Wandsworth Borough Council

PAPER NO. 10-507

WANDSWORTH BOROUGH COUNCIL

FINANCE AND CORPORATE RESOURCES OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 23RD JUNE 2010

EXECUTIVE – 5 TH JULY 2010

Annual report by the Economic Development Officer on the work of the Economic Development Office for 2009/10 that relates to the voluntary sector.

SUMMARY

Background. The Economic Development Office (EDO) helps develop the Borough’s voluntary and community organisations (VCO) so they can play an role in many of the Borough’s partnerships and deliver a wide variety of services to residents. The EDO manages contracts with Wandsworth Citizen’s Advice Bureaux to deliver advice and with Wandsworth Voluntary Sector Development Agency to promote volunteering. The EDO is responsible for the Council’s payment to London Councils in respect of the London Boroughs Grants Scheme involving the offering of grants to the voluntary sector across London.

Policy. The EDO contributes to the delivery of one of the Council’s strategic objectives of “building a prosperous, vibrant and cohesive community”.

Issues/Proposals. This report reviews the EDO work in 2009/10. The EDO net revenue budget was spent, except a £1m loan to set up the Wandsworth Community Fund (as a result of a decision of the Executive in March 2010 (Paper No. 10-284) to adopt a revised financial arrangement). Targets were exceeded for the number of people advised; the number of VCOs helped; and for the number of volunteers placed, including the Wandsworth Local Area Agreement Reward Target for those volunteering for over 100 hours. In 2010/11, the Council has allocated funds allocated to VCOs worth almost £30m.

Key priorities for the next three years relate to continuing to grow volunteering, establishing the Wandsworth Community Fund; investigating the feasibility of establishing a Credit Union in Wandsworth; pushing forward the Council’s fight against the recession and progressing the Forward Strategy for Tooting.

Director of Finance Comments. The proposals contained within this report can be met from within the approved budgets for the Economic Development.

Supporting Information. Not applicable.

Conclusions. Last year was a good year with headline targets being exceeded. The EDO and its partners will continue to build on this work and continue to foster a diverse and healthy voluntaryPage sector 1 ofin Wandsworth.4 (Paper No. 10-507) EDO Annual Report 2009/10

GLOSSARY EDO – Economic Development Officer LC - London Councils VCO - Voluntary and Community Organisations WVSDA - Wandsworth Voluntary Sector Development Agency

1. Recommendations. The Finance and Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee are asked to support the recommendations in paragraph 3.

2. If the Overview and Scrutiny Committee approve any views, comments or recommendations on the report, these will be submitted to the Executive for their consideration.

3. The Executive are recommended to:-

(a) note the contents of the Economic Development Office's Annual Report, including the outturn performance measures in Appendices 1 and 2; and

(b) endorse the priorities and performance indicators for 2010/11set out in paragraphs 9 and 10 for 2010/11 and in paragraphs 17 and 18 of Appendix 2 for implementation by the Economic Development Officer.

4. Introduction. The Economic Development Office (EDO) leads the corporate objective of “building a prosperous, vibrant and cohesive community” as agreed (Paper No. 09-613) by the Executive on 8th July 2009. This report also brings together the relevant EDO contributions to achieving the long-term vision included in “Our Wandsworth 2018”, the Sustainable Community Strategy for the Borough. This includes the sub-objective of “encouraging volunteering and work with the voluntary and community sector to help provide better services and information”. The EDO’s voluntary sector customer base is wide-ranging including voluntary sector contractors who provide advice and volunteering services to Borough residents and all voluntary and community organisations (VCO).

5. EDO services. The voluntary sector services funded by the EDO are:-

(a) Wandsworth Advice Service delivered by Wandsworth Citizens Advice Bureaux; (b) Wandsworth Volunteering Service delivered by Wandsworth Voluntary Sector Development Agency (WVSDA); (c) Voluntary Sector Information Service, also delivered by WVSDA; and (d) paying to London Councils (LC) the Council’s annual contribution to the London Boroughs Grants Scheme to support the voluntary sector across London.

6. 2009/10 results. This report updates the Committee and the Executive on the EDO’s results for 2009/10. Details are in Appendices 1 and 2 to this report and summarised below.

of 4 (Paper No. 10-507) EDO Annual Report 2009/10

Key Inputs 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2009/10 Actual Actual Actual Target Actual Payment to LC (£’000) 987 994 979 982 982 Gross programme revenue costs 666 751 737 1,788 806 (£’000) Income (£’000) 0 91 50.6 51 50.6 People advised 17,466 13,183 15,385 8,200 15,323 Volunteers placed 1,248 2,030 3,315 1,638 4,673 Volunteers placed for over 100 n/a 3 690 1,133 1,133 hours per annum Voluntary organisations helped 170 160 222 150 232 All EDO funds paid to the 1,653 1,301 1,780 2,283 2,283 voluntary sector (£’000)

7. Performance against targets. The overall EDO net revenue budget was spent, with the exception of a £1m loan to set up the Wandsworth Community Fund. The number of people advised was above target. Targets were exceeded for the number of people advised; the number of VCOs helped; and for the number of volunteers placed, including the Local Area Agreement Reward Target for those volunteering for over 100 hours per annum (subject to audit). On 30th September 2009, the EDO put on a conference with speakers and workshops designed to help the Borough’s VCOs during the recession. It was attended by over 150 representatives from VCOs and high levels of satisfaction were reported. Promoting volunteering took many different shapes in 2009/10. Of particular note was the volunteer work undertaken by 70 US Embassy volunteers for the Thrive project in Battersea Park. The New Covent Garden Market post office was re-opened in October 2009, with the help of a grant from the Council. Good progress was made with the Tooting Together Initiative to improve the look and feel of Tooting and a Forward Strategy was agreed to attract new inward investment to Tooting. The EDO has contributed to the development of the Council’s vision for the Nine Elms area as a world-class, central London business location as the first choice for international company headquarters. Lastly, progress was made in delivering the Council’s action plan to fight the recession.

8. The Council’s relationship with the voluntary sector. The EDO has a corporate role in co-ordinating the Council’s relationships with the voluntary sector. During 2009/10, the Council funded VCOs to provide a wide range of services at a cost of about £28 million. The Council expects that figure to rise to almost £30 million in 2010/11.

9. Future Priorities. The EDO’s detailed priorities and performance indicators for 2010/11 are set out in paragraphs 17 and 18 of Appendix 2. Key priorities are to:-

(a) grow the proportion of residents engage in formal volunteering by promoting volunteering opportunities in public services and via other organisations; (b) review the contract specification to promote more volunteering after the end of the current contract with the WVDSA; (c) facilitate the establishment of the Wandsworth Community Fund via the approved grant of £500,000 to Thames Community Foundation; Page 3 of 4 (Paper No. 10-507) EDO Annual Report 2009/10

(d) complete the Recession Action Plan and monitor the impact of the recession; (e) implement the Tooting Together Forward Strategy and Action Plan; and (f) prepare a report on the feasibility of establishing a Credit Union in Wandsworth.

10. 2010/11 Budget and performance indicators. These are summarised below:-

Key inputs Target 2010/11 Payment to LC (£’000) 981.35 Gross programme revenue costs (£’000) 2,715 Income (£’000) 50.6 Net total (£’000) 3,646 Performance output measures Number of volunteers placed 2,500 Number of people advised 15,000 Number of voluntary organisations assisted 200 All EDO payments (£’000) to the voluntary sector 2,922

11. Comments of the Director of Finance. The proposals contained within this report can be met from within the approved budgets for the voluntary sector part of the Economic Development Programme.

12. Conclusion . The EDO and its partners will continue to foster a diverse and healthy voluntary sector to provide a wide range of valuable services to the Borough’s residents. ______

The Town Hall, Wandsworth, MIKE BROOK SW18 2PU. Economic Development Officer

15th June 2010

Background Papers

The following background papers were used in the preparation of this report:-

1. 2009 annual survey of local voluntary organisations. November 2009. Available from Chris Blyth, Tel 8871 7810 email [email protected]

All reports to Overview and Scrutiny Committees, regulatory and other committees, the Executive and the full Council can be viewed on the Council's website (www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov) unless the report was published before May 2001, in which case the Committee Secretary (Mr. G.S. Collins - 020 8871 6021; email: [email protected]) can supply it if required.

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