Agenda and minutes

Contact: Fiona Rae, Acting Committees Manager  3541, Email: fiona.rae@haringey.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

2.

Declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Variation and Extension of the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Strategic Partner Contract pdf icon PDF 239 KB

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Civic Life considered the report which sought approval to implement Contract Standing Order 10.02.1b, to vary and extend the current contract for the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Strategic Partner Service with the Bridge Renewal Trust.

 

The Commissioning Officer highlighted that section 2 of the report should refer to the Cabinet Member for Communities and Civic Life, rather than the Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, and Wellbeing.

 

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

 

1.    To approve, in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 10.02.01(b) and CSO 16.02, the variation and extension of contract with the Bridge Renewal Trust for the Voluntary and Community Sector Strategic Partner for a period of 12 months from 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023. The value for the extension period of twelve (12) months is £166,800.

 

2.    To note that the aggregated value of the full contract from 1st February 2020 to 31st December 2023 is £653,300.

 

Reasons for decision

 

The VCS Strategic Partner contract with the Bridge Renewal Trust ends on 31st December 2022. A contract extension for a period of 12 months will allow sufficient time to review and redesign the service in line with the Haringey Deal and the emerging VCS Strategy, which will be co-produced with the Voluntary and Community Sector before and carrying out a procurement process for a new service. Service re-design is needed to ensure the service is innovative, responsive, flexible and strategically aligned with our approach to working alongside the voluntary and community sector in Haringey to provide improved outcomes for residents and communities.

 

The VCS Partner provides the sector with capacity building and fundraising support, networking and partnership development opportunities and runs the Volunteer Centre in Haringey which provides guidance on recruiting and managing volunteers. The service also acts as a medium for communication between the Council and the voluntary sector.

 

Support for, and development of, partnership working arrangements with the voluntary and community sector in the borough is a key strategic priority for the Council and the Cabinet. Approval of this extension period will support the delivery of these strategic objectives.

 

The Bridge Renewal Trust’s performance has been evaluated as good throughout the contract period. Key Performance Indicators and methods of measurement are integrated within the service specification and are monitored through contract monitoring meetings and reports. Given the above reasons, it is beneficial to extend the contract to allow sufficient time for a smooth transition and mobilisation of a new contract in 2024.

 

Alternative options considered

 

Insourcing: Direct delivery of this service was robustly considered but found not to be suitable at this time due to the capacity and resource required to manage the transfer of staff and the specific role this contract plays in brokering and bridging relationships between the voluntary and community sector and the boroughs statutory partners. An extension of 12 months will provide sufficient time for the Council to complete a review and refresh of the service model and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.