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Intelligent Commissioning Survey
Important Survey about Domestic Violence and Substance Misuse Services
Closing date 17 September 2010.
(We acknowledge this deadline is tight and limiting but would still urge you to participate as your voice is vital to this project).
We are writing to you to ask you to complete a survey on how your group perceives domestic violence services and substance misuse services in Brighton and Hove. Your response will feed into the Council's plans for services to improve the lives of people affected by these issues. The survey is not just for groups working on either domestic violence or substance misuse, but also so we can find out what impact other groups have on these issues too. This is a very important opportunity for you to influence the future of such services for the council's intelligent commissioning work.
What information is needed from Brighton and Hove's community and voluntary sector?
What do you do?
One aim is to find out what services are provided by community and voluntary sector organisations which the Council might not know about, for example because you get funding from non-statutory bodies , or because the service is entirely volunteer run. Alternatively, you might come into contact with people who have experienced domestic violence or problems with substance misuse but this isn't the main reason they use your services. It is really important that decision makers at the Council find out the whole picture of community and voluntary sector support.
Where are the gaps?
The second aim is to find out whether your clients have any problems accessing existing domestic violence and substance misuse services. These could be services provided by the statutory sector, for example, health, criminal justice agencies such as the police or courts, council departments or those provided by the community and voluntary sector.
We appreciate this information is sensitive, so to encourage you to answer this question as frankly and openly as possible , the responses to this question will be restricted to the Council's Performance & Analysis Team, and will only shared with other people anonymously.
Who will see your responses?
Survey responses are held on the BHCC consultation portal (website). All information is secure and accessible only by a limited number of members of the council's analysis & performance team. Officers working on the council's intelligent commissioning pilot projects, Eleri Butler, Jeremy Paine and Graham Stevens, may ask to follow up on answers you give if the information is unclear or has a significant impact on the project. THIS WILL NOT be the case for question 11, where your answers will made anonymous to encourage you to answer it fully and frankly.
The Council has piloted the survey with the CVSF reference group and taken their feedback on board to make it more user friendly, but if you have any problems please let me know and I will pass on your feedback and request helpdesk support.
The link to use is http://consult.brighton-hove.gov.uk/portal/cvs_consult/pilot_adanddv
PLEASE NOTE THE CLOSING DATE of 17 September 2010.
NB When you go to the Consultation Portal link you will be asked to register. Please don't let this put you off. Registration is necessary to make sure submissions are not duplicated. If you are new to signing up to the portal you will have two options: you will be able to choose to be either a consultee or an agent. Consultees are individuals who want to make comments reflecting their own opinions. Agent make comments to reflect the organisation / team that they represent. We would suggest in most cases you should register as Agents because you are most likely to be representing the work of an organisation or team.
Sign-up takes less than 5 minutes and means that if you are logged in, you can save your form if you are not quite finished and would like to come back to it later. You will be able to see all unsubmitted forms in 'Your Account' and submit or edit them at any time.
Find out more about CVSF's Intelligent Commissioning Project
Thank you for your time.
Public sector spending cuts 2010/11 and CVSF’s role in influencing decision-making
The prospect of severe public spending cuts is well documented and community and voluntary organisations are bracing themselves for tough times ahead. There are going to be some very difficult decisions for our partners to make in relation to local statutory sector agencies budgets for 2011/12.
This statement sets out CVSF’s position in relation to cuts: what are the processes which the community and voluntary sector expects to see and what role can and should CVSF play in relation to influencing decision-making around cuts?
CVSF member organisations are encouraged to help build on these suggestions and evolve the sector’s approach to handling the cuts in the challenging months ahead.
Comments on the following key messages around CVSF’s role in influencing cuts are welcome. Please send your responses to sally@cvsectoforum.org.uk
Brighton and Hove charities quiz Minister on Government commitments to charities
On 27 July 2010 a group of local charities went to the Cabinet Office with local MP, Caroline Lucas, ready to ask the Government about its commitment to charities in the light of massive public sector funding cuts. Emma Daniel attended on behalf of the CVSF.
The Future of Fundraising
The sector in Brighton and Hove is certainly vibrant, enterprising and very diverse but what unites us in uncertain times is a desire to understand how we need to plan to adapt to the changing environment.
The Future of Fundraising project is a partnership of organisations providing support to front line groups. We have come together to try to support all groups; small or large to adjust to ‘austerity budgets' and new policy agendas.
