PAPER B

                                                                                                                                                      

Committee :     RESOURCES SELECT COMMITTEE

 

Date :               10 APRIL 2002

 

Title :               RELATE SOLENT - SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT 2002/2005

 

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF PAID SERVICE

 

 

1.                   SUMMARY

 

1.1_            In past years, the Council has made central grant funding available on an annual basis to Relate in support of their services on the Island, and continues to do so. Since the formation of Relate Solent, whereby the Island operation is now managed from Southampton, it seems appropriate that a more detailed and formal agreement should now be drawn up setting out what services and facilities will be provided in return for the funding provided. This report presents such an agreement for members= consideration which is attached at Annexe A.

 

2.                   BACKGROUND

 

2.1        Over recent years the amount available for central grant funding has dwindled to the extent that very few organisations currently benefit and this is one of the issues being addressed by the Grants Task Group. Only one of these organisations, Relate, is not subject to a service level agreement and still makes annual bids to the council for grant aid. There are disadvantages to this annual bid cycle, in that an organisation=s business or project planning is more difficult if funding remains short term and uncertain, and where funding decisions cannot be made well in advance of the financial year in which they are to be spent. A term Service Level Agreement, typically over a three year period, allows for greater stability and for clear requirements for the service to be negotiated, agreed and monitored, allowing an organisation to provide better value for the Council=s money.

 

2.2        Relate Solent was formed in 1999 as a result of a merger between Relate I.W. and Relate Southampton. The I.W. operation was re-evaluated and restructured during 2000 and 2001, and this raised a number of concerns regarding the way in which services were being offered to Island clients. A series of meetings have taken place, facilitated by the Rural Community Council, and the issues raised have been discussed at length at the CommunityLink Committee. These activities have resulted in proposals for three options for the future:

 

3.                   OPTIONS

 

3.1        Option 1.           Continuation of current level of service.

 

The basic counselling and psychosexual therapy service is maintained at a standstill grant with only inflationary uplifts. The grant required for 2002 at a standstill rate, and in conjunction with an application submitted to the Social Services & Housing Directorate for a renewal of an annual grant in the sum of ,4,490 for 2002/03, is ,9000. This will allow Relate to continue to provide approximately 600 hours of counselling per annum across Newport, Ryde and Freshwater.

 

3.2       Option 2.          Recruitment of additional counsellor giving an additional 100 counselling hours in the first year, and a further venue offering increased accessibility.

 

Recruitment of an additional counsellor will necessitate an increase in the grant of ,2,100 over two years.  This will allow Relate to provide additional hours in the venues currently used, increasing counselling hours to 700 during 2002/03.

Coupled with this is the opportunity to offer the service at an additional venue on the Island, possibly in the southeast.  An additional venue will increase the accessibility of the service and allow the current workforce to increase the number of hours they work, if they so wish.

The cost of this option includes an element for rental of premises for an additional venue which will be ongoing, but may be slightly offset by an anticipated increase in client income.

 

3.3       Option 3.          Option 2 plus the recruitment of a trainer to provide Education and Training workshops and courses for the general public and bespoke training.

 

This option would ensure the provision of an education and training service on the Island, including open access courses such as >New Life New Challenge= and >Taking Charge of Your Life=.  Anger Management and Stress Management courses could also be provided for the general public or tailor-made to organisations= requirements.  Other bespoke training could be arranged, particularly courses for schools, colleges and prisons, etc.

The cost of providing this service is ,5,950 over three years but it is anticipated that income achieved by the end of the three years will enable this to be a self-financing service on an ongoing basis.

 

The central grant aid required for each of these three options is set out below.

 

4.                   FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

4.1        The Council=s budget for 2002/03 includes central grant provision for funding Option 1. There is no budget provision for the funding of the extra sums required to satisfy Options 2 or 3, and, if approved, these amounts would have to be found from contingencies.

 

 

 

Relate

Solent

 

Central Grant Funding

 

2002/03

 

2003/04

 

2004/05

 

Option 1.

 

,4,510

 

,4,510*

 

,4,510*

 

Option 2.

 

,5,760

 

,7,010*

 

,7,010*

 

Option 3.

 

,7,760

 

,7,760*

 

,7,760*

 

*plus adjustment for inflation

 

 

 

4.2       Application has been submitted to the Social Services & Housing Directorate for a renewal of an annual grant in the sum of ,4,490 for 2002/03. Central Funding is complementary to Social Services Directorate Funding in ensuring provision of the overall service on the Island.

 

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

That a recommendation be made to the Executive to adopt Option 1.

 

 

Contact Point : Peter Greenwood,  F 3697

 

 

ALAN KAYE

Head of Paid Service