Setting the Mayoral Agenda

Mike Wild, Chief Executive at MACC

Why we need an alchemist with a practical working knowledge of doughnut

With mayoral elections for Greater Manchester and five areas across England fast approaching, how are people supposed to judge who is the best fit for a role which is so little understood? Candidates are left both trying to market the role itself and to prove their capability of taking it on.

As a member of the Greater Manchester VCSE sector Devolution Reference Group I have been in various meetings with candidates, pressing the case for a collaborative relationship with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. Of course, that is not an end in itself: the outcome we are seeking is a shared ambition to eradicate inequality in Greater Manchester in a generation. It is an unashamedly big ask. We have no expectation that the mayor will be able to deliver on it alone: it is the collaboration which will be crucial. It will be fundamental to the role because the Greater Manchester Mayor is not the same role as the London Mayor, simply an 11th member of the combined authority – not above or below but alongside.

The mayor will hold considerable ‘soft power’, with the largest electoral mandate in the North West, a built-in political and media profile when he or she speaks and the potential to shape the conversation. Whoever is elected will suddenly become the face of ‘Devo Manc’ and surely a key figure in the ‘northern powerhouse’.

They will need the skills of an alchemist and have to create a potent brew from these various powers, connections and expectations. With no formal authority on many matters, delivering on a public mandate will require the mayor to work collectively. So far, the public sector reform agenda has focused too much on the redesign of services and not enough on the remaking of the institutions which provide them.The mayor’s office could be the model for a new culture of working and lay out the path for the combined authority and other public bodies to follow. The challenge will be making sure the mayor remains an effective catalyst: if the role becomes about taking the credit rather than enabling, its potential will be unfulfilled. If it only enables but never gets any credit, it will quickly be perceived as pointless and ineffective. The alchemy will be in blending some new balance in civic leadership.

The mayor will need to address inequalities within Greater Manchester: the ‘doughnut effect’ where the central area is (perceived to be) wealthy, surrounded by more deprived boroughs. Will redistribution within Greater Manchester be politically acceptable? With a city-region-wide electorate to answer to, the mayor will need a long term view and an understanding of the bigger picture. Nonetheless, he or she is will also need to be visibly improving the lives of those who live in, work in, study in or simply visit Greater Manchester.

There are lessons from Wales: I am impressed with the ambition in the Welsh Government’s 2015 Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. This places a duty on all public bodies to show how decisions are made with consideration of the economy, environment, society and culture. The statement that all four aspects are of value and reframe what is meant by ‘success’ or ‘growth’ is a bold ambition from which Greater Manchester could learn. This is a similar idea to challenge of the ‘Raworth Doughnut’ a view proposed by the economist Kate Raworth. She argues that the new model must lie between a socially essential minimum and the limit of natural resources:

If we want to get anywhere near to eradicating inequality within a generation, this is the transmutation we need in the way we see Greater Manchester, how we work together in it and how it is shared and seen by everyone. Our first mayor might do well to start by putting two doughnuts together.

You can read the rest of the publication here

New VSNW publication: Devolution and Beyond

A new publication by VSNW, Devolution and Beyond, compiles essays from leading thinkers and operators in devolution, exploring how the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector can be involved, in the context of the upcoming mayoral elections in May 2017, the UK's departure from the EU, and the emerging inclusive growth agenda. 

With thanks to our contributors:

• Mike Wild (Macc)
• Ceri Hughes and Ruth Lupton (Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit)
• Gill Bainbridge (Merseyside Youth Association)
• Fay Selvan (Big Life Group)
• Atif Shafique (Royal Society of the Arts)
• Neil McInroy (Centre for Local Economic Strategies)
• Sean Anstee (Greater Manchester Combined Authority)
• Simone Spray (42nd Street)
• Garth Hodgkinson (Community CVS)
• Carolyn Otley (Cumbria Third Sector Network)
• Kathy Evans (Children England)
• Jim McMahon MP (Shadow Minister for Local Government and Devolution)

You can download Devolution and Beyond from our publications page

Event: Leading in Learning Lunchtime Seminar

This free lunchtime workshop is for Trustees and Leaders of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) training and learning providers operating in the North West of England.

The aim is to provide a legal and policy overview in order to inform effective leadership and governance.

This is a partnership event between VSNW, the NW Association of Colleges, and Bates Wells & Braithwaite consultancy and legal practice.