There is mixed news for the sector. Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society cited the following priorities for the community and voluntary sector:
- To make it easier to set up and run voluntary sector groups: By reducing bureaucracy and regulation: The government has already tackled ‘Vetting and Barring' and in the same way as for small businesses will address the Health and Safety bureaucracy.
- The Government will make it easier for charities to find funding by setting up a single website where charities can find all the funds in one place that they might want to apply for.
- To ensure that front line groups have the support they need to meet the new environment - to be more enterprising etc.
In his responses to a wide range of questions about the Big Society and funding cuts it became clear the Governments' agenda for our sector will have very different impacts depending on the type of organisation.
Community and voluntary sector organisations who deliver public services via contracts can expect the following changes:
- Longer contracts (10 years rather than 3) but lower unit costs
- ‘Payment by results' bonuses which is a way of incentivizing private sector investment in the voluntary sector through ‘Social Impact Bonds' and other emerging models
- Competition with ‘Spin-Out' employee organisations of nurses, social workers etc who will be encouraged to form organisations to sell services under the arrangements in the ‘Liberating the NHS' White Paper
- Price based contracting - no ‘full cost recovery' models.
Community and voluntary sector organisations who receive grants can expect:
- Less money available for grants
- Variable picture from locality to locality. The Government will not provide any protections so it will depend on the local administration's decision making
- Central website of grants and funding opportunities
- Cabinet Office grants to support new grassroots community activity (note: The Minister was against funding the ‘usual suspects' which may be bad news for our existing community development work)
- A campaign to encourage more ‘local giving' to ‘local charities' which the government may match fund
- Less bureaucracy.
Community and voluntary sector organisations who have little grant income and mostly rely on self-generated income: Donations; subscriptions, etc can expect:
- A campaign to encourage more ‘local giving' to ‘local charities' which the Government may match fund
- Less bureaucracy
- More people wishing to volunteer or being ‘encouraged' to volunteer
- Little impact on income from donations but, possibly increased difficulty in people's ability to pay subscriptions
These are broad brushstroke descriptions on the impacts and our ability to survive and thrive will be dependent on how we work in unison to protect vulnerable people, communities and neighbourhoods from disproportionately experiencing ‘austerity'; our ability to work to constructively challenge public sector decision making and; finally how fleet of foot we can be in responding to changes and challenges.
The Government last week made statements about cuts to the community and voluntary sector and opened a consultation about ‘More for less' and CVSF would urge you to try to respond either directly or by returning your answers to us for collation in a Brighton and Hove wide response.
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/news_releases/2010/100729-voluntary.aspx
CVSF calls for impact assessment before funding cuts made
The Community and Voluntary Sector Forum (CVSF) is calling for the impact of any funding cuts to community and voluntary sector services to be fully thought through before being made. CVSF is also calling for ongoing communication with the sector and consultation with service users and providers.
Brighton and Hove's community and voluntary sector provides a wide range of cost effective range of services, especially for the city's most vulnerable people. This includes 57,600 hours a week of volunteer labour, donated to the city by local people, and worth £520,000 a week[1].
Where cuts are made, CVSF is calling for very clear evidence of the impact such cuts will have, especially the effect they will have on residents.
Sally Polanski, Chief Executive of CVSF says: "Any cuts are likely to have a detrimental effect on residents, and especially on people who are vulnerable. We already know that 20% of dependent children live in households with no working adults[2]' The effects of the recession mixed with less money for services could be deeply damaging."
CVSF also argues that cuts made now are not necessarily going to save money in the long run. Ms Polanski continued: "We are concerned that more people will loose their jobs and this will have a knock on effect on the economy, housing, probably an increase in homelessness and an increase in the number of people desperate for advice from the very services which have just been cut. Picking up the pieces will be a burden not only on the benefits bill but also the council, the health service, and probably the police and courts too.
"It should not be assumed that voluntary sector contracts are easier to cut than larger or private sector ones, which it has been argued may be difficult or expensive to terminate. The Compact Code on Funding and Commissioning, which sets outs requirements around consultation and notice periods should be followed and Equalities Impacts Assessments should be undertaken. There is also potential for challenging cuts using Public Law should this be necessary.
"We do understand the government has to manage the public purse and this means tough decisions for local funders. But starting with a full assessment of the impact of any cuts before they are made will, we think, save money in the long run."
Ends
Notes to editors
1. CVSF is a membership organisation which support the local third sector. It has over 550 local community groups, voluntary groups, charities and social enterprises in its membership.
