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Brighton & Hove Transforming Local Infrastructure

CONSULTATION ON DRAFT TLI ORGANISATION BUSINESS PLAN AT AN EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF CVSF

23rd July 2013

Contents

1. TLI project vision...................................................................................................................................1

2. Purpose of this document....................................................................................................................1

3. Transforming Local Infrastructure to date............................................................................................2

4. Consultation on the draft business plan...............................................................................................2

Does the business plan meet your organisation’s needs?............................................................................2

Criteria for free/lower cost support – have we got it right?.........................................................................4

Health check and consultancy pricing structure – does it seem reasonable?...............................................5

5. Consultation on governance and accountability...................................................................................6

Ways to be engaged.....................................................................................................................................6

What would make you feel involved and confident that the new organisation is effectively governed?... .7

Trustees’ knowledge, understanding, skills and abilities..............................................................................8

What would you change about the board?..................................................................................................8

6. Consultation on the membership offer................................................................................................9

Have we got our membership categories (member and associate) and eligibility right?.........................9

Have we got our membership and services offer (member and associate) right?..................................10

How do you want to be involved in our representation and influencing work? What do you want your elected Reps to do for you?....................................................................................................................10

What will our networks do? What will be their purpose?......................................................................11

7. Consultation on branding...................................................................................................................11

Appendices: Attendees Presentation 1: Draft TLI organisation business plan Presentation 2: Governance and accountabilty Presentation 3: Membership offer

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1. TLI project vision

Brighton & Hove’s thriving community and voluntary sector is effectively and efficiently supported through a joined-up suite of services, which maximises the opportunity for everyone to contribute to positive change within our city. Community and voluntary organisations know what support is available and find appropriate support straightforward to access.

2. Purpose of this document

At an Extraordinary General Meeting on 23rd July 2013, having received prior approval from the Charities Commission, CVSF successfully sought members' approval for a change in its Charitable Objects, to match the wider remit of the TLI organisation.

The new objects are the standard Objects recommended by NAVCA (the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action). NAVCA is the national voice of local support and development organisations in England. Using these standard Objects reduces the likelihood that the Objects will need to be changed again in the future.The new objects are:(1) To promote any charitable purposes for the benefit of the public, principally but not

exclusively in the local government area of Brighton and Hove and its environs (hereinafter called the “area of benefit”) and, in particular, build the capacity of third sector organisations and provide them with the necessary support, information and

services to enable them to pursue or contribute to any charitable purpose.(2)To promote, organise and facilitate co-operation and partnership working between

third sector, statutory and other relevant bodies in the achievement of the above purposes within the area of benefit.

The minutes of the EGM are available from CVSF.

CVSF took this opportunity to consult community groups and voluntary organisations on the business plan for the TLI organisation, which it is in the process of developing. We were delighted that the overall response to the proposals was positive and we appreciate the thought-provoking feedback generated, which will help us continue to develop the TLI organisation’s business plan.

This document summarises the outcomes of the consultation, and provides initial responses to the feedback received.

Whether or not you were able to attend CVSF’s EGM, you are welcome to submit further comments to [email protected] by Friday 16th August, and CVSF welcomes one-to-one conversations about the TLI project and the new TLI organisation at any time.

After a recap of what’s happened within the TLI project to date, the consultation was in four sections, as follows:1. Rachel Papworth, Transformation Manager, introduced the most exciting changes

to current provision, contained within the draft business plan;2. Sally Polanski, CVSF/TLI organisation Chief Executive, presented the proposals for

the governance and accountability of the new organisation;3. Libby Young, Operations Manager, presented proposals for the membership offer of

the new organisation.4. Neo, the organisation we’ve appointed to develop the new organisation’s brand,

explained the process they will be using and consulted members on what the brand should reflect.

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After each of these presentations, attendees were asked to discuss three or four questions in smaller groups.

The recap and the feedback from the first three discussions is summarised below, with CVSF and the TLI project’s responses to the points raised. Neo’s consultation session is summarised at http://bit.ly/1c3sph7.

3. Transforming Local Infrastructure to date

The activities that the TLI project has undertaken include the following:

Involving a wide range of support providers in developing recommendations for redesigning services to meet the needs of the sector better

Using TLI funding for direct delivery to develop and test services that address well recognised and significant gaps.

Investigating options for organisational development, considering legalities, transferring services and staff, developing a shared working culture, business planning.

Communication and consultation. Commissioning the development of a new brand, website and customer

relationship management tool.

4. Consultation on the draft business plan

Attendees were given copies of: The latest iteration of the draft business plan for the TLI organisation; A paper setting out draft proposals for charging for services; A paper setting out draft proposals for charging for services.

Rachel Papworth, Transformation Manager, presented these papers, and the content of her presentation is summarised in Appendix Two of this document.Attendees were asked to consider three questions with the people sitting at their table: Does the business plan meet your organisation's needs? Criteria for free/lower cost support – have we got it right? Health check and consultancy pricing structure – does it seem reasonable?

CVSF’s/the TLI project’s responses to the points noted are in italics below.Does the business plan meet your organisation’s needs?

On first sight, there is an impressive amount of detail.

There certainly is a lot to cover – more to come!

The plan looks like good news for smaller groups.

This is welcome feedback. The TLI project has sought to ensure that the needs of smaller groups will be more effectively addressed.

Community groups may find it hard to understand the content of the business plan. It needs to be communicated in plain English, without technical detail. The implications of the changes should be explained on CVSF’s website, and CVSF staff need to be available to explain them.



http://bit.ly/1c3sph7


The tone of the plan needs to be friendly, welcoming and uncomplicated. CVSF’s current website has a somewhat corporate, unfriendly, formality. There’s a fine line between appearing professional and inappropriately formal.

