THE COMMISSIONING EXCHANGE

1. OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE FOR CORPORATE VITALITYTHE GATESHEAD COMMISSIONING EXCHANGEandTHE NATIONAL SURVEY OF CHARITIES AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISESGev PringleChief ExecutiveGVOC5th September 2011

2. THE COMMISSIONING EXCHANGE • The Commissioning Exchange will be a mechanism through which the voluntary and community sector (VCS) can create effective partnerships to win tenders for services put out by the local authority or any public body needing independent support to deliver quality services in Gateshead. • The Commissioning Exchange approach recognises the need for innovation during these difficult financial times and is one of the joint responses by Gateshead’s VCS to ensure that the people of the borough continue to receive the high quality services they deserve.

3. THE COMMISSIONING EXCHANGE • GVOC will act as the managing agent for the initiative but will also ensure, through its connections with the general community, that smaller community based ventures can become part of the partnerships and deliver smaller parts of the contract. In this way public money can be managed by the larger charities in the borough but smaller groups with their local expertise can also benefit.

4. The Commissioning Exchange • The Fair Access To Care funding to create a safety net when the social care criteria were tightened a number of years ago was delivered by a consortium of eight voluntary sector agencies who handled the funding of £100,000 and worked together to create a seamless referral service. • The current initiative running in GVOC’s GAIN project is using a “managing agency” model to run a pilot on advocacy and personalisation with all the advocacy groups in Gateshead. There is a three year partnership agreement in place and GVOC handles all the finances whilst GAIN performance monitors and reports back to the Department of Health.

5. The Commissioning Exchange • The Commissioning Exchange will address: • The fact that contracts are often too large for existing individual groups to bid • The need to form new partnerships and consortia to be able to bid for these contracts • The need for legal advice around the forming of partnerships and consortia • The need for standard model documentation such as partnerships agreements, protocols, business plans and complaints and grievance procedures • A brokerage system to ensure efficient formation of partnerships or consortia • The creation of a PQQ process supported by a database • Training and support around tender writing • A capacity building service for groups not yet contract ready

6. THE COMMISSIONING EXCHANGE • The Chief Executive Officers Group • 40 charities • Commissioning Exchange Sub-Group: • GVOC • Jewish Community Council • Crossroads • Tyneside Mind • Tyneside Women’s Health • Groundwork

7. THE COMMISSIONING EXCHANGE • National consultant funded by ACEVO for 11 days • Developing business plan, members prospectus, partnership agreements • Form the steering group by November 2011 • Raising funds for a local development officer to link up with the national consultant • Central to Gateshead’s Transforming Local Infrastructure bid

8. National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises • The survey was conducted amongst charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations across all upper tier local authorities in England from September to December 2010. The findings can be compared to the first survey conducted from September to December 2008. • The total population of third sector organisations in Gateshead surveyed was 417 with 149 responding, compared to a population of 472 with 199 responding in 2008. This reduction in the number of third sector organisations could be a consequence of the economic climate.

9. National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises • The survey found that 32% of Charities or Social Enterprises in Gateshead felt that local statutory bodies had a very positive or positive influence in their success. This proportion has increased by 12% since 2008. The national average for this question was 18%. • The proportion of organisations in Gateshead who are satisfied with local statutory grant funding / contract bidding arrangements has also increased since 2008 by 11% to 22% overall. The national average for this question was 14%. • The proportion of organisations in Gateshead who are satisfied with their ability to influence local decisions that are relevant to them has increased from 15% in 2008 to 25%, compared to a national average of 16%.

10. National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises • The main area of work undertaken by Gateshead organisations remains education and lifelong learning (35%) followed by leisure, community development and mutual aid, economic wellbeing and health and wellbeing. • 60% of organisations describe their main role as delivering services, both public services such as social housing, health care and counselling and other services, for example financial, leisure and community support. This is a significant rise on the 30% in 2008.

11. National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises • The largest proportion of organisations (36%) identified the local neighbourhood as the main geographic area in which they carry out their activities, a very slight decrease from 2008. • This is followed very closely by 33% of organisations describing themselves as specifically Gateshead wide.

12. QUESTIONS