable volunteers and community groups to be agents for change, ready to shape the
course of their own lives and the lives of others;
Human and social capital in the community is recognised, unlocked and applied, using
the principles of co-production;
Communities feel more in control and participate fully in decisions and actions that
affect their neighbourhood
.
People perceive that services are working with them in a supportive and joined up way;
People feel better able to take greater control of choices about their care or support;
People’s own capacity is recognised and they are supported to maintain independence,
for example, managing a long-term condition;
Residents report better outcomes from their use of services.
Strategic objective five: Focus on skilful implementation
•
Establish a NHS, Council and VCS Liaison Group Joint Implementation Group
VCS Strategy
7
First Draft
with representative leaders from voluntary and community sector, health and
the local authority with the delegated authority to deliver implementation ;
•
Develop an Implementation Action Plan to deliver this strategy.
Key Learning Points:
Ensure the Liaison Group has authority from across each sector to implement this
strategy and sits within an agreed governance framework, with clear reporting lines to
each sector as well as to joint arrangements, e.g., Southwark Health and Wellbeing
Board.
Ensure that the Implementation Action Plan is regularly reviewed and updated to take
account of new opportunities, change, risks and mitigation.
5. What did we hear at the listening events?
Extensive engagement took place through four listening events. It became clear and can be
seen through the following diagrams, that there are many issues that need to be addressed
in order for this strategy to change relationships and ways of working to become more
productive.
Diagram 1: What should this Strategy address?
The key themes discussed and debated included:
•
How can the voluntary sector survive a ‘marketisation’ approach, through
requirements of statutory partners for proving best value for money in a competitive
market place?
VCS Strategy
8
First Draft
•
•
•
•
How can the voluntary and community sector work more inclusively and
collaboratively to better use the resources that are available?
The need to improve communication between all sectors and to work towards more
trusting and understanding relationships, rather than mistrust and rivalry?
How do all sectors come to agreed ways of working, delivering to agreed and shared
outcomes
How is social value perceived and delivered across all sectors and in the
neighbourhoods and communities of Southwark?
All of these themes were brought to the fore when considering what has changed in recent
years to drive a significant amount of this change (see diagram 2).
Diagram 2: What has changed recently that requires a new strategy?
Recent changes in legislation and together with reductions in the funding settlement from
central government, are driving sweeping changes to the way that statutory services are
structured and how community based services are funded. At the same time, socioeconomic changes are creating complex needs within the local population. This has in turn
driven an increase in demand on local statutory and voluntary services.
Local communities are in a constant state of flux. Large areas of redevelopment and
regeneration in Southwark are changing the make-up of local communities, with some areas
of deprivation and poverty within the borough remaining among the most deprived in London
and England. This can increase levels of isolation and lower levels of community cohesion
and a widening gap between the poorest and the richest in our borough.
VCS Strategy
9
First Draft
The fast rise and increasing dependence on electronic communication is leading to a
widening gap for those that are not able to either afford or understand social media
technology.
So how will this strategy move forward in a way that can improve the lives of those living in
and working in the borough? Building a stronger working relationship between the local
voluntary and community sector with the council and local NHS services is a step in the right
direction. Just looking at what the value of the local voluntary sector gives to the borough
(diagram 3) gives insight into how this strategy can move forward.
Diagram 3: What value does the local voluntary sector bring?
The local voluntary sector has extensive local knowledge, can be responsive and a social
connector, or bridge from statutory services to the communities in Southwark.
Local issues get picked up sooner and generally understood quicker, which can prevent
people reaching a crisis.
Through empowering and supporting local communities, volunteering and social action can
be increased and extended to provide support closer to those most in need and where they
want to receive it.
Local planning context - how this strategy links to other strategies with respect to the local
voluntary and community sector?
-Council Plan
-Southwark and Lambeth Early Action Commission Report;
-Southwark CCG and Southwark Council Five Year Forward View of health and social care;
-Southwark Health and Wellbeing Strategy;
VCS Strategy
10
First Draft
-Implementation of the Southwark Mental Health Social Care Review;
-Establishment of the Partnership Commissioning Team between NHS Southwark CCG and
Southwark Council;
-Changes to Southwark Community Safety Partnership and the Southwark Adult
Safeguarding Adults Board.
