ADD2712 Extension of Civil Society Roots 3 Support Programme

1.1    The GLA’s Community Engagement team wishes to commission an organisation, or organisations, to continue delivering a programme of capacity-building and support for the Civil Society Roots (CSR) 3 place-based grant programme. The programme is currently running, and the support offer is contracted to the end of May 2024; this coincides with the original programme timeline. This timeline has shifted to October 2024, due to staffing issues. The current support offer needs to be extended for the grantees. 
1.2    The GLA, as a regional body, has a strategic role to ensure that civil society can be supported and can flourish. This has been highlighted in the Mayor’s strategies on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and social integration. To support a thriving civil society in London, in 2022 the Mayor launched the CSR 3 fund, which aims to increase the support available for Londoners impacted by structural inequalities. This includes Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Londoners; Disabled Londoners; LGBT+ Londoners; women; and older Londoners. 
1.3    The funding is supporting groups led by and for Londoners impacted by structural inequality. This specification refers to these organisations as “community-led groups”. 
1.4    The programme offered two rounds and types of grants. In round one, development grants of up to £5,000 and impact grants of up to £50,000, were offered. In round two, grants of up to £30,000 have been offered. All grantee activity meets one or more of the following criteria:
•    builds relationships and networks 
•    develops or strengthens collective voice and advocacy 
•    increases capacity and skills.
 

2.1    The purpose of the support programme is to create dedicated time, space and support for the grantees to work towards delivering their identified ideas. These ideas address one or more of the priority areas listed at 1.4, above.
•    Over the last two years, the grant support has acted as a resource for successful grant recipients. It has done so by supporting them with their project development; creating connections and networks; and helping them to build relationships. Grantees have benefitted from bespoke consultancy sessions and workshops on key areas of learning. The programme has also facilitated relationship-building between grantees and with local actors in their boroughs and across London. All grantees engaged in this programme throughout their grant-funded period.
2.2    The current commissioned partner, Paul Bragman Community and Economic Regeneration Consultants (Paul Bragman Ltd), developed a twofold support programme that has been delivered since May 2022. It reflects the funding streams; and builds on the work and learnings of earlier iterations of the programme. 
2.3    We expect the commissioned partner to provide grantees with:
•    light-touch assessment of grantee support needs, to better understand and prioritise their needs
•    one-to-one consultancy support and expertise to support the development of their idea
•    support with networking across funding streams and boroughs
•    opportunities to learn from best practice on how to strengthen relationships, voice and capacity – this could be in the form of deep dives with invited guests, or other learning approaches
•    space for all the grantees to come together, creating opportunities for learning and reflecting on the models they are each developing and implementing
•    facilitated relationships between grantees and local/pan-London actors that are relevant to their objectives.
2.4    Grantees will receive:
•    up to two days’ bespoke consultancy support
•    three learning sessions/workshops focused on the priority areas listed at 1.4, above. 
o    The support can be delivered in various formats, which will respond to grantees’ needs. These formats may include, for example, workshops; facilitated skill swaps; and expert-led sessions.
2.5    The funding is place-based. However, we are open to innovative ways of delivering this support that connects grantees across boroughs and funding streams.
Exemption from the Contracts and Funding Code
2.6    
This decision seeks an exemption from the Contracts and Funding Code (the Code) to allow for the variation of the GLA’s existing contract with Paul Bragman Ltd. This is on the basis of the continuation of existing work, which cannot be separated from the new work, as set out in section 10 of the Code.
2.7    Following a competitive tendering process in 2022, Paul Bragman Ltd was awarded the contract to run the support programme for CSR. This contract (ref: GLA 82020) ends in May 2024. The programme experienced staffing delays at the GLA’s end, which impacted its timeline. Accordingly, the programme is now expected to end in October 2024.
2.8    Paul Bragman Ltd has been involved in the delivery of CSR since 2022, and has offered support and guidance to all grantees across both funding rounds. It has built up programme-specific knowledge, and has forged relationships with the current grantees. Paul Bragman Ltd is currently supporting at least five grantees to navigate significant project-related challenges. If the GLA were to run a new procurement, it would be difficult for a replacement service provider to replicate Paul Bragman Ltd’s current knowledge of the programme; its relationship and knowledge of the 18 grantees’ work; and its ability to create a support programme in response to the grantees’ needs. The time and resources required to bring a new service provider to an equal knowledge level would significantly duplicate costs; and might lead to further delays for the programme. The variation of Paul Bragman Ltd’s contract, to allow it to support the final stages of the programme, will assist the GLA, as funder, to ensure the smooth continuation of the support programme. 
 

