Stephanie Payne

Information Adviser

The Electoral Commission

3 Bunhill Row

London EC1Y 8YZ

17 January 2011

Dear Ms Payne

Freedom of Information Act request

Our Ref: FOI/EC/001

In respect of the organisations listed below, for the financial years 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11

(part), please confirm the amount (if any) paid under any grants, consultancies or contracts by

your agency

Please confirm the subject matter of any grants, consultancies or contracts

Please confirm the extent of any links during 2010 between your agency and

representatives of this group and provide copy notes of any meetings

Organisations:

• The African Women’s Empowerment Forum

• Agents for Change

• British Muslims for Secular Democracy (registered charity no: 1122730)

• The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (registered charity no: 1089503)

• Civic Voice (registered charity no: 1134476)

• Community Development South East

• Communities Inc

• Community Links (registered charity no: 10185117)

• The Co-Operative College (registered charity no: 1060008)

• The Democracy Trust

• The Fawcett Society (registered charity no: 1108769)

• The Institute of Leadership & Community Management (registered charity no: 248226)

• Involve (registered charity no: 1130568)

• The National Coalition for Independent Action

• The New Economics Foundation (registered charity no: 1055254)

• The North West Community Activist Network

• Novas Scarman Group Limited, an industrial and provident society (registered no:

IP28680R)

• The Sheila McKechnie Foundation (registered charity no: 1108210)

• TPAS Limited

• The World Development Movement Limited and the World Development Movement Trust

(registered charity no: 1064066)

I would be grateful if you could confirm by e-mail to or in writing that you

have received this request.

Yours faithfully,

From:  Stephanie Payne Sent:  09 February 2011 15:25 To: Subject:  FOI/EC/001 (grants to organisations)  

Your ref: FOI/EC/001 Our ref: FOI 3/11 Dear  Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act dated 17 January 2011. The Commission aims to respond to requests for information promptly and has done so within the statutory timeframe of twenty working days. Your request is in bold below followed by our response. You have requested: In respect of the organisations listed below, for the financial years 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 (part), please confirm the amount (if any) paid under any grants, consultancies or contracts by your agency

· Please confirm the subject matter of any grants, consultancies or contracts

· Please confirm the extent of any links during 2010 between your agency and representatives of this group and provide copy notes of any meetings

Organisations:

• The African Women’s Empowerment Forum

• Agents for Change

• British Muslims for Secular Democracy (registered charity no: 1122730)

• The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (registered charity no: 1089503)

• Civic Voice (registered charity no: 1134476)

• Community Development South East

• Communities Inc

• Community Links (registered charity no: 10185117)

• The Co-Operative College (registered charity no: 1060008)

• The Democracy Trust

• The Fawcett Society (registered charity no: 1108769)

• The Institute of Leadership & Community Management (registered charity no: 248226)

• Involve (registered charity no: 1130568)

• The National Coalition for Independent Action

• The New Economics Foundation (registered charity no: 1055254)

• The North West Community Activist Network

• Novas Scarman Group Limited, an industrial and provident society (registered no: IP28680R)

• The Sheila McKechnie Foundation (registered charity no: 1108210)

• TPAS Limited

• The World Development Movement Limited and the World Development Movement Trust (registered charity no: 1064066)

Our response is: The table below sets out all grants, consultancies and contracts between the Electoral Commission and the organisations requested for the financial years 2008-09 and 2009-10. There were no grants, consultancies and contracts between the Electoral Commission and the organisations requested in 2010-11. Financial year

Organisation name

Amount paid Purpose Subject matter

2008-09 Fawcett society

£58,914.51 Partnership Grants

The project increased understanding of existing democratic processes and voter registration rates among women from black, minority ethnic communities in London, Birmingham, Burnley, Cardiff and Glasgow. They used a variety of methods including awareness raising events,

2009-10 Fawcett society

£98,987.94

Partnership Grants

participatory workshops, media campaigns and peer education.

We have provided one document related to the Partnership Grant as detailed above:

Notes from the final monitoring meeting. (Names of Fawcett Society employees have been redacted to protect their privacy.)

Through the Partnership Grants scheme, the Commission awarded grants to not-for-profit organisations such as registered charities, charitable companies and public bodies

We funded projects that worked with:

young people not in formal education people from ethnic minority communities people with disabilities

As an outcome-led funder, we were interested in the difference that successful projects made to people's lives. As a result we funded projects that worked with people to:

increase their confidence so they would take part in all aspects of political decision making, particularly registering to vote

increase their awareness of how local, national and European democracy is organised and how decisions are made

increase the numbers who register to vote

In addition, the Party and Election Finance Directorate provided advice and guidance to representatives of The Fawcett Society and New Economics Foundation on the rules relating to non-party campaigners and hustings events in the run-up to the UK Parliamentary general election. I trust that this information satisfies your request.