-Refresh of the Southwark Housing Strategy
-Southwark Advice Strategy
VCS Strategy
11
First Draft
6. Key Messages from the Listening Events in Detail
“Creating new ways of working together”
Local by default
A focus on the sustainability and role of the local voluntary and community sector is at the
core of this strategy. The desire to find new ways of working puts co-production and
maximising social value at its centre. This is what the workshops told us was the most
important priority.
It is important to recognise that the local voluntary and community sector is a heterogeneous
sector. Some voluntary organisations are primarily involved in specific types of service
delivery and have much in common with housing and health services. Other voluntary and
community organisations are not involved in providing the direct delivery of a service, but are
instead focused on community development and community capacity-building, through
advocacy, volunteering and citizenship. Other community organisations may bring people
together through a common affinity of culture and faith. The common denominator is civil
society and civic action.
Many people during the listening events spoke about the need for improved connections
between organisations together with a greater understanding of what each other’s purpose.
This is positive, but it is also a challenge. It tells us that there is a lot going on locally, that
things are dynamic and that keeping up to date with changes is challenging. This is a
description of an environment where managing relationships and information requires time,
skills and resources. It involves finding ways to support desirable behaviour change so that
organisations are able to face outwards and find what they need for the best interests of
Southwark residents. Taking steps to support this appetite for improved connectivity is a
welcome challenge.
Promoting co-production and sustainability - principles
Promoting news ways of working will help make the partnership of the voluntary and
community sector and public sector be more than the sum of its parts. How can we make a
shift toward greater collaboration while recognising our unique and different skills and
values? How do we turn it into a reality?
•
•
•
•
•
VCS Strategy
Organisations across the three sectors can work more closely together based
on shared values of mutual respect and trust;
Organisations can achieve a better understanding of what each other does
and that will help us work more effectively together;
Transforming the traditional resource power dynamics in a funder/provider
relationship will enable more effective joint problem-solving;
Understanding the contribution partners can make in engaging with residents
will increase effectiveness and reduce duplication;
A new approach, based on collaboration that goes across organisational
boundaries, will reduce “silo” working and be better joined in its approach to
providing person-centred and community outcomes;
12
First Draft
•
There can be more information- and knowledge-sharing between partners,
bringing about improved co-ordination, shared resources and economic
opportunities.
Promoting co-production and sustainability - in practice
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The council’s review of commissioning, for implementation in April 2017, will
bring into place a new commissioning framework that will be aligned with the
five strategic objectives;
It will include a significant change in policy, with greater collaboration at the
different stages of the commissioning cycle;
The council will work with the voluntary and community sector and NHS
Southwark CCG to review its strategic approach to grant-making and agree a
new framework;
The commissioning approach will contain a commitment to the continuation of
a mixed funding economy of contracts and grants;
It will also contain a commitment to continue to provide core funding, to those
organisations that are able to lever in additional resources;
The commissioning approach will set out a fresh vision with a greater
emphasis on the role of grant-funding as a longer-term funding mechanism
for community infrastructure;
There will be longer-term grants to support sustainability and reduce
transactional costs for beneficiaries and for commissioners;
There will be short-term innovation grants for testing and piloting new ways of
working and giving opportunities to new organisations;
To promote sustainability commissioners will build into assessment and
monitoring, criteria that assess organisation’s ability to sustain themselves
through other sources of funding and effective business planning at the
appropriate level;
There will be a mix of funding opportunities to ensure that all sections of the
community are able to access resources to meet community need;
Community activists and volunteers to act as navigators, with a
commissioning approach to investigate how this can be supported;
Take a shared approach to defining, delivering and monitoring outcomes.
Sharing information and knowledge
Putting in place a more agile, skilful and responsive local system will harness the power of
local communities and can help to reduce the impact of reductions in local authority and
health financial resources.
We will:
•
•
VCS Strategy
Work to ensure that the voluntary and community sector has greater access to
data held by the council and NHS Southwark CCG and that an open data
approach increases accessibility to information, while taking full account of the
safeguarding and confidentiality of personal information;
Identify where directories of available services need to be improved and ensure
that resources and responsibility for this are allocated appropriately;
13
First Draft
•
•
•
•
Support effective signposting across the system;
Support more co-located working;
Explore how information technology can support and enhance new ways of
working across the voluntary and community sector with the public sector, e.g.
Tech for Good/Tech Hackathon approaches;
Join up on the monitoring of the impact of preventative services.
Strengthen community networks by linking to community resources - including faith
communities and local online networks.
There is a strong sense that a ‘virtual organisation’ that bridges communities and
brings together the wealth of resources available locally is both within touching
distance and tantalisingly just out of reach.
