Capacitybuilders - Improving support for a stronger third sector

05/02/2008

Capacitybuilders launched the Strategic Change in Local and Regional third sector support programme which is for local and regional consortia in December 2007. The £30m fund for 2008–11 is in two ‘streams’; £12m has been allocated to a Consortia Development fund and £18m to a Modernisation Projects fund.

Consortia that have demonstrated fitness-for-purpose will be offered three year Consortia Development grants.

The grants aim to support:

·         continued development of the consortium as an effective partnership

·         delivery of core consortium functions, including communications, strategic planning and engagement

·         development and delivery of the strategic roles with strong links to local-decision making, including local strategic partnerships and Local Area Agreements, and the skills to respond to changing environment.

Baseline expectations for the Consortia Development fund have been set out in a new guidance issued at the beginning of February. Beyond annual reporting against the ‘baseline’ expectations, consortia will be asked to prioritise a limited number of activities which embed the improvement and sustainability of third sector support at local and regional level. 

£18m of the Local and Regional funding has been earmarked for project grants which aim to modernise third sector support services delivered locally and regionally by 2011, to achieve demonstrable gains in efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability.

Clear priorities have been set for projects and we want to fund a range of projects identified in Consortia’s Business Plans (submitted in December 2007) that contribute to these priorities and reflect local needs and circumstances.

Consortia will be submitting project proposals by the 29th February 2008 for review by the grant committee in March 2008. To meet strong demand for project funding, including those coming forward in 2009, we expect at least a third of 2008/9 grants to be one or two year projects.

An additional £25k has been allocated to agencies concerned with co-ordination, advice and communication across Local and Regional consortia. Regional Managers will lead negotiations with these stakeholders and agree proposals for the use of these funds in 2008/9.

The proposals will be considered for agreement by the Capacitybuilders’ Grants Committee in March. The agreement will be reviewed in future years, as over the next three years, we would expect that the roles and structures needed to support this role will change in response to the regional ‘metaplans’, which are currently being developed.

Please note this is not an open programme.