If you are not satisfied with this response, please note that the Commission operates a review procedure, details of which can be found on the Commission website at: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/about-us/freedom-of-information-requests/how-do-I-make-an-foi-request

Please also note that if you have exhausted all internal Commission review procedures and you are still not satisfied you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner. Details of this procedure can be found on the ICO website: http://www.ico.gov.uk Yours sincerely Stephanie Payne

Stephanie Payne Information Adviser The Electoral Commission 3 Bunhill Row London EC1Y 8YZ

Tel: 020 7271 0653 Fax: 020 7271 0505

www.electoralcommission.org.uk  

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Partnership Grants Scheme Visit Questions

Organisation name: Fawcett Society

Ref: 02/03/289 Project name: Engaging Ethnic minority women in politics

Date of visit: January 6 2010

Contact name and details: , Outreach Officer

Attendees:

Outreach Officer

Chief Executive ,

Business Officer

Grants Officer

Before Visit Project start date: March 2008 End date: Dec 2009 Grant Amount from Offer Letter: Claimed so far: 06/07 £ £ 07/08 £ £ 08/09 £ £ 09/10 £ £ File reviewed x Outcomes printed x Budget printed x Any additional issues to discuss at the meeting: Introduction

The visit is part of our standard monitoring procedures. We try and visit each project during every financial year that we are funding them.

The list of questions are standard, ask every organisation the same ones, so apologies if some are less relevant to you.

If you don‟t know the answer immediately you can come back to us later.

The Project Review progress on outputs (get copies of any materials they have produced)

The project The agreed activities for year 2 of the project are:

1. Marketing of toolkit and materials through Fawcett network

2. Series of workshops in partnership with local organisations in London, Birmingham Cardiff, Burnley and Glasgow

3. 3 Advisory Panel Meetings 4. Intensive media work to highlight upcoming elections 5. Independent Evaluation

1. Marketing of toolkit and materials through Fawcett

network Toolkit: Your Voice, the project‟s toolkit guide to democracy for ethnic minority women was printed in January 2009. It was launched online in March by a special femocracy branded issue of StopGap, Fawcett‟s magazine that is mailed out to over 2500 supporters. Targeted promotion of the toolkit in line with the project outreach strategy was carried out through Fawcett‟s network including grassroots ethnic minority women‟s groups, advisory group members and workshop partners. As a result 670 toolkits have been directly mailed out to 54 organisations servicing ethnic minority women. The dissemination of the toolkit was specifically targeted at „project multipliers‟ who will widely disseminate the guide throughout their own networks and members ensuring further reach. Project flyers: Two sets of flyers promoting the project, the outreach events and the project toolkit were developed. Building on learning from year 1, the toolkit flyer was developed and targeted particularly at organisations working directly with ethnic minority women, as key agents for disseminating the toolkit at grassroots level. The flyers were disseminated through Fawcett‟s networks reaching approximately 1500 women across the UK through a series of at International Women‟s Day events during March. 2. Series of workshops in partnership with local

organisations in London, Birmingham Cardiff, Burnley and Glasgow

The project has successfully delivered a total of 14 events this year reaching more than the targeted 400 ethnic minority women.

Review progress towards outcomes (review progress stated by the partner organisation in their annual monitoring forms for each outcome and activity) Ask to see a sample of information from the annual monitoring forms for validation purposes. (This will provide assurance to the Commission that the

All events were delivered in partnership with grassroots ethnic minority women‟s groups.

2 workshops were held in and around Birmingham (25 March) and (2 April) reaching a total of 40 ethnic minority women.

3 workshops were delivered in and around Burnley (7, 28 and 29 April) reaching a total of 80 ethnic minority women.

4 workshops were delivered in Cardiff (13 May, 7 July, 23 and 30 September) reaching a total of 80 ethnic minority women.

2 workshops were held in Glasgow (24 June, 7 October) reaching 120 ethnic minority women.