We have recently appointed contractors to develop the new organisation's website (along with its brand and customer relationship management system). The aim will be for the website clearly to communicate the organisation’s offer to different user groups.

The plan needs to show how it addresses needs identified by the needs assessment.

It should be more focussed on the members and their views/needs.

Section 1 of the business plan (Situation Analysis) will summarise the needs identified by the unmet needs assessment and the service redesign process. We will endeavour to make clear how these are reflected in the delivery plan.

The plan needs to say more about what it offers medium and larger organisations.

Section 6 (Stakeholder Analysis) will identify all the organisation’s user-groups, partner and, funders and will provide detail of its relationship with each, including the nature of its offer to each user-group.

Why would private sector organisations use the TLI consultancy service?

Voluntary and private sector organisations face challenges in common: applying good human resource management practice, planning and evaluating services effectively, business planning…Once the consultancy service has built its track record and reputation, it services could be attractive to a wide range of organisations .

Is there a risk of conflict of interest/competition around consultancy services? Will the organisation involve member organisations in providing consultancy services, especially those that provide already? This would empower the sector, which contains a lot of expertise and specialist consultants.

We are in the process of clarifying the procedure for becoming an Associate Consultant with the new organisation. We anticipate that this will be open to member organisations as well as independent consultants. We recognise that there will be more potential for conflicts of interest and/or competition as CVSF transforms into the new organisation, providing capacity building support services, and the new organisation will manage this carefully.

Is there a risk of other conflicts of interest with other organisations?

The TLI project has involved a wide range of support providers in shaping the TLI organisation, and the new organisation will continue to work in partnership with these providers, identifying the uniqueness of each other’s offers, and collaborating where there are crossovers. Under the new arrangements, signposting will be more effective in both directions.

Effective representation is important. One group reported feeling ignored by the Council. An organisation reported having a higher profile in the city as a result of CVSF’s support.

Please see the section on the discussion around Representation, below.




Separate out equality and diversity issues from the paragraph about accessibility.

Equality and diversity, and accessibility, are intrinsically linked. Achieving full accessibility would mean ensuring that the full diversity of communities in the city had equal access to services. We recognise that this paragraph could be worded more plainly, and will be addressing this.

Need more detail about equality objectives.

We are holding a workshop with organisations able to provide a voice to disadvantaged communities, on August 8th, and will develop the equality objectives further based on the outcomes of this workshop.

Would like to see the staffing structure.

The staffing structure will be developed, in consultation with staff, by the end of September 2013, and information on the new structure will be available to members in November.

Would like clarification of the stated intention (within the value of ‘community development’) to “deliver services from community buildings and locations”.

We are considering what this might involve, in partnership with other organisations. It might include staff of the new organisation working from the premises of other support providers and/or new organisation staff running events and visiting organisations.

Would like clarification of the reference (within the value of ‘community development’) to “other neighbourhood based community development organisations”.

This will include The Trust for Developing Communities, The Hangleton & Knoll Project and Serendipity.

Suggest replacing “communities of interest across geographical areas” (within the value of ‘community development’) with “communities of interest, identity and place”: a more commonly used and understood term.

Useful, thank you. We’ll amend the business plan accordingly.

Criteria for free/lower cost support – have we got it right?

Broadly seems right. Support for charging organisations outside Brighton & Hove higher rates. Infrastructure organisations need to generate income to be sustainable as funding

is reduced. Concern that, as the need to generate income increases, areas that don’t yield

income, such as adult education, will lose out.

The current climate faces infrastructure organisations with challenging decisions regarding which services, activities and user groups to prioritise for support. The TLI organisation will aim to use the income it generates to supplement funding to provide services that do not generate income.




It’s right to use the membership fees to support smaller organisations. Larger organisations should pay for support. Larger organisations may have a bigger budget overall yet have no more spare

income than a smaller organisation.

We will aim to provide free or lower cost services to those organisations that can’t afford to pay, including larger organisations where they are facing significant challenges to their sustainability.

The organisation should assess the impact of charging in terms of organisations not accessing support.

In line with the organisation’s value of accessibility, it will assess the impact of charging through its annual members’ survey, and member consultation at events such as its annual AGM.

The organisation needs to communicate the criteria clearly, and ensure that organisations feel able to approach it to check whether they are eligible.

Eligibility criteria will be set out clearly in promotional materials, including the new website, and organisations that are unsure of their eligibility will be encouraged to approach the organisation for an assessment.

How will the TLI organisation ensure that it appropriately assesses organisations’ ability to pay?

The TLI organisation proposes to develop a transparent process for assessing whether or not an organisation can afford to pay, which would not place a heavy additional burden on the organisation requesting support. This process is likely to include a consideration of: The organisation’s income The amount of undesignated reserves held by the group/organisation The organisation’s cash flow The organisation’s debts and liabilities.

The organisation might be in competition with other providers of charged for services, such as training. It will need a clearly articulated policy on how organisations from all sectors might be signposted to paid-for, low cost or free training provided by other organisations.

Members of the TLI project’s Strategic Working Group (which includes most of the organisations in the city that provide support to groups and organisations) have agreed the following principles of partnership working, as stated in section 11 of the draft business plan:

In designing and delivering support services for community groups and voluntary organisations, we will…

1. Make meeting the needs of community groups and voluntary organisations as effectively as possible, our shared top priority.

2. Recognise and value the variety of expertise and reach of local providers, and seek input from partners where it might improve impact.