•
•
•
•
VCS Strategy
A ‘virtual organisation’ could carry out annual assessment of the changing
needs and demographics in the borough and make the findings available;
Provide a quarterly update on commissioning intentions and timescales from
all council and NHS commissioning teams;
Produce and publish a list of all council funding to the voluntary sector
annually and share it with the sector;
Create hubs for information and early intervention to reach specific groups at
risk, so we can make best use of knowledge and early action together.
14
First Draft
“Deliver a step change in commissioning and grant giving”
How do we design and deliver services and interventions that improve
outcomes for local people, including those who are most vulnerable or at risk,
through innovation?
Outcomes should be about stories and voices, not only numbers
A model of ‘outcome-based commissioning’ opens up many opportunities to working in
partnership across sectors. There will always be a level of expectation and targets set from
central government for local areas to deliver, for example through NHS England in relation to
NHS Southwark CCG commissioning performance. This level of outcome will continue to
set important elements of the strategies to be implemented locally. However, there is scope
to look at how those high level outcomes are translated into action locally.
The local delivery of outcomes needs to be developed and agreed with many stakeholders
engaged in the process. This means going beyond the usual organisations and partners, to
include local communities and citizens. Commissioning has greater legitimacy with local,
democratic accountability. Engagement needs to continue throughout the process and not
just at the beginning or at some single point in the process. This includes:
•
•
•
Listening to the voice and experience of people who have used services and bring
this increasingly into the design and delivery of services to ensure better outcomes;
Local Area needs analysis as the basis for commissioning decisions, for example,
through Public Health information analysis and the collation of service demand;
Collaborative working and supporting the development of consortia.
Working together to design and deliver better interventions allows us to work on solving
complex and difficult problems that might not be solved through single service interventions.
For example, providing support for people living in the community with long-term health
conditions which may mean that they remain at risk of losing their tenure in the community,
unless there is a co-ordination of effort across several agencies.
Quality rather than quantity
We agreed to work together to set out a common outcomes framework that all those
involved are able to understand, work towards and achieve. For all organisations to have a
stake in delivering against a common, agreed set of outcomes will enable a more cohesive
partnership to form all working to the common good of local people. This will mean breaking
down high level outcomes into smaller chunks that individual organisations then work
towards. The role of commissioners will be to bring organisations together around a specific
outcome. The impact of political cycles, both local and national, needs to be recognised.
Commissioning cycles need to be better understood so that partnership are able to move
through changes of direction and circumstances, for example, the reduction in funding to the
local authority on work programmes.
What opportunities are open to us? What principles can be agreed?
VCS Strategy
15
First Draft
A longer-term outlook
•
•
•
•
Longer funding periods (like those set out in diagram 4 below) are agreed with
voluntary and community sector organisations working in Southwark- with a minimum
of two years - would mean that outcomes are easier to track and provide evidence
for;
Projects have sufficient time to achieve outcomes;
Allow sufficient lead-in time for innovative projects and up-front investment to have
an impact;
It encourages commissioners to move towards more facilitative commissioning, with
less demand for short-term outputs.
A common outcome framework
Each voluntary and community sector organisation receiving longer-term funding from
Southwark Council and NHS Southwark CCG agrees to work towards a set of core
outcomes for the benefit of the whole community of Southwark and reports on its impact.
These would be drawn from a basket of outcomes.
In this way each a common strategic approach addressing the needs of Southwark are
implemented and has greatest impact.
The Common Framework could include the following areas:
-Safeguarding
-Maximising the income of everyone we work with
-Making sure each person is registered with a Southwark GP
-Improved understanding of rights and responsibilities
-Each person has a named contact with the voluntary sector organisation
-Each person receives information on local core strategic priorities (e.g., healthy eating, wellbeing, safeguarding)
-Each person has the opportunity to be involved in volunteering
-Each person’s experience of being involved with the organisation is captured to help
improve its approach.
Questions
Are these the right outcome areas?
What else should be included?
VCS Strategy
16
Diagram 4: Future model of agreements for Outcome Based Commissioning
CONTRACTS
GRANTS
Duration of grant / contract / agreement
1 year
VCS Strategy
3 year
5 year
17
7 year
“Create strong prevention and community assets”
Premises
Scarcity of accommodation makes operating in London a difficult and expensive proposition
for the voluntary sector. Rising costs in a tightening financial environment places many
organisations in an uncertain position, fuelling the demand for affordable premises.