Leading in Learning - Agenda

12.00-  Lunch and networking

12.30   Welcome and introductions – Warren Escadale, VSNW Chief Executive

12.40   Julian Blake, Partner and Joint Head of Charity & Social Enterprise, Bates Wells Braithwaite

Legal high-level overview of the roles and responsibilities of leaders and trustees of learning and training providers. On booking, participants will have the chance to shape content. The intention is to look beyond the basic principles of governance, and the tendency to highlight risk, to a balanced perspective highlighting the proactive aspects of leading a learning provider.

1.40     Q&A

2.00     Richard Caulfield, Director NW Association of Colleges, and Warren Escadale

The VCSE training and learning provider landscape is undergoing yet another fundamental shift. This session will provide an overview of the developing policy context looking in particular at the challenges and potential opportunities.

2.40     Q&A

3.00     Close/Informal discussions about next steps

Address: Warrington Gateway, 85-101 Sankey Street, Warrington Wa1 1SR, 27th March 2017, Noon-3.15pm

To book for your place go to http://bit.do/LiLLs

Singing in the City 2017 is back!

Want to join our incredible line up?

On Sunday 16 July the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre’s famous Great Hall will play host to a FREE singing and wellbeing extravaganza Singing in the City. This event has been developed for health and care staff, patients, carers and the public to encourage greater public engagement and understanding of health and wellbeing. The 2017 event will bring together a multitude of NHS, workplace and community choirs to showcase their work to each other and the public in order to encourage new people to get involved in singing. Singing in the City reflects the value placed on singing as a vehicle to promote both community and workplace wellbeing as well as supporting effective public engagement around health.

Singing in the City 2017 is a key element of a collaborative regional learning campaign now known as Learning Matters in Health and Care. Led by Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW) - the voluntary sector network for the region - this campaign brings partners and collaborators together from across the healthcare sector. Learning Matters is delivered in partnership with Health Education England (HEE) - the workforce development arm of the NHS working across the North West.

Get involved

If you have a choir and want to get involved or would just like to know more please contact Jo Ward by email: nwadultlearningconsortium@gmail.com  or by telephone:07708 428096. Please note places go fast.

Producer, Amy Jane Clewes, at the Royal Exchange said, “We’re really excited about bringing together some of the wonderful amateur choirs from across the North West for a fantastic celebration of singing.”

North West Health and Care Awards: just four weeks left to nominate

The Learning Matters Challenge!

Just four weeks left to identify innovative people and creative ideas that are transforming healthcare in the North West through asset based approaches.

Learning Matters is a new, regional learning campaign and awards programme led by Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW) - the voluntary sector network for the region. Learning Matters is delivered in partnership with Health Education England (HEE) working across the North West- the workforce development arm of the NHS.

VSNW is looking to recognise and celebrate innovative examples of asset based community development in any healthcare context as part of their commitment to Learning Matters. The Learning Matters campaign partnership straddles the public, private and third sector bringing healthcare people together. It is all about working better together by effectively sharing knowledge and increasing understanding of what works and why.

VSNW is particularly keen to hear about projects and key people who are unlocking talent in our communities. This might include:

• activity which spotlights prevention and self-management agendas through peer support and mentoring; or by creatively promoting health coaching
• shifting power, to patients and the public, by the provision of better information and advice
• activity with a commitment to reduce health inequality and deliver social value
• harnessing or creating digital opportunities.

Warren Escadale, Chief Executive of VSNW, said: “In this category, we’re particularly interested in how nominees are supporting and empowering community-led activity, with the potential to drive health improvement.”  

Can you help VSNW to identify key people and key activity which is making a difference to healthcare in the North West so we can tell this story, learn from it and inspire others. Your healthcare stories can be told using any relevant Learning Matters award nomination category See: https://www.vsnw.org.uk/nw-health-awards-2017 Nominations are open until 12 noon on 10 April. So we need you to nominate now!

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Learning Matters! You tell us why

The search is on for people and projects where individual and organisational learning is driving development and transforming the health and care sector in the North West.

Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW) and Health Education England (HEE) are proud to announce a new joint regional award programme and learning campaign, Learning Matters, to celebrate all kinds of learning across the health and care sector. You can nominate people: colleagues, volunteers or patients where their learning is really making a difference; or projects which are applying learning in any given context. Nominations will showcase the impact of learning on people and organisations in order to inspire others. They will importantly, acknowledge and say thank you to those who go that extra mile. Show your support by taking the time to nominate. Help us tell people why Learning Matters so much to everyone.