3. Ensure that partnership working supports all partners to achieve their strategic objectives.

4. Assist in achieving clarity and agreement as to the responsibilities of each organisation, and fulfil them with trust, respect and accountability.

5. Learn from our successes and failures through honest sharing and evaluation.

6. Work to ensure that the environment of Brighton & Hove encourages volunteering in all its forms to flourish.

The TLI organisation will only directly provide services to address important gaps in available support. Wherever possible, it will signpost groups and organisations to organisations providing appropriate support.

Suggestion that the turnover threshold for receiving free or lower cost services even when not facing a significant sustainability challenge be raised from £25,000 to £35,000.

The threshold was set in line with CVSF’s Small Community Groups Network position statement.The position statement has since been refreshed, with the threshold increased to £35,000, in line with eligibility for Brighton & Hove City Council’s Discretionary Grant. For consistency, we will therefore amend the new organisation’s threshold to £35,000.

How would a group’s eligibility be assessed if its income fluctuated significantly?

If a group’s annual income and situation doesn’t fulfil the eligibility criteria for free or lower cost support, yet it currently lacks sufficient resources to address its strategic objectives, it would be eligible for free or lower cost support.

Health check and consultancy pricing structure – does it seem reasonable?

The cost for type 2 groups just over the threshold seems high, though the overall structure seems reasonable.

The current financial climate is likely to make paying for consultancy services challenging even for some medium sized organisations (though the challenge may be more around convincing boards or management teams than the actual ability to pay).

Possibly. Consultancy fees would be negotiated individually for each contract with the fee structure acting as a guide.

Will the drive to generate income create a conflict of interest with the intention to provide free services? How will the organisation balance its resources, e.g. will a set proportion of staff time be dedicated to providing free support? How will that be measured and communicated?

We anticipate that the majority of the new organisation’s income from charged-for services will be generated by the consultancy service, with the work being undertaken by Associate Consultants. Thus we anticipate that core staff and volunteers will spend the majority of their time providing free services.

The market for the health check service needs to be researched.




Agreed. It may be more appropriate/effective for health checks to be undertaken through statutory funding, as a way to identify the appropriate package of free, and paid-for, support for an organisation.

How much income is the organisation expected to generate from these services?

We are developing a business case for the consultancy service by the end of August 2013. This will include sales and profit forecasts for the first three years of operation.

How will the charging structure be monitored and revisited? What will the opportunities for reflection be? Will there be genuine opportunities to make changes?

The new organisation will assess demand for its paid-for services, and review prices of other organisations providing similar services regionally and nationally, on an ongoing basis.

5. Consultation on governance and accountability

Sally Polanski, Chief Executive presented proposal for the governance and accountability of the TLI organisation. A summary of her proposal can be found at Appendix Three of this document.Attendees were asked to consider four questions with the people sitting at their table: In what (other) ways do you want to be engaged as a member in shaping the new

organisation’s work? What would make you feel involved and confident that the new organisation is

effectively governed? What knowledge, understanding, skills and abilities do you think we need to recruit

in new trustees? Is there anything you would change in relation to our elected trustee board?

CVSF’s/the TLI project’s responses to the points noted are in italics below.Ways to be engaged

Keep the networks while involving new people and expanding further into the sector.

The new organisation will adopt this approach.

Reinstate the practice of having a vote on the two-year work plan at each AGM.

The new organisation will adopt this approach, although a lot changes within two years. Much of CVSF’s influencing activity is necessarily reactive.

When information is presented about trustees (e.g. on the website, for elections at AGMs), provide photos with a list of their top three skills, rather than long paragraphs of text.

A useful suggestion. The new organisation may adopt this.

Embed volunteering within the organisation’s roles (Impetus does this well and it’s beneficial).

We are aiming to embed volunteering throughout the new organisation, and for the new organisation to set an example in terms of good volunteer management practice.




The Volunteer Centre becoming part of the new organisation means we’ll have excellent on the spot support to ensure this happens as the organisation restructure.

Circulate papers for meetings in good time.

We will aim to do this for all meetings. We appreciate that there was a significant amount of information to digest on the day of the EGM and thank everyone who attended for engaging so constructively with the materials.

A Dummies’ Guide To Being A Trustee would be useful.

CVSF’s website provides information on management committees and trustees, including the roles of committee members, at:http://www.cvsectorforum.org.uk/Resources/Running%20Your%20Group/Governance/Management%20Committees%20and%20Trustees

It includes links to: The Charity Commission’s ‘The Essential Trustee, a comprehensive document

covering what trustees need to know The National Council of Voluntary Organisation’s Good Trustee Guide, which

provides comprehensive information about a trustee's role and guidance on developing an effective trustee board

The Resource Centre’s information sheets on: The Responsibilities of the Management Committee The Chair's Job The Treasurer's Job The Secretary's Job The Agenda Taking Minutes The Annual General Meeting

What would make you feel involved and confident that the new organisation is effectively governed?

Keep doing what you’re doing. CVSF is an accountable organisation in that it has an open forum for people to input and feed back.

Generally feel confident that CVSF will work it out appropriately. Don’t want to be too prescriptive at this stage.

More events like this. Position statements are effective.

It’s great to have such positive feedback. We will aim to ensure that the new organisation preserves and builds on the best bits of CVSF, the Volunteer Centre, the Performance Development Service and the Skills Exchange.

Opportunities for feedback and involvement.

The new organisation will build in as many, and as diverse, opportunities for feedback and involvement as possible.

Update CVSF’s Complaints Policy and procedure.

