VSNW sign letter to the Prime Minister on anti-advocacy clauses

Along with over 140 other charities, Voluntary Sector North West have signed a letter to the Prime Minister to express concern about the proposed 'anti-advocacy' clause that the government is proposing to include in new grant contracts from 1st May 2016.

More details about the proposed new clause can be found on the GOV.UK website - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-new-clause-to-be-inserted-into-grant-agreements. The exact phrase reads:

"The following costs are not Eligible Expenditure: Payments that support activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action".

Many other groups have expressed concern about the impact of such a clause on the important work that many of us do in helping to inform government policy. Some of the details are still unclear about how the clause will actually work in practice.

The letter and full list of signatories can be found on the NCVO website - https://www.ncvo.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/1249-charities-letter-to-the-prime-minister-on-anti-advocacy-clauses-in-grant-agreements

Two innovative Salford services selected for Realising the Value programme

Two Salford services dedicated to giving people the tools to make improvements to their health and wellbeing have been selected to take part in a national programme funded by NHS England.

Being Well Salford and Unlimited Potential (in partnership with Inspiring Communities Together) have been chosen as two of the five local sites selected to participate in the Realising the Value programme, led by Nesta and the Health Foundation, and in partnership with the consortium Voluntary Voices. Through the programme, the organisations will enhance their services across Salford whilst championing their innovative models for health and wellbeing.

The Realising the Value programme is focused on making person and community-centred approaches a reality and is about strengthening the case for change, identifying evidence-based approaches that engage people in their own health and care, and developing tools to support implementation across the NHS and local communities. On completion, the work of the participating sites will be shared. It will develop the participating services, and share them nationally as examples of how best to achieve the vision of NHS England’s Five Year Forward View. 


Being Well Salford
This project provides a team of coaches who work with individuals for up to 12 months on a one-to-one or group basis to make positive changes in terms of mood, weight, being active and smoking or alcohol intake.

Regarding taking part in the programme, Simon Kweeday, Assistant Director for Being Well Salford said: “We are really excited to be part of the programme. We look forward to learning more about how we can have a national influence, and how to further develop to continue to provide a first-class service to Salford residents.”

Being Well Salford was chosen due to its track record of transforming services – moving away from old-fashioned and expensive NHS models of delivering public health, and creating services that reach communities that are traditionally hard to impact creating effective, lasting change.

This is reflected in the service being presented with two awards recently, the Royal Society of Public Health presented a Health and Wellbeing 2015 award to Being Well Salford and Public Health Minister Jane Ellison MP recognised the service for its outstanding contribution to the public’s health – selecting it for the prestigious Public Health Minister’s Award.


Unlimited Potential
The Unlimited Potential services improve wellbeing by focusing on the strengths of local people, rather than their needs. 

For instance, one project is focused on improving the wellbeing of disadvantaged children by finding new ways of working with their fathers. This work led to Salford Dadz - a network of local fathers who have created male-friendly spaces where positive role models talk openly ‘shoulder to shoulder’, as well as taking part in fun dad-child bonding activities.

Unlimited Potential is working in partnership with Inspiring Communities Together, a local community organisation that works to engage older people and their carers - again, focusing on an individual’s strengths.

Chris Dabbs, Director of Innovation at Unlimited Potential said: “The opportunity to work with leading national organisations participating in the Realising the Value programme is one that we could not turn down. Having two of the five sites selected locally in Salford reflects the quality of innovation and practice that exists here in engaging with local people in the city.”
 
Realising the Value is a programme of work funded by NHS England and delivered by a consortium of partners including Nesta, the Health Foundation, Voluntary Voices (made up of National Voices, Regional Voices, NAVCA and Volunteering Matters), the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University and the Behavioural Insights Team. For more information about the programme, please visit the Realising the Value website.

GM Health and Social Care Devolution Event Presentations

From April 2016 the Greater Manchester will take full responsibility for its devolved £6 billion health and social care budget. Nearly 100 people from VCSE organisations attended a GMCVO meeting on 27th January to discuss the five-year strategic plan for health and social care in Greater Manchester. The presentations from the event are now available.

The plan has been built on the content being developed out of ten locality (borough) plans submitted jointly by councils and the NHS, and is intended to improve the health and social care of people in Greater Manchester by putting more focus on prevention, whilst also addressing the funding shortfall of £2 billion predicted by 2021.