This joint campaign led by VSNW, recognises the contribution that adult learning makes to individual, community and economic wellbeing. It will emphasise the importance the awards’ partnership places on the need to develop and harness all talent. It will highlight what can be done to enable the health and care system to support people to have the knowledge, skills and confidence to play an active role in managing their own health; and how to work effectively with communities and their assets. Learning Matters will also demonstrate the fundamental role of learning in reducing health inequalities and how the sector can use leverage to add social value.

Warren Escadale, CEO VSNW said, ’Together with HEE we will be jointly celebrating and promoting Learning Matters because we believe learning is good for people, the sector and the region. But we need your help to identify staff and volunteers, working in and across the whole of the health and care sector, who have been transformed by learning and who can inspire others to give learning a go. We’d also like to hear about projects and activity where learning is shared and it is changing the way we think and what we do in the sector.’

The Learning Matters awards launch on Friday 03 February 2017. They will recognise people and projects in public, voluntary or private sector organisations; in all kinds of job roles not just those with direct care responsibility. This includes those working in an unpaid and volunteer capacity. These awards will reflect the diversity of learning and the range of responsibilities across the whole of the health and care sector. The award categories themselves will include a celebration of the role and value of apprenticeships for all ages. They will highlight important first steps into the sector. They will spotlight regional talent and shout about career development and progression. And they will provide an insight into how people in the sector support each other.

The Learning Matters team is also pleased to announce a number of sponsored awards which will celebrate innovation and regional ingenuity. These awards will have an eye on underlining the importance of supporting new care models, driving adoption of innovation, innovative community asset based development, patient, carer and public engagement, widening participation in healthcare education, prevention, digital health, personalised care and social prescribing. Your nominations will tell us how.

Nominations are open from 03 February until 12 noon on Monday 10 April 2017

For full details on all these awards and how to get nominating simply follow the link below.

#VSNW16 Conference Round-Up: Community Powered Change

How will devolution transform communities? It won't, unless communities transform devolution!

Thanks to all delegates and speakers for a successful conference. It was at the excellent People’s History Museum in Manchester, a museum dedicated to the history of working people improving their lives. We thought this provided an excellent setting for the event (apologies if it was a little cold!)

If you missed the Storify collection of tweets from the day, you can view it on our Twitter. Thanks for the hundreds of tweets throughout the day - #VSNW16 was trending on Twitter!  

"People have a right to feel left behind, they have been left behind"

Jim McMahon MP, the Shadow Minister for Local Government, Communities & Devolution kicked off the event. While the Brexit vote showed people feel left behind, new ways for people to have more power and control need to be found – and the voluntary sector has a significant role to play here. Politics and public services should be redesigned, argued McMahon, and he challenged the sector to make sure this is grassroots led. ‘Don’t wait for permission – make devolution your own!’

"Inclusive Growth isn't inclusive unless it's reducing poverty"

Next we heard from Professor Ruth Lupton, who is head of the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit, a joint JRF and University of Manchester project to track social prosperity.  While ‘inclusive growth’ is now entering the mainstream, ‘it isn’t inclusive growth unless it is reducing poverty’, and there is still a long way to go to deliver a truly inclusive economy. Lupton highlighted many sector led initiatives that can help: using social value, fostering social enterprises and implementing the living wage are all good starts. What is measured, counts,and Professor Lupton argued the sector needs a visible, credible voice on the economy. More widely though, social policies should be seen as investment too.  

As ever, we had a fantastic range of workshops throughout the day, delivered by colleagues from across the voluntary sector, public sector and think-tanks from the North West and wider, that gave attendees the chance to learn more about specific areas, and play a part in shaping policy, from Sustainability and Transformation Plans to social indicators.  

What does inclusivity look like? The theoretical and the practical

Delivering inclusive growth for communities was one theme for the day, and while CLES’s Matt Jackson had plenty of examples of ‘been and gone’ social projects, the economic development policy climate is changing, he argued. The voluntary sector used to be seen as an afterthought, but is now seen as a partner, and the centralised approach of the 80s, 90s, and 00s, is beginning to be replaced by place based approaches to local economic growth.

Professor Anthony Rafferty, also at the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit, wanted to know how social success could be measured, and posed the question of whether it is better to use what data you have, or abandon it and seek new methods. Those present had the small workshop task of designing these to feed into the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit!