CVSF Trustees regularly review organisational policies and procedures to ensure they are fit for purpose. Trustees will review the Complaints Policy as part of the process of developing the new organisation.



http://www.resourcecentre.org.uk/information-category/making-your-group-work-well/role-of-the-management-committee/

http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/products-services/publications/good-trustee-guide

http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Publications/cc3.aspx

http://www.cvsectorforum.org.uk/Resources/Running%20Your%20Group/Governance/Management%20Committees%20and%20Trustees

http://www.cvsectorforum.org.uk/Resources/Running%20Your%20Group/Governance/Management%20Committees%20and%20Trustees


Would like information on how the Reps Council links with governance. Retain the mechanism for Reps connecting with networks and communicate what Reps have been doing to the sector, for example, through events, reports and blogs.

As with CVSF, trustees will govern the new organisation and oversee everything it does, while Reps will be focused on external influencing. The functions are distinct, although some overlap of membership is helpful.

The Reps Council has recommended that it retain its core functions and takes more responsibility for Reps actions, reducing the support and resources required from CVSF/the new organisation.

Feedback on what the board is doing. Draft minutes of board meetings should be available sooner so members can keep

up.

Trustees feed back to the wider membership after each (quarterly) board meeting via the Dialogue newsletter. This will continue, and more frequent updates via the website might also be viable. Minutes of board meetings are available, usually two to four weeks after each meeting.

Trustees’ knowledge, understanding, skills and abilities

The board needs some private sector members/expertise. It will be important to ensure that the board includes people who understand the

new areas in which the organisation will be operating, e.g. consultancy.

We will seek such skills when recruiting trustees.

Ensure at least one trustee represents the grass roots. Ensure smaller organisations are represented on the board. Could people from smaller organisations shadow a board member, or be mentored

to become trustees?

Two-thirds of places on CVSF’s board are reserved for members and this will also be the case for the new organisation. Trustees have reviewed this recommendation and confirmed they will seek new trustees from small organisations, and offer mentoring support to anyone considering standing who would welcome the opportunity to learn and develop appropriate skills before doing so.

The board currently has more co-opted members than organisations from the membership, which creates a risk that the board is not reflective of the sector.

The board should be more representative of all communities Brighton & Hove (as should Reps, staff, membership etc).

The current board has seven trustees drawn from the membership and three co-opted trustees. We would welcome more members standing to be trustees at our November AGM, at which there will be 11 board vacancies.

Volunteering and volunteer management. Impact and evaluation. Perhaps there should be a board member with specific skills and responsibility for

LGBT, equalities and/or conflicts of interest.

As shown in the table above, CVSF aims to ensure that the board includes member(s) with knowledge and understanding of equal opportunities and diversity legislation.




Volunteering/volunteer management and impact evaluation will be added to the list of desirable board skills, knowledge and experience.

What would you change about the board?

The six year term for trustees may be too long. Would three to four years be more appropriate for this a changing environment?

Six years is a standard trustee term of office, as recommended by NCVO. In addition, as we transform the organisation, it’s important not to destabilise it. Three years passes quickly. Even six years is a short period of time within an organisation’s development.

It may be necessary to reach out to those who are not currently engaged. To enable people to get involved on the Board it is important to:o Make the responsibilities clearo Communicate the benefits of becoming a board member, e.g. people from small

organisations gain experience useful in their own organisations.o Make the organisation’s financial position clear.

The new organisation will provide this information when it advertises board vacancies.

The membership should elect the board and the Chair.

The board will consider the advantages and disadvantages of such an arrangement.

6. Consultation on the membership offer

Libby Young, Operations Manager presented proposals for the membership offer of the TLI organisation. Her presentation is summarised at Appendix Four of this document.

Attendees were asked to consider four questions with the people sitting at their table:

Have we got our membership categories (member and associate) and eligibility right?

Have we got our membership and services offer (member and associate) right? How do you want to be involved in our representation and influencing work? What

do you want your elected Reps to do for you? What will our networks do? What will be their purpose?

CVSF’s/the TLI project’s responses to the points noted are in italics below.Have we got our membership categories (member and associate) and eligibility right?

Is “community-led” a broad enough term to encompass the whole sector? Need to be clear what “community-led” means. How will we ascertain whether an

organisation that applies to be a member is “community-led”?

Organisations applying for membership will be required to demonstrate how they are open to members of the community joining their decision-making body.




Is operating “for the benefit of Brighton and Hove residents” broad enough? What about organisations that provides services to those who work, study or socialise in the city?

We will broaden “residents” to “communities”.

Not convinced by Associate membership: it needs to be tested. Will the wider public understand Associate membership Individuals shouldn’t be allowed to be Associate members.

We are still developing the Associate membership offer. We have consulted companies and statutory partners and are confident both that we offer them something useful, and that they want to formalise their relationship with us. We may change the name of this type of membership. We will present it to the general public differently from how we present it to the public and private sectors.

Uncomfortable with Associate membership being free: perhaps it could be reviewed after one year of free membership.

We will review membership categories over the first year or two of the new organisation. Given the scale of the transformation involved in creating the organisation, there will be much that is reviewed over this period.

How about a category specifically for national/international orgs? Do we want to attract them?

We will look into this.

Have we got our membership and services offer (member and associate) right?

Yes, happy with categories.

Not enough information to judge. The benefits of Associate membership aren’t clear. Isn’t access to information and

networking available to everyone?

We are still developing the Associate membership offer, and will ensure that we make clear what additional benefits are available to Associate members.

How do you want to be involved in our representation and influencing work? What do you want your elected Reps to do for you?

Reps need to be more connected with the membership, so as to represent the sector effectively.

Reps should routinely send pre-meeting reminders to the sector to make them aware of relevant issues.

Reps should routinely provide feedback.

