IA2495 Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Capacity Building Framework

Staffordshire County Council is committed to working alongside the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector to support and empower communities. The VCSE sector is a critical partner in helping the Council to deliver its priorities to communities, including the ongoing recovery from Covid-19. Staffordshire County Council therefore wishes to procure a new VCSE Capacity Building Framework. The aims of the Framework will be to commission VCSE sector support for the following areas: • Build Capacity - Grow VCSE capacity in agreed thematic and geographical areas to support the delivery of the Council's priorities. These priority areas include the Supportive Communities Programme, the Staffordshire Young People's Offer, and the 'Place Based Approach' for Families and Communities. • A sustainable VCSE sector - Support the VCSE sector in Staffordshire (excluding Stoke-on-Trent) to remain sustainable and recover from the impacts of Covid-19. practical support such as helping VCSE groups to access funding and social capital, offering organisational health checks, and practical support with issues such as governance, payroll, Disclose and Barring Service (DBS) checks, and signposting. • Volunteering - Recruit, broker, and support volunteers in the county, connecting volunteers to VCSE and public sector organisations. • Engagement - Engage with communities, the VCSE sector, and young people to ensure the Council understand key issues locally and that these stakeholders have a say in the work of the Council moving forward. This includes supporting VCSE organisations to network and build connections with each other. • Information, Advice, and Guidance (IAG) - Provide the local VCSE sector (and communities more widely where appropriate) with effective IAG in a timely and accessible way. This includes connecting the local VCSE to training opportunities to ensure they deliver in a safe and effective way. • Representation - Represent the VCSE sector at jointly agreed networks and forums (for example the Health and Wellbeing Board, Communities Leadership Group, Supportive Communities Board etc.), and help to inform the Council's strategic decision making. • A flexible and collaborative approach to working with the VCSE sector - provide a way to collaborate with the VCSE quickly and effectively on any future priorities, learning from our experiences during the response to Covid-19. To achieve these aims, there will be three (3) separate Lots under the Framework: Lot A - VCSE Capacity Building and Supportive Communities Lot B - Supporting Young People and Lot C - Grant Management. Suppliers can apply for one Lot, any combination of Lot's or all Lot's. The current arrangement, which is in place for the delivery of some of these Services comes to an end on 31st July 2022.