DD2698 Civil Society and Volunteering Spend 2024-25

1.1.    The Civil Society and Sport unit works to make London a stronger and more resilient city – one in which Londoners play an active role. The programmes create the building blocks for stronger and more resilient communities; enable those delivering community work to connect and share best practice; enhance opportunities for Londoners to volunteer; sustain organisations that tackle inequalities and other social issues; help Londoners develop skills and get into work; and use sport to make London an active and socially integrated city.
1.2.    This Decision requests approval for expenditure of up to £150,000 to take this work forward, as well as the seeking and acceptance of up to £29,000 of income from third parties in relation to Visitor Welcome and Major Events programme-related expenditure. It also requests an exemption from the requirements of the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code (the “Code”), so that London Funders membership may be directly procured in the amount of £36,000 on the basis of a complete absence of competition, as set out in detail at paragraph 2.1.
1.3.    The Major Events and Volunteering team delivers a high-profile programme of accessible volunteering across London. This offers positive outcomes for Londoners in terms of wellbeing and skills; and supports London as a thriving destination for national and international visitors. This programme has been instrumental in connecting people across the city to volunteering opportunities. Volunteers from all walks of life support major cultural, sporting and faith-led events, including the New Year’s Eve Fireworks, Eid celebrations and the annual St George’s Day celebrations.
1.4.    This programme also supports the Mayor’s vision for tourism, which aims to accelerate the capital’s status as a world-class tourist destination by 2025. In 2023-24 numerous sporting and cultural events were enhanced by the efforts of Team London Volunteers. These included the following:
•    Delivering the annual Visitor Welcome Programme, where Team London Ambassadors offer friendly and helpful advice to visitors at central locations for five weeks over the summer. 342 individuals volunteered as Ambassadors, completing 1,153 shifts, with a total of 4,694 hours. 
•    Volunteer deployment at the Coronation of his Majesty the King. 438 volunteers were deployed across the city to welcome visitors and provide wayfinding to those attending this historic event. Volunteers contributed over 2,000 hours to the royal celebrations.
•    In total, 899 Team London volunteers supported 19 events/opportunities across the capital in 2023-24, completing a total of 2,462 shifts and contributing nearly 12,000 volunteering hours towards the success of London’s most high-profile events.
1.5.    The Team London volunteer pool and staff expertise also provide an essential part of London’s resilience. Active and engaged volunteers are essential to London’s ability to respond in a crisis. In previous years hundreds of volunteers were deployed as part of the COVID-19 response, the Afghan refugee crisis and Operation London Bridge. 
 

2.1.    London Funders is the sole membership network for London’s funders and social investors. Membership provides access to a wide portfolio of expertise and resources, including vital opportunities to network and collaborate with more than 170 London-based funders across the public, private and social sectors. London Funders oversaw the coordination of the London Community Response, and it is currently coordinating the work on Propel. The expenditure of £36,000 covers corporate GLA membership; and allows engagement with London Funders’ resources, networks and expertise by teams across the GLA and GLA Group (including Culture; Children and Young Londoners; Health, Communities and Social Policy; the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime; and Civil Society and Sport). London Funders is the only organisation of its type; therefore, an exemption from the requirements of the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code is requested so London Funders membership may be directly procured in the amount of £36,000 on the basis of a complete absence of competition. The expertise, resources, contacts and opportunities gained through membership are vital for the GLA to work towards many of its objectives. 
2.2.    The Visitor Welcome and Major Events programme provides accessible and rewarding volunteering opportunities and contributes to London’s reputation as a welcoming city. This annual programme of events and summer delivery includes volunteering for major sporting and cultural events and supporting strategic partnerships to promote the city as a leading global destination. There are more events and high-profile partnerships in 2024 than in many previous years. These include Formula-E, Champions League football and European Rugby. These events increase the opportunity to boost the reputation of London as a welcoming Global city.
2.3.    As well as the advantages to London, the Visitor Welcome and Major Events programme can bring significant benefits to volunteers. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (NCVO’s) Time Well Spent research points out several benefits of volunteering – such as reduced isolation, increased contact with people from different backgrounds or cultures, improved health and wellbeing, and new skills and experiences (NCVO, 2023). The Visitor Welcome and Major Events programme aims to bring the benefits of volunteering to all Londoners.
2.4.    To enhance opportunities for all Londoners to support each other and their city through volunteering, expenditure of up to £114,000 (comprising of GLA expenditure of up to £85,000, and up to £29,000 of external funding) will be used for programme delivery and programme management costs. The external funding will be sought from event organisers to support costs related to deploying volunteers at their events. This value has been estimated using the roster of events in previous years. This expenditure covers essentials such as external location risk assessments; full volunteer expenses to ensure the programme is accessible (not cost-prohibitive) and equitable; training events including equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI); customer service-specific training and materials; uniform; mobile volunteer carts; and technical equipment. Expenditure will also cover accessibility (such as British Sign Language interpreters/taxis/additional transport) to reduce barriers to participation; temporary staff to support delivery at core programme peak times; and a specialist volunteer management system. These resources are used throughout the year across numerous events including the London Marathon and the New Year’s Eve fireworks; and for multiple sporting and cultural events, as well as for the deployment of volunteers who support London’s crisis response as required. These programme requirements will be procured in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. Where the income is raised by the provision of discretionary services, the charges for the services will not exceed the costs of providing the services.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”), as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ to the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any conduct that is prohibited by or under the 2010 Act; advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics under the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (the duty in respect of this last characteristic is to eliminate unlawful discrimination only).
3.2.    The Civil Society and Sport unit previously commissioned research to look at the barriers and challenges involved in enabling Londoners to participate in volunteering. This was to ensure that volunteering and social action programmes are structured in a way that is as appealing, equitable and accessible as possible. The GLA’s programme to support inclusive volunteering builds on this research to strengthen good practice in removing the barriers to volunteering; and, thus, ensure that volunteering is open to all. As part of the selection and recruitment process, the programme takes specific steps to monitor the participation of volunteers from ethnic minority groups, and those who identify as disabled. This work aims to ensure that the make-up of our volunteers represents London’s population in relation to ethnicity and disability. The 2019 Survey of Londoners showed that volunteering and social action participation improves social integration. As such, increasing accessibility of programmes will improve rates of social integration experienced by volunteers – thereby meeting the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty to foster good relations between groups. 
3.3.    Delivering accessible volunteering opportunities for Londoners is the focus of this volunteering programme, and extensive work is undertaken to reflect the diversity of London in our volunteer pool. In 2022 a working group of Team London volunteers who identified as Black, Asian or Minority ethnic, disabled and/or neurodiverse came together (with the support of Team London staff and EDI consultants) to discuss their experience and put together a set of recommendations about how the volunteer experience can be improved. The recommendations of the group were implemented last year and continue to be reviewed and updated. 
3.4.    The GLA is the lead for the EDI Volunteer Managers Forum alongside key partners from Citizens Advice, English Heritage, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the London School of Economics Volunteer Centre, and Literacy Pirates. The forum brings together volunteering leads across London and nationwide to discuss volunteering, and accessibility and inclusion; share good practice; create new connections and partnerships; and, ultimately, improve the experience of volunteers from underrepresented groups. Through examining and improving the recruitment, training and deployment of volunteers for major sporting, cultural and arts events, and ensuring good volunteer management to support a volunteer workforce that reflects the diversity of London, the programme is increasingly accessible to all Londoners who can provide an inclusive welcome to all visitors.
3.5.    Much of the Civil Society work completed by the GLA, and for which the London Funders membership will be leveraged, will specifically work with and benefit Londoners who are often the most marginalised. This is in order to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. For example, the 2021-22 Survey of Londoners reported: “Londoners living in the least deprived areas were more likely to have engaged in social action than those living in the most deprived areas (26 per cent compared to 14 per cent respectively)”. It also states: “White British Londoners (23 per cent) exhibited the highest rate of social action, while Londoners with another ethnic group (14 per cent), Asian Londoners (15 per cent), Black Londoners (17 per cent) and White other Londoners (18 per cent) exhibited lower rates.”
 

4.1.    Key risks and issues

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.2.    This work aligns with statutory and other Mayoral strategies in the following ways: 
•    Global City – supporting London’s visitor economy: The Visitor Welcome programme runs throughout the summer across six important tourist locations. Volunteers offer a friendly face; and provide information to visitors and wayfinding advice to people from all over the world.
•    Supporting young Londoners: the programme actively targets young adults aged 18-24, as this age group has historically had lower participation in the GLA’s volunteering programmes. To increase the numbers the following actions are taken: 
o    Setting targets for this age group – which are higher for specific events that are more likely to appeal to younger adults.
o    Targeted outreach/recruitment, including creating links with university volunteer centres and student unions including Queen Mary Students’ Union; University of Westminster; and the national campaign Good for ME, Good for FE, amongst others. It also involves strengthening connections with internal GLA teams that have youth expertise, such as the Civil Society and Sport Youth team, the Violence Reduction Unit and the Children and Young Londoners teams.
•    All Londoners are able to play a full and equal part in the life of our city: by removing barriers to volunteering, and running an accessible volunteer programme that allows all Londoners to take part, the Visitor Welcome programmes ensure that all Londoners can take advantage of, and make the most of the opportunities that volunteering brings to them as individuals, and more broadly by mixing with others, making strong social connections and being part of a summer of vibrant, exciting events.
Consultations and impact assessments
4.3.    The unit programmes have been informed as follows:
•    The national Vision for Volunteering programme (funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and led by the NCVO, the Association for Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and other partners) has identified, through extensive consultation, five core themes. One is equity and inclusion. The Civil Society and Sport team is currently funding London Plus, which is developing a London Vision for Volunteering. This will mirror the five core themes, and work to ensure that consultation with VCSE groups in London centres on equity and inclusion. In turn, the information that comes out of the Vision for Volunteering work in London will inform the Visitor Welcome programme, and may provide ideas on how to better address issues around equity and inclusion in the programme. 

•    A picture of volunteering nationally, and in London, can be gleaned from the NCVO Time Well Spent report (2023); its follow-up report Volunteering amongst the Global Majority (2023); and data from the Community Life Survey (2023) and the Survey of Londoners (2022). The data in these valuable reports is used to inform our Visitor Welcome programme, particularly in regard to equity and inclusion, helping explore where to target efforts more effectively to increase participation and satisfaction. 
•    As described in para 3.3., in 2022 a working group of 17 Team London volunteers who identified as Black, Asian or Minority ethnic, disabled and/or neurodiverse came together, with the support of Team London staff and EDI consultants. They discussed their experience, and put together a set of 36 recommendations about how the volunteer experience can be improved. The group’s recommendations were implemented last year and continue to be reviewed and updated. We also lead a new EDI Volunteer Managers Forum alongside key partners. These strands of work have helped ensure that the programme continues to become more accessible to all Londoners who can provide an inclusive welcome to all visitors.
Conflicts of interest
4.4.    Tunde Olayinka, Executive Director of Communities and Skills, is a trustee of London Funders. He has thus recused himself from decision making with regards to the London Funders membership expenditure; and delegated this to Alice Wilcock, Assistant Director Civil Society and Sport. This is as set out at paragraph 2.1. The Executive Director of Communities and Skills will continue to remove himself from decision making, or put appropriate mitigations in place, where a potential conflict of interest is identified. Alice Wilcock is being appointed as a Director of a subsidiary of London Funders, the Collaboration Circle. However, this subsidiary receives no allocation of funding from the London Funders membership fees, and is not connected with the day-to-day delivery of London Funders activities. Therefore, there is not considered to be a conflict of interest.
4.5.    Due consideration has been given to further potential conflicts of interest within this project. However, none have been found, including from those drafting or clearing this Decision Form. During the delivery of work contained within this Decision, declarations of interest will be made where relevant (such as during procurement exercises), and any conflicts of interest will be managed accordingly.
 

5.1.    Approval is sought for expenditure of up to £150,000 and receipt of up to £29,000 in external income for programmes that will support Londoners and civil society through convening the sector; promoting volunteering; and enhancing opportunities for all Londoners to volunteer. The aim is that all Londoners feel welcome in, and can play a full and equal part in the life of, our city.
5.2.    Expenditure of £121,000 will be funded by the following Civil Society and Sport unit programme budgets: Civil Society (£36,000); and Visitor Welcome (£85,000). External income of up to £29,000 will be sought from third parties in relation to the programme-related expenditure.
5.3.    This is in line with the approved budget allocations for 2024-25 financial year. 
 

Power to undertake the requested decisions
6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Executive Director of Communities and Skills (the “Director”) concern the exercise of the Authority’s general powers and fall within the Authority’s statutory power to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of social development within Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
•    consult with appropriate bodies.    
6.2.    In taking the decisions requested, the 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 to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Executive Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
Budgetary approval
6.3.    The first decision above seeks approval of expenditure of £121,000 for programmes, which support Londoners through projects, which include the promotion of volunteering and the enhancement of opportunities for all Londoners to volunteer.  Officers are reminded to comply with the Code when procuring services, supplies or works and when distributing grant funding in furtherance of the programmes.  The same applies to the budgetary approval sought for the £29,000 of expenditure set out in decision 2, above.
    Exemption from the Contracts and Funding Code
6.4.    The procurement of the Authority’s membership of London Funders is valued at £36,000.  Section 9 of the Code requires that the Authority 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 on the basis of a complete absence of competition. Officers have set out at paragraph 2.1, above, the reasons why the procurement of the London Funders membership falls within the said exemption.  Accordingly, the Director may approve the exemption, if they be so minded.
Seeking and acceptance of income
6.5.    Decision 2, above, seeks approval of the seeking and acceptance of income in relation to programme expenditure.  The GLA may receive income from third parties in the form of grant funding or as a payment for discretionary services.  Where the income is received in the form of grant funding, officers are reminded to comply any conditions placed upon the use of the funding by the grantor.  Alternatively, where the GLA receives income as a payment for discretionary services, officers are reminded that the income from the discretionary services must not exceed the costs incurred by the GLA in providing those services.
 

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