As CVSF has done, the new organisation will continually seek to improve links between Reps and members, to strengthen the way representation works in the city.

Elected Reps should work to a manifesto.

This has been agreed by the Reps Council and will be developed in the autumn.




Is support to Reps reducing too much? Concern about reduction in Reps fees (though it’s not clear what ‘reduction’

means). Suggest monitoring the impact, e.g. do certain people/groups stop putting themselves forward?

The changes were developed in consultation with Reps, and Reps have agreed they should take on greater leadership responsibility around representation. We are continuing to discuss the removal of Reps’ fees and ways to mitigate any negative impacts. The restructure process will determine how the staff team supports Reps in the future.

It’s challenging for Reps to keep an eye on all issues, particularly since they work part-time. They need to prioritise issues, be more focused, and address issues that play to their strengths. And they need to be appropriately briefed.

The Reps Council has agreed a mechanism for developing coherent objectives and its workplan.

Would like there to be an equality Rep.

We will continue to support equality Reps, although there will be fewer than currently.

What will our networks do? What will be their purpose?

Equality network- Its focus had become too wide.- Concern about it ceasing because, when equality is mainstreamed, it falls off

everyone’s agenda.- How will equality be mainstreamed?

The Equality Network isn’t ceasing. Rather it will be run in a different way. Over an 18 month period, it wasn’t well attended and the sector wasn’t driving the agenda. We are trialling an alternative approach whereby, instead of meeting at fixed intervals, themed meetings of the network are convened in response to specific issues, such as Brighton & Hove City Council’s biannual events to engage with the sector over its Equalities Action Plan.

One of the new organisation’s five strategic goals is “To improve equalities practice within the community and voluntary sector and throughout the city”. The organisation will support organisations to improve their equalities practice, support the sector to ensure the accessibility of Brighton & Hove City Council and CCG services, and ensure that equality and diversity considerations are embedded within all the TLI organisation’s activities and services.

Need appropriate networks: to represent the population.

We are committed to the new organisation maintaining/developing four networks, to ensure it remains connected to the sector.

Provide opportunity to explore partnership working within the sector.

We are proposing to develop a commissioning network, which will provide a forum to explore opportunities for joint bidding for service contracts.




7. Consultation on branding

Neo, the organisation we’ve appointed to develop the new organisation’s brand, led a session on the process they will be using, and consulted attendees on the following questions:

What are the key challenges of providing community and voluntary services in Brighton and Hove?

How could this new organisation better help you meet your objectives? What are the 3 things we should keep top of mind when developing this new

brand?

A summary of their presentation, and the feedback received can be found at:


The feedback will inform the design of the e-survey and one-to-one telephone interviews, both of which will take place in August.





APPENDIX ONE

ATTENDEES

CVSF Members

Ann Tizzard Knoll Community AssociationArran Evans Sussex Interpreting ServicesBert Williams B&H Black HistoryCaroline Ridley Impact InitiativesChris Lau Carers Centre for Brighton and HoveDoris Ndebele Black & Minority Ethnic Community

PartnershipEva Jarvis Grace EyreGary Pargeter Lunch PositiveGeraldine Des Moulins

The Fed Centre for Independent LivingCVSF Trustee

Gill Reynolds ImpetusHelen Russell CHIBAH - Co-operative Housing in Brighton &

HoveHelen Starr-Keddle Harvest Brighton & HoveJane Lutter Jesus Fellowship Church (Brighton)Jannet Cook Metamorphosis Art GroupJess Crocker Harvest Brighton & HoveJess Wood Allsorts Youth ProjectJohn Patmore Brighton and Hove's Wildlife ForumKaye Duerdoth The Trust for Developing CommunitiesLouise Stone Adventure UnlimitedNick Douglas LGBT HIPPaul Bramwell Brighton & Hove SpeakoutRik Child Brighthelm Church and Community Centre

CVSF TrusteeSimon Lewis CityCoast Trust

CVSF TrusteeSophie Franzen Bridge Community Education CentreStuart Derwent East Sussex Credit UnionTerry Rixon Working 50 PlusTim Smith Grace EyreTomas Saig Radio Free BrightonVal Cane Friends of the PepperpotVicky Watson B&H Citizens Advice Bureau




CVSF staff and volunteers

Clair FarendenCynthia Marin JimenezDan SalisburyFabia BatesJenny MooreKate WelshLaura WilliamsLibby YoungMagdalena PasiutRachel PapworthSally PolanskiStella PeyerlSteve Hearsum CVSF Trustee

Jane VinerHealthwatch Brighton & Hove

Others

Ceri Davies Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP)CVSF Trustee

Ian Chisnall Christian Action NetworkKat Pearce Individual DelegateKate Kirkham Worthing Council for Voluntary ServicePhilip Carpenter Individual DelegateRichard Scott Individual DelegateCharlie Peverett NEO




APPENDIX TWO

PRESENTATION 1: DRAFT TLI ORGANISATION BUSINESS PLAN

Vision

The draft vision of the new organisation is:

People in Brighton & Hove are empowered to lead fulfilled lives as a result of the activities of a sustainable, diverse, influential community and voluntary sector.

It’s focused on the difference the organisation will make to people living and working in the city. Everything the new organisation does will be designed to improve the lives of local people.

Mission

The draft mission of the new organisation is:

The New Infrastructure Organisation leads and co-ordinates support to Brighton & Hove’s community groups and voluntary organisations. By enabling groups to thrive, it

empowers local people to identify and address the needs of their communities. It is uniquely positioned to facilitate volunteering, and to support partnership working

between community and voluntary groups and organisations, corporate partners and the statutory sector.