3.1    This project will uphold the GLA’s commitment to EDI; and will have due regard to the GLA’s Public Sector Equality Duty. 
3.2    The CSR project has been developed out of the Mayor’s commitment to working with communities, civil society and others to build a city for all Londoners. City Hall’s dedicated Civil Society officers are working to ensure stronger collaboration and partnership working between the GLA and civil society. By developing a partnership in the delivery of the data project, the GLA is hoping to extend its reach to a broader group of organisations. 
3.3    The CSR programme supports equity led infrastructure organisations. This includes organisation working with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities; women; Deaf and disabled Londoners; young people; and older people. 
 

4.1    Risks are as follows:
•    Being unable to deliver project in timescale. The timescales for this project are relatively tight, but we will mitigate this risk by ensuring that: the internal procurement process is delivered in an efficient and timely manner; meetings and support for the successful organisation(s) are planned for and effective; and any slippage is reported and accounted for throughout the delivery phase. 
•    Being unsuccessful in commissioning a partner for the delivery of the work. To mitigate this risk, we will ensure that: the opportunity is shared widely amongst our networks; and the CSR Officer is available to field potential applicants’ questions. 
4.2     Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
•    The CSR programme sits within the Building Strong Communities mission which is one of the nine missions of the London Recovery Programme. The Building Strong Communities mission was one of the Mayor’s manifesto commitments.
•    The CSR programme links to two Mayoral strategies. The Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and his Social Integration Strategy, All of Us, set out the Mayor’s expectation for creating equal opportunities for Londoners to participate in shaping the future of the capital, by tackling inequalities in voice and power.
4.3     The are no conflicts of interest to declare for those involved in the drafting or clearance of           this decision.
 

5.1    Approval is sought for the expenditure of up to £24,500 in 2024-25 from the CSR programme budget within the Community Engagement team.
5.2    This is to fund the variation of Paul Bragman Ltd’s existing contract to allow for the continuation of the support programme for CSR grantees up to October 2024.
5.3    There is budget available in the Civil Society programme budget approved for 2024-25 to meet this expenditure.
 

Powers to undertake the requested decisions
6.1    The decisions requested of the Assistant Director, Communities, Skills and Policy (the Assistant Director), fall within the general powers of the Mayor (in section 30 of the Greater London Authority Act (GLA Act) 1999) to do anything that it considers will further any one or more of its principal purposes. Those principal purposes include furthering the promotion of social development in Greater London. Section 34 of the GLA Act also allows the Mayor to do anything that is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any functions of the GLA exercisable by the Mayor. In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people (section 33(1) of the GLA Act)
•    consider how the proposals are best calculated to: promote the improvement of health of persons in Greater London; promote the reduction of health inequalities between persons in Greater London; contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and contribute towards the mitigation of, or adaptation to, climate change in the United Kingdom (section 30(5) of the GLA Act)
•    consult with appropriate bodies or persons (section 32(1) of the GLA Act).
6.2    In taking the decisions requested of him, the Assistant Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty – namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010; and advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment) and persons who do not (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Assistant Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
Variation of the contract and exemption from the Code
6.3    As set out above, the variation of the GLA’s contract with Paul Bragman Ltd is valued at up to £24,500. Section 9 of the Code requires the GLA to undertake a formal tender process, or make a call-off from an accessible framework, for procurements with a value between £10,000 and £150,000. However, section 10 of the Code also provides that an exemption from this requirement may be justified where the services that are the subject of the variation amount to the continuation of existing work, which cannot be separated from the new work. The officers have set out in section 2, above, the reasons the procurement of Paul Bragman Ltd falls within the said exemption. Accordingly, the Assistant Director may approve the exemption, if they be so minded.
 

7.1    The project will be delivered according to the following timetable: