Agenda item

To receive the Gloucester Community Building Collective Business Plan for 2020-2025.

8.1      Richard Holmes, Executive Director of Gloucester Community Building Collective (CIC), gave a presentation which looked at some of the work undertaken by the CIC ; evaluating impact, the organisation ‘s structure, and future plans. He then invited questions from Committee Members.

8.2      Responding to a question from Councillor Haigh, Councillor Watkins, Cabinet Member for Culture & Leisure, stated she was confident that the governance processes at Gloucester Community Building Collective (CIC) were robust. Furthermore, she added that CIC had made a positive impact in the last 12 months.

8.3      Richard Holmes responded to questions from Councillor Haigh as follows. He welcomed her input and collaboration on the use of gendered language in future work. In relation to the reference made at page 48 on “communities taking more power and ownership”, he envisioned this to be about people becoming more engaged with where they live and greater civic engagement which would in turn lead to more democratic processes. With regard to the future of the CIC, he stated that it was important to identify when the organisation ‘s help was no longer needed in order to empower communities and prevent dependency. Additionally, he explained that, the Neighbourhood Fund,  details of which were in the business plan was still a work in progress. On the topic of governance arrangements, the Corporate Director (Partnerships) added that a governance review was being launched and additional directors would be recruited. The aim was to recruit directors based on skills as well as having a diverse group of people representative of the community.

8.4     Further, Councillor Haigh asked what the partnership with adult social care would look like. The Corporate Director (Partnerships) advised that there would be three secondments with members of the adult social care team at Gloucestershire County Council. She added that the secondments were not about delivery adult social care but rather it was about the team carrying out the same work that the CIC does. She explained that the outcomes which CIC aimed to achieve namely fostering a sense of neighbourliness and supporting communities to support each other also have a positive impact on the adult social system. Replying to Councillor Haigh ‘s question regarding funding, Richard Holmes outlined that whilst funding was a challenge, the organisation had so far secured contracts for work which was not being carried out by other organisations. He highlighted that the unique nature of the organisation was an asset. He advised that the long-term plan would be for community organisations to host community builders, and as such, raise capacity in the community enabling CIC to take a step back.

8.5    In response to Councillor Pullen ‘s query on the difference between a story and a project in KPI 3.5, Richard Holmes advised that some stories could also be projects and vice versa. Councillor Watkins added that they had listened to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee ‘s comments at the meeting held on the 30^th of September 2019 on the need to maintain ongoing evaluation of the work that was being undertaken by the CIC. However, there was a play off between the language used in the community setting and the more formal language which may be used by organisations. Ultimately, however, the goal of measuring performance was the same. Councillor Pullen agreed with this noting the importance of using terms which can be understood by everyone,

8.6     Councillor Pullen stated that whilst he was pleased that the fundraising target for this year had already been surpassed, he was concerned that the future targets were perhaps too ambitious. He added that fundraising had become increasingly difficult even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pandemic had only exacerbated this. Richard Holmes stated that whilst he agreed that the targets were ambitious, there was a shift in the funding market as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic with an increased appetite for bottom up community led projects such as CIC. Nonetheless, he noted the importance of ensuring that the company remained financially lean with a central costs centre. The Corporate Director (Partnerships) echoed this, and pointed to the four pillars of the fundraising strategy in the business plan. A significant part of this was strategic funding. She added that the work that CIC carries out is exceptional which puts the organisation in a good position to receive grants. They had already acquired three contracts as a result of fundraising delivering for organisations who were not able to deliver in the same way as CIC. She outlined that the goal was to have a combination of fundraising and income generation. Lastly, she explained that the Board was reviewing finances at every meeting, the organisation had a robust cash flow, and they would ensure it remains financially stable.

8.7      Councillor Hilton commented to say that he had been impressed with the work of two Community Builders in particular, and noted the importance of Community Builders working collaboratively with Members and communities. He then asked how often Community Builders were expected to meet with Members. Richard Holmes advised that this was at the discretion of Community Builders and Members. However, they would welcome the opportunity to connect with Members. In response to Councillor Hilton ‘s question about PCSOs, he explained that the relationship with the constabulary was that the CIC would train PCSOs on community building skills. The COVID-19 pandemic had put the plans to a halt; however, this was now being revisited. Responding to Councillor Hilton ‘s questions around governance, the Corporate Director (Partnerships) advised that the wider board would be recruited based on skills , quarterly performance meetings were being held with the City Council with the meetings being reports driven with finance reports, performance reports etc. She added that the meetings were robust. Finally, she outlined that whilst the CIC would be happy to attend Overview & Scrutiny Meetings as required, it was also important to remember that CIC was an independent company and the Council had to ensure that it did not unduly influence the company’s work.

8.8       In answer to Councillor Toleman ‘s query on whether there was a database of street champions available, Richard Holmes explained that this information was not held. The Cabinet Member for Communities & Neighbourhoods added that in line with GDPR obligations, the data on street champions had only been made available to those key people involved in coordinating efforts and had not been shared widely. However, they were currently looking into how this information could be held securely.

8.9      Councillor Hyman stated that he welcomed the idea behind the CIC,

particularly as it enabled greater engagement with community groups. Moreover, he added that he was keen to see someone from the CIC attending the City Council ‘s Equalities Working Group and perhaps other meetings with other Council bodies to ensure uniformity on matters of equality and diversity. Further, he pointed to the Council ‘s Equalities Policy outlining that an Equalities Impact Assessment must be carried out for any projects. Similarly, he stressed the importance of adhering to the legal requirements around equality and diversity under the Equalities Act 2010. Richard Holmes stated that he agreed with this, and added that everyone must keep working towards this.

8.10     Committee Members discussed recommendations.

8.11   RESOLVED that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee RECOMMENDS that:

1.)  The Overview & Scrutiny Committee receives an annual update report from the CIC.

2.)  That the City Council ensures that partner organisations adhere to the Equality Duty, in accordance with the duties required of them by the Equality Act 2010, and that language used in any documents is in accordance with the said duty.

3.)   The CIC produces a public facing document and associated public communications which outlines the business purpose of the organisation.