This mission statement:

• Positions the organisation in a leadership role: in response to feedback from consultation and engagement throughout the TLI project;

• Again focuses on the end result of empowering local people;• Highlights the key ways the organisation will achieve its goals: through facilitating

volunteering and through supporting partnerships including:- Partnerships that enable community groups and voluntary organisations to draw

on and benefit from each other (e.g. peer learning, resource sharing)- Partnerships that bring resources into the sector and enable the sector to

increase its reach and impact (e.g. with corporate partners)- Partnerships that enable community groups and voluntary organisations to

punch above their weight by collaborating on public sector service delivery- Partnership working between the community and voluntary, and statutory,

sectors to ensure that the needs and contribution of the community and voluntary sector influence planning, delivery and evaluation.

Strategic goals

The new organisation’s strategic goals are as follows:

1. To develop and strengthen community and voluntary groups and organisations to survive and thrive.

2. To build a strong, vibrant base for volunteering and voluntary activity.3. To improve equalities practice within the community and voluntary sector and

throughout the city.




4. To promote and support influential, effective partnerships within the community and voluntary sector, and between the community and voluntary sector, statutory sector and corporate sector.

5. To develop the TLI organisation as an effective, efficient and sustainable organisation.




New services

In response to the outcomes of the TLI service redesign process, the new organisation will do more to identify and support those groups and organisations which are in crisis or heading for it. Some of the new areas of delivery are as follows:

Health check

In response to a strong recommendation from the TLI service redesign process, the new organisation will work with its partners to develop an approach to diagnosing a group or organisation’s support needs, which can be applied in a way that is appropriate to the nature of an organisation.

Building on this, again in response to the TLI service redesign process, the organisation will develop a health check service, to provide an organisation with a set of recommendations, support it to implement them, and assess the outcomes.

Consultancy

Building on the work of the Performance Development Service, the TLI project has developed and tested a model for the provision of consultancy services which:

Uses associates, including associates able to address some of the key unmet demand the TLI project identified (such as support with: undertaking Equality Impact Assessments; human resources issues;, financial management; ICT issues)

Charges clients on a sliding scale, according to turnover and sector of an organisation

Liaises with the Skills Exchange so that we make appropriate decisions as to when pro bono support is appropriate vs when consultancy support is appropriate

Takes a commission both to cover overheads and to generate income to resource support for organisations that can’t afford to pay.

Training

In response to the closure of the Working Together Project, the TLI project has been developing and testing training services, through a partnership between CVSF and the Trust for Developing Communities.

This service will be built into the TLI organisation’s delivery but it will be on hold pending agreement within new Brighton & Hove City Council and Clinical Commissioning Group commissions starting March 2014. This decision was taking because a risk assessment suggests that it will be possible to start it again at that point without significant setback (unlike for example maintaining relationships with corporate partners which risked us losing some of those relationships for good).

Peer support

The outcomes of the service redesign process stressed that, especially in times of tight resources, it is important to capitalise on the resources held within the sector itself. Thus the new organisation will develop peer learning networks, and a mentoring service, building on the mentoring service that has been developed and tested through the TLI project.

Additional support for volunteering




The new organisation will be located at Community Base from the end of November, which will greatly facilitate joining up the new organisation’s volunteering services and those of Community Base. We are talking to Community Base about the possibility of having a joint reception.

We are looking into recruiting and managing a team of (perhaps three) volunteers to provide a face-to-face volunteer brokerage service.

We’ve been addressing the gap in support for younger people’s volunteering: developing a website to bring together volunteering opportunities for YP and provide good practice information.

We now face a tough decision over which of these we resource in the six month period before new commissions are negotiated.

Corporate partnerships

The Skills Exchange, brokering pro bono support, has been hosted by CVSF, with contingency funding from BHCC and TLI funding, since the Business Community Partnership closed, and we are building this key service into the new organisation.

From March 2014, we will seek to expand it into: brokering other resources, including training places and physical resources such as ICT equipment and meeting rooms; developing a service to support employers to run volunteering programmes; and enabling business leaders to mentor c/v sector leaders.

Organisational developmentThe new organisation, operating in a tough climate, will have a lot of work to do to

ensure it has a sustainable model. For example:

We have just appointed contractors to develop a new brand, website and customer relationship management system which, for example, the new organisation will use to examine the organisation’s reach. This will require ongoing maintenance and development.

It will invest in the ongoing development of its business plan and income generation model.

It will invest in staff and volunteer development to expand skills (e.g. volunteer management, community development, equality and diversity).

It will continue to liaise with other support providers to join up and co-ordinate services.

Communicating the new arrangements will be a significant task, involving for example, publicity, promotion and the development and running of shop-front access.

Reprofiling resources from October 2013 – March 2014

This represents a considerable reshaping of what CVSF does as it transforms into the new organisation.The new organisation will be more sector-facing, providing capacity building services which groups and organisations have been wanting for some time.

So, CVSF is seeking agreement with Brighton & Hove City Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group to reprofile some of its commissioned resource from some of its




representation and influencing activity, into services which help groups and organisations fulfil their aims and objectives.

We know that this shift mustn’t weaken the sector’s voice, or undermine progress CVSF has made in developing this function, but CVSF anticipates restricting its influencing efforts to mechanisms and projects where there’s a clear opportunity for input and/or change, and making smarter use of the sector’s influencing capacity.

Further detail on reprofiling representation work was presented in the section on membership (see the section on “Representation” below).

Eligibility for free and lower cost services

Subject to capacity, the new organisation proposes to provide free services to organisations that can’t afford to pay.

It will assume that no organisation with a turnover of less than £5,000 pa can afford to pay.

