Opportunities for the voluntary and community sector

Message from Paul Carter, Leader of Kent County Council

We recognise the important role the voluntary and community sector plays in delivering services for individuals and communities across Kent. We are undertaking a major transformation of the way we deliver services to the public. Our medium term plan Bold Steps for Kent sets out our vision to rethink our services, including reforming how we buy them, as we achieve the ambition of becoming a commissioning organisation. Our commitment is Bold Steps for Kent is to procure with rigour and for value for money from both private and voluntary sector alike.

An important part of our transformation strategy is to increase our investment in targeted and innovative preventative strategies in all sectors and it is within this area that we envisage the voluntary and community sector playing an increasing role. This investment will open up the opportunity for the voluntary and community sector to bid for contracts. We will apply an evidence based approach to commissioning, increase the focus on outcomes and ensure that every penny spent provides value for money.

You may also be aware of the Community Right to Challenge, This enables voluntary and community organisation to express an interest in running local authority services. This approach enables groups, with ideas about how services can be run more effectively, to be heard though an 'expression of interest'. The Community Right to Challenge process will be in place from 4 April 2012.

It may also be of interest to you that we launched the Kent Big Society Fund on 16 December. This is a new fund providing £3 million of loans of new and existing social enterprises that have the desire and appetite to grow their their enterprise in our county. This is particularly valuable at a time when access to finance from high street banks and grant funding from the public sector is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.

In line with national guidelines all our future plans will be assessed to ensure a clear understanding of the impact of the proposed changes and our decision and we will engage fully with you as representatives of the voluntary and community sector firstly, to ensure that we keep you informed and secondly, to ensure you are involved as we develop our strategies and transform our business.

I want to assure you that we will be open and transparent about any changes that will impact your sector and we are fully committed to working with you and ensuring that we achieve not only value for money but the best quality of service that our money can afford.

I expect that as this major shift in policy and commissioning practice takes hold, the opportunities for the voluntary sector to join with the council in achieving its ambitions in Bold Steps for Kent will increase, even in what will be the most difficult financial climate that many of us will have seen.