Premises for the Third Sector in London Background Current policy frameworks in each London borough. The support available in each London Borough to groups

Premises for the Third Sector in Premises for the Third Sector in LondonLondon

Background• Current policy frameworks in each London borough.• The support available in each London Borough to groups

who had premises needs or projects that they wanted to pursue.

• The perspectives of both London Boroughs and umbrella Third Sector organisations on the premises needs of the sector and any barriers or issues that they felt needed to be addressed.

• Current initiatives or projects being pursued by both the Third Sector and local borough councils.


Online Data Collection: London Boroughs

• Polices related to the use of Council land and buildings that it owns or manages

• Policies set by Borough councils that impact on the cost of premises to Third Sector organisations

• Policies related to funding , support and joint working with the Third Sector where it was relevant to premises.


Online Data Collection: Councils for Voluntary Service in London

• Training• Advice• Publications• On-line directories or other resources


Interview survey

– Telephone or form– Boroughs - Officers from property or

voluntary sector– CVS’s - Chief Executives or relevant staff– Responses 25 out of 30 CVS’s and 22

out of 32 Boroughs


Context• Austerity• Property Market and Publicly owned assets• Localism - community rights and

neighbourhood planning• Community Infrastructure Levy• Tax Increment funding• Business Rate changes• Power of Competence• Big Society


Policy and Policy Development– NDRR– Asset Management– Asset Transfer– Procurement and CommissioningSupport, Partnership and Projects– Support – demand and access– Partnership and projects – what is happening

where


Findings: Policy and Policy Development

NDRR– Transparency and access to information

generally poor– Huge variations in policy and amounts

of discretionary rate relief awarded



Asset Management• Policies are very difficult to find and they do not

include all relevant policies • There is a lot of individual project development

going on but again not easy to find• There is limited development of cross sectoral,

cross Borough or inter departmental discussion forums about the use of assets and the Third Sector.



Asset Transfer– Huge flux – partly due to community

rights– No consistent approach in relation to

inclusion in Asset Management Plans nor across policies that exist



Procurement and Commissioning– Approaches to fixed overheads and full

cost recovery not consistently applied– Historic subsidy means some groups are

more competitive than others– Rent subsidy mainly linked to delivery of

council services


Findings: Support, Partnership and Projects

Demand for Support

– Lots of evidence of demand for support from Compacts, London Wide Property Advice organisations, London Boroughs and Councils for Voluntary Service in London



Access to Support– Limited at local level– Specific gaps are training, awareness of

existing sources of support, information on locally available premises and co-location and sharing promotion and advice.



Support Needed– Sharing premises – Support on practical premises management issues– Rent levels and lease negotiations– Capital Funds to address the condition of council

buildings occupied by Third Sector organisations– Available suitable premises within Council property

portfolios



– Significant partnership project activity on the ground

–Mixed picture on strategic partnership working within local councils, between councils and with the Third Sector overall


Progress since 2007– A lot more policy exists though is a state of flux

most of the time– All Boroughs who responded were working on

individual projects with specific groups, particularly “hubs”

– Improved baseline data and service provision from Councils for Voluntary Service

– Continued Lack of strategic involvement of the sector on asset planning overall


Recommendations for London Boroughs and Councils for

Voluntary Service– Principally related to improvements in

transparency of decision making processes and access to information

– Inclusion of Third Sector in strategic planning and policy making


Recommendations for London Boroughs and Councils for

Voluntary Service

– Better Cross departmental working and officer up-skilling on property issues


Recommendations for Third Sector Premises Group

– Developing model policies and procedures relevant to Third Sector organisations

–Work with professional institutes on valuation of community buildings

– Borough based work on investment strategies for community buildings portfolio


Recommendations for Third Sector Premises Group

– Using strategic planning mechanisms like the Local Development framework to address issues of supply of premises

–Working with funders on new regimes for capital investment in buildings for the Third Sector

Documents

Premises for the Third Sector in London Background Current policy frameworks in each London borough. The support available in each London Borough to groups