Engaging the Third Sector

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• Engaging the Third Sector
• Mark Mitchell
• Chief Executive Community Action Dacorum

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The Hertfordshire Picture

• Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium has
  commissioned a Value and Volume Survey in the
  county
• KEY FINDINGS
• 3,238 registered charities in Hertfordshire.
• 5.254 voluntary organisations

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Countywide Split of these groups

• District Gps Gps per
• ,000 population
• Broxbourne 292 3.35
• Dacorum 617 4.48
• East Herts 1,010 7.83
• Hertsmere 541 5.73
• North Herts 805 6.89
• St Albans 596 4.62
• Stevenage 277 3.47
• Three Rivers 227 2.74
• Watford 382 4.79
• Welwyn Hatfield 507 5.20
• Totals 5,254 5.08

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Value and Volume Other Key Findings

• 115 groups serving the needs of BME communities
• 540 groups addressing the needs of young people
• 323 groups providing sporting activities
• 90 groups specifically serving rural communities

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Value and Volume Other Key Findings

• employ more than 10,000 people in Hertfordshire.
• annual income of more than 438m.
• 168m will come from statutory sources, 153m
  from individuals, and the balance from elsewhere,
  including donations from trusts and investments.

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Who do the Third Sector Engage with.

• Tradition of engaging with the business sector
  as recipient of gifts and support
• NOW Growing through actively embracing Corporate
  Social Responsibility (CSR) and promoting the win
  win opportunities for both community and business

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Who do the Third Sector Engage with in the Public
Sector (1)

• Borough / District Councils,
• Hertfordshire County Council,
• Town and Parish Councils
• Learning Skills Council,
• Hertfordshire Constabulary,
• Further Education Colleges,
• University of Hertfordshire
• Job Centre Plus,
• Business Link,

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Who do the Third Sector Engage with in the Public
Sector (2)

• Hertfordshire Probation Service,
• H.M.P. The Mount,
• West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
• Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust,
• Hertfordshire Partnerships NHS Trust.
• Hertfordshire Careers Service,
• Hertfordshire Prosperity Forum,
• East of England Development Agency
• Hertfordshire Connexions Service.

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Who do the Third Sector Engage with.

• AND Most Importantly we work with other third
  sector organisations, though always aware of
  collaboration v competition

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How do we engage the current picture

• Through the Compact, which sets out agreed
  procedures in terms of the relationship between
  the statutory and third sector and the
  expectations we have of each other
• County Compact agreed in 2001,
• At District Level Compacts adopted from 2002,
  with remaining ones being developed

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How do we engage the current picture

• The County Compact has received national
  commendation 2004 for its policies to support
  the work of local voluntary and community
  organisations
• 2005 a gold commendation for Local Compact
  policy development
• 2006 for providing the "golden thread of
  principles" for Hertfordshire Forward to adopt
  the long term principle of the enhancement of VCS
  capacity

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How do we engage the current picture

• The County Council has a Strategic Leadership
  Contract with Herts CVS Group to deliver sector
  leadership and co-ordinated engagement
• The County Council and many Districts are moving
  along the path of longer term contracts which
  provide certainty and room in which to plan

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How do we engage the current picture

• Job Centre Plus are looking at the Third Sector
  to be a key delivery partner in the Welfare to
  Work programme present engagement in New Deal
  etc
• Examples of joined up approach across sectors to
  accessing funding and ensuring effective delivery
  e.g. EEDA Investing in Communities Programme

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How do we engage the current picture

• Move from grant dependency to income earning
  leading to looking at contract delivery
• Embracing Social Enterprise as a principle and
  contributing to its development as a movement in
  the county

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From the big picture to each locality

• The Third Sector engages at a strategic level
  for example
• Hertfordshire Forward the county Local
  Strategic Partnership
• Local Area Agreements particularly with
  volunteering targets with support from pump
  priming funds to enable action
• Hertfordshire Childrens Trust Partnership
  helping to shape services for children and young
  people

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From the big picture to each locality

• The Third Sector also makes a positive
  difference to peoples lives in each locality in
  the county
• The value of having the confidence of our
  clients we are not seen as part of the system
  and it is important that this is not lost as we
  move into contract delivery

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Opportunities for the Future

• The Third sector has skills, expertise and
  knowledge to bring to the table
• The tools to make a difference to our shared
  clients a chance to enact positive change
• To build our organisation our skills,
  expertise, networks and knowledge
• Develop income stream from contracts

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Challenges for the Future

• Loss of independence delivering contracts
  equals not always doing what you would want -
  keeping to the script!!
• Gearing up for the bureaucracy ensuring record
  keeping is in place admin burden
• A less flexible approach to clients in need who
  do not fulfil the criteria
• Loss of client confidence by being seen as part
  of the system

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Challenges for the Future

• Meeting the pace of change in terms of new
  initiatives and public sector agency expectations
  e.g. LAA2
• Engagement without resource equals decisions on
  what has to be sacrificed in the diary
• Recognising that many third sector organisations
  will stay outside of the agenda

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But the big challenge

• True engagement, true participation in contract
  and procurement will only work if we..
• MAINSTREAM THE RELATIONSHIP
• There is good practice and interest in engaging
  amongst some officers / departments, but these
  are a minority of the statutory agency workforce

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• Contact Details
• Mark Mitchell
• Chief Executive, Community Action Dacorum
• 48 High Street, Hemel Hempstead, Herts
• Tel [phone] or mark.dcvs_at_classmail.co.uk
• Or visit the Herts CVS Website for your local CVS
  contact
• www.hertscvs.org.uk