Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportuni�es, Threats

by the voluntary and community sector in

Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham

UNDERSTANDING THE

CHANGING

ENVIRONMENT

On Friday 17th

June 2011, Kensington & Chelsea Social Council (KCSC) and

the Community and Voluntary Sector Associa�on Hammersmith & Fulham

(CaVSA), came together for the second year to hold their annual Funding

Fair.

This year over 200 people from across both boroughs a!ended. The event

offered a wide range of informa�on stalls and workshops, giving all who

a!ended a wider view of the range of support services available to the

sector in addi�on to funding advice.

Morning speakers included:

♦ Councillor Julie Mills - The Worshipful The Mayor, Royal Borough of

Kensington and Chelsea

♦ Councillor Joe Carlebach - Cabinet Member for Communi�es and

Health, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

♦ Tony Redpath - Director of Strategy and Service Improvement, Royal

Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

♦ Mary Gardiner - Chief Execu�ve Officer, Kensington & Chelsea Social

Council

All speakers congratulated the work of the sector, and recognised the

challenging �mes the sector faces.

A�ernoon presenters included:

♦ Joanne Hay - Director of Strategy Performance and Commissioning,

Children and Families Services, Royal Borough of Kensington and

Chelsea

♦ Paul Rackham Service Manager - Strategy Commissioning & Market

Development, Adult Social Care, Royal Borough of Kensington and

Chelsea

♦ Stephen Tucker - Assistant Director, Borough Commissioning, Inner

North West London Primary Care Trusts (NHS)

♦ Kim Dero - Head of Economic Development Regenera�on & Housing

Strategy, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

Each presenter spoke about the changing environment and what the

future of services might be. Presenta�ons were in rela�on to the tri-

borough development between the London Borough of Hammersmith and

Fulham (LBHF), the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and

Westminster.

Following the presenta�ons, VCOs from both Hammersmith and Fulham

and Kensington and Chelsea were placed into mixed groups to share their

views on the tri-borough developments, the future of the sector and to

undertake the SWOT analysis. The results of the analysis are presented

overleaf.

STRENGTHS

♦ The Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) is diverse and provides a

wide range of services. This diversity, and the less bureaucra�c nature

of the sector, enables it to respond to need in a flexible and

appropriate way.

♦ An important strength of the sector is its history, built on passion, and

the desire to bring about posi�ve change in people’s lives. This

passion con�nues to be a domina�ng factor in striving to deliver

much needed services.

♦ The nature of the sector in working to improve people’s lives means

that extensive knowledge and skills have been developed in delivering

preventa�ve services. The delivery of preventa�ve services is one of

the core strengths of the sector.

♦ The VCS has very detailed and personal knowledge of their service

users, along with knowledge of other services accessed by their

service users and the reasons why they use them.

♦ The VCS has strong roots in volunteering. The philanthropic history of

the sector highlights the reliance of support from those who have

given up their �me for free to help others. Volunteering con�nues to

be a strong source of support in the delivery of services.

♦ Voluntary and community organisa�ons (VCOs) are used to delivering

more for less. The nature of the sector is that its reliance on

volunteers and grant funding has meant that necessary skills have

been developed to deliver a range of outputs from small pots of

funding.

♦ Tri-borough will mean a breakdown of ar�ficial boundaries.

WEAKNESSES

♦ There is a weakness on the part of local authori�es to clarify tri-

borough developments, future commissioning and grant funding

strategies or at least poten�al opportuni�es for the VCS. This hinders

the sector in preparing for the future. VCOs therefore have to

manage in a climate of uncertainty.

♦ VCOs recognise that marke�ng is an area which needs to improve.

Knowing how to market in a growing compe��ve climate is of

concern and recognised as an area where skills are lacking. However

VCOs note that effec�ve marke�ng requires resources that many do

not have.

♦ An area of recognised weakness is the understanding of procurement

processes, and skills in tender wri�ng, and the unfair advantage

towards commercial providers or larger consor�a in procurement

processes.

♦ The sector has a strong tradi�on in delivering preven�ve services but

needs to get be!er at collec�ng evidence which reveals the impact of

services provided.

♦ There can be difficul�es within the sector in understanding the

technical language and jargon of policy documents. There is also a

lack of knowledge on how to lobby decision makers.

OPPORTUNITIES

♦ The move to tri-borough will help VCOs to streamline and ra�onalise

services as it is likely the sector will be working with one

commissioner. Tri-borough working will also enhance choice of

services for local residents.

♦ Tri-borough working will help organisa�ons to network, share

informa�on and form partnerships. Working on a larger scale may

also bring opportuni�es to widen services on a regional or even

na�onal scale. Some organisa�ons may grow as a result of tri-

borough.

♦ Tri-borough working will bring economy of scale, ensuring services

are more efficient and of value for money. There will be greater

opportuni�es to share resources, encourage a smarter way of

working. Opportuni�es for merging and shared back office func�ons

will increase.

♦ Funding sources will change, and there will be more opportuni�es to

bid for contracts.

♦ Tri-borough will bring opportuni�es to develop new rela�onships

with statutory officers and to work with commissioners to share views

about what services are needed and to help shape the market. It will

also give the sector greater muscle when tendering for contracts.

♦ There will be more opportuni�es for the sector to input into

regenera�on developments and poten�ally community champions

will be able to support community planning.

♦ VCOs will be able to develop consor�a across the two/three

boroughs.

♦ Reduc�on in public sector staff will create new avenues for ways of

working within the public sector and could poten�ally increase the

role and level of influence of the VCS.

