NOTES OF A MEETING OF THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR FORUM

Thursday 8 December 2011 at 6.30 pm

PRESENT: Councillor S Kabir (in the Chair), Councillor Adeyeyeand the following representatives:

Sunita Chauhan / Advance Advocacy Project
Daksha Chauhan-Keys / Age UK
Tsige Dejene / Brent Active Citizens
Perica Hadzi-Jovancic / Bosnia Herzegovina Community Advice Centre
Paulo Pimentel / Brent Bereavement Services
Iqbal Mansoor / Brent Heart of Gold Support Group
Natasha / Brent Samaritans
Kathleen Fraser / Chalkhill Residents’ Association
Amanda Rose / Family Carers Team
Abdi Farah / Horn Stars
Zamira Ruspi / Mother Theresa Albanian Union
Agim Krasniqui / Mother Theresa Albanian Union
Sabina Khan / Oracle Training
Vincent Cox / Brent Association of Disabled People
Zibiah Alfred / RELATE London North West
Patrick Mckay / St Michaels and All Angels
Mr and Mrs V Jeganathan / Tamil Cultural Centre
Theo Martinson / WISE Social Care & Education. Project
Hanna Field / WLRWF
Duaa Anwar / ICIC
Sarbjit Ganger / Asian Women’s Resource Centre
Phil Sealy
Dilwyn Chambers / Willesden Local History Society
Christian Brown / BASIS Project
Ahmed Serroukh / AMD
Jane Knight / Families Without Fear
Keith Lunn / OK Club
Dan Scrimgeour / Brent BASIS
May White / Magnolia & Prestoin & Mall YCC
Peter Nelke / Middlesex ITEC
Vincent Cox / BADP
Debra Blackwood / The Fix-Up Programme
Judith Ressler / Thames 21
Danny Maher / Cricklewood Homeless Concern

Ros BaptisteEnergy Solutions

OFFICERS:

Cathy Tyson, Joanna McCormick (Strategy Partnerships & Improvement),Augusta Morton, Jacqueline Smith(Community Care), and Joe Kwateng (Legal and Procurement).

Apologies for absence were received on behalf ofthe following:

Councillor Al-Ebadi

MauraJackson (Advance)

Sharon Cohen (Jewish Care)

Elders Voice

Brent Neighbourhood Watch Association

1.Welcome and introductions

Councillor Kabir welcomed all those in attendance at the meeting and highlighted the items on the agenda for the meeting.

2.Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 20October 2011 were approved as an accurateand correct record.

3Matters Arising

None.

4.CVS Brent – update on activities

CVS Membership

Jackie Collins circulated copies of the CVS Brent terms of membership effective from 1 November 2011 until further notice, which was adopted by CVS Brent in line with its Memorandum of Association. The following terms were noted:

  1. Membership was open to all voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations based in or working in Brent. Individual membership was also available to those who supported the vision, mission and values of such organisations in Brent.
  2. The number of individual members may not exceed one-quarter of general members.
  3. General or individual members should apply to CVS Brent in the form required by the Boardand be approved by the trustees.
  4. General members should appoint a named representative.
  5. Membership would not be transferable.
  6. Each member shall have one vote.
  7. Members would have the right to appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf as long as they submit the designated proxy form to the organisation.

In response to questions about the application process, Jackie Collins referred members to the CVS Brent website

which contained all relevant information that may be required as well as give opportunities for exploring the activities of CVS Brent.

Councillor Kabir thanked Jackie Collins for her informative presentation.

5.Presentations from Voluntary Sector Organisations

a)St Michael’s Youth Project

Patrick McKay gave a slide presentation for St Michaels Youth Project. Founded in 1996, the youth project aimed to raise self worth of young people, befriending the community and teaching them to play steel pans.

He highlighted the main programmes which included Education into the Future; Girlhood to Womanhood; Environmental Awareness. He clarified that the youth project employed early intervention techniques to get young people on track with positive engagement within the community.

