Wording from a notice issued by Stepping Out:
Reductions in public spending are creating new challenges and opportunities for the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.
In future the public sector will be delivering fewer direct services and making fewer grants. Instead, the public sector will commission more services from the VCSE sector.
We also believe that as the public sector shrinks, local communities will increasingly look to the VCSE sector to help them achieve their aspirations.
North East Lincolnshire Council, the local Clinical Commissioning Group and Humberside Police want to support the local VCSE sector to respond to these challenges and make the most of these opportunities.
They have asked Stepping Out to work with the VCSE sector to find out how they can do this most effectively. There is more information about us (Stepping Out) at the end of this email.
If you are a VCSE organisation in NE Lincs we want to talk to you about:
- How much more work you would ideally like to do under contract or on your own initiative
- Your capacity to deliver more work, for example, how ‘contract-ready’ you are
- The support services you already rely on
- What would help you most to build your organisational capacity
When we have heard what you have to say, we will report to the Council, CCG and Police, and recommend what they should do to support the sector.
There are three ways we will be asking for information:
- An open workshop at the Town Hall in Grimsby on 7 July from 13.00-16.00. This is open to all VCSE organisations to send a representative. Please register by emailing Matt Rowe via matthew.rowe@nelincs.gov.uk using ‘7 July Workshop’ as the subject line, and giving the name of your representative.
- An online survey for all VCSE organisations. We will write to you again shortly to let you know when the survey is ready.
- In depth interviews with infrastructure bodies and a cross section of the VCSE sector. Because our budget is limited, we will be selecting a cross section of organisations to speak to, together with local infrastructure bodies.
Elected members are warmly invited to attend the workshop and complete the survey. We will also be asking a cross section of Members to take part in interviews.
We will send out more information over the next few weeks. In the meantime if you have any questions please do feel free to contact me via dan.currie@stepping-out.biz.
I look forward to meeting or speaking with you soon.
Kind regards
Dan Currie
Senior consultant
Stepping Out supports local authorities to transfer services to social enterprises, charities and community groups. Our people have extensive experience of working in all these sectors, and of working with a wide range of people, from children with learning disabilities to serving prisoners. You can find our website at www.stepping-out.biz.