The event provided an opportunity for delegates to hear about the draft plan from Warren Heppolette, Strategic Director for Health and Social Care Reform Greater Manchester, and how Salford and the LGBT community have been involved. Towards the end of the session, the ‘assembly’ broke up into small groups to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the VCSE offer as participants in health and social care devolution.

Presentations given at the event were:

VSNW - GM VCSE Reference Group

Greater Manchester Combined Authority/NHS Manchester - Health and Care Voluntary Sector Strategic Partners

Salford CVS - A Salford perspective

Description of VCS Assembly

North West organisations shortlisted for the Social Value Awards

Individuals and organisations in the North West have been shortlisted for the UK’s first Social Value Awards that are sponsored by KPMG. The awards recognise and celebrate good practice in commissioning and providing social value.

The winners will be announced on 11th February during a ceremony at the Social Value Summit hosted by Interserve and Social Enterprise UK. Find out more about the event.

Shortlisted organisations and individuals

Social Value Leadership Award for an Organisation

• Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) Procurement Hub: AGMA consists of 10 local councils in the Greater Manchester region and has developed a social value policy and framework to address issues affecting the whole region

• Halton Borough Council consistently considers social value in decisions and has implemented a social value policy, framework and charter

• Durham County Council has invested in understanding their region’s priorities and how their own social value procurement can help to achieve these priorities

• Liverpool City Council has set social value as a priority from mayoral level down

Social Value Leadership Award for an Individual

• Laura Pechey of the charity HAGA, based in Haringey that works with and on behalf of people, families and communities affected by alcohol. Laura Pechey brought in specialist support to explore how to embed the Social Value Act locally

• Anne Lythgoe, Strategic Manager at Salford City Council, has been involved with delivering, monitoring and teaching social value principles for over 15 years

• Dave Sweeney, Director of Transformation at NHS Halton Clinical Commissioning Group and Halton Borough Council, has been instrumental in promoting the development of social value in Halton

Promoting and Mainstreaming the Social Value Act Award

• HACT is the housing sector’s innovation agency which supports the sector to build the skills to better understand social value

• Kier Group is a property, residential, construction and services group working with organisations to promote social value

• Landmarc Support Services has embedded social value into the management and operation of the Ministry of Defence’s UK Defence training estate

• The Social Value Portal is a social enterprise dedicated to building the capacity of both the public sector and business to implement the Social Value Act

• The Wates Group construction services company is committed to creating employment and training through trading with at least 1 social enterprise on every live construction project
   

Driving Value for Money Award

• Gloucestershire County Council embedded social value throughout the tender process when it went to market for a new IT services provider

• Data Performance Consultancy works with public authorities to develop social value frameworks to measure social value and provide best value for money

• Fusion21 is the national social enterprise that provides procurement and regeneration services to public sector members

More information about the shortlisted individuals and organisations can be found on the GOV.UK website.

NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans - NAVCA Briefing

NHS England requires every area to produce a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) as part of the NHS Five Year Forward View. This presents a great opportunity for local infrastructure. STPs are local blueprints that every part of the country will need to produce for “accelerating its implementation of the Forward View”. The “most compelling and credible” STPs who will receive the earliest additional funding will be judged on the reach and quality of the local process, including community, voluntary sector and local authority engagement.

NAVCA have stated that a lot of members are finding health and CCGs an increasingly important source of support for local charities and community groups. If this is the case for you, no doubt you will already be involved in developing STPs. However, there are members who tell NAVCA they are struggling to get heard. STPs may give organisations a new opportunity to develop relationships with the partners in their local health and care system – as they will want to show they are engaging with the voluntary sector. The briefing will give an overview of STPs and suggest ways you can make the most from this opportunity.

Link
NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans briefing

The Economic and Social Benefits of Social Prescribing - The Rotherham Evaluation Report

The evaluation was carried out by Sheffield Hallam University on behalf of Voluntary Action Rotherham, and examined a three-year pilot programme in which GPs were allowed to refer people with long-term conditions to voluntary sector organisations. The report outlines the range of social and economic benefits that social prescribing has brought to the local community.

Social prescribing is a new term for non-medical services that aim to prevent worsening health for people with long-term health conditions. In recent years locality-based social prescribing services have increasingly been developed by health and social care commissioners to provide a mechanism for linking patients in primary care with sources of social, therapeutic and practical support in the voluntary and community sector. In Rotherham, the social prescribing service is delivered by Voluntary Action Rotherham (VAR) in partnership with more than 20 local voluntary and community organisations.

