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Supporting Cohesion in Tower Hamlets: Commissioning of community based projects 2017-2018
Introduction
Tower Hamlets Council are shifting their approach to funding voluntary sector organisations and citizens to deliver community delivered projects away from a grants structure to commissioning. This will be done by introducing a process of co production.
The Mainstream Grants Fund is the first tranche in which this shift will happen. The focus of this strand of funding is on the theme of community cohesion.
The document has been co-produced by a series of training and a workshop in which council staff and representatives from voluntary sector organisations worked together to agree community cohesion outcomes, which are relevant for Tower Hamlets now. This document sets out the content of these discussions and will act as the basis for the specification against which organisations and citizens can develop appropriate projects on the ground and bid into the council for funding to support the delivery.
Some definitions
The following definitions have been used in this process:
-Co–production
“Co-production is a relationship where professionals and citizens share power to plan and deliver support together, recognising that both partners have vital contributions to make in order to improve quality of life for people and communities.”
–National Co-Production Critical Friends
-Community cohesion
“To work towards a society in which there is a common vision and sense of belonging by all communities; a society in which the diversity of people’s backgrounds and circumstances is appreciated and valued; a society in which similar life opportunities are available to all; and a society in which strong and positive relationships exist and continue to be developed in the workplace, in schools and in the wider community.”
–Source: DCLG, 2001, 2008. Used by Tower Hamlet’s Council
This definition of community cohesion is the one which has been previously agreed by Tower Hamlets’ Community Cohesion Working Group.
The four elements of community cohesion which were agreed to be used are:
(1)Common vision and a sense of belonging
(2)Diversity of people’s backgrounds and different circumstances are appreciated
(3)Those from different backgrounds have similar opportunities
(4)Strong and positive relationships are developed between different people
-Outcomes
An outcome is the change, which occurs as a result of a particular activity or set of activities. For example, improved confidence could be an outcome achieved for a group of local children who have participated in an out of school club.
-Intermediate outcomes
These are steps along the way to achieving an outcome. For example, intermediate outcomes towards children achieving increased confidence may be children taking part in activities, which they hadn’t previously or children speaking more freely to other children they don’t know.
-Outputs
Outputs are a quantitative summary of an activity. For example, the number of children who attend an out of school programme, or the number of sessions delivered.
-Indicator
Indicators are ways of knowing that an outcome has been achieved, or show progress towards an outcome.
-Commissioning for outcomes
Outcomes-based commissioning focuses on the changes that services and activities achieve. It differs from conventional commissioning which has tended to focus on outputs rather than outcomes. The benefits of outcomes-based commissioning include: shifting the focus of public resources from particular activities and outputs towards the outcomes that matter most for local people; and creating more scope for providers to innovate to achieve outcomes by reducing the level of prescription in service specifications.
Key service qualities and approaches
Projects which are developed should ensure that certain qualities and approaches are embedded within them. It will be up to the bidding organisations/consortia to articulate how these will be integrated into the projects;
-Positive contact between people is the key to nurturing cohesion. So activities can have an outward focus about encouraging people to come together (for example a drama group or sports activities) but the delivery should ensure that a range of people are brought together and encouraged to interact.
-There should be clear articulation of who the stakeholders are. Projects will not be able to work with everyone, so they need to describe realistically who they will actually work with and why.
-There is proportionate value for money.However the majority of scoring in awarding contracts will be weighted on quality not cost.
-Good facilitation is key to encourage interaction and integration. This may involve having some ‘difficult’ conversations which must be well facilitated.
-Projects should both deliver positive messages and undermine negative narratives.
-Projects must be justified within their local context. They must be about what is needed by local people in this time, rather than generically designed projects implemented out of context.
-Sharing learning between projects will be important and there is an expectation that representatives from organisations will contribute to this. Throughout the 2017-18 funding period, the council will facilitate ways of this happening. This will not be about assessment or inspection but about reflecting and learning lessons.
-Sustainability beyond the funding cycle is important. This may not necessarily mean further funding but there needs to be thought given to how the impetus and energy created by the project can be sustained.
-Measurement beyond the funding cycle. Most community based initiatives deliver impact beyond their actually delivery timeframe–they set things in motion which may come to fruition later. There will therefore be an opportunity to report back on progress against outcomes 6 months after the funding cycle.
-There should be relevant intentional partnerships between organisations –these may be between those funded or others. Cohesion should also be about organisations working more closely together, as well as community members.
Key principles
Organisations should ensure that the following commonly used values set for co production is embedded in their projects, and that they can articulate how they will be applied.
Principle / DefinitionTaking an assets-based approach / Transforming the way people are perceived, so that they are seen not as passive recipients of programmes, but as equal partners in designing and delivering them.
Building on people’s existing capabilities / Altering the delivery model from a deficit approach to one that provides opportunities to recognise and grow people’s capabilities and actively support them to put these to use.
Reciprocity and mutuality / Offering people a range of opportunities and incentives to work in reciprocal relationships with each other across sector boundaries, with mutual responsibilities and expectations.
Peer support networks / Engaging peer and personal networks as the best way of transferring knowledge, encouraging involvement and building expertise.
Breaking down barriers / Removing the distinctions between professionals and beneficiaries, and between producers and consumers, by reconfiguring the way programmes are developed and delivered.
Facilitating rather than delivering / Enabling professional organisations and institutions to become catalysts for change which is ultimately led and shaped by others.
The outcomes framework
The diagram over the page sets out the agreed outcomes which have been co-produced by key council staff, representatives from voluntary sector organisations and local residents.
It is hoped that potential providers will bring in a wide range of views from the community into this process. However, the council accepts that in this particular round of co production there has been limited time to do this. It is intended that in subsequent rounds of co-produced commissioning this stage will be built in.
To explain the diagram:
The four boxes in the corners represent the over arching outcomes regarding community cohesion. These are long term and aspirational. Although they are represented in individual boxes, in reality there is a great deal of overlap between them.
In the central circle are the seven agreed outcomes. Below each outcome are the key elements, which were agreed, should be the focus of project delivery during this particular funding round. They are represented in a circle to indicate their commonality and that there is no hierarchy between them –none is more important than the other.
Developing projects
Projects should seek to deliver according to these outcomes. Linkages should be made about how delivery of the outcomes within the inner circle of the diagram will contribute towards longer-term delivery of the larger outcomes within the four coloured boxes. It is important however not to over claim, but to be realistic; projects which will be more successful in their delivery on the ground are those which hone into which of these outcomes they can realistically deliver on, rather than over ambitiously setting out to deliver on all of them. Its important to focus on what is realistic and achievable in Tower Hamlets now, within the timeframe and the money and resources available.
Bidders will be asked to explain the linkages between the key elements of their projects in table form as below,and then with an accompanying narrative description:
Activity / Contribution to long term outcome(s) / Contribution toshort term outcome(s) / Outputs / Key indictaorsIndicators and measurement
At the workshop scheduled for 23 February a set of indicators and measurement methods will be developed and subsequently inserted here.