10% cuts all round - cheers Denbighshire County Council

Its been some time since my last blog but as you can see from the title of this blog things are happening in Denbighshire the extent of which is having a significant affect on the operation of many third sector organisations. The 10% cut imposed by the County Council relates to the Voluntary Organisations grant paid to a number of organisations across the County. Yes in fairness the Council have said the saving of 10%  will be fed back into the third sector by way of commissioning new services but tell that to a vol org who will not be applying for funding from the  new services pot  but will still have to tell their vulnerable clients and users  - sorry we are having to modify our services to reflect a cut of 10% to the revenue funding and as well absorb the inflationary costs which are expected to be around 4 to 5% this year. All in all not good news.  How do I know this is happening , well just listen to the conversations I have had over the last few weeks with third sector organisations and of course closer to home I have looked at the finances of our own NEWCIS carers project. Clearly the mood music has changed since late last year when we were told to expect cuts of 25% over 4 years  and in fact the Community Forums reaffirmed the extent of those cuts.  I attend the Forums as a member of the LSB and along with others said that times would be tough, little did I know then  how tough they really would be . At that time a cut of 10% in year 1 was not even on the cards. However we are a resilient bunch in the third sector and I just hope that despite the cuts we can continue to deliver what the public have come to expect - quality services with a smile. Smiling of course may start to fade as we move into next financial year as we have been told there is a 4 year plan of austerity measures rather than just the one.  What really hurts is when we hear of  another County Council not a million miles away from us awarding their vol orgs 2.5 % extra this year compared with last  - perhaps I should ask them which money tree they have cultivated  as I think we could do with a similar horticultural trick here in Denbighshire. Added to which we have not yet had the grant confirmation letters from the County Council confirming the new amounts and so we are continuing to pay staff without any documents to hand confirming we have the where with all. I am sure the auditors would have something to say  to the Trustees in light of these unsatisfactory circumstances.

Meanwhile so that I don't get completely absorbed with cuts and austerity I have listed a few other things  which I have been working on. Mainly my work is around partnerships and meeting third sector groups around the County rather than concentrating on any one subject area such as older people, carers , children etc and so my notes below will therefore be quite varied.

Rhyl City Strategy- as member of the Board I get to see the work they do and its fantastic. They have achieved record results with their Future Jobs Fund in finding permanent  employment for a great many of their placements. They have also successfully piloted , only one in Wales, their Fitness to Work Service and most recently have boldly submitted a CAT (Community Asset Transfer) application to Big Lottery in respect of the Little Theatre Rhyl. Plus loads more.

We have all talked about redundancies over the last few months and of course nobody likes the process when people have to leave . Well lets not forget what disciplinary procedures are like also. I have been involved in helping a local vol org with  grievance and disciplinary issues as well as listening to colleagues of mine in other Counties talking about negative decisions coming out of Employment Tribunal. Needless to say our constant encouragement of vol orgs to be "fit for purpose" in terms of all governance issues is as true today as it has ever been if we are to avoid unnecessary grievance, disciplinary and employment tribunal hearings. Not only do they take up a lot of officer time but they do leave a cloud over the organisation for some time.

Funding- well its great the Big Lottery recognise the value of County Voluntary Councils when it comes to community engagement and so we welcome with open arms the Community Voice Programme. In fact there is a meeting with the Lottery today to take things forward. Lets hope our bid for the £1 million is successful in Denbighshire  and given Emyr Williams is leading on it I feel we are in very safe hands .

Talking about safe hands I am equally confident with Lindsay's proposed consortia approach on the Improved Future Lives programme - deadline for expression is May but here again Lindsay is on the case.

Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board - normally Lindsay goes to these meetings in her role as Health and Social Care Facilitator but I have been invited to the Improving Service User Experience Committee as the CVC rep for North Wales. That's an experience in itself. I thought we had long agendas although I am told the first meeting I went to was exceptionally long - nothing to do with me honest. I have to say that despite the reorganisation of the Health Board everyone around the table was very focused on their area of work and all working to tight deadlines and budgets  and they could , I think, have been  forgiven for being distracted with all the changes and the continuing uncertainties over staffing numbers etc but they weren't. Its a credit to their professionalism that its business as usual  "full steam ahead" and it gave me confidence that should I have to go into hospital  at any time in the future I would be in safe hands.

Nothing is ever straight forward, there is always change for example we are now working with the County Council in reviewing the Voluntary Sector Liaison Group which means the membership in terms of numbers is likely to change which means fresh elections, followed by interviews , followed by induction and then we can crack on with the action plan we had prepared earlier. Well that's progress for you although I have to admit that the new format will I feel be of much greater benefit to both the Third Sector and the County Council in that the Leader of the Council is taking  a direct lead and interest in the VSLG soon to be called TSLG short for Third Sector Liaison Group. Its great for us to have the Leader of the County Council take as part of his portfolio the  "Third Sector " element. I am expecting great things.

Keeping my fingers crossed for later today as the 5th April is the date I hear whether our bid to Big Lottery for £800K plus has been approved. If it has we will then have a project that supports the 6 CVC's across North Wales working with businesses and local third sector groups. Who knows we might be able to get Sir Richard Branson or even Lord Sugar up to see us. Of course the 5th April is I think the last date to top up your ISA and so if anyone has any spare cash why not donate it to our Clwyd Community Chest  instead because with the added gift aid tax relief we could make great use of it across the former County of Clwyd. We have been thinking of looking at accessing funding via legacies but to date have not taken this forward as it does feel a bit morbid although when I spoke to someone about 6 months they were really keen to make sure that their prospective legacy to the Community Chest would reach those parts that it was intended for. Someone did suggest that I network with all the undertakers in the area - now there's a thought.

Looking forward to Syd Badland's investiture on Wednesday. Syd has been ,at long last,  recognised for his volunteering work across Denbighshire  and is to be presented with the MBE by H.M. Lord Lieutenant of Clwyd Mr Trefor Jones. It will be great joyous celebration and I know we all wish him well and we look forward to seeing him around the area continuing to support what seems like hundreds of organisations.