The Liberal Democrats group on Warwickshire County Council want early involvement of voluntary organisations in the delivery of the council’s “One Organisational Plan”, the blueprint for the restructuring of county services to help achieve its £92 million savings plan.
They believe that innovative new ways of working are achievable, but only if the voluntary sector is engaged early and given the time to explore the feasibility of options prior to the prescriptive timescales of formal consultations and commissioning processes.
Lib Dem group leader Cllr Jerry Roodhouse has put forward the following recommendations to senior council officers and the leaders of the other political groups on the council:-
- A version of the One Organisational Plan with accompanying explanation should be circulated to the voluntary sector so they can understand the vision and thinking behind the Plan, and made available on the Council website.
- A web cast/You Tube film aimed at this audience should be cascaded to all voluntary organisations via the Warwickshire CAVA weekly emails, to help explain and introduce the Plan.
- A seminar should be held for leaders of the sector to explain how the Plan will be enacted and how/when they will have the opportunity to participate.
- Commissioning and decommissioning timetables should be shared with the sector at the earliest opportunity, with additional lead in times built in for organisations to explore possible joint or cooperative working, or for new social enterprises or other entities to be formed and ready to submit tenders.
Cllr Roodhouse said: “These suggestions aren’t costly, but would protect against the voluntary sector feeling shut out and alienated and acknowledge the key role they will play in future service delivery.”
Cllr Nicola Davies, Lib Dem spokesperson on the Corporate Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee, has led the development of these ideas. She said: “It’s important we get this right. Our budget proposals made it clear that the voluntary sector had a lot to offer. We must ensure early engagement with the sector, and not be seen to be ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water’ as we implement restructuring plans.”
A report setting out reporting arrangements for the One Organisational Plan will be presented to the 5th June meeting of WCC’s Cabinet.