A London council is shaking up how it funds charities and community groups in what is believed to be the largest and most long-term package of support to the local voluntary sector in the UK.
Camden council proposes to – from December 2016 – offer seven-year contracts to local organisations working in areas of need, such as tackling deprivation and inequality.
Sally Gimson, cabinet member for adult social care and health, said: “This is about throwing it all up in the air and having another look at it and retargeting our funding. Are we working in the right places, partnering with the right organisations, and are we putting funding into areas with the most need in the borough?”
Camden council needed to make savings of £700,000 to the budget this year, leaving £5.1m to spend on this initative. But instead of funding a number of small projects, Gimson hopes to use the funding on bigger projects that involve much more collaboration with other public services.
The plans were drawn up following a consultation with voluntary sector organisations and individuals in the London borough.
This new funding model, which will remain open to consultation until 4 November, aims to support the development of Camden’s voluntary sector. It comes at a time when charities often fill in gaps left by government cuts.
“We want to make sure we have a voluntary sector to pick up the other things [that used to be delivered by councils] and be business-savvy enough to be commissioned by us,” says Gimson. “In the past we have brought in bigger, external national charities and our local charities have missed out.”
Of the £5.1m budget, £1.5m-£2m will be spent on a strategic partners fund, which will be spent in areas where the council believes there is most deprivation. Approximately £1m will be spent on existing advice services and the final £1m will be spent on a community impact approach. The approach, inspired by Cincinnati’s Impact Fund in the US, is designed to encourage collaboration across sectors to alleviate Camden’s biggest problems, such as the 10-year mortality gap between the north and south of the borough.
“We want to use data and technology that we have in the council to create common data, common outcomes and common aims,” says Gimson. “We could use the community impact fund to get all partners together, so not just the voluntary sector, but also healthcare and councils to work towards a common aim.”
To gain access to the funding a charity will need to prove it is a registered charity, has good governance, present its latest financial accounts, show it is working in partnership and be working in areas of need in Camden.
This new model means that organisationsthat did not have access to core council funding before, such as advocacy groups with no premises and grassroots organisations, can now apply for money.
Gimson added: “Part of this is being able to move away from these historic partnerships and ask: ‘what is the problem, where is the need and how do we tackle that need?’ We have the data to show that.”
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