[1] From Taking Account, an economic and social audit of the third sector in Brighton and Hove, in 2008. A partnership project between CVSF, Brighton University and other partners in the city.
[2] From the Sustainable Community Strategy, 2010)
Up to £1000 available for groups for recession help
Is your group being hit by the recession? Apply now for up to £1,000 to help you weather the storm.
“More people need our service and we are struggling to cope with demand”
Would £1,000 help?
‘Ready, Responding & Resilient Grants’ for the community and voluntary sector in Brighton & Hove are being managed by the ChangeUp consortium. The funding is being provided by Brighton & Hove City Council to help support the community and voluntary sector to manage the impacts of the recession.
Your group can apply for up to £1,000 to pay for support services to help you manage. The support will come from local organisations who understand your needs.
You might want practical services like printing or to hire equipment. Or you might find one to one advice or training helpful. The funding will be given on a ‘first come-first served’ basis to groups operating within Brighton & Hove.
Are we eligible?
- You must operate within Brighton & Hove
- You must be a not-for-profit organisation with a turnover of less than £200,000 per year.
- You must explain how the recession is affecting your group
Be local: Buy local
- You will be expected to buy services locally with this money where possible
- We will tell you about free services if we know of them!
It’s not worth the hassle for a small amount of money!
There is no hassle because the application is only one side of A4. Feedback is one side of A4 plus copy(ies) of relevant invoices. Please use this funding - if it’s too complicated or hard, do tell us and we’ll change!If you have any questions please contact Emma Daniel, Project Manager on 01273 810230 or email emma@cvsectorforum.org.uk
New CVSF briefings on Coalition Government and Big Society
The Community and Voluntary Sector Forum has today (Thursday 17 June) published briefings on the coalition government and The Big Society.
They describe the areas of agreement between the coalition parties, what was included in the Queen's Speech, key policies relevent to the community and voluntary sector and who's who in the government.
The Coalition Government Briefing
Or visit the CVSF Briefings page of our site.
Report from New Horizon conference Published
The full report from CVSF's New Horizon conference on 26 May 2010 has now been published.
With speeches by John Barraddell Chief Executive of Brighton and Hove City Council, and Liz Atkins, Director of Policy at NCVO, as well as summaries of all eight workshops, this is important reading for everyone in the community and voluntary sector.
"Basing the day on the Sustainable Communities Strategy was informative and I felt that issues being grappled with were current and relevant"
CVSF's guide to election manifestos
It won't have escaped your notice that the UK general election will be held on Thursday 6 May 2010. The political outcome is by no means certain and the constituencies in Brighton and Hove are likely to be hotly contested parliamentary seats. Whichever party comes to power the election will bring about significant change. Arguably we need to build understanding of our sector, and the issues that concern us, with politicians of all sides.
But what are the main political parties promising for the third sector? Not got time to read the full manifestos? Then read CVSF's summary guide instead and get to grips with what the election means for us.
Quick links for you ...
| Membership - Join the CVSF | Our directory of members |
| We've moved - our location | CVSF position statements |
| Groups - CVSF Rep's feedback | Up to date CVSF Briefings |
| Groups - find support/training | Local plans and strategies |
| Groups - Get your voice heard | Helping others - volunteer |
We've collected together here the links that are most commonly used by people visiting the CVSF's site with the intention of trying to get you to the content that you are after much faster.
The links above are the most used but we will be adding others below. If there is content on our site that you use regularly, but is hard or slow to get to, please let us know and we'll add the links here for you.
We've moved ...
We've relocated and our contact details have changed.
The way forward ...With the growing support of our members the CVSF has continued to develop strongly. As a result we've relocated into new offices at Brighton Junction.
We moved into an Ethical Property Co. building and our facilities have improved, helping us to deliver an even better service to our members and to the community at large.
Our new address and telephone details are:
CVSF
Brighton Junction
1A Isetta Square
35 New England Street
Brighton
BN1 4GQ
Telephone 01273 810230
Fax 01273 810231
email info@cvsectorforum.org.uk
In Brighton Junction and ready to rock ...We're are still very near to Brighton Station, behind Jury's Inn. Go down the steps at the side, cross over the road, take more steps opposite, turn right and the entrance is there.
We're quite easy to find but if you'd like more directions, please get in touch and we'll be pleased to send you the information or talk you in.
We look forward to seeing you.