Thursday, 6 December 2007

Joined up government

After an early start and a few hours in the office, I headed off to the YMCA for a meeting of the Watford Learning Partnership (WLP).

The Hertfordshire Adult Learning Partnership (HALP) and the Hertfordshire Adult and Family Learning Service (HAFLS) have jointly prepared a plan for the future of adult learning. This plan focuses heavily on local learning partnerships like WPL. I can’t see any connection between this plan and that of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC is funding the VCS to set up county-wide training consortia that LSC supposes will then oversee all VCS workforce development training and all training delivered by VCS organisations to the public. The LSC think this Consortium will become constituted and will then be a major training provider. I don’t know why anyone would want to create such a monolith and nor can I imagine how such an organisation would be financially viable. And meanwhile it might destablise existing training providers like CVSs.

This looks like a government agency coming up with a “good idea” and then treating the VCS like some sort of experimental laboratory. But maybe it will work: I have been wrong before and doubtless I will again.

But meanwhile, the least I expect is that government agencies co-ordinate their policies.

Also present at the WLP meeting were Lyn Telford and David Brown of HALP, Phil Willerton of YMCA, Alison Stainsby of Watford Borough Council, and Marion of the Watford Community Housing Trust. Other regular attenders (LSC, West Herts College, Herts Trade Union Centre) sent their apologies.

After WLP I had a brief Staff Meeting at WCVS to discuss how best we can support volunteering and how we can improve some of our core services. There seems to be unanimity on all the key issues which makes things easier.

And then I attended a meeting of the WCVS’s Staffing and Remuneration Sub-Committee. This sub-group of trustees was meeting to review salary scales, expense payments, employment practices, one or two specific issues etc. These are difficult areas for charities. Of course everyone wants to be nice to their employees (like me) but the realities are that funding is short and life is tough. No-one works in the voluntary sector to get rich: there are other reasons for working here.

And on the technical / procedural issues I simply anticipated a few sympathetic looks. But I had underestimated my wonderful trustees. Phil Willerton in particular came prepared with possible solutions to several of the thornier technical and procedural problems including the possibility of a workable job evaluation scheme. What a star. Althea and John and Vivienne were also helpful and the meeting was completed within an hour and with far more progress than I had dared hope for.

After that, it was just one long slog through HIC business planning and making sure that I had done all I need to before leaving the office as I have a series of “out of the office” days.

I arrived home about 10:00 and Jackie and I enjoyed a sherry and a good read together before bed - what a lovely scene of domestic bliss.