Above this level, it will assess ability to pay by looking at additional things, such as the amount of the organisation’s undesignated reserves, its cash flow, and its debts and liabilities, and provide free/lower cost service to organisations with a turnover of up to £25,000pa if they can’t afford to pay.

In addition, it will provide free or lower cost services for organisations with a higher turnover that can’t afford to pay the full rate and that face a significant risk to their sustainability, defining a significant risk as:• Being in crisis, i.e. not having sufficient resources (be that funding, human

resources, physical resources, skills or knowledge) to address the group or organisation’s strategic objectives;

• Needing help to deal with significant sustainability challenges, e.g. due to- lack of sufficient funding/income- moving into employing a paid member of staff- facing a significant change in resourcing requirements (expanding or

contracting)• Needing support to manage dissolution• Needing support to progress an interest in merging with another organisation.

This is summarised in the flowchart below.




Charging structure

The organisation will need to generate income to support service delivery, and may need it to support core functions in the future.

At this stage, we think the following services, in the emerging business plan for the TLI organisation, have income generation potential:

Facilitation and management of consortium service delivery (management fee to be negotiated)

Membership Health check Training Local Giving (charging structure to be determined with Sussex Community

Foundation) Developing Employer Supported Volunteering programmes for private sector

organisations (charging structure to be determined) Consultancy Advertising in the sector directory (charging structure to be determined through

research into costs of comparable directories).

Attendees were asked to consider the proposed charges for the health check and consultancy services, as follows:

Health check

Service Staff days

Cost1 Fee

Assessment (review of documents such as business plans, half day meeting) and production of written report

1.5 £367.50

£450

Prepare, deliver and write up staff workshop 1.5 £367.50

£450

Provide up to 1 day’s telephone support with implementing recommendations

1 £245 £300

Follow-up assessment, including written report 1 £245 £300Full service 5 £1,225 £1,50

0

1 Development worker daily rate plus on-costs and overheads.




Thus, for example, five full health check services would generate enough income to provide one full health check service at no charge.

Consultancy

Consultancy fees would be negotiated per project, based on an estimate of the time required to deliver a contract, the daily rates below, and estimates of other costs (e.g. expenses).

Organisation type

Daily rate (excl VAT)

Consultant rate

Overhead charge

(15%)

Contribution to

bursaries

Total commissi

onVCS with income <£25k pa

Likely to be signposted to mentoring/peer support

Not applicable

VCSE/SME with income £25k-£500k pa

£300 £240 £45 5% £15 20% £60

VCSE/SME with income £500k+ pa

£400 £280 £60 15% £60 30% £120

Public/private sector with income £500k+ pa

£500 £325 £75 20% £100

35% £175

£600 £360 £90 25% £150

40% £240

£700 £385 £105 30% £210

45% £315

£800 £400 £120 35% £280

50% £400

NB: Rates will be 20 per cent higher for non-members.




APPENDIX THREE

PRESENTATION 2: GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

CVSF is a company owned by its members. Decisions, such as the change of charitable objects being proposed today, are made by members.

The Transforming Local Infrastructure Programme Delivery Group sees this as an important principle and value that should continue.

CVSF’s mandate, its authority to do what it does, is set by its members. Staff and volunteers have a sense of a moral contract to deliver what members want and need, while being guided by the organisation's trustees.

CVSF involves its stakeholders through a variety of mechanisms specified in its work plans and strategies, including:

Information and communication: Dialogue contains information on everything the organisation is doing and opportunities to get involved. It also carries updates from trustees after each board meeting.

Engagement: e.g. events like today’s, development meetings to get members input to strategy and planning.

Trustees: provide oversight and always lead presentations AGMs, and today’s EGM. Research: the annual members’ survey, regular service and project focused

surveys, the Reps survey, Taking Account (an economic and social audit of the sector, which assesses how organisations are doing and what you need from us)

Service feedback: evaluating services through forms completed at events, network meeting discussions, focus groups, and ongoing dialogue

It is accountable to its elected board of trustees. Elected trustees are representative of CVSF’s membership though they neither represent any particular interest area (they are required to manage any potential conflicts of interest in line with CVSF policy) nor fulfil CVSF’s commitment to being member-led (which is addressed as described above).

CVSF’s trustee board is responsible for developing policy and plans to ensure staff implement action based on members’ feedback. It’s also responsible for mediating between different groups and competing interests. This can include inviting member representatives onto CVSF sub-committees in an advisory capacity.

The board consists of up to 15 trustees, of which up to 10 are elected and up to five appointed. The board aims to balance representation of members’ interests with ensuring it has the skills it needs to ensure the organisation’s sustainability.

Trustees serve a maximum six year term of office, and half of them retire by rotation each year.

There will be 11 board vacancies at the November 2013 AGM.

CVSF can co-opt trustees to fill vacancies at any time

Honorary officers are elected by the Board at the first board meeting following the AGM.The table below shows the knowledge/understanding and skills/abilities that CVSF aims to ensure are available within its board.




Knowledge And Understanding Skills and AbilitiesContracts of employment and Participative methodsEqual opportunities and diversity ChairingStaff management FacilitatingCharity Law Consensus buildingCompany Law Team workingHealth and safety legislation Networking skillsOrganisational policy and procedures Representation and Funding and fundraising Numeracy and literacyFinancial procedures and systems Communication skillsUrban/ regeneration policy and Public SpeakingQuality assurance NegotiationMonitoring and evaluation Effective ListeningMarketing, publicity, PR Evaluation and priority Current government policy and Lobbying and

Developing strategic Strategic / creative Change management

In her report, the consultant the TLI project commissioned to consider what structure would be appropriate for the TLI organisation, stated:“It has been agreed by the [Programme Delivery Group] that this new organisation must be flexible and nimble. Open, listening communications with members and stakeholders is very important, but in the current climate, organisations that cannot move quickly, due to unwieldy structures, are being beaten in the race to contracts, as evidenced by deep-rooted organisations disappearing. New technologies help balance the potential tension between consultation and action – and it will be important for the new organisation to negotiate this with its members”.