Mr Mckay informed the meeting that membership was by word of mouth and had been growing steadily and gradually and currently was about 140 young people.

b)Brent Heart of Gold (BHG)

Iqbal Mansour presented on behalf of Brent Heart of Gold. BHG was formed in 2004 and launched in 2005. The organisation which had in excess of 1,200 members/patients in Brent offered support and guidance, stroke and stress management to its members. BHG organised visits to its members in hospitals. As part of its awareness programme, BHG organised sponsored walks for which about £20,000 had been collected thus far as well as healthy eating projects. Mr Mansoor added that there was a small fee to join and that membership was open to everyone.

c)Brent Mencap

Anne O’Neill gave a slide presentation to the Forum. She started by saying that Brent Mencap supported people of all ages with learning disabilities. It was widely known that adults and children with learning disability were more likely to be abusedand to counter that, “disablist” hate crime was now recognised in law. She continued that in order to raise awareness of the problem, “Stand by me” a local and national campaign had been put in place. Other groups identified were people with mental health problems, physical disabilities and those in receipt of adult social care services. She continued that the prevalence of abuse raised issues for the voluntary sector and highlighted some of the measures in place to address cases of widespread abuse:

  • Safeguarding leaflets in all main reception areas
  • Updating safeguarding adults and children’s policies
  • Reporting concerns immediately
  • Safer recruitment and regular training with updates
  • Enhanced CRB checks for staff and volunteers
  • Compliance with Pan London procedures
  • Forced marriage guidance

Ann O’Neillemphasised that Brent had a zero tolerance of abuseparticularly against vulnerable persons as it believed that everyone had the right to live a life free from abuse

6.Voluntary Sector Issues

Cathy Tyson, Assistant Director Policy gave a presentation to the forum on voluntary sector issues. In giving the economic update, she highlighted the following points:

  • Economic predictions were gloomy and universally negative
  • Recovery had ground to a halt with 0% predicted GDP in 2012
  • Inflation remained high at 5% but predicted to fall
  • Interest rates remained low at 0.5% and not predicted to rise

In setting the background, she drew attention to the economic climate and uncertainties and the reductions in local government funding from £29.7bn to £24.2bn (-26% in real terms). She added that with reductions in local government funding from £29.7bn to £24.2bn (-26% in real terms), reduced incomes for householdsthe Council required to take tough longer term decisions involving efficiency savings and transformation through the one council programme. Cathy Tyson continued that the council needed to make further savings, keep strict controls of new commitments, take tough decisions early to deliver full year’s savings over the next three years and ensure there were no over-spend in the financial 2011-12.

In conclusion, Cathy Tyson said that the Council’s budget report would be submitted to full Council in February 2012 and formal consultations would take place on some of the proposed changes during the course of the year. Area forums would offer an opportunity for engagement and consultation on line.

Joanna McCormick, Partnerships Coordinatorcirculated slides of the consultation headlines which summed up the key points made by the sector, theme funding criteria and infrastructure funding. The following summary was noted:

  • Main programme grant was a small proportion of the overall spend on the voluntary sector and that no cuts were envisaged this year
  • Advice and guidance funding had been brought together
  • New advice and guidance would be commissioned to benefit vulnerable groups after a review
  • Small infrastructure pot to support the whole sector to be more resilient in the present context
  • There would be more funding for projects with three-year funding up to a maximum of £25,000 each year and all Borough themes covered at once.

In reference to the other questions posed, Joanna McCormick stated that the availability of small grants would form part of the wider consultation. She continued that it was not known as yet whether members would commit to three-year funding for the whole pot and the future changes to the London Council’s Grants Scheme was still being consulted on across London.

The following were raised in the discussion that ensued:

  • Need for reductions in the business rates to assist the finances of voluntary groups
  • Need for employment and apprenticeship opportunities
  • Need for training on commissioning

In responding to the above, Joanna McCormick assured the forum that the unit would work closely together with the sector to look at apprenticeship opportunities, train the sector on commissioning and offer continuous improvement to voluntary groups. She added that with regard to Neighbourhood Plans individual organisations needed to submit an application to the Department of Communities and Local Government

In her closing remarks, Councillor Kabir reminded members that in the current difficult economic environment marked by uncertainties, it was proving rather difficult for voluntary groups to undertake successful planning. She added that a key element in overcoming the problems associated with uncertainties and new ways of working was communication between voluntary groups and the Council. She thanked the representatives of the groups that gave presentations and everyone for their attendance and contribution.

6.Date of next meeting

Thursday 8 March 2012 at 6:30pm

The meeting ended at 8:40pm

S KABIR

Chair