Brexit and the implications for the voluntary sector

EU funding has supported many social inclusion projects, and Gill Bainbridge from Merseyside Youth Association gave practical examples of her organisation’s programmes supporting young people into work, through a wide lens approach. Network for Europe’s John Hacking suggested that, while EU funding may not be around forever, it is likely to continue to 2022. Nonetheless, a complete loss of European Social Funding could mean over 21,000 people in Merseyside losing out on life-changing support.

Assessing the sector's role in Sustainability and Transformation Plans

Over a third of VCSE organisations in the North West are involved in health and social care, and this was a popular workshop theme at the conference. Frances Newell, a patient and public partnerships specialist at NHS England gave an overview of Sustainability and Transformation Plans in England. Given the key role they have in delivering the Five Year Forward View, the lack of sector involvement thus far was an issue that came up and is likely to again.

Alternative and new approaches to improving health and social care

A practical model for health inclusion was outlined by Chris Dabbs, Unlimited Potential and Francesca Archer-Todde, Big Life, who presented the findings from the Realising the Value person and community centred care research project.  

Ben Gilchrist, VSNW’s Social Movement lead, and Chris Easton from Tameside NHS talked about how wider approaches to improving health can be achieved, in the context of their Social Movements for Health project with the Greater Manchester cancer vanguard. If you’d like to know more about the project or be involved, do contact Ben Gilchrist.  

How can we ensure the disempowered are represented? Exploring 'what works' in the voluntary sector

Transforming the voluntary sector was the task of those in the Engine Hall, and we heard from a range of perspectives: Anne Lythgoe, Salford Council, covered investment strategies for the sector, while David Beel discussed the sector’s inclusion in urban governance, with learning from cities across England and Wales. Whether the current model of devolution is more like ‘central government localism’ was his question, but in any case it was useful to hear from members voluntary sector partnerships in Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester that have been spurred on by devolution processes, and have set out ambitious visions for their areas.

Policy silos and linking up the economic and the social

Delegates got a chance to hear about the emerging findings of the RSA’s Inclusive Growth Commission from Jonathan Schifferes, who is the RSA’s Associate Director of Public Services and Communities. Schifferes spoke passionately about linking up social and economic policy, and asked why the only focus is on infrastructure projects such as HS2. The task of the Commission is to join up the silos, and inject ‘inclusivity’ into governmental policy, said Schifferes. Building a shared agenda – across the voluntary sector, public sector, business, politicians, and wider society, was certainly a message that came through strongly on the day.  

"Let's use the energy in this room - and capture it for social and economic ends"

The conference finished off with a panel discussion on how ‘communities can transform devolution’, and what the voluntary sector’s role is. We were pleased to hear from Kathy Evans, Cllr Sean Anstee, Conservative candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor, Hal Meakin, from Youthforia, Cllr Jean Stretton, the GMCA portfolio holder for fairness and equalities, and Neil McInroy, Chief Executive of CLES.

Although all of the panellists came from different perspectives, many of the points raised suggested shared sentiments: the current political climate is unprecented, unstable, and unpredictable; but there are reasons to be positive, with inclusive growth and devolution providing opportunities for progress. Much more needs to be done, and Hal Meakin argued that young people are currently being left out. It was clear from the discussion that policy over the past few decades has largely not improved lives for many in the North, and if 2016 is to be a critical juncture that ends positively, the voluntary sector and communities need to be driving change themselves.

Jim McMahon MP - The voluntary and community sector has a key role to play in devolution

Jim McMahon MP, Shadow Minister for Local Government and Devolution

Labour & Cooperative Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton

It was a pleasure to address Voluntary Sector North West’s annual conference earlier this month at the People’s History Museum in Manchester. In thirteen years as a councillor and a year now as an MP, I have seen firsthand the difference that can be made by local people coming together to make their area a better place. The voluntary and community sector plays a vital role in making that happen.

I have also heard firsthand on the doorstep, ahead of the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump, the sense that many ordinary people consider established politics to be an elite, distant and disempowering affair to which they cannot relate. People want and need a stake and a say in the way their society is organised. Too many people feel that they lack that voice. We need to address, not dismiss, this profound and prevailing sense of democratic deficit. Our centralist settlement currently leaves people feeling powerless. The voluntary and community sector, properly supported and mobilised, can help to fill that gap.