APPENDIX FOUR

PRESENTATION 3: MEMBERSHIP OFFER

The new organisation will have two categories of membership: member and associate.

Member

All community-led organisations or groups which operate in or for the benefit of Brighton and Hove residents will be eligible to be members. This will include: Registered charities; Community Interest Companies or Companies Limited by Guarantee whose

constitutions make provision for an asset lock to another community-led organisation, and make provision for anyone to apply to be a member of their governing boards ;

Independent not-for-profit constituted/un-constituted community groups.

Members will be charged a fee to join the new organisation, set according to the same principles as previously, i.e. a sliding scale nominal fee determined by a group or organisation’s average annual income. Membership and payment of the fee will be subject to renewal every two years.

Associate

Any group or organisation which operates in Brighton and Hove, and any individual who lives or works in Brighton and Hove will be eligible to be an associate of the new organisation. This will include: Members of the public Businesses Consultants/trainers Public sector organisations Not-for-profit groups which bring people together for the purpose of social

improvement, but which aren’t independently constituted, or part of a business, public sector organisation or educational establishment

Associates will not be charged a fee to join the organisation. No individual, group or organisation can join the new organisation if their primary purpose is party political. Members and associates must agree to abide by the new organisation’s equality and diversity policy.

Membership Offer

Members will benefit from rights, exclusive access to specific services, and discounted rates for some charged for services.

Members’ rights will include: Speaking and voting rights at all General Meetings of the new organisation Staff and volunteers from member organisations can stand for election as trustees

of the new organisation Staff and volunteers from member organisations can stand for election as sector

representatives, with the support of their organisation The opportunity to be included in the new organisation's Directory of Members




The opportunity for projects which are part of their organisation or group to have all member rights, apart from voting rights at General Meetings

Free access to the following services:- Online resources- Newsletters and postal mailings- Networks and events- Online forums for information sharing - Pro-Bono support provided by Skills Exchange- Mentoring support provided by Mentoring Network

Discounted access to the following services:- Training - Consultants

Other member benefits will include: The opportunity to shape the new organisation’s network/events’ agendas Involvement in developing sector position statements and having their own elected

representatives to speak and advocate for them/the sector Being able to shape the strategic directions of the new organisation, its business

plan, work plan and priorities Being part of a collective movement which promotes social change and social

justice Being part of an organisation that has the sector’s interests at its heart, and which

lobbies and campaigns on the sector’s behalf.

Associate Offer

Associates of the new organisation will be able to: Receive e-updates about the new organisation’s work (e.g. its newsletter) Attend the new organisation’s General Meetings to observe proceedings Attend other events (at the new organisation’s discretion, when they are not

member only events)

They will also benefit from opportunities for partnership working with the sector and member organisations, for example: Businesses will be encouraged to join Skills Exchange, which will co-ordinate pro-

bono support to the sector. Consultants and trainers will be encouraged to join the consultancy company within

the new organisation, which will provide paid-for services to support the sector . Individuals will be encouraged to volunteer, and sign up to receive information

about volunteering, including to volunteer for the new organisation so as to be part of the team providing support to the sector.

Representation

As a result of the additional sector support and capacity building activities the new organisation will be taking on, it will need to reduce the amount of staff time spend on representation and influencing as a distinct activity.




We know you don’t want to lose the sector’s voice and profile, and so the new organisation will continue to prioritise representation and influencing as an activity. But we also know representation work will never be perfect as it is subject to so many other factors, such as the changing role of the sector, and changes within funders and other decision-makers.

To reduce resources allocated to representation and influencing, while maintaining effective sector voice and structures to support this, CVSF proposes to make the following changes to its representation and influencing activity:

Representation Fees: all elected reps organisations and groups currently receive an honorarium payment of approximately £850 a year (which amounts to a total of £25,000 a year). The fees will be reduced and/or offered only under specific circumstances, e.g. when a Rep’s role in their organisation is voluntary.

Reps Council: the Reps Council will take on identifying agendas for influence and intelligence sharing, and joint work planning across areas to influence. The Reps Council is made up of all the elected representatives. It will lead sector influencing activity, meeting once a quarter. Reps will be elected against themes, either those CVSF currently uses, or ones developed from these.

Shadow reps : there will be opportunities for people who have not been Reps, and who would like to develop representation and leadership skills, to become shadow Reps. These positions will involve mentoring support from experienced Reps

Networks

To free resources for additional sector support and capacity building, the new organisation will support fewer sector networks and run fewer events by comparison to CVSF’s work over the last four or five years. We are proposing to reduce the number of networks we provide direct support to, to the following: Children and Young People Communities ‘issues’, which will seek to engage our membership around issues

facing local communities. We anticipate that this will include issues such as: financial inclusion; welfare reform; digital inclusion.

Small Community Groups Commissioning, which will support Chief Executives and senior managers of larger

organisations, and focus on the role of the sector in public service delivery, and issues such as commissioning, prospectus, strategic influencing and engagement. It will feed directly into the Reps Council and seek to influence commissioning practice.

We are also proposing to work in partnership with other organisations that support networks.

We are looking to Healthwatch Brighton and Hove to gather information about the needs of local people and organisations with regards to health, mental health, and wellbeing.



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