Memorandum from the Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Forum (YH 18)

 

 

 

 

The Regional Forum is the strategic organisation for the Voluntary and Community Sector, (VCS), in the Yorkshire and the Humber region. The Forum promotes and supports the contribution of the VCS in improving the quality of life for people, and especially those who are disconnected from society and the economy, or who live in disadvantaged communities across our region. Yorkshire Forward has supported the Regional Forum through major contracts in recent years to deliver the promotion of social enterprise, and strategic involvement, which has included representation to regional committees and consultation on YF's Corporate Plan.

 

In our region, voluntary and community organisations:

· Employ an estimated 45,000 paid employees.

· Work with more than 500,000 volunteers and trustees.

· Contribute over £500 million to the regions economy.

 

There are more than 30,000 voluntary and community organisations in Yorkshire and the Humber, ranging from regional arms of national charities to small groups working in local communities.

 

This Response has been informed by detailed consultation with Regional Forum Trustees.

 

Introduction

 

· It is important for Yorkshire Forward to develop its position as a key focus for sustainable development in the region. We believe it is appropriate for the Regional Committee to raise issues like accountability, the delivery of the RES, and to ask for the views of regional partners like the Regional Forum. This is because all of these are facets of how the Integrated Regional Strategy will be created. Yorkshire Forward has a key role to play in ensuring that all these issues are handled in a credible manner but so does the Government in facilitating the RDA's effectiveness. To be the guardian of so much that is vital across our region necessitates assent as well as mandate. Support for the involvement of stakeholders alongside other regional decision making arrangements is an important example of how that assent can be facilitated, and the Regional Forum supports this.

 

· The Regional Forum has developed a positive working relationship with Yorkshire Forward on regional issues through a formal "strategic alliance", and has raised issues of concern with it on behalf of the most economically disadvantaged in our region. However, the region's governance architecture is now dramatically different. The Regional Assembly has now gone. As a result, the meeting point of communities of interest, geography, and political will has been lost from across our region. This has not been replaced, nor have its consultative functions such as the presentation of the RDA Corporate Plan to the Assembly for comment and discussion. The new landscape for regional governance is still developing and is made more complex by the growth of City Regions. It is against this newly emerging and embryonic governance structure that we comment on Yorkshire Forward.

 

· We have no doubt that Yorkshire Forward wants everybody in the region to share in economic prosperity. This is a fundamental principle of the RES and Yorkshire Forward should take credit for it. However, the burden on YF is oppressive and onerous, whilst the level of delegated authority for independent action in the pursuit of regionally agreed aims is perversely low; the top limit of £10,000,000 spend without central government approval makes a mockery of regional flexibility and effectiveness. The processes for approval of spend on anything "novel or contentious" actually impedes the very innovation the government says it wants Yorkshire Forward to encourage and deliver. Innovation like South Yorkshire's Digital Region project is a testament to YF's determination to drive forward important initiatives, despite the barriers in their way.

 

 

The Questions raised by the Committee

 

The mechanisms by which Yorkshire Forward is held accountable

 

1. It has been widely recognised, both in the Sub National Review, in the conclusions of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, and by RDA's themselves in evidence to that committee, that there is a clear "accountability gap" at regional level. The Yorkshire and Humber Assembly provided an important element of accountability at regional level which has now been removed. The Assembly also offered opportunity for wider stakeholders, (including the VCS), to contribute to, and be included in, the scrutiny of Yorkshire Forward. This approach to accountability, stakeholder and cross sector working was a successful example of positive regional relationships and collaboration.

 

2. At least in the short term, we believe that mechanisms for holding Yorkshire Forward to account have been weakened. A consequence of this could well be that the quality of decision making is reduced because the diversity of perspective that can be drawn from stakeholders has been lost. The Regional Forum thinks that this involvement contributed to good governance within the region, and that the experience, expertise, and challenge that this provided was a positive contribution to governance and policy making.

 

3. Whilst we believe that the establishment of Regional Select Committees to improve the line of accountability to Parliament is a positive step, there is a risk of duplication with the work of existing Select Committees. This was recognised in the report from the Select Committee on Modernisation. We also believe that there may be a role for the Regional Select Committee in monitoring the increasingly wider range of government department relationships with Yorkshire Forward.

 

4. The thrust of our view is that Yorkshire Forward deserves to be accountable to a clearer and more transparent structure within the region than is being proposed, and that those who are charged with this responsibility should have the time and the independent support to do the job properly. It is not clear how these requirements will be met.