For devolution to be meaningful, it can’t just mean power passed down from Whitehall to the Town Hall: it needs to be passed down further still to communities themselves. Those communities can better exercise that power if they are well organised. The voluntary and community sector organises communities on the ground better than anyone else. So, part of the point of devolution must be to empower civil society, rather than hoarding power in the market or the state. Accordingly, the voluntary sector is absolutely right to look to harness devolution to give communities more of a say in the decisions that affect the lives of them and their families. The sector should be insistent in its demands to help shape devolution deals as they are struck and as they then unfold.

We all want to tackle poverty and reduce inequality. The best way to do that is to support more people into decent work. But a national, one-size-fits-all approach to helping people from welfare into work has failed. Devolution offers the best hope of a skills and employment offer that is tailored to the local job market and there is growing evidence that such an approach delivers results. In Oldham, the council has stepped in to fill the gap created by national contracted providers, supporting people into work. The council don’t receive any central government funding for this but they decided they weren’t willing to sit back while so many fell through the net. In just two years, over 3,000 people have been helped into work and a genuine partnership has been created with businesses, community organisations and the public services working together. When BHS closed and the shutters came down, as Sir Philip Green sailed off into the sunset, it was thanks to Get Oldham Working that every employee who wanted a new job had one lined up.

But Oldham also knows when to let go to, as was evident in the establishment of the Oldham Action Fund which benefited from a transfer of charitable trusts and historic dowries which brought together almost £1m of funding together for local voluntary and community sector groups to invest in long-term, sustainable funding.

It is true though that much of the discussion of devolution to date has been primarily economistic in character. That, to be honest, is a failing in our current politics in general. The voluntary and community sector is well placed to highlight the social dimension of devolution, deploying as it can the testimony of community members’ lived experience. People need to hear the stories and understand the relationships that matter, rather than forever merely looking at the graphs.

We rightly hear a lot about the pressing challenge of economic inequality in the world around us today. But the challenge posed by democratic inequality is no less stark. People do need money in their pockets, but they also need to feel that they have some influence over the environments in which they lead their lives. A cooperative approach to devolution, supporting the voluntary and community sector, offers the opportunity to level the playing field of our democracy.

We need to agree a compelling new settlement and give a greater voice to the people we came into politics to represent. And so, with any discussion on devolution, we must be open to new partnerships and, rather than see it simply as a transfer of responsibilities, we ought to see it as an opportunity to redefine how we govern, how we grow our economies and how we deliver the best possible public services. Devolution ought to mean politics done with people, not just for them. And that means we need you and the communities you help organise and empower together with us in the driving seat.

Third Sector Grants Programme in Salford found to have significant positive impact

The Salford Third Sector Fund Grants Programme – a two year partnership between Salford CVS and Salford CCG,  funding voluntary and community groups supporting wellbeing – has been found to have a significant positive impact, valued at over £11.4m; over seven times the £1.6m awarded.  

The evaluation, which was carried out by Voluntary Sector North West and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, found that the partnership was effective, the programme was well designed, and a robust application process has boosted overall standards in the third sector. 

Although Salford CCG funded the programme, Salford CVS were given relative freedom to administer the grants. The evaluation highlighted the importance of this degree of separation, saying that it had identified ‘the competency of Salford CVS in managing the programme from design, through to delivery; and in strategically developing the capacity of the voluntary and community sector.’

158 voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations in Salford received funding through the programme, in addition to 69 primary schools. A review of all the grants awarded showed that they generally promoted healthy eating in children, provided new community facilities and reduced isolation, and improved capacity in the third sector.   

The programme has been hailed as a success, and Salford CCG have already agreed to roll out the programme for another three years. The evaluation recommends that the values of the programme are ‘replicated across Greater Manchester’, and that the programme is joined up to other agendas.

Warren Escadale, VSNW’s Chief Executive said that “this highly successful grants programme shows that effective partnerships between the NHS and third sector are not about over prescriptive contracts but about developing a shared vision and framework, and then giving freedom to partners when they are best placed to deliver.”

“Our evaluation shows that grants can be the most effective way to award funds, particularly for smaller organisations who do not have the capacity to extensively monitor their own work. Trust between partners is vital, and the history of joint working between the NHS, council and third sector in Salford no doubt underpinned this.” 

To view the summary of the Salford Third Sector Fund Grants Programme, click here

To view the full evaluation of the Salford Third Sector Fund Grants Programme, click here