Agenda item
Voluntary Sector in Brent
This presentation sets out the essential key facts regarding the voluntary community and not for profit sector in Brent. Brent Council and CVS Brent are currently managing a collaborative project to enhance the understanding in both the council and the voluntary community and not for profit sector; on the main governance structures and ways of working.
Joan McCormick (Partnership Co-ordinator) and Tessa Awe (Chief Executive of CVS Brent) will present to the Committee.
Minutes:
Tessa Awe and Joanna McCormick gave a slide presentation on the voluntary sector in the borough including funding and governance arrangements. Members learnt that there are upward of 1100,000 registered community groups of which 800,000 were voluntary associations which had submitted annual returns and therefore marked active.
The sector
In Brent voluntary associations were largely small (with funding levels of up to £20,000) and accounted for 84% of the sector. Medium size associations (£50,000-£500,000) accounted for 9% and large associations (funds in excess of £500,000) accounted for only 7%. The service categories were mainly health and social care, people and places, community groups, employment business and economy. The start-up rate since 2002 had been on the rise, peaking at 2009 and 2010 and then declining slightly in 2011. A fair number of organisations in the sector have closed due to political reforms and funding challenges.
Funding
In terms of funding, members learnt that many nominal Brent allocations held by different trusts and foundations were not taken up relative to the levels of deprivation in the borough for several reasons including the following: bid writing, number of bids submitted; capacity within the organisation to seek funding; timescale within which to submit bids; changes to infrastructure support; lack of awareness of available funding whilst time was spent delivering projects for the benefit of residents.
Governance
Governance rules differed for voluntary associations depending on whether they had assets of less than or more than £5,000. Under the current governance arrangements, charities with assets of less than £5,000 were not required to register with the Charity Commission. Voluntary associations with assets of £5,000 or more were required to register with the Charity Commission, be properly constituted and governed by a voluntary board of trustees. Acting with integrity and honesty, trustees were charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the charity remained financially solvent and compliant with the law as well as ensuring that the charity used its powers to deliver on its objects for public benefit. The three key roles of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary must also be in place. The provisions for Community Interest Companies (CICs) which differed slightly required that they must be properly constituted, be governed by at least 2 Directors (owners) of the CIC and be registered with Companies House.
It was noted that the Council were maintaining a dialogue with the voluntary sector through the voluntary sector liaison forum meetings and working with CVS Brent to facilitate detailed dialogue on particular issues via newsletters and specific events. Working in partnership with trusts and foundations, levels of funding brought into the borough had been examined. Advice was being given on funding strategy development, bid writing, feedback on bids. Partnership working had also been extended to looking at alternative models of organisation governance, future models of service delivery and engagement sessions on particular topics.
Members of the Committee were informed that they could help voluntary organisations in several ways; inform community groups about upcoming events; highlight issues for the sector with CVS Brent; signpost organisations to CVS Brent for support and advice as well as emphasise the need for organisations to plan earlier. Members were advised to seek advice if they were asked to be a referee and to remember to declare interest where applicable.
During the discussion that followed, Councillor HB Patel enquired about the total amount of funds that CVS Brent had managed to secure for voluntary associations since its inception. Tessa Awe responded that although CVS Brent had not secured funds for any of the associations as yet, they were expecting funding from bids. The Assistant Director added that a lot of effort had gone into bid submission as it was critical for both the Council and CVS Brent to secure a strategy to target bids for the voluntary sector. She added funding for preventative measures such as “Well Chalkhill” was ring-fenced to public health only.
CVS Brent undertook to provide details of upcoming events to members of the committee.