 

 

The process by which the Regional Economic Strategy was drawn up and the level of involvement of regional partners

 

5. The Regional Forum, on behalf of the Voluntary and Community Sector in the region, was fully involved in the RES process. We made a number of recommendations regarding the importance of existing and potential sector contributions to the regional economy, and a number were incorporated into the final strategy. For example; Paragraph 3.95 Section D "Utilise the Voluntary Sector to Reach Local People and Improve Service Delivery", Paragraph 3.29 on the scope to increase the number of social enterprise, and Paragraph 3.84 on the need to address pockets of deprivation. From our experience, we think that Yorkshire Forward tried hard to ensure regional partner involvement in the process. This commitment to cooperation continues with a healthy recognition from the YF strategy team of the importance of wider engagement.

 

6. One of Yorkshire Forward's strengths is their research and strategy function, able to look ahead, find useful data and arguments to move issues forward, and to allow others with different perspectives to comment and contribute. This will be important in future strategic developments.

 

7. However, we do not agree with the narrow economic remit given to Yorkshire Forward by the government and against which the RES is judged. Nor are we content that YF has the powers, duties, authority, and accountabilities to properly discharge the tasks that government has added to its remit in recent times; for example the need to address child poverty.

 

The effectiveness of the RES for Yorkshire and the Humber in delivering against its targets

 

8. Evidence suggests that the RES has had a limited impact to date on those who are most disadvantaged in our region. Given the £60 billion GVA of our region and the £300 million annual budget of Yorkshire Forward this is not a surprise. It was also not a surprise to find that Yorkshire Futures "Progress in the Region" Report for 2008 painted a mixed picture in terms of progress against RES targets for the economy. For example;

 

- On Diversity and Equalities, it says that "there are signs that these (minority groups), are becoming more concentrated in certain areas and groups. This, along with analysis of future trends in areas like skills, health, and housing points to what could become a potentially divided society.

- Economic growth is below the national average.

- The Regional Indicator of Sustainable Wellbeing (R- ISEW) ranks this region as one of the poorest performing in the country.

- The region is at the bottom of the national league table on Education and Skills, and the gap with the national average on skills has widened.

 

9. This is not a criticism of Yorkshire Forward. By general consent, the RES was predicated on a high value/ high growth economy which assumed a degree of human and capital mobility. This subsequently failed to materialise with the result that it has been unable to achieve the goal of "inclusive" growth and economic advancement for all. In particular, Hull, the South Bank of the Humber and parts of South Yorkshire have lagged behind the rest of the region.

 

10. The Regional Forum thinks that a more corporate strategy across Yorkshire Forward to involve and use the Voluntary and Community Sector to develop, pilot, and deliver innovative responses to the issues raised in Progress in the Region would be productive.

 

 

The effect of the current financial and economic situation on business, including the effect on different sectors and on skills and employment in the region.

 

11. The Regional Forum believes that the pattern of economic growth in our region has left the economy badly exposed to the effects of the current downturn. Growth has been dependent on the health of one or two sectors. "Financial Services" is one of these. These assumptions, accepted by all before the downturn, have proved to be fragile in the face of recent events.

 

12. In the Voluntary and Community Sector the demand for services has increased and this is placing increasing strain on the sectors' ability to respond. Whilst the picture for 2009/10 is reasonably healthy in terms of survival, we believe that 2010 will see a significant impact on individual smaller organisations with many facing closure at a time when the demand for their services is rising.

 

13. The Regional Forum's "Health of the Sector" Survey of Voluntary and Community organisations in the region, (April 2009), reveals that;

 

- 14% of VCS organisations are not sure if they will survive in 2010.

- 60% of organisations expect demand for their services to increase but only 35% expect to see an increase in staff to meet this demand, and 17% expect to lose staff.

 

14. The Regional Forum has carried out extensive consultation with the VCS in the region to help it compile a Manifesto to put to political parties in the run up to the next general election. Amongst a number of issues, organisations asked for;

 

- The VCS to be formally included as essential partners in the design, management, and delivery of programmes and partnerships.

- Regional strategies and programmes to prioritise activity that combines

economic, environmental, and social developments.

 

The role of other Government agencies such as GOYH, and of partnerships between Government agencies, local government and the private sector in delivering the aims of the RES.

 

15. GOYH has been a substantial and visible partner in helping to deliver the RES. It has been successful in facilitating the strategic linkage of stakeholders, something which has been very important in helping to deliver the RES.

