Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive

Recommendations:-

1.           That approval be given to progress arrangements for VCS Infrastructure Services in Rotherham, including:-

a.           Co-design with voluntary sector organisations for services to be delivered through a SLA for three years commencing from April 2021;

b.           Invitation to bid and appointment of a VCS organisation to lead on the co-design process.

2.           That as part of the Council’s work to review equalities in Rotherham, the future arrangements for working with and for support for REMA be excluded from the Infrastructure SLA and included in the review.

3.           That the terms of the current SLA, so far as they apply to REMA, be extended for one year pending the review of equalities.

Consideration was given to the report which detailed progress after a review and renewed approach to the delivery of Voluntary Sector Infrastructure Services and which subsequently led to the award of a three-year Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Voluntary Action Rotherham (VAR) running from April, 2018 to March, 2021.

The Service Level Agreement had, within the generality of infrastructure services, umbrella support and communications, been prioritised to provide support and promote a number of activities.

In doing so, the SLA brought together working with both VAR and Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance (REMA) into a single Service Level Agreement.

Recommendations were, therefore, made for the next three year Infrastructure Service Level Agreement for the period April, 2021 to March, 2024, taking forward the commitments set out in the Rotherham Compact, building on experience gained through the current agreement, taking account of research on the impact of COVID-19, and setting out a aspirational strategic approach for the future of the voluntary and community sector in Rotherham.

The report also took account of seeking to achieve “excellent” accreditation under the Equality Framework for Local Government and address the equalities implications arising from the COVID-19 emergency. This would be completed undertaking a review and course of action that would be set out in a further report to Cabinet.

To this end, it was recommended that the equalities component of the current Service Level Agreement be separated from the future VCS Infrastructure arrangements and incorporated into the Equalities Review.

This recommended approach would protect the services currently provided by REMA around increasing capacity of ethnic minority organisations for at least a year, whilst the Council undertook a wider piece of work to improve equalities and consider how that grant funding might contribute.. At the same time funding of the wider VCS infrastructure work would continue based on the remaining funding available.

This report had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as part of the pre-scrutiny process who were in support of the recommendations.

Resolved:-

(1)  That the progress arrangements for VCS Infrastructure Services in Rotherham be approved, including:-

a.     Co-design with voluntary sector organisations for services to be delivered through an SLA for three years commencing from April, 2021;

b.     Invitation to bid and appointment of a VCS organisation to lead on the co-design process.

(2)  That as part of the Council’s work to review equalities in Rotherham, the future arrangements for working with, and for support for REMA, be excluded from the Infrastructure SLA and included in the review.

(3)  That the terms of the current SLA, so far as they apply to REMA, be extended for one year pending the review of equalities.