DD2738 Civil Society and Sport unit work 2024-25

1.1.    The Civil Society and Sport (CSS) 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
•    use sport to make London an active and socially integrated city.

1.2.    The unit’s work over recent years includes the following:

·    Launching Simply Volunteer London, a new sector-led portal that supports online volunteering and trustee brokerage. This resource for London-based organisations seeking volunteers and Londoners connects people to high-quality volunteering and trustee opportunities.
·    Establishing the Equitable Volunteering Forum, along with Macmillan Cancer Support and with collaborative support from the London School of Economics, Literacy Pirates, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, English Heritage and Citizens Advice. The forum is a dedicated community of practice, and gives volunteer managers across London a space to connect, share best practice, and enhance their organisation’s capacity for inclusivity and diversity.
·    Supporting the development of a London Vision for Volunteering, which is led by the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. This has had wide engagement from volunteer-involving organisations (VIOs), and local infrastructure organisations; and has helped them identify how to support, champion and transform volunteering so that it is accessible for all Londoners.
·    Exploring the role that the GLA can play to help boost growth in London’s social economy, and improve community wealth and asset ownership – with a view to generating long-term benefits for local people, through events such as a roundtable discussion of sector leaders and experts.
·    London’s first ever Mayor’s Community Weekend, a partnership between the Mayor of London and the National Lottery Community Fund. The programme celebrated London’s communities by funding 180 community events across all London boroughs over a single weekend. Events included community sports days, community picnics, arts and cultural events, creative workshops, and activities focussing on the environment, conservation and healthy eating. 

1.3.    This Decision requests permission for expenditure of up to £141,000 to strengthen the VCSE sector in London. This will be done through: 

•    supporting organisations that promote and champion volunteers and volunteering
•    investing in the resilience infrastructure that enables London’s civil society, to ensure that organisations can support the city in a crisis
•    supporting London’s social economy to ensure that all Londoners benefit from economic growth. 

1.4.    This expenditure consists of: 

•    supporting the civil society sector: £71,000
•    scoping and convening social economy work: £20,000
•    volunteer programme review: £20,000
•    resilience support: £30,000. 
 

Supporting the civil society sector: £71,000

2.1.    Civil society comprises a huge range of organisations that vary in size and scope – from grassroots, unincorporated associations to social enterprises, and from regional charities to those with multimillion-pound incomes. By supporting the civil society sector, as set out below, the GLA will work towards: 

•    removing barriers that prevent the most marginalised Londoners from actively participating in life in the capital
•    ensuring representation of these communities in policy and decision-making 
•    supporting Londoners’ civic and democratic participation and engagement in communities
•    ensuring Londoners have access to the vital skills they need to thrive. 

London Plus: £46,000

2.2.    London Plus is the infrastructure organisation for London’s civil society. With unique networks, and access to the sector intelligence that is invaluable in informing policymaking, the organisation is a key partner for the GLA’s civil society work. London Plus played a key role during the COVID-19 pandemic; was a core partner in the Building Strong Communities mission; and continues to work with volunteer centres and councils for voluntary services (CVSs) in London. It provides the support needed to convene the voluntary and community, and community resilience sectors; lead debate; and shape change. A grant of £46,000 to London Plus enables the GLA to support the ongoing core costs of this key infrastructure organisation, and the work it does to support London’s civil society. City Bridge Foundation and London Councils also support the organisation, in recognition of its key role. 

2.3.    The grant will fund London Plus; its role in leading the London Volunteering Strategy Group (LVSG); and its ongoing work to support a Vision for Volunteering in London. In 2021 London Plus, the GLA and London Councils convened key regional VIOs to establish the LVSG. Before this, there was no London-wide network convening partners across the breadth of volunteering issues. All partners were keen to continue the benefits of regional collaboration that had been seen through the pandemic. The GLA therefore worked with others to bring together organisations, representing faith volunteers, environmental volunteers, local infrastructure, young volunteers, local government, mutual aid, LGBTQIA+ volunteers, students and emergency volunteers, to support and champion volunteering in London. In 2023-24, the GLA funded London Plus to work with the LVSG to develop a Vision for Volunteering for London, mirroring the National Vision for Volunteering. A draft Vision for Volunteering action plan for London will be launched in spring 2025. This funding will support work to establish the LVSG as a strategic body for London’s voluntary sector. The LSVG will be able to influence and advocate to raise the profile of volunteering, and the changes needed to strengthen and support the sector. It will also act to stimulate activity needed to sustain a strong culture of volunteering in London.

