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The national policy drive around engagement in decision-making is key for local authorities and the Third Sector alike. The South East has been doing substantial work around the empowerment agenda. Looking to the future, the importance of public participation in decision-making will continue to increase, particularly given the requirements under Local Area Agreements.

National Indicator 4 (NI4), the percentage of people who feel they can influence decisions in their locality, is important to the empowerment agenda since it measures engagement in decision-making.

The adoption and implementation of NI4 is inconsistent across the South East, with the Sector leading on the indicator in some areas and the local authority leading on it in others. This presents both challenges and opportunities for the Sector.

One of the biggest challenges facing the Sector is the perceived difficulty of accurately measuring and monitoring public participation in decision-making. It is important for the Sector to respond to this challenge by developing mechanisms for capturing this data effectively; in turn, this will help to further demonstrate the Sector’s added value and contribution to the empowerment agenda.

The Sector in the South East has developed some valuable empowerment strategies. These are being recognised by local authorities and other partners, who are seeing the potential of the Third Sector as a source of expertise and as an effective conduit to their local community, and are consequently engaging with the Sector on NI4.

The drive towards engagement in decision-making is opening up several opportunities for the Sector in the South East, for example enhanced local partnership working which offers the potential for greater influence at local level. An example of this is the opportunity afforded by the Third Sector to have an elected seat on its Local Strategic Partnership. This drive may also provide the Sector with a framework with which it can start to measure the added value that its work contributes to communities. In the longer term this could potentially increase access to funding, a crucial factor in the current economic climate.

One of the key strengths of the Sector in the South East is its engagement with local communities. Nevertheless, the empowerment agenda brings with it challenges and there is still a lot to learn about the range of engagement techniques available. Looking ahead, it will be important for the Third Sector to develop this learning together and to share knowledge, resources and good practice to help empower communities to influence decisions in their locality.

There is an increasing impetus for the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) to deliver public health services. VCS organisations in the South East are looking at ways to strengthen their connections with the health sector and ensure they are key players in the future commissioning of health care services. There is growing recognition of the valuable role that VCS organisations in the South East can play in delivering health services. Existing collaboration between the VCS and public sector in the region has highlighted some interesting observations and priorities that will help the VCS to identify and respond to the challenges and opportunities it may face in delivering public health services.

What are the implications?

• There is increased pressure on VCS organisations to demonstrate their added value more effectively.

• Specific skill sets and knowledge will be required to successfully bid for contracts.

• VCS organisations will need to ensure they are aware of best practice guidance available to them, for example around collaboration in bidding for contracts.

• Mechanisms to ensure early and ongoing dialogue between the VCS and local NHS bodies, with clearly defined routes of access on both sides, will be become increasingly important.

Moving Forward?

The World Class Commissioning agenda has brought with it both opportunities and challenges for the VCS in the South East with regards to engaging with the health sector. Some of the questions that organisations may want to consider:

• Is there anything you can do to improve your communications strategy with your local health authorities?

• Do you need to develop your organisation’s skills around bid writing?

• Do you need to reassess how you demonstrate your organisation’s added value in service delivery?