3 workshops were held in London (1, 4 and 15 December) reaching approx. 90 women (final monitoring data still pending)

3. 3 Advisory panel meetings 2 advisory panel meetings took place this year in February and June. The panel meetings discussed possible legacy work for the project if suitable funding could be indentified. A 3rd meeting for panel members to contribute to the overall evaluation of the project was planned for October but was cancelled as some partners were unable to attend. Individual intensive interviews with panel members were delivered as part of the independent evaluation instead. 4. Intensive media work to highlight upcoming elections The project developed “stand up and vote” bus advertisements. Based on Rosa Parks the advertising campaign aimed at encouraging ethnic minority women to register to vote and vote in the European elections. The advertising featured as a month long campaign in London buses in the 4 week lead up to the elections and was launched through targeted media work. The campaign received print coverage in The Voice, the UK‟s leading black newspaper and online coverage from web-news outlets. In addition, the project outreach officer and project manager did radio interviews with LBC Radio and Radio Five Live on the importance of ethnic minority women registering to vote for the Election. 5. Independent Evaluation The project has appointed an independent researcher to evaluate the project and report back by January 2010. The evaluation will look at how successful the project has been in delivering outcomes; what best practice can be identified in increasing ethnic minority women‟s political engagement; and how useful was the project approach in working with ethnic minority women on their political participation. The evaluator has conducted interviews with advisory panel members, Fawcett staff, and project event partners and also started reviewing monitoring data collected from project outreach

information provided via the monitoring forms is accurate and reliable) Are they on target in terms of their timescales? Have their been any unscheduled changes?

events. Review of progress All planned workshops have been delivered and the project is on target to deliver successfully against all project outcomes. There was some delay in September to the programme of work as Ramadan and Eid impacted on women‟s availability to engage in the project and attend outreach sessions. Table 1 provides an overview of progress against all targets, pending data from one workshop in quarter 4. In the project application, 180 ethnic minority women were to register to vote through the individual based participation champion stream of project. It was agreed this target will be met through the more tailored revised outreach strategy, particularly through the grassroots organisations‟ dissemination of campaign materials. In year 2 210 copies of Your Voice have been disseminated to ethnic minority women by grassroots event partners. Based on averages from the series of events delivered throughout year 2, Fawcett estimates 195 recipients are likely to have increased awareness of the timing and significance of upcoming elections and plan to vote at the next election. A further 207 recipients are likely to have registered to vote. This meets the 180 participation champion work target.

Evaluation How have you been evaluating the project, what methods are being used? How successful have they been (are forms being completed etc) how are things logged? How often, how does this feed into the quarterly reports? Is the project developing as a result of feedback?

Evaluation The key method used to evaluate the project has been through the use of questionnaires (monitoring / evaluation forms) completed by participants at outreach events. In quarters 1 and 2, questionnaires were provided at the start and end of session for workshop participants to complete individually grading their confidence, understanding and awareness about politics and democracy and how likely they were to register to vote. In addition, an evaluation questionnaire was also provided at the end to collect participants views on what worked well and what could be done better. The self-grading proved problematic as some women were grading themselves lower following the workshop after realising their levels of understanding and awareness was not as high as they initially indicated, adversely affecting monitoring data on project targets. With guidance from the project grants officer, the questionnaire was revised and given only at the end of the workshop to avoid „paper-work overload‟ for participants. This method worked well with participants who had good English literacy and language.

Have you started to think about case studies? Please be aware that we withhold the final 20% of the final years grant until we sign off your final project evaluation report.

As the project worked with more grassroots marginalised women with lower English literacy and language skills in quarter 3 and quarter 4, the project shifted from individual written questionnaires to oral group evaluation using the questionnaire as a framework. This method was successful in getting higher participatory levels in the evaluation. All questionnaire responses are analysed and collated at the end of the quarter. This information is used to produce evaluation reports for each event. An evaluation update was given mid-year at a meeting with the Electoral Commission and fed into the project‟s quarter 3 reports. The latest evaluation / monitoring data is included in the table above. The project has completed one case study this year and is developing a second. Both case studies attended outreach events. Case study Fatima Osman1, Changing life-style activity coordinator (voluntary sector) Fatima is a 55 year woman who describes herself as Black British African. Originally from Sudan, where she was a qualified Pharmacist, Fatima moved to Britain in 1984 and now lives in Cardiff. She works for a local voluntary organisation promoting healthy living amongst ethnic minority communities. Why did you get involved in the project? What problems have you experienced in getting involved in politics or having your say on issues that affects you? Fatima attended femocracy‟s Your Voice because she wanted to find out more about politics and how it affects her and her community. In the past Fatima‟s caring responsibilities made it difficult for her to get involved in politics. As a mother of four children she did not have the “time to think about politics” and how it relates to her. As a result politics was not a “priority on her agenda”. She also lacked awareness in the democratic system and how she was able to influence decision makers by getting involved in politics, an issue she believes other women share: “I thought my voice wouldn‟t make a difference and wouldn‟t change anything because people in power won‟t take us seriously.” How did attending the Empowered to Vote event help you to overcome these or any other problems?

1 Not real name.

From attending the event Fatima‟s awareness of how politics affects her has increased. More importantly for her, she now understands about the power of her vote in helping to secure a representative who will take her concerns seriously and furthermore how she can contact her elected representative.

