Monday, 9 March 2009

This morning I attended the first meeting of the Holywell Advisory Group. This group comprises stakeholders in the Holywell Community Centre and will advise Sarah Pinnock on the paper she is drafting for WBC’s cabinet on WCVS’s possible move to the Holywell Community Centre. The group’s role is purely advisory and its deliberations are parallel to the substantive discussions and negotiations taking place between WBC and WCVS. But it is important to involve stakeholders and keep stakeholders engaged with the discussions. This was just a “getting to know you” meeting: the harder discussions will come when there are some concrete proposals to examine.

Spitting feathers

Later, I had to send my Chair’s apologies for next week’s meeting of the Herts CVS Chairs’ network. Pam had planned to attend but now a more important PCT meeting has to take precedence. If the Holywell Community Centre Advisory Group has an unusual provenance, this is as nothing compared to the Herts CVS Chairs’ network.

My understanding of the Chairs’ network is that it will be a useful way for Chairs of CVS trustee boards to communicate, exchange views, keep informed, share best practice etc. But the draft Terms of Reference circulated for this meeting reveal that some of my colleagues want it to be far more than this: most worryingly, it is suggested that the network should provide “strategic direction” for the CEOs group in Hertfordshire, “identify opportunities for collaborative work”, and “maximise opportunities for cost reduction” by removing duplication among CVSs.

I was absolutely horrified by this draft which undermines individual CVS trustee boards, needlessly divides the CVS network, challenges existing county-wide groups such as Herts CDA, and hopelessly confuses governance and management. Frankly I am embarrassed that this ill-considered paper has even been circulated. And why? It only even begins to make sense if it is the first stage of creating a single Hertfordshire CVS. Such a monster would be the final triumph of corporate money-grubbing mediocrity over genuine honest voluntarism and I am agin it. Even without Watford CVS representation, I trust CVS Chairs will throw out this nonsense. Meanwhile, I am angry and if I had any feathers I would spit them.