THREATS

♦ Some VCOs felt that tri-borough developments have failed to

recognise the strong local iden��es and local loyal�es of both

Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea. Coupled with

this are the differing cultures of the two voluntary sectors. This could

poten�ally slow down cross-borough partnership working.

♦ Some small organisa�ons expressed concern over the tri-borough

developments as they felt they would not be in a posi�on to make the

impact required to join cross-borough consor�a.

♦ VCOs ques�oned how uniform services working across all three

boroughs will actually work in reality. How does localism factor into

uniform services? Surely this is a threat to giving local people a say in

how local services should be delivered? Will arms-length decision

making lead to a loss of local knowledge?

♦ Many organisa�ons are now working with fewer resources. There are

concerns that the pressure of working with fewer resources is killing

the passion that is so strident within the sector. There are fears that

this is leading to a disillusioned and disenfranchised sector.

♦ Growing compe��on, for funding within the sector and with other

sectors, now threatens the very iden�ty of the VCS. There is even

growing concern at the a!empts of na�onal VCOs to deliver local

services. It was felt that commissioning creates compe��on rather

than encouraging natural partnership working. Delivering contracts

also increases the risk for VCOs when some are not equipped to take

on higher levels of risk.

♦ Social enterprise and the employee-led mutuals are also seen as

threats. Knowing that both are in favour with central and local

government leads VCOs to have concern over their future in being

funded through tradi�onal grants or contracts. RBKC’s employee-led

Youth Mutual was also stated as a poten�al threat to exis�ng

voluntary sector youth provision.

♦ Further threats include welfare reform and the impact this will have

on individuals and families, which in turn will add addi�onal pressures

to voluntary-sector services. Other addi�onal pressures include the

lack of resources to take on paid staff which is increasing reliance on

volunteers.

♦ The lack of affordable premises and asset ownership across the sector

is seen as threat to what could otherwise be a strong base for the

sector.

♦ The loss of public sector staff was seen as a threat as it was felt this

would inevitably impact on frontline services. Residents will feel the

loss as services are ra�onalised and the one-to-one contact is lost.

There are fears that this will lead to increased isola�on, par�cularly

for the elderly.

LEARNING FOR STAKEHOLDERS

For KCSC and CAVSA

♦ Ensure changes are noted and opportuni�es circulated

♦ Offer organisa�ons more support to be tender ready

♦ Understand localism and support organisa�ons to ensure it really

engages residents in meaningful way

♦ Offer more help to organisa�ons that would flourish if bureaucracy

could be reduced

♦ Support organisa�ons seek trustees who have business type skills

♦ Ensure rela�onships are open and transparent

For Local Authori�es

♦ Recognise the ways a range of VCOs can help residents to engage in

local life

♦ Remember that small organisa�ons are o=en short of resources that

are available in larger organisa�ons

♦ Develop common monitoring so that organisa�ons can collect

evidence once for all funding streams

♦ Work within Compact guidelines to ensure as much fairness as

possible.

♦ Maintain formal avenues of communica�on in par�cular during �mes

of transi�on.

For Commissioners

♦ Talk to organisa�ons together at forums about what you are looking

for

♦ Work with the local CVS to support work that you wish to see

delivered

♦ Prepare the voluntary sector prior to procurements. For consor�a of

smaller organisa�ons to be able to compete on a level playing field,

work needs to be done prior to the procurement to prepare local

organisa�ons. (This does not breach procurement regula�ons.)

♦ Take risks when possible in order to achieve be!er results

♦ Carry out due diligence in a propor�onate manner

For Voluntary Organisa�ons

♦ Be ready to learn at all �mes

♦ Keep up with changes and ask if they affect you

♦ Develop good strong boards who can share some work with you

♦ Use your CVS to help support a voice and a view to be developed

from the local voluntary sector.

SOME GENERAL COMMENTS FOR ALL

KCSC has a growing concern for the apparent closure of some VCOs or

services (2011) because of the nature of compe��ve tendering. In Adult

Social Care, we are aware of one lost contract where a London-wide

provider is now going to deliver advice. In Domes�c Violence, a project

being run by a local provider has gone to a compe�tor and staff have been

TUPE’d over. In Children and Families nine small organisa�ons have had

their contracts reduced and changes in Suppor�ng People funding has

resulted in at least one local closure.

The main worry is that residents will have less access to a wide range of

services as we all move through this period of transi�on. KCSC would hate

to think that something that works at the moment and is about to close will

be needed again in a year’s �me and has to be reinvented.

If localism is to be a reality, then VCOs must be able to believe that tri-

borough decisions will reflect local need and that local residents can have a

voice that will be heard at the local level.

Both KCSC and CAVSA will con�nue to work together to address the current

changes taking place by responding to the voice of the sector. We will look

at the capacity and capability of the sector as a whole to see what can be

done to protect the worst effect of reduc�ons reaching local people. We

will work to establish more partnerships and consor�a. Both KCSC and

CaVSA have already set up tendering vehicles which will build and

strengthen local and cross-borough voluntary sector consor�a.

In many ways this report can be seen as a posi�on statement for local

VCOs. We aim to circulate it widely and use it to con�nue the debate about

the need for a thriving third sector as we move into the future.

Mary Gardiner

Kensington & Chelsea Social Council

London Lighthouse

111-117 Lancaster Road

W11 1QT

020 7243 9800

info@kcsc.org.uk

www.kcsc.org.uk