Co-designing a new third sector funding scheme in Argyll and Bute

Outcomes

The new funding scheme was fully based on the new funding criteria agreed between the Council and third sector organisations at the May 2011 meeting. As the timetable of the new funding process shows, it was much slicker than the previous funding process:

This meant that the whole consultation and change management process had been accomplished within a year. As Mark Lines highlighted, this had put the Council under strong pressure at times. Nevertheless, this meant that the consultation had avoided the danger of many similar consultations, which take so long that everybody loses interest and trust.

The new funding process has minimised supporting documentation and leaves discretion to third sector organisations about the amount of information they wish to provide – with the principle of proportionality being applied.

The consultation has also resulted in application forms becoming more user-friendly. Indeed, learning from the consultation around this project has resulted in new forms being adopted for all grants throughout other Council services.

On the issue of three year funding, the new system included an ‘in-principle’ agreement that three-year funding could be provided. Applications for three year funding would, though, need to be supported by a three year business plan and would undergo a more rigorous evaluation. The Council still had some concerns, moreover, that once a significant number of three year funding decisions had been taken, they could not be revisited for several years, so that non-funded organisations might feel locked out of the process.

The suggestion to set up an online application process and portal proved to be too costly in proportion to the size of the grant process, so has not been implemented.

A final learning event to evaluate the efficacy of the new system was held at the end of April 2012. Again, the Children and Families Service Department invited all third sector organisations in the local area to participate. Governance International facilitated the one day event. Tanya Macdougall, Director of the Family Mediation Service, Argyll and Bute outlined to the group her experience of applying for a grant under the new process. Overall she felt that the new process was much better than the previous one; the application form was more user-friendly and there was the welcome possibility of applying for three-year grants.

Her main complaint related to the operation of the assessment panel (a view reflected by other participants), which she felt had been too large and not clearly introduced to the applicants (so she did not know how to pitch an answer when asked a question). Moreover, she felt that she hadn’t received sufficient information prior to the panel to allow her to prepare more effectively. Finally, she felt she had to invest a lot of time for just a 5 minute presentation and 10 minute questions and answer session.

In the subsequent discussion, participants made it clear that they were highly satisfied with the consultation process, particularly its transparency, and felt that their insights had been taken on board throughout the consultation. The main problem had been the crowded timescale due to the thorough consultation process during this first year. They accepted that, now that this process was in place, the timetable would probably be much more comfortable in future years.

About this case study

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costs and savings

learning points

further information

Main Contact

Mark Lines

Service Manager - Children and Families Operations

Argyll and Bute Council

Email: Mark.Lines@argyll-bute.gov.uk

Mark Lines wrote this case study for Governance International on 3 December 2012.