I didn’t know all the facts, like I could talk to my Councillor. [I didn’t know] who to write to and what issues I could take to them. I was not aware I could even do this. But now I know.

Fatima thought the event, particularly the style of the workshop, was informative and beneficial: “I understood what was said at the event. It was very constructive for all women [because] the points were put in a simple way.” What do you think about politics and voting? Has this changed in any way since attending the event? Fatima strongly believes now that everything important to her, her family and community is influenced by politics. Since attending the workshop Fatima thinks it is really important for her to research who is the best person for her to vote for. She intends to use the project‟s guide to democracy she received at the workshop to help her in researching this decision to make sure she votes for someone at the next election who will address her issues. She thinks it is important that the political message is spread to other women and as a community worker she has been sharing the information she learnt at the workshop:

“ A lot of women are still not convinced that their voice will be heard or make a difference, but now I encourage other women to vote and take part in elections. I let them know that it’s important to let their views be heard, and that they should go and see their Councillor about the issues that they are concerned about!”

Finances Ask to see their financial records, check on items under £250 randomly What steps have you taken to fundraise to continue the project?

Finances The two year project was a finite programme of work for Fawcett and we have decided not to continue delivering outreach to ethnic minority women‟s groups around political participation beyond the period of the Electoral Commission funding without additional funding. However we did approach two charitable trusts to request funding to build on the evaluation from the project and to extend the period of embedding this learning into Fawcett. Both bids were unsuccessful.

Who manages the budget for this project? How was the budget worked out? Any issues/changes?

With the arrival of our new CEO Ceri Goddard we are revisiting our strategic priorities and it is likely that outreach will emerge as one of our priorities going forward. However this outreach will likely to be targeted at our network of local Fawcett groups, and linked into enabling wider grassroots participation in our campaigns. Learning from the project will inform this developing strand of our work, as Fawcett‟s core expertise has until recently been in policy development, the project has played an important role in equipping Fawcett with the knowledge and tools to build on outreach in the future. The budget is managed by Fawcett‟s Business and Finance Manager. The initial project budget was developed by the Senior Policy Officer (Race and Gender) who managed the project until July 2009 and Fawcett‟s Chief Executive both have now left Fawcett. As outreach was a new programme of work for Fawcett, the budget for both years 1 and 2 of the project would have been developed based on organisational budget at the time and from advice from other organisations delivering outreach work. The budget allocation was changed for year 2. This was a result of re-directed project activities as outlined in the year 1 annual report. There was a very slight increase to the budget in salary costs: Year 1 Year 2 Salaries £90,290 £90,735 Direct project expenditure £48,000 £47,561 Indirect expenditure £17,535 £17,530 Evaluation £5,000 £5,000 This reflects additional salary costs when the Interim Director / Head of Fundraising and Fawcett‟s new Chief Executive took on direct management responsibilities of the project in quarter 3. This was agreed at the mid-year meeting with the project officer and grants manager.

Resources What have they produced so far, anything else they have planned? What of our materials have they used, and comments what did they find useful What about Do Politix?

Resources In addition to the toolkit (which used material from the Electoral Commission‟s Democracy Cookbook) and project flyers, the project developed a voter registration quiz. This was delivered at all workshops by the project Outreach Officer. The quiz was developed further in quarter 4 as an online tool for ethnic minority women‟s groups. The project also made use of the Electoral Commission‟s Step by Step Voting photo cards and How politics affects... postcards at

How are they finding our forms and reminders, any suggestions for us?

workshops. The photo-cards were very useful in facilitating interactive exercises.

Grants Officer conclusions on the assessment of the outcome/ activities with rating provided for each of the outcomes

Table 1: Review of all activities to date

Project outcome Total met by outreach events (pending final data)

Target remain

Total met by event partner work (participation champion targets)

60% of participants will be registered to vote through the life of the programme including approx (400-420 women)

389 participants said they had registered to vote or were planning to register to vote following attending the workshops.

11 207 women are likely to have registered to vote from receiving Your Voice

60% of participants will express an increase in their confidence about political decision making including voter registration (420 women)

370 participants said they felt more confident to get involved in politics by registering to vote and voting in an election

50

-

50% of participants will express an increased awareness of how democracy is organised and decisions are made (350 women)

368 participants said their understanding of how politics and democracy how is organised had increased.

Target reached

-

50% of participants will express an increased understanding of the impact that politics makes on their lives (350 women)

361 participants said they thought politics had an impact on them at the end of the workshop

Target reached

-

60% of participants will express an increased awareness of the timing and significance of upcoming elections by registering to vote and indicating their intention to vote at the next election (420 women)

365 participants said their knowledge of politics had increased

55

195 women are likely to have increased awareness of the timing and significance of upcoming elections and plan to vote at the next election from receiving Your Voice