Welsh Government consultation Alternative delivery models in public service delivery

Transcription

1 Welsh Government consultation Alternative delivery models in public service delivery A response from Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) Introduction 1. Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) is a registered charity and umbrella body working to support, develop and represent Wales third sector at UK and national level. We have over 3,350 organisations in direct membership, and are in touch with many more organisations through a wide range of national and local networks. WCVA s mission is to provide excellent support, leadership and an influential voice for the third sector and volunteering in Wales. 2. WCVA is committed to a strong and active third sector building resilient, cohesive and inclusive communities, giving people a stake in their future through their own actions and services, creating a strong, healthy and fair society and demonstrating the value of volunteering and community engagement. 3. We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Welsh Government s consultation on Alternative delivery models in public service delivery, following participation our participation in the consultations workshops. This response is structured in accordance with the consultation questions. Question 1: Do you have any comments on the overall approach to alternative delivery models outlined in the draft action plan? 4. The legislative framework for the Action Plan is clear in respect of the Reforming Local Government: Power to Local People and the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014; however the Well-being of Future Generations Act will also provide a crucial influence to under-pin all future public service delivery and therefore must be included in setting the context for future action. 5. Whilst the context of the Co-operatives of Mutuals Commission is clearly relevant, WCVA believes that this sphere of work is relevant to not only co-operatives and mutuals but charities, CICs and companies ltd by guarantee. 1

2 6. WCVA recommends that a fourth bullet point should be added to the current three important pre-conditions for on-going work to develop a stronger framework for change and better support (page 2): consistent and effective support services to facilitate transformation, available to public, private and third sector stakeholders. In relation to this, WCVA asks the Welsh Government to acknowledge the medium to long-term financial support and social investment needed by third sector organisations that are providing this kind of support, to enable them to meet the expectations set out in the Action Plan. Third sector organisations that may be considered to be core to the fabric of Welsh society require medium to long term financial stability to enable them to fulfil the expectations of statutory partners in respect of the implementation of the new legislative framework of the Well-being of Future Generations Act and the Social Services and Wellbeing Act and this Action Plan. Question 2: Do you agree that the Action Plan should contain principles to guide the adoption of alternative delivery models? 7. WCVA agrees that the Action Plan should contain principles to guide the adoption of alternative delivery models, however given that the change envisaged cannot be achieved by Welsh Government alone, it is recommended that the Action Plan also sets out the broad expectations and principles that Welsh Government expects third parties such as local government, support organisations etc to observe and practice. Question 3: Do you have any comments on the draft principles outlined in section 4 of the Action Plan? 8. WCVA recommends an bullet point should be added to the draft principles to demonstrate the practical and financial support that Welsh Government s anticipates providing to facilitate the delivery of the Action Plan e.g. we will support capacity building to ensure partners are equipped to make this work successful (page 9). 9. A further bullet point is suggested to encourage support for proactive and systematic learning in order to promote continuous improvement and refinement of approaches e.g. we will positively encourage the independent evaluation and lessons learned from alternative delivery models and promote good practice. Question 4: Do you agree with the actions that have been indentified in section 5 of the Action Plan? 10. In relation to the third bullet point under Clearing the Way, while we accept, firstly, that the EU and UK legal framework means that in many cases procurement is a requirement, and secondly that Welsh Government has sought to improve procurement policy and practice, we would strongly advocate for a mixed funding framework to be used to support not only value for money, but also enable innovation and encourage new ways to design and deliver effective services. 11. WCVA members routinely report problems with procurement e.g. disproportionate and inappropriate procurement processes, timescales and paperwork wholly unrelated to the scale and nature of the contracts but these cases, while extremely unsatisfactory, can be improved. One of the aims of the Local 2

