To ask the Minister for Social Development to list the Public Sector Groups and Voluntary and Community Sector Groups that have participatory roles on the Joint Forum; and to detail the activity of Concordat Action Teams to date.

The Joint Forum is made up of the Public Sector Group (PSG) and the Voluntary and Community Panel Group (VS Panel).

The PSG consists of representatives from each Government Department and two officials from local government representing the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE).

The VS Panel consists of representatives from voluntary and community sector organisations. Membership to the Panel is through a process managed by the Northern Ireland Council for Community Action reflecting a cross-section of representation from the Sector.

Details of public and voluntary and community sector membership are attached at Annex A.

As Minister for Social Development I formally present a report to my Executive and Assembly colleagues each year on issues impacting on the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). This report contains information on the work of the Concordat’s Commitment Action Teams (CATs) who research and make recommendation for improvement. Details on each CAT activity are shown at Annex B.

Annex A

GROUP MEMBERSHIP OF THE JOINT FORUM

Annex B

COMMITMENT ACTION TEAM (CAT) UPDATE

Influence and Examine the Impact of Government Policy CATThe objective of this CAT was to identify how stakeholders could more effectively engage with policy makers at an early stage of development. A key success of this CAT has been the agreement from the Permanent Secretaries Group that Departmental representatives will now provide details of new and policies due for revision to the Joint Forum. This process has now been mainstreamed into the work of the Joint Forum under ‘Policy Discussion’.

Concordat Compliance Monitoring CATConcordat Compliance Monitoring is a process to assess the level of understanding, and degree of implementation of the Concordat within Government and the VCS. Progress has been made through a pilot assessment of a government policy to test its validity and a wider-scale pilot is planned to be undertaken to fully validate the form before roll-out across the public sector.

Addressing Bureaucracy in Grant Administration to the Voluntary and Community Sector CATThis CAT investigated excessive bureaucratic working practices in grant funding to the VCS. The scope of the project was expanded to include a response to recommendations arising from Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reports on reducing bureaucracy in public funding to the VCS and to improve working relationships between public bodies and the Sector. The resultant “Addressing Bureaucracy” report identified nineteen recommendations on reducing bureaucratic working practices in administering grant funding. These have been incorporated into a Code of Practice and a Financial Systems and Controls Assessment (FSCA) process which will be applicable to all central government funders within Northern Ireland.

Outcomes-Focused Approach to Funding CAT The Joint Forum is currently monitoring the development and implementation of the ‘NI Inspiring Impact Programme’ which is being delivered by Building Change Trust (BCT).

Five impact practice projects are being supported which are planned to enable Government and statutory bodies to apply an outcome-focused approach to grant funding in the future.

Communications CATThis CAT has resulted in the development of a ‘Joint Forum Portal’ which details the work being undertaken, membership of the Public Sector and Voluntary and Community Sector groups and Joint Forum publications. Work continues on other communication issues.

Structural Reform CAT

The Structural Reform team has been stood down following mainstreaming and completion of its 3 objectives:

To present to the NI Executive and Assembly a yearly report from the Joint Forum through the DSD Minister on issues impacting on the Voluntary and Community Sector.

To review the Terms of Reference and Membership of the Joint Forum to reflect the agreement within the Concordat and emerging public sector structures and responsibilities.

To explore and develop processes whereby Concordat non-compliance can be addressed.