ICNC Minutes5th September 2012

In attendence:

Mike SherriffVoluntary Action Islington (Chair)

Colin AdamsOctopus Community Centres

Mark BrennanHomelessness Network

Katy FattuhiCreative Islington

Rahel GeffenIslington Disability Network

Anita GrantIslington Play Association / Children and Young People’s Voluntary Sector Forum

Rob Hamilton Older People’s Network

Toufik KacimiFaiths Forum

John MacKinnonSport Islington

Duncan McLagganVoluntary Action Islington

Nigel GansellPensioners' Forum

Chris TaylorVoluntary Action Islington (Minutes)

Giles RankinLondon Borough of Islington

Maxine HoldsworthLondon Borough of Islington

Apologies:

Ruth HayesAdvice Network

Phil WatsonVoluntary Sector Health Network

1. Previous minutes and matters arising

It was confirmed that Lesley Seary, CEO of Islington Council,will be invited to an ICN meeting annually.

2. ICN Update – Project Officer changes; KPIs; Membership renewals; Conference

Members were advised that the next voluntary and community sector (VCS) / council roundtable meeting will discuss youthand employment services.ICN members are welcome to book a place but numbers will be limited. Members who did not attend the previous roundtable on housing issues were assured that the consultation on housing allocation is still open and they can contribute by other methods.

Action: DM to notify ICN membership of roundtable details.

Action: DM to re-circulate details of consultation.

It was announced that DM is to leave his role by October. He will be the line manager for the succeeding ICN Project Officer.

Documents noting the ICN KPIs for 2012/13 were shared and briefly discussed.

Members were reminded to complete their membership renewal forms by the end of September in order to remain members.

It was advertised that places can be booked for the Islington Voluntary and Community Sector Conference on the 24th of November.

Members were encouraged to follow the example of Creative Islington and the Islington BME Forum and work together with ICN on events where appropriate.

3. Forums feedback

The KPIs of other networks were considered and it was thought that fewer, more specific indicators would provide greater focus and that the monitoring of impact should respect organisations status as networks.

4. Community Chest update: Rob Hamilton

RH distributed and talked through a document providing a breakdown of funding allocation so far. The deadline for applications for the final round of funding in 2012/13 will be Wednesday the 5th of December.

Action: RH to query Community Chest resistance to football projects.

Action: CA to ask the legacy team how the VS can engage and to feedback to ICN.

5. Community Review Committee recommendations on procurement: Maxine Holdsworth

It was reported that the recommendations will go to the council Executive this week and are expected to be passed. The Community Review Committee will report on progress in a year’s time. Members then spoke of their concerns about commissioning processes and MH responded.

Issue raised:It was felt that local knowledge and relationships should be better valued when making procurement decisions to avoid local groups losing out to those larger and better resourced.

Response: The council could be more prescriptive about an emphasis on local knowledge in a tender- but cannot prioritise local organisations. Large organisations are encouraged to approach local groups in relation to partnership. The council could go further and ask them to demonstrate that they have contacted local groups.

Issue raised:Training and support for procurement panel members (including council officers) was recommended so that theyare aware of the implications of their decisions.

Response: Training and support for panel members will be incorporated into action plans.

Issue raised:It was thought that requests to demonstrate impact in tenders need to be specific and transparent so that one group does not unwittingly use a less favoured model or present a less in depth analysis than another.

Response: It was agreedthat a uniform model for demonstrating impact for organisations across Islington would be sensible.Information on the model recently presented at VAI and VAI’s work with Goldsmiths were accepted as a starting point for development.

Issue raised: It was feared that outsourcing will lead to privatisation.

Response: The Community Right to Challenge will guarantee opportunities forprivate and voluntary sector groups to challenge to run public sector services but Islington council does not favour outsourcing.

Issue raised:It has been noticed that the quality of feedback from procurement panels has been poor and doesn’t inspire confidence in their decisions.

Response: Director level oversight of procurement decisions will be introduced to improve the consistency and proportionality of decisions.

Members were further concerned that:

  • Tenders should allow resources for smaller organisations so that they can compete in terms of the skills and time needed to produce a quality bid.
  • When small organisations lose contracts TUPE can takesignificant numbers of staff from them very quickly.
  • The approach of different council departments to the commissioning process varies – some are much better than others.
  • There should be an impact assessment carried out to assess the gap in provision created by a group losing funding.

Action: GR to inform ICN how the VS can influence the action plan to be developed from the recommendations.

6. Feedback on VCS – Council Roundtable meetings: Giles Rankin

Action: MB to liaise with JW regarding the case of particular service users.

7. The Single Employer Interface – VCS organisations as local employers: Maxine Holdsworth

It was confirmed that the council intend the VCS to be included in this project. Those interested in offering apprenticeships were invited to approach the council.

Action: MH to feedback that when considering ‘business’, a separation is made between the VCS and the private sector and to emphasise that large VCS organisations can contribute to ‘business’ events.

Action: MH to send DM an explanation of the Business Employment Support Teamservice.

8. AOB

9. Date of next meeting:

14th November 2012, 10-12am, Voluntary Action Islington.

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