 

16. Although the management of European programmes has now moved to Yorkshire Forward we are pleased that GOYH'S involvement has continued and so the VCS remains represented in the governance of the European Regional Development Fund programme at the highest level. However, consultation about the delivery of European Social Fund supported training and job support programmes essential in meeting RES aims is not enough when the spending decisions about ESF are made elsewhere but impact upon the crucially important skills and employment targets of the RES.

 

17. The Regional Forum, through initiatives such as a cross sector Task Group on "Worklessness and the over 50's", involvement with the Department of Health as a " Strategic Partner", and a wide range of other VCS work, might be better utilised in a more comprehensive approach to delivery of the RES. This would however necessitate adequate resource if it were to be successful. In addition, we believe that including wider stakeholders as partners, (not just as contractors), is a critical way of creating mechanisms for regional progress.

 

The move towards a regional integrated strategy and the likely effect on the work of Yorkshire Forward.

 

18. The Regional Forum supports the intention to produce a single Integrated Regional Strategy. We believe it will have a profound effect on the work of Yorkshire Forward. It is difficult to conceive of an integrated strategy being produced without effective partnership and collaboration between agencies responsible for housing, planning, transport, the environment, skills, and the economy. This partnership working will require effective leadership from Yorkshire Forward if it is to succeed. It will require a new style of relationship building which recognises the intelligence and expertise of other sectors and partners and involves them in the process.

 

19. The challenge will be to balance this responsibility and to manage key relationships with all the relevant sectors, as well as with local government. These relationships will need to go beyond the limits of business and the economy.

 

The extent to which Yorkshire Forward has the capacity and expertise to address all the elements which will be contained in the new Integrated Regional Strategy.

 

20. Yorkshire Forward will need to consider a much broader and deeper range of interests and issues as it seeks to promote the Integrated Regional Strategy and secure its delivery. Under the new regional governance arrangements, wider groupings of partners and stakeholders will not now be part of the decision making process. New ways have to be found to tap into the necessary expertise.

 

21. The Regional Forum is able to bring VCS expertise, intelligence and experience, and the ability to link regional decision making to reality on the ground. By providing a conduit of connection to communities of place and interest, policy makers can have a vital feedback mechanism. What could otherwise be a rather remote decision making structure in the region can be communicated to the wider community. All this has the potential to contribute to the Integrated Regional Strategy, although it should be noted that this will not be resource free.

 

The role of Yorkshire Forward in promoting a low carbon economy in the region, and in addressing regional issues concerning climate change and flooding

 

22. The Regional Forum believes that this role should be agreed and then supported by a wide range of regional partners. It will be demanding and it is clear that if the region is to achieve a low carbon economy then there are difficult decisions to be made for the long term. The replacement of the Ouse/ Trent Valley power stations and the technology involved is the biggest carbon footprint issue facing the region, yet the scale of involvement of any regional body is far from clear in relation to national powers.

 

23. However, the clear regional priority has to be improvement of the public transport infrastructure. The importance of City Region development at the expense of rural communities and smaller towns needs greater recognition especially in terms of sustainability. If the price of economic recovery is the short term increase in car use, then the regions carbon reduction targets may already be unattainable.

 

General Conclusion

 

· The Regional Forum believes that Yorkshire Forward is actively seeking to develop its capacity for strategic leadership in the region. We support them in this aim. To achieve it we believe they will need;

 

- More relevant and appropriate delegated powers, duties, authorities and accountabilities in line with the growing list of tasks given to them by the Government.

- Renewed and clear accountability and scrutiny arrangements within the region.

- Continued pursuit of effective and efficient involvement of the widest possible range of interests in the decision making processes about strategy, plans and resource allocation.

- A reduction in the burden of regulation, which is onerous and counter productive to the need for innovation and action.

- Ongoing, internal review of their corporate structure to ensure effective and strategic partnership working.

 

· What is required is nothing less than a paradigm shift in the way that all regional partners and stakeholders view the inter-relationships of their core responsibilities. Only in this way will the concept of genuine partnership working at the appropriate level become a reality. The prize is a genuinely integrated and sustainable regional strategy which is the product of an inclusive and focussed process. Yorkshire Forward have a critically important role to play in driving this agenda forward, but they themselves will require support, resources and goodwill if they are to succeed. The Regional Forum is committed to doing whatever it can to help.

 

Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Forum

 

Suite D10

Joseph's Well

Hanover Walk

Leeds LS3 1AB

Tel- 0113 394 2300

E mail: [e-mail]

 

Registered Charity Number- 1076540

 

14. May 2009.