Decision details

Cabinet Member for Communities and Inclusion presented the report which outlined that the specification for the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) local infrastructure provision has been updated and tailored to reflect the latest regional and local context and priorities. This provision is to support the Bury deliver vital community capacity, inspiration and opportunity for greater participation, to improve outcomes for local people, tackle inequality and raise life chances, whilst ensuring effective use of ever scare resource.

Decision:

The Cabinet:

1.    Agreed the revised delivery framework with Bury Voluntary and Community Faith Alliance for local infrastructure organisation provision and is funded for 2025/26, with intent signalled on continuation for the following years subject to confirmation of funding availability across the Council and public sector partners.

Reason for the decision:

2.    The funding of infrastructure provision in the Borough provides a clear commitment to the importance of the voluntary and community sector.

3.    By refreshing the Service Level Agreement the report seeks to strengthen the recognition of the sector as key partner in improving outcomes for local people and the role infrastructure support plays in ensuring this is robust, recognised and representative.

4.    The agreement allows for a clear focus of activity to develop Bury’s VCFSE ecosystem in a tailored manner to best meet local needs, in turn delivering on LET’S Do It! and GM VCFSE Accord commitments.

Other options considered and rejected:

To not fund, or make a reduction in funding would significantly risk the loss of infrastructure support in the Borough, destabilising the wider VCFSE sector and jeopardise the positive progress made in recent years. Whilst recognising the financial pressures that the Council itself is under, investment in the infrastructure support to the VCFSE sector supports steps to increase the resilience of the sector itself, including supporting groups to attract inward investment into the Borough and diversity income generation streams. 4

To not update the specification would fail to capitalise on progress made in recent years but more importantly miss the opportunity to further tailor and target the focus of infrastructure support provision to be an enabler and facilitator of a sector contributing in a pivotal way to realising the Borough’s LETS vision. As such to not update the specification would have risked there not been the appropriate local focus on ensuring a sustainable VCFSE ecosystem, best positioned and supported to enhance and enable local outcomes at place.