Securing appropriate premises in Southwark is a bigger challenge today than ever before
and the VCS needs help to access affordable, fit-for-purpose buildings. Meanwhile public
resources are increasingly limited and have many competing demands placed upon them,
not just from the VCS, but across all sectors.
Therefore we need to be realistic about how this can happen in a sustainable way. There
are opportunities for the council to use its property portfolio and exert property-based
influence to shape provision to the sector. For its part, the VCS will need to run the
premises it occupies as efficiently as possible, cutting costs where it can and exploring
opportunities to share resources where co-location might bring about real financial and
operating benefits. Flexibility and a willingness to adapt to new ideas will be essential.
A good deal has changed since 2009 when we last looked in detail at the strategy for VCS
premises. We will now fully refresh the strategy before the end of this financial year, taking
account of the needs of the sector and looking in particular at the key concerns coming out
of consultation undertaken as part of this wider VCS review and discussed briefly below.
Put simply the premises challenge is for the council to do things better, differently, more
affordably; and for the VCS to do likewise.
Facilitating supply
We want to ensure that the council’s property portfolio is deployed as effectively as possible
and seek to accommodate more organisations - particularly in underused buildings, on a
temporary basis pending redevelopment, and where there is scope to share space.
Transparency and consistency in the leases agreed will be important considerations.
Whilst the council isn’t the only landlord in the market, it does have an important role to play
in helping to understand gaps in the market and facilitating provision. Examples include:
•
The transformative benefits of the council’s ambitious regeneration programmes are
clear to see. Nevertheless they may be accompanied by a net loss of the types of
premises that have traditionally accommodated the VCS. We will explore how planning
obligations can be used to enable the sector to access affordable, fit for purpose
premises in new build developments whilst acknowledging the competing demands on
this source (and its dependency on an active housing market);
•
Identifying and promoting co-location opportunities for VCS organisations to further
develop neighbourhood and thematic clusters of interest;
VCS Strategy
18
•
Exploring ways in which non-residential premises on housing estates can be used to
benefit local voluntary and community organisations;
•
Brokering voluntary sector access to public premises, across as wide a range of
operating partners as possible, where co-location may be an option;
In some cases the preferred way forward may be to release buildings, or a significant degree
of control over them to help lever in additional benefits that conventional leasing might not
achieve. The part disposals, management agreements and asset transfer have to play will all
be reviewed under our premises strategy work stream.
Being transparent about the leases the council grants
A key part of the challenge ahead will be to understand how the council and agencies such
as Community Southwark can work together to support and improve the operating
environment for VCO’s, by encouraging the effective use of premises.
Currently the council lets premises to approximately seventy voluntary agencies (these
figures do not include the numerous tenant and resident halls available across the council’s
residential estates). All are either properties which the Southwark Council has reserved for
use by the voluntary sector or part of the council’s general commercial letting stock held to
generate income.
The types of premises these groups occupy vary considerably. As a result the terms on
which the properties are occupied also tend to be quite diverse. Rents and lease terms are
often not readily comparable and it is probably fair to say that this has been the source of
consternation and confusion over the years.
To help move on from here, and gain insightful perspectives on the estate, we will share with
Community Southwark information about council premises occupied by the VCS, and the
basis on which they occupy, to help establish a clearer picture of how organisations can best
be supported to manage financially and to utilise and share premises, and to see how
current provision compares to new and emerging demand.
… And clear about the rents charged
The council charges market rents. Where it decides to support an organisation this is
achieved through grants, rather than renting at an undervalue. A key advantage of this
approach has been that support is applied only for as long as the funding department or a
relevant external agency deems it appropriate to do so, and the tenant receiving this support
continues to deliver the community benefits warranting it.
Leases and Landlord and Tenant law are less agile in this respect. One consequence of this
is that some tenants have remained in premises under historic agreements at low or
negligible rents; long after the Council might otherwise wish to support them. This operates
to eliminate opportunities for income, and to exclude new and emerging groups whose
contribution may be more relevant to current need.
We will continue with the programme of bringing leases let on historic and sometimes
ambiguous terms in line with current expectations and charging policies. However we will
VCS Strategy
19
also be looking closely at examples of best practice in other authorities and how they
approach leasing to the VCS to see what lessons might be portable to Southwark’s
premises.
