Agenda item

The Chair introduced Mark Davis, Chief Executive of the Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency (MVDA), who had been invited to the meeting to provide the Board with an overview of the organisation’s work.

 

The Chief Executive of MVDA advised that he had worked in his current role for approximately eight years and had previously worked for Middlesbrough Council in various roles.  He provided the Board with background information in relation to the MVDA and stated that he had previously enjoyed a close working relationship with the Council and had attended many scrutiny panels with colleagues from the voluntary sector and hoped to rebuild that connection to support the work being undertaken by the Council to promote improvement across the town.

 

The Board heard that MVDA was a local infrastructure organisation for Middlesbrough, but also worked across the South Tees.  It was established in 2002 by the local authority and voluntary sector organisations.

 

Its four broad functions were:-

 

·        Leadership and advocacy

·        Partnerships and collaboration

·        Capacity building

·        Volunteering

 

The MVDA helped to ensure local communities were active, strong and engaged and helped VCOs make a difference for local people and where they lived.

 

The local voluntary sector was diverse and was made up of general charities and community groups, charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs), community interest companies (CICs), sports and social clubs, campaign groups, co-operatives and housing associations and registered social landlords (RSLs).

 

The defining qualities of the sector were that groups and organisations were independent, for the benefit of the public, not for individual gain and accountable to its members and governed by a constitution or rules.

 

The voluntary sector was flexible and responsive to activities and services, for example, there had been a great response following the riots in August where organisations and the community had supported those directly affected and undertaken a town clean up operation.  It had been similar during Covid with the sector supporting people during times of need such as providing meals and delivery services.  Organisations were best placed to obtain local intelligence on need and demand and what worked, providing practical solutions to local issues.  The sector also provided a safety net to try and catch people who would otherwise fall through the gaps in provision, for example, due to increased thresholds for services.  The sector also benefitted from having experts by experience – people who could lead on issues as they lived in a particular area or community or first-hand experience of the issues.

 

Locally, there were around 800 VCOs registered with MVDA, with approximately 600 of those being particularly active in Middlesbrough (the other 200, for example, might be national charities with a helpline that, whilst accessible at a local level were national based.   There were around 1,000 VCOs registered with MVDA across the South Tees.

 

New groups were constantly emerging, generally in response to specific issues, such as Covid, or establishing activity groups for children, or supporting climate change activities etc.

 

97% of those VCOs had volunteers with 18% having 50 or more volunteers.  Around half of the VCOs that employed staff, employed between 1 and 10 part-time staff.

 

In addition, VCOs reported an increased focus on mental health support with more than 50% stating that mental health support was their core purpose or part of their wider work.

 

A survey of all VCOs registered with MVDA across the South Tees was undertaken and the findings, specific to those operating in Middlesbrough, were reported to the Board as follows:-

 

·        92% expected demand on their service to increase.

·        85% expected the level of need of service users to rise.

·        20% believed their ability to attract funding would decrease.

·        68% saw public sector changes as a major challenge for their organisation.

·        87% agreed that it was very important to work together.

·        58% recognised the need for support and development, with fundraising and income generation being very important.

·        54% would benefit from support to influence funders and attract investment.

 

A discussion ensued and the following issues were raised:-

 

·        The Chair asked the Chief Executive whether he could provide an example of activity that the Council previously carried out with MVDA that no longer happened.  The Chief Executive responded that he had been heavily involved with the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel’s work during 2017 and 2018 when scrutinising the Care Act and the Council’s duties and how to provide a joint response to people’s needs.  It had examined how to identify people to prevent them falling through the gaps and how they could be linked up with appropriate charities.  The Panel’s recommendations had included establishing a new service with a co-ordinated offer linked with the Council and MVDA, however, this service had since been cut in terms of funding.  92% of people that had used that service had not returned to Adult Social Care.

·        The Chief Executive was asked how the Council might be able to assist with the MVDA’s work.  He responded that he was involved in stakeholder meetings and recruitment of the new Chief Executive and would like to build relationships to work more collaboratively with the Council and believed the Council and MVDA complimented each other. 

·        It was queried how volunteers were thanked and recognised for the work that they did.  The Chief Executive stated he was not aware of any recognition programmes provided by the Council, however, the MVDA made annual nominations for the Kings Award for Volunteering.  Recognition and reward was something that could potentially be explored.

·        In response to a query, the Chief Executive advised that he would be happy to attend local Parish or Community Councils to provide further information about MVDA and to provide advice on connecting groups and volunteers.

·        In response to a query in relation to MVDA having more than 800 groups registered to them, it was clarified that there was no legal requirement to register, however, doing so ensured that MVDA was able to provide groups with information on, and opportunities to, recruit volunteers.  It was highlighted that MVDA was the Council’s strategic partner and worked constantly to add more organisations to its database.

·        When asked what the benefits of registering with MVDA were, the Board heard that MVDA provided expertise and the Chief Executive advised that he sat on the Council’s grants panel as an adviser so the Council’s Grants Officer would encourage any new groups to register with MVDA.

·        A Board Member asked how locality working might work to provide support to those who needed it more quickly.  The Chief Executive advised that he had good links with the Council’s Neighbourhood Managers and that a small grants programme was set to be launched in conjunction with MVDA and the locality managers.  MVDA needed to engage with the Council on its current operating model in neighbourhoods as it was more difficult for those operating on a town-wide basis to engage in four conversations across each of the neighbourhood teams.

·        In response to a question as to how to ensure people were provided with the support they needed, the Board heard that MVDA brought together charities and community groups that sometimes worked with the Council or other statutory bodies.  By working together, collective groups could examine whether new pathways needed to be in place, if appropriate, or to signpost individuals to relevant Council departments or other bodies.  In general, joint working was good but there was room for improvement and charities were always looking to improve ways of working.

·        Reference was made to MVDA being the Council’s ‘strategic partner’ and it was queried whether the Council could do more to improve collaborative working.  The Board heard that MVDA fully appreciated the Council’s current financial situation but that this had impacted on some collaborative working arrangements.  The Chief Executive hoped that the working relationships could be rebuilt and strengthened with the Council’s senior leaders.

·        In response to a query regarding funding, the Board was advised that the MVDA was initially established by the Council and received a small core grant from the Council.  MVDA applied for grants to host projects and worked to a three-year funding profile.

 

The Chair thanked the Chief Executive of the MVDA for his attendance and the information provided.  He added that the Mayor was keen for the Council to work more closely with the voluntary sector and hoped that the Chief Executive would attend future scrutiny meetings, where appropriate.

 

AGREED as follows:-

 

1.     That the information provided be noted.

2.     That contact details for the MVDA be circulated to Members of OSB.

3.     That the presentation slides be circulated to Members of OSB.