The annual evaluation report provides an assessment of the social and economic impact of the Rotherham Social Prescribing Service between September 2012 and March 2015. The results showed a reduction in demand for urgent hospital care, an increase in wellbeing and a range of positive, measurable social and economic benefits.

This information was previewed at the 2015 VSNW Conference in a workshop by Janet Wheatley from Voluntary Action Rotherham - a video of this workshop is available. In the video, Januet explains more about this work and some of the outcomes achieved.

Links

Rotherham Social Prescribing Summary Report
Rotherham Social Prescribing Full Evaluation Report

Taking charge of our Health and Social Care in Greater Manchester

In December 2015, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and NHS in Greater Manchester launched Taking charge of our Health and Social Care in Greater Manchester – the 5 year plan for health and social care

This can be found on their website - www.gmhealthandsocialcaredevo.org.uk

They have also produced an updated Powerpoint presentation to help explain the background to their work.

Also, the Health Foundation and the National Institute for Health Research have produced a paper entitled Devolving Health and Social Care in Greater Manchester:  Setting the Research Agenda FINAL Summary 

Locality and NAVCA Devolution Principles

Locality and NAVCA, together with their members in West Yorkshire, have produced a joint publication which outlines a set of five key principles that should underpin devolution

Devolution promises an opportunity to reimagine our economy, public services and democracy. Not only can it revive England’s local economies, it can also give people the power to transform their public services and improve where they live. There are well established voluntary and community sector organisations in every part of England that can help devolution achieve this.   

However, devolution has so far failed to involve people and communities. A top-down approach to devolution risks creating new layers of sub-regional decision makers that push influence, power and resources further away from people and communities. 

This is why Locality and NAVCA, together with their members in West Yorkshire, have developed a set of five key principles which should underpin devolution.

Key principles of devolution:

1. Creating a social economy. Devolution is an opportunity for creating an economy that works for the people in it, strengthening communities and prioritising social justice.
2. Representation of the voluntary and community sector within new leadership structures. Devolved structures should give local people a strong voice through their voluntary and community groups.
3. Ensuring accountability through effective community engagement. Strong and identifiable accountability to ensure power structures are responsive to the needs of communities.
4. Decisions taken at the most local level appropriate. Decision making and spending powers should be at the most appropriate local level, with devolved rights and responsibilities on managing budgets.
5. Working with local organisations to transform public services. Devolution is a key opportunity for public service innovation through local commissioning and delivery.

Using these principles to shape devolution in your area

In areas where devolution deals have either been announced or are expected, community-led organisations and local infrastructure charities can help involve local people and influence processes locally.

Some areas are running consultations on their deals such as the Sheffield City Region, which is currently seeking submissions. In Leeds, Voluntary Action Leeds organised a devolution roundtable for the local voluntary and community sector where the Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, Tom Riordan, spoke about these principles of devolution.

Voluntary and community sector organisations can use these principles as a framework for local discussions or in submissions to consultations on devolution for their area. They know that the picture is mixed in terms of engagement with voluntary and community organisations, which is why having a coherent message across the local voluntary and community sector is really important.

Local authorities can use these principles as a starting point for conversations with local voluntary and community sector organisations.

Devolution will deliver more for people and communities if it strengthens their involvement in local decision making. Working with local voluntary and community sector organisations is essential to making this happen.

More information can be found on the Navca website - http://www.navca.org.uk/blog/view/realising-the-revolution-

Collaborative Working: The Third Sector and the University of Liverpool

Knowsley CVS, other Merseyside social sector organisations and the University of Liverpool recently held a forum to discuss how the VCS and the university can collaborate more.

This collaboration could be;

• Developing joint research projects
• Adding skills and capacity to organisations using students whilst providing real work experience.
• Helping academics with their own thought leadership about major issues facing the sector.

Karl Wilding, Director of Public Policy at NCVO, suggested his own ideas about some of the big issues facing the sector where research and evidence could help and the rest of the session focussed on feedback from the sector advising the university on how it could make itself more accessible to the social sector, not least better communication about what is on offer and how /who to get in touch with.

Also, Knowsley CVS recently took advantage of a Knowledge Exchange programme with the university to carry out research into social value in Knowsley and they are in regular dialogue with all the local universities and Knowsley CC about volunteering opportunities for groups. A link to the social value report is attached below.

Link

Get Real - Social Value at Work in the Heart of Knowsley