The Treasury’s 2005 Pre Budget Report announced five Local Area Pathfinders involving the voluntary sector, five Local Authority areas and a cross-departmental team of central government officials. The Chancellor described the pathfinders “as a further step to realisingthe full potential of the Third Sector…the Government will develop local area pathfinders, working across departments and with key national partners to identify local authorities who will commit to the full implementation of the Compact Plus principles and explore ways in which the [Third] Sector can add value to the delivery of local services.” (PBR2005).
CumbriaCounty Council is one of the ‘pathfinders’ who have committed to explore ways in which the Third Sector can add value to the delivery of local services. The County Council particularly welcomed Cumbria’s involvement given the particular challenges the voluntary sector faces in a rural environment. A number of voluntary organisations including Community Transport, Cumbria Youth Work Partnership, CAB and CVS have already been involved and others will be engaged through participatory events within Cumbria. The findings of this work will be presented at a conference in September at which time the Council will review, in the light of this research, how best to support the sector. At present around £25m public sector support is provided to the voluntary and community sector in Cumbria, over £20m through the County Council. Support comes in the form of grants, service level agreements and commissioning of services. Through the work led by the Treasury it should be possible to improve the quality of support to the sector and – in turn – the quality of services the sector provides in Cumbria. At the same time the project gives us an opportunity to inform central government about some of the unique problems associated with service delivery in our area.
The pathfinder programme has 4 broad objectives:
- full implementation of the Compact funding principles, removing the barriers in the commissioning and procurement processes to Third Sector service delivery and leveling the playing field with private and public Sectors;
- realisingthe potential for increasing service delivery by the Sector, harnessing the energy of social entrepreneurs, and exploring how the Third Sector can add value and innovate;
- evaluating the support needed to build the capacity of local Third Sector organisations and the impact of the investment in Change Up and Futurebuilders;
- and finally, testing and implementing mechanisms through which local authorities can measure their spend on public services delivered through the Third Sector.
The Pathfinder Project Team comprises officials from the Cabinet Office (formerly Home Office’s Active Communities Directorate and DTI Social Enterprise Unit), Office for Government Commerce and HM Treasury. The team is working with each local authority to catalyse activity, develop the evidence base, identify best practice and explore ways to remove barriers in the commissioning and procurement processes.
Outputs from the pathfinder work will include:
- Local Authority ‘action plans’ on harnessing the Sector’s potential to deliver better services;
- a final report in the summer which will inform the evidence base for the CSR Review on the future role of the Third Sector in economic and social Regeneration.
Further information can be obtained from Catharine Worsley, Office of Charity and Third Sector Finance HM Treasury Tel : 020 7270 4884 or Georgina Ternent, Cumbria County Council Tel : 01539 713446