Capacitybuilders' board reach decision about two additional workstreams of National Support Services

22/10/2007

The Capacitybuilders Board has considered very carefully the option of including two additional workstreams, on workforce development and ICT, along with the existing range of nine national support service programmes.

Decision reached

The Board holds to the view that these areas should not be included in the national support services programme.

The Board noted that aspects of workforce development and ICT priorities were included in a number of the nine existing programmes.

Increased funding to Learning and Innovation programme

As part of its decisions on budget lines for 2008/11, the Board has decided to allocate increased funding of £1m per annum to its Learning and Innovation programme from which it will directly commission further essential work at a national level including on specific workforce issues, the testing of different ICT delivery models locally and other potential areas of work.

Direct commissioning

Capacitybuilders will be directly commissioning such work - setting out its objectives and desired outcomes, and engaging in discussions with a range of organisations with the ability to deliver such programmes.

Timescales

Any programmes of activity will also have to meet the criteria of the Learning and Innovation fund. Capacitybuilders aims to commission appropriate activity in these areas by the end of December.

Workforce development initiatives

In the case of specific workforce development initiatives, such commissioning will be initially for a 12 month period from April 2008 pending the creation of the Workforce Development Council, the launch of its strategy and an assessment of its relationship with the third sector's skills agenda.

Possible renewal of funding support

Capacitybuilders' funding support could be renewed in April 2009 for a maximum of a further two years if the agency assessed that the Workforce Development Council's programmes were not likely to address the third sector skills agenda sufficiently. Other initiatives may be fundable for a full three years.