3 Government (Wales) Act 2015 is a rebalanced relationship between the state, community groups and people, with all parties involved in an equitable and reciprocal relationship. But a procurement process leads to the conclusion of a contract, where one body purchases services from the other, with penalties if they fail to deliver. Can a relationship between the public sector and the provider with the threat of legal action truly be conducive to working on an equal basis? 12. Additionally, the procurement process involves looking to the market for solutions, and therefore uses competition as a means of securing value for money through assessing purchase prices. Organisations who might have been well placed to collaborate on a particular service and bring together complementary expertise, are pitted against each other in a competitive process. 13. We believe that it is important to view procured services within a mixed economy which also includes grant funding and social investment; to scope the broadest range of assets, resources and services existing, underused or emerging; and to establish how the state s funding can best be used to facilitate or enable the realisation of all community resources. With this comes a vibrant diversity of provision. 14. WCVA supports the proposal for a national procured framework for specialist advice and support, and this should be accessible to public and third sector organisations alike. 15. A fundamental principle of any new alternative delivery model established is to ensure that the benefits generated are produced and retained locally and WCVA would support statutory guidance to promote this 16. WCVA broadly agrees with the actions and the following recommendations are made in relation to the section Specific Support : WCVA welcomes the proposed role for Academi Wales in supporting innovation in public service delivery and recommends that support should be available to public sector and third sector organisations, with crucial elements of any programme to develop capacity around partnership working, collaboration, business development, financial planning and succession planning; Community participation in local services will require the development of new skills and competencies to facilitate joint working. Participation Cymru in WCVA has considerable expertise in this area and we would welcome the opportunity to work with Welsh Government on developing this work; The role of county voluntary councils (CVCs) should be acknowledged in the section on business support in regard to their crucial function in providing generic information and advice on setting up and developing organisations as well as their important role in facilitating community engagement. Question 5: Are there other actions you think should be included? 17. In relation to supporting the development of mechanisms for developing capacity and capability, WCVA asks Welsh Government to investigate EU funding streams, 3

4 such as Horizon 2020, that are available for transnational partnerships to exchange good practice and innovative ideas, and to consider leading a possible bid for funding which involves a range of Welsh stakeholders, including local government and third sector organisations, in learning from other EU Member States and regions that are engaged in the transformation of public service delivery. This approach is emphasised in recognition of the recommendations of the Enterprise & Business Committee s Inquiry into EU funding opportunities Question 6: We have asked a number of specific questions. If you have any other related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use this space to report them. 18. The principles underpinning the proposed action plan should correlate to the key elements that WCVA believes are necessary to realise the vision for local government in establishing a new relationship with local communities as set out in the Local Government (Wales) Act These are: i. Real engagement built on an understanding of the contribution the third sector can make to service delivery in Wales. ii. Asset mapping to understand what resources are available and how they can be used to promote community wellbeing. iii. Asset / service transfer, giving communities and third sector organisations control over resources in order to sustain activity. Crucially the transfer of assets (buildings, services and land) from local authorities to communities needs to be well planned and designed together. iv. Community-based funding. The setting up of a local fund to ensure that good ideas do not wither almost as soon as they begin is critical. This provides smallscale core funding but also needs to be part of on-going commitment. v. Brokerage. Investment in brokerage activity has been funded by Big Lottery s Community Voice projects and the recently finished European Social Fund WCVA Making the Connections project to ensure that the potential for collaborative work is able to be recognised and acted upon. vi. Third sector readiness. Understanding the role of the third sector and making the most of the opportunities offered by its energy, commitment and resources. This means understanding of the potential of third sector organisations at all levels and maximising its potential. It also means a coherent third sector infrastructure that supports, builds skill bases, creates opportunities and delivers real solutions. vii. Collation and dissemination of learning. Including the use of practitioner led workshops, action learning sets and the use of existing websites to share good practice. Conferences and other events have a role in maintaining momentum, as does new technology and the future focus on increased digital participation. viii. New competencies. A new skills set for all those seeking to develop services that recognises the importance of enabling, nurturing new ideas and constructive support for a collaborative approach. 4

5 ix. An enabling strategic environment. Collaboration will come to nought if it just gets bogged down in the same old way of doing things, instead of being receptive to needs and the real situations in people s lives. The strategic framework needs to be focused first and foremost on people. Judith Stone Assistant Director Policy, Partnerships and Engagement Wales Council for Voluntary Action jstone@wcva.org.uk; January