2.4.    The proposed funding will focus on the following: 

•    Continuing to develop the LVSG, and driving the London Vision for Volunteering. This will involve resetting and leading the LVSG, so it can become a more strategic, sector-led body for championing and influencing the London Vision for Volunteering Action Plan/Strategy. The overarching aim is to ensure that volunteering in London is more accessible and inclusive.
•    Maintaining the London’s Lifelines website, an LVSG website which raises the profile of volunteering in London and shares best practice. During Volunteers’ Week 2023, the site was highlighted by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) as regional good practice. It will compliment future work on a Vision for Volunteering in London; and provide a focal point to champion volunteering for the LVSG. 
•    Ongoing support for London Plus’s core networks. The Volunteer Centres Network and the CVS Directors Network provide valuable intelligence and insights from the sector. These insights are critical for the GLA and the London Partnership Board, in helping understand the challenges that the sector is facing; and helping shape appropriate and timely interventions. 

Equitable Volunteering Forum: £2,000 

2.5.    The Equitable Volunteering Forum works towards increasing diversity in volunteering to reduce inequalities in London. It was established by the GLA with Macmillan Cancer Support, including collaborative support from the London School of Economics, Literacy Pirates, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, English Heritage and Citizens Advice. The forum serves as a dedicated community of practice, providing volunteer managers across London with a space to connect, share best practice, and enhance their organisations’ capacity for inclusivity and diversity. This budget will be used by the GLA to procure resources to deliver forum events, including venue hire; catering; travel expenses for participants; and engaging speaker. All activity will be procured in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.

Simply Connect volunteer website: £23,000

2.6.    ADD2561 approved up to £50,000 for an online volunteering brokerage platform for London. This was to ensure continuity for pan-London volunteer brokerage after the GLA Team London website closure. Following a scoping exercise Simply Connect Solutions Limited (Simply Connect) were granted funding to create this community asset. This funded the development, testing and launch of Simply Volunteer London, which replaced the Team London website in March 2024. An additional £11,000 (approved via MD3033) addressed inflation-related costs and improved site accessibility. In 2023-24, £32,000 was granted for site maintenance, operation and development, bringing the GLA’s total investment since 2022 to £93,000. A further £23,000 will support ongoing operations; development; marketing; and efforts to secure long-term sustainability through alternative funding sources (such as local authorities or other grants). This website connects volunteers with organisations seeking volunteer support, creating a valuable stream of support for the sector.

Scoping and convening social economy support: £20,000

2.7.    The Mayor is committed to boosting economic growth in London; increasing living standards; and ensuring all Londoners they have the skills and high-quality jobs they need to thrive. The social economy sector consists of organisations such as social enterprises; community interest companies; charitable incorporated organisations; and other organisations that prioritise social and environmental goals whilst remaining financially sustainable. The sector plays a crucial role in both economic growth and working towards better social value outcomes for Londoners, particularly those from under-served communities. The unit will work with new and existing partners to scope how the GLA can best: 

•    support and boost growth in London’s social economy
•    improve community wealth and asset ownership
•    empower local communities to own, manage and benefit from assets such as land and buildings 
•    create businesses that generate long-term benefits for local people. 

2.8.    Building on internal and external research (including a roundtable discussion of sector leaders and experts by the GLA in June 2024), work will focus on three thematic areas: 

•    approaches to funding social economy organisations 
•    the role of the Mayor in convening and connecting the sector with growth opportunities 
•    how procurement practices include or exclude the sector from delivering public contracts.

2.9.    Findings will be used to present recommendations for policies, approaches and interventions that the GLA and other bodies throughout London can adopt in future work.

2.10.    To deliver this work, the CSS unit will convene a series of workshops and engagement events to bring together sector voices, subject-matter experts and leaders to explore, test challenge and discuss ideas and approaches to the thematic issues listed above. The GLA will use this budget to procure venue hire, catering and engage speakers, in addition to event marketing, planning and management. All activity will be procured in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.

Volunteer review: £20,000

2.11.    The GLA’s Major Events and Volunteering team directly recruits, trains and deploys volunteers to sporting, cultural and other citywide major events (including resilience or crisis response activity). This is done both on behalf of the GLA and for events where external stakeholders have requested support. This work mainly occurs in two programme streams: the Visitor Welcome/Team London Ambassador summer programme; and major events. With the landscapes of London and volunteering having changed in recent years, the Mayor has committed to reviewing the opportunities offered by the Major Events and Volunteering team, and the value they deliver. 

2.12.    The review will consider current volunteering opportunities. It will also explore: 

•    the benefit that Team London volunteer opportunities bring to the volunteers themselves, and to London as a city
•    the resource required to deliver the programme in its current format 
•    the specific types of volunteer roles offered by Team London. 

