Halton Together Coordination Panel

 

held on Tuesday 11th February 2003 at 6.00 pm

 

at Halton Voluntary Action, Sefton House, Runcorn

 

Joe opened the meeting by introducing himself and welcoming everybody to the first Halton Together Coordination Panel, and by suggesting that Andy Guile act as temporary Chair until a Chair has been elected.  This was agreed by the Panel.

 

Andy Guile introduced himself to the Panel and told everyone that he had been serving on the CEF Steering Group since it started.

 

Andy then went on to introduce Debbie Dalby, Joe Devaney, Alison Gleave, Debbie East, Lyn Williams and Barbara Haley as the HVA staff present and they would be available to answer any questions the Panel might have.  He thanked everybody who had come from Halton Borough Council and the LSP.  Then he mentioned the questionnaire that had been left on everybody’s seat, and asked could they please fill them in so that HVA staff would have a better idea of when and where to arrange future meetings.

 

Andy then asked the Panel for any apologies.  Joe said that we had received apologies from G Lamkin (St Ambrose Halton) and Bhupindra Mistry (GONW).

 

Andy then introduced the speakers and said that the order of presentations would be different from the agenda and that Debbie Dalby would speak first.

 

1.      Introduction to Halton Voluntary Action (by Debbie Dalby, Chief Executive)

 

          Debbie introduced herself to the Panel by saying that she was relatively new in post and had only been with HVA for four months.  She explained that HVA was both a CVS and a Volunteer Bureau.  She said that “a strong CVS is a strong voluntary sector” and that HVA are here to support local organisations and networks.

 

          “What is a Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) all about”

 

·        Promoting local voluntary and community action.

·        Services and support.

·        Liaison.

·        Representation.

·        Development work.

·        Strategic partnerships.

 

          CVS’s contribute a huge amount of work to society.  Want to deliver services and support and hope to be there to feed information through and pass information out.

 

          “What is a Volunteer Bureau (VB) all about”

 

·        Developing volunteering

·        Promoting volunteers

·        Brokerage

·        Enabling participation in volunteering

·        Providing information training and research into volunteering

·        Commenting and campaigning on volunteering

 

          Up to now:

 

·        We have offered all of the above through ring-fenced projects.

·        We have a membership of over 130 groups.

·        We hold a directory of over 400 voluntary organisations.

·        We are the accountable body for the Community Empowerment Fund.

·        We have a newly refurbished building which is in the town centre and fully accessible.

·        We have a new Board and a new Chief Executive Officer – and a new structure.

 

          HVA suggested structure:

 

·        Looking to have three main elements that we do.

·        We offer Central Services – information and advice.

·        Support for individual development – to help individuals development, to go on to develop their skills.

·        Develop group and community support – to ensure that local groups are getting a full range of services.

 

          In the future:

 

·        We want to be more outward looking.

·        We want to offer groups the support they need.

·        We want to be seen to be a Halton wide organisation – development out presence in Widnes.

·        We will be offering a yearly training programme for community groups and voluntary organisations.

·        We will raise our profile so more groups no about us and use our services etc.

·        We want to get better and better!

 

          Debbie finished off by saying that HVA are open to suggestions of how we can get better.

 

2.     Why we are here (Joe Devaney, Community Empowerment Fund Coordinator

 

          Why are we here and what is Halton Together?  We are here because we have been asked by the Government to bring voluntary and community groups together to develop strategies against Poverty and Deprivation.

 

          Halton Together is the voluntary and community network.  It is a network of groups across the whole of the Borough.  We wrote to all those groups in the directory and got a response from 156 organisations.

 

          NRF is the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and CEF is the Community Empowerment Fund.

 

          Halton Partnership:

 

          In a few weeks time a representative from each of the community and voluntary networks will be voted to the Board of the Halton Strategic Partnership.

 

          How they link:

 

          The Halton Together Network doesn’t feed upwards into the Partnership, it will feed into it at all levels.

 

          What has happened in Halton so far:

 

          The Steering Group had its final meeting last Thursday 6th February.  In July 2002 a full Network meeting was held and this has now started to meet on a three monthly basis.  The next meeting is pencilled in for the beginning of March.  The elections were based on 28 areas of interest in the voluntary sector and also 21 wards for the community sector, giving a total Panel membership of 49.  43 applications were received and as this is short of the total it was decided that nobody was to be turned away.  This Panel will be in existence for six months.  The new set of elections will be in October 2003 and then the Panel will last yearly after that.

 

          An important point about the Panel is that you will represent your organisation and area of interest and the Government recognises that we need this strong voice.

 

          The way forward:

 

·        Need to constitute and develop on from that to become an independent body.  The Community Empowerment Fund for Halton is £179K per year and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund have doubled that.

·        Working to an Action Plan for 2002/2003.

·        Need to elect Officers, LSP representatives etc.

 

          What this means for Panel members:

 

·        Involvement for yourself and your group.

·        Personal empowerment.

·        A job description.

·        A person specification.

·        Individual training packages.

·        Group sessions.

 

          What we need to do now:

 

·        Set up temporary working groups.

·        Draft constitution and Year 3 Action Plan.

·        What working groups will be required.

·        Election timetable.

·        All to be agreed at next meeting.

·        Elections to take place meeting after next.

 

          Joe finished by saying that he hopes we all can work as a team to bring everything together.

 

3.     The role of Government Office North West (by Hazel

        Catt)

 

          The role of the Government Office North West is to make sure that the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund money is spent for the area.  They oversee local administration of the CEF and community empowerment networks.  They offer development support and attend as many meetings as possible.  They can help agree Action Plans and they monitor progress.  They measure progress against the plan and spending profiles through quarterly reports and your end of year review.

 

          Hazel explained she was part of the Neighbourhood Renewal support team and they can bring in consultancy type people who can help you if you need indepth support.

 

4.     Questions and Answer Session

 

Andy asked if anybody had any comments on what had been said or any questions they would like answering.