Helping the voluntary and community sector help itself
A clear message from the listening events was the voluntary sector’s recurrent frustration at
accessing information about premises. This included difficulties around both the availability
of space to occupy and the knowledge base of occupiers in the sector when it came to
managing buildings and discharging tenant responsibilities, particularly around health and
safety. Therefore we will look at ways to improve the availability of information about
premises, in terms of the council’s buildings and across the sector.
Community Southwark has previously recommended that the council should bring together
advice in a single place by publishing a clear, easy to read document on its website to
outline policies on rate relief, lease terms, rents (including rent subsidy and rent free
periods), asset transfer and assets of community value. We’ll now look at the best way to do
this.
In addition there may be an “easy win” in setting up a readily accessible database of
premises requirements and availability, to link up organisations in need of accommodation
with potential providers. We will explore the feasibility of doing so.
Getting to grips with managing assets
Finally, there is a real desire across the sector and particularly the in new and smaller
organisations to build knowledge about the running of buildings.
There are escalating pressures on occupiers and landlords to ensure that their premises
comply with an expanding range of statutory requirements arising from health and safety
considerations; inevitably with a corresponding price tag (and potentially serious liabilities for
non-compliance). Therefore it will be worth bearing in mind from the outset that property
“costs” are not just about the rent. Total occupation costs can include service charges,
business rates, servicing debt, utility costs, repair and maintenance, insurance and
management. All of these areas of expenditure need to be efficiently managed, to contain
the potential operating pressures they can otherwise give rise to.
We want to look at how the council can support the sector in understanding how best to
manage the potentially costly property assets they use and prevent them becoming an
unmanageable drain on the dwindling resources that might otherwise be channelled into
delivering services.
Although outside the scope of a premises strategy the council may also be able to help
organisations to cut costs by sharing associated common services such as IT, resources,
administration, or to support bulk purchasing.
As well as buildings we will harness value of the borough’s outside spaces to improve
wellbeing, engagement and community cohesion.
We want to develop an approach to enabling asset transfer to take place in the right
circumstances and establishing the limits of this.
VCS Strategy
20
Question
How do we make the section above more about community assets
and wider resources?
“Bring about more resourceful communities”
In 2015 almost six out of ten Southwark residents (aged over 16) had at one point
volunteered (56%). This equates to an estimated 131,544 people who gave their time freely
to a wide range of causes. This is the embodiment of what makes the voluntary and
community sector unique. The benefits of volunteering on an individual's wellbeing, their
sense of belonging, self-esteem and personal development are vital. However, financial
pressures mean volunteers are often seen as a substitute or cheap alternative in order to do
things that were previously paid for. The message to emerge from our listening events is that
volunteering is not free and if the benefits that individuals can bring to communities are to be
realised support is needed.
During the listening events the voice of local people and their ability to develop the collective
power to act together for the common good of the whole community was a common theme.
Sometimes called social action, it can cover people getting together to support a community
project in their local areas, e.g. setting up a new service or to help local residents, or
organising a community event. In Southwark over one in five local people become involved
and participate in their area (ref). Interestingly 36% of people were aware of people in their
areas getting together to support a community project, but were not involved in it. There are
clearly significant opportunities to get more people involved in social action. But what
difference does volunteering or social action make?
There is increasing evidence that community cohesion, resourcefulness and social action
can contribute to improving health and wellbeing as well as enhancing life-skills, increasing
rates of employment and higher education and improving social relationships. These social
attributes lie largely outside the control of the institutions that work with the public. This
strategy will take up the challenge to bring all partners together and align our activities to
build more resourceful communities.
Implementing the Strategy
A strategy only comes to life if it is implemented.
To make sure this happens, the NHS, council and Voluntary Sector Liaison Group will keep
an oversight of the strategy and take responsibility for ensuring the different elements are
implemented, through an implementation action plan. This group will be made up of
voluntary and community sector representatives and officers from Southwark Council and
NHS Southwark CCG. They will hold each other to account for the delivery of this strategy.
The implementation action plan will be reported on annually to Southwark Council’s Cabinet
VCS Strategy
21
and the CCG governing body, and will be presented at Community Southwark's Annual
General Meeting. Specific actions will be monitored by the Council/VCS Liaison Group.
Too often strategies are produced with people investing a lot of time shaping them - but the
outcomes of its implementation are never communicated. We will take a different approach
using Community Southwark as our main communication partner. We will report quarterly
on what has and hasn't happened and what we plan to do next.
Still to complete:
Summary
References
Acknowledgements
List of all listening event participants/organisations
VCS Strategy
22