2.13.    The review will also consider the current landscape of need and volunteering provision in London; and the value and role that the Mayor’s programme has within this ecosystem, alongside other key partners and stakeholders. The review will recommend outlined options; these will depend on whether and how the programme will be delivered. These will be considered by the Mayoral Delivery Board, and taken forward for further development and implementation as appropriate. Proposals for the future of the programme will include a clear rationale – including risks; impact and benefits; potential events and routes for delivery; and how all of these factors will contribute to London and to the Mayor’s priorities. The proposed funding will be used to procure an external consultant in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code to assist with capacity, facilitation, and to ensure an independent approach is taken to the review and also to cover internal costs such as outreach sessions.

Resilience support: £30,000

2.14.    The CSS unit has supported crisis response and major events in London. Work in recent years includes Grenfell welfare hub support; volunteer deployment for COVID-19 response (NHS Nightingale and vaccination centres); and, most recently, Operation London Bridge (preparations relating to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral plan). In addition to supporting specific resilience-focused volunteering, the CCS unit has worked closely with the GLA Resilience unit to support wider work on community resilience. This includes the ambition to support charities and community groups to prepare for, coordinate during, and respond to emergencies.

2.15.    This decision seeks permission to grant funding of up to £30,000 to the London Communities Emergencies Partnership (LCEP). The national Voluntary and Communities Sector (VCS) Emergencies Partnership was created in 2018, in response to a series of major incidents. London Plus (leveraging its unique role as the infrastructure organisation for London’s civil society) and the VCS Emergencies Partnership together convened LCEP. This is London’s mobilising mechanism; it brings together organisations across the VCS, enabling collaboration and coordination of London emergency relief efforts. LCEP works alongside partners in local and national government to create a more coordinated and community-centred preparation for, and response to, emergencies.

2.16.     Since its inception in 2021, LCEP has become a core part of the London Resilience Partnership, which brings together over 170 organisations who each have specific responsibilities for preparing for and responding to emergencies. LCEP has done much to enhance the voluntary, community and faith sector contribution to resilience. It directly supports the national Resilience Framework’s ambition for a whole-of-society contribution to resilience. With an imminent end to current LCEP funding (from the GLA Resilience unit and City Bridge Foundation), more funds are needed. These funds will be granted to London Plus, due to their unique role as the convener of LCEP, so that this integral work within the London resilience system can continue.

2.17.    The funding outlined in this decision will help to ensure the sustainability of LCEP in the short term, whilst longer-term and sustainable funding options are identified. This will include making the case to central government for appropriate funding to support the voluntary, community and faith sector contribution to resilience, and thus the government’s ambition for a whole-society approach.
 

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; and 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 reassignment, 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 programmes set out within this Decision will specifically work with, and benefit, Londoners who are often the most marginalised, 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 stated: “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.”

3.3.    Projects will improve wellbeing, decrease social isolation and build relationships between Londoners. They will have a specific focus on groups disproportionately impacted by structural inequalities as identified in the Building a Fairer City action plan. The programme will encourage people from protected groups to participate in public life, thus fostering good relationships between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. 

3.4.    Data from the sector shows that 58 per cent of social enterprises have leadership teams consisting of at least 50 per cent women; and 43 per cent have at least one leader from an ethnic minority background. The sector also disproportionately employs more people with long-standing physical or mental illness or disability. Supporting this sector will not only have additional benefits (owing to the sector’s business model of the sector) for many of those employed by the sector; it will also equalise opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. 
 

Key risks and issues

4.1.    The key risks and issues are outlined in the table below: 

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities 

4.2.    This work aligns with statutory and other Mayoral strategies in the following ways:  

•    Increasing opportunities for Londoners to volunteer; and for communities to connect, come together and celebrate. This supports the Mayor’s aim for London to be a city for everyone; and a place where all communities are welcome, respected and celebrated, and can engage in the opportunities that the city has to offer, including through volunteering. 
•    Seeking to make London a fairer city by tackling structural inequalities. This will be done by investing in partnerships with civil society organisations; and using intelligence, insights and trends from the sector to help shape potential interventions 
•    Enhancing the ability of all Londoners to benefit from growth, and have the skills they need to improve their lives – in particular women, young Londoners and people from underserved communities. This is in line with the Mayor’s ambition for an economy that is fair to workers and beneficial to London’s communities. The work will also inspire and support young people in London; ensure they can take positive action in their communities; and help them to develop skills and meet their full potential. This builds on the Mayor’s manifesto commitment to ensure that all young people in London have the opportunities they need to thrive. 

Consultations and impact assessments 

4.3.    The unit programmes have been informed as follows: 

•    The LVSG includes VCSE organisations that represent LGBTQ+ people, people of different faiths, young people, people with disabilities and many more. The group has set priorities around working collaboratively to support and champion volunteering in London. The ongoing work with the LVSG and London Plus is designed to facilitate the group to achieve these aims. 
•    The national Vision for Volunteering programme is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; and led by the NCVO, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and other partners. Through extensive consultation, it has identified five core themes – one of which is equity and inclusion. In developing a Vision for Volunteering for London, the delivery partner has mirrored the five themes; and has worked to ensure wide-ranging consultation with VCSE groups in London.
•    In partnership with other organisations, the unit has established the Equitable Volunteering Forum. This aims to share good practice and learning around equality, diversity and inclusion in volunteering; and offer peer support. As part of the unit’s work to increase diversity in volunteering, it completed interviews and surveys with diverse Londoners to learn what barriers they have faced to volunteering, with learnings informing programme design and delivery. The unit sought feedback from the first round of forums, and has subsequently widened participation to ensure a more representative membership. The programme of speakers and topics for discussion is shaped by the partners and members; and seeks to respond to their needs. 
•    In June 2024, the GLA convened a roundtable of key external stakeholders to discuss how London can best support social economy and social entrepreneurs, and build community wealth, to ensure that all Londoners can benefit from growth. The roundtable generated several thematic areas that are now being scoped in more detail, to determine the role that the GLA can most effectively play in this space. 

Conflicts of interest 

4.4.    Due consideration has been given to the 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. 

Subsidy control 

4.5.    The funding within this programme has been considered in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. GLA officers have considered whether programmes will involve the provision of grant funding to enterprises that are likely to receive funding from other public-sector organisations, such that these activities have been considered further in light of the subsidy control principles. Those activities are as follows:

•     the award of up to £23,000 for Simply Connect in relation to the Simply Volunteer London volunteer brokerage website as described in paragraph 2.6
•    the award of up to £46,000 to London Plus in relation to the civil society infrastructure programme as described in paragraph 2.2 
•    the award of up to £30,000 to London Plus in relation to LCEP as described in paragraphs 2.14-2.17. 

4.6.    Simply Connect was first established as a Voluntary Action group and moved into creating software to support community development, working across sectors to bring people together and build delivery partnerships, design digital pathways, and provide online services to deliver sector and community support.

4.7.    The Simply Volunteer London platform is a unique service for the London civil society sector, creating vital capacity that the sector needs, and opportunities to volunteer that deliver multiple benefits for Londoners. This funding is required to allow this vital service to continue which would otherwise not exist. Due to the unique nature of the platform, the GLA does not consider Simply Connect to be operating in a commercial marketplace and therefore the proposed funding outlined above does not in its opinion constitute a subsidy. 

4.8.    London Plus is the infrastructure organisation for London’s civil society. No other organisation works across the sector in this way, or has access to the same networks as London Plus. London Plus therefore do not operate in a commercial marketplace and the proposed funding outlined above does not in GLA’s opinion constitute a subsidy.

4.9.    The civil society infrastructure funding will allow London Plus to use its unique position to deliver work against shared priorities with both the GLA and the wider sector. This will grow support for civil society groups, and support particular areas of need – such as food poverty and the cost-of-living crisis, which are most impacting London’s under-served communities.

4.10.    The LCEP funding granted to London Plus, due to its LCEP role, will create a more coordinated and community-centred preparation for and response to emergencies. It will ensure the sustainability of LCEP in the short term, whilst longer-term and sustainable funding options are identified. 
 

5.1.    Approval is sought for expenditure of up to £141,000 for programmes that: 

•    support the civil society sector and the social economy
•    create 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. 

5.2.     This expenditure is profiled at paragraph 1.4. 

5.3.    The expenditure of £141,000 will be funded by the following CSS unit programme budgets: 

•    civil society: £30,000
•    mutual aid: £20,000
•    philanthropy: £30,000
•    reward and recognition: £18,000
•    visitor welcome: £20,000
•    website and awareness: £23,000. 

5.4.    This is in line with the budget allocations for 2024-25.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Executive Director concern the exercise of the Authority’s general powers; falling within the Authority’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development and the improvement of the environment in 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 Executive 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.  

6.3.    All procurements of works, services and supplies required for the projects must be procured in accordance with the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code (the Code).  Furthermore and where applicable, the officers must liaise with Transport for London’s procurement and supply chain team, which will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the Code.  Officers must ensure that appropriate contractual documentation be put in place and executed by chosen service provider/supplier and the Authority before the commencement of the attendant works, services or supplies.

6.4.    Paragraphs 2.2, 2.6 and 2.13 above indicate that certain of the contributions to Simply Connect Solutions Limited and London Plus respectively amount to the provision of grant funding and not payment for services.  Officers must ensure that the funding be distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equalities and with the requirements of section 12 of the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code.

6.5.    Furthermore, officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement be put in place between and executed by the GLA and each recipient before any (a) commitment to fund is made; and (b) funding is paid to such recipient.

6.6.    The Subsidy Control Act 2022 requires that grant funding comply with its subsidy control principles.  The officers have set out at paragraphs 4.5 to 4.10 above how the proposed grants comply with those principles.