CC(3) VS45
This is the response of Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs to the request of information to the Communities and Culture Committee carrying out a Scrutiny Inquiry into the Funding of Voluntary Sector Organisations in Wales
Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs exists to help communities in Wales by promoting, developing and supporting quality, affordable, accessible out of school childcare clubs.
Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs was established in 2001 to help set up, develop and support out of school childcare clubs across Wales and to be the national voice for these clubs. Running either side of the school day, on weekends, and during holidays, out of school childcare clubs enable parents or carers to return to work, education or training knowing their children are being cared for by qualified Playworkers in a high quality provision.
WCVA has been asked to give evidence to the committee, and has posed the question why so many local groups still struggle to secure funds for their day-to-day services, despite increased funding for parts of the sector from public bodies. WCVA has asked the committee to consider the following issue
* What happens at the end of a time-limited grant? Should public bodies maintain longer-term grant funding where services complement or reduce demand on other public services, provide choice for service users or support people that are unlikely to engage with statutory bodies?
Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs thinks that there should provide an opportunity for a review to be completed at least 6 months before the end of the grant.
The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) originally set up Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs with £1M a year for a 3 year contract which was to be reviewed and then possibly extended for a further 2 year contract. In the meantime WAG reviewed funding to voluntary organisations and decided that in future Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs would need to apply for a grant in the same way that the other national childcare organisations were grant funded. In our naivety we thought that the £1M was to be continued to be offered but through a grant and not a contract. The outcome was that the funding was cut by 60% through the grant funding without any consultation or discussion. After discussions with many AM’s and Assembly Ministers some funding was regained for a further year.
There never was any discussion with Assembly officials and Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs about reducing the funding which happened despite the organisation reaching its targets and over achieving many of them. Assembly officials misread accounts and restricted reserves, which if they had had meetings more often or taken the time to discuss could have been explained to them.
Longer term grant funding should be offered to voluntary organisations whose services complement WAG policies and who can support these policies by engaging with many people with whom WAG/LA’s would not necessarily relate or engage.
* What are the circumstances in which grants - both short-term pump-priming grants, and long-term partnership grants - should be the preferred funding mechanism?
Grants seem to be an historical way of funding voluntary organisations. Voluntary organisations would like to be flexible to respond to services and may be so in comparison with statutory bodies. If an organisation has become an acceptable way of funding a service within an authority perhaps more longer term grants could be given for example, a three year funding grant given which would alleviate the need to make annual applications and more effort could be placed by the organisation and the funder on the outcomes being achieved or under achieved. The annual application and then ensuring the spend has been made by March 31st encourages spending the money so that it is not reduced next year.
* Is the accelerated trend to procurement and tendering desirable? In what circumstances should we be adopting a partnership and investment approach rather than a competitiveness tendering approach?
It could affect existing organisations that have provided the same service for years. However, the fact that they have been funded for years does not mean than someone else could not come in and produce a more cost effective quality service. Generally the competition should be seen as healthy as it allows for organisations to grow and adapt to current needs.
Grant funding often comes from public coffers and the money should be used to gain the best, most cost effective service for the community.
A partnership and investment approach should be used where an identified need had been highlighted, such as the lack of support to certain groups due to pressures from other groups.
* Are current procurement arrangements fair to the sector?
The current procurement arrangements can only be fair to the sector if they are openly available to the sector. The information required needs to be transparent and available to the sector. Advertising in the Western mail may not necessarily be the best way forward or through the contract shop unless everyone is made aware where the details will be posted.
* How should the sector be involved in commissioning and procurement decision-making?
Much depends on where the decision about whether tendering and procurement is the correct course of action is made. Will it be made for everything within a Local Authority (LA)? Or will be made only for services, which the voluntary sector may be able to provide? We hope it is for the former! If the voluntary sector are the agencies carrying out the work that is commissioned then it needs to be able to feed back its own thoughts on what is needed on the ground.
The services to be commissioned should be openly available to all. Experience has shown that some LA’s use certain voluntary sector reps to make decisions for all but the voluntary sector rep only puts forward its own interests.
If the procurement is only for some services, which involve the voluntary sector, them some kind of mechanism must be put in place, that is open and transparent to all, on what are the criteria on which decisions could be made and how the voluntary sector will be involved. All too often the LA because of time constraints makes the decisions.
As part of the CWLWM (EQUAL project), Getting It Right Legally 2 is being produced by Playwork Partnerships (with input from Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs and others in the childcare field) which will provide the voluntary sector with the know how of how to go about the procurement process. Training for the sector could be made available using this booklet which could provide many with the know how they will need to follow the procedures to get the funding.
* What is the potential of social enterprise to move beyond grants? Where can the social enterprise methodology work, and what is needed to accelerate progress? And what are the limits - what are the kinds of organisations for which this is not a viable way forward?
Social Enterprises should be able to move beyond grants - the main issue is how long a project is funded for even if it is tendered or commissioned as sufficient funding will need to be made available to move the social enterprise forward to become stand alone.
Many voluntary sector organisations including social enterprises will need to understand and be able to respond to commissioning - they may have to respond to what is being asked for rather than applying to do what they have decided they want to do. For some organisations this could curb development.
* Is a mixed economy of funding (grants, tendering, loans) the way forward?
Possibly, as grants are often needed to start projects that could be self sufficient in time, however the voluntary sector often deals with the most vulnerable in society that will never be self sufficient through their location or their client group.
It will depend what the grant is for really whether grants, tendering or loans are the best way forward. WAG would like Wales to move away from the grant/ subsidy structure but often the money in Wales does not allow that to happen.
* How can the independence and advocacy role of organisations be safeguarded when they are in receipt of public funding (of any type)?
Every appropriate organisation should have a constitution/memorandum that sets outs its aims, objectives and powers and therefore its legal responsibilities are clear. The funding should enable the group to fulfil these aims.
The voluntary sector should become the critical friend of the funder and should maintain its independence and not lose sight of why it was set up and ensure it remains true to its aims and objectives giving